Airconditioned city
Published Nov 15, 2022 12:05 am
MEDIUM RARE
Jullie Y. Daza
Thinking of climbing up to the only fully airconditioned city in the Philippines? Do it now! Don’t wait for December, not for the New Year! Getting more crowded by the day, by the weekend, it is.
The climate is almost Christmas-like, temperatures at minimum 16 to maximum 23.
Traveling north under clear blue skies, we experienced weather that couldn’t be more fair and fine, helped along by a network of expressways that stretch smooth and noiseless; when rubber meets the road, at times you’re the only car on the road, it seems. When we landed at the doorstep of Baguio Country Club, “the only five-star mountain resort” in the country, the moment felt like a Christmas gift, just no red bow and yards of wrapping paper to rip apart. (It pays to be friends in good standing with a club member with an unblemished record.)
Last weekend, BCC hit a 95-97 percent occupancy, whether guests from the lowlands of the NCR were aware or not of Baguio’s winning an award for “best creative city” in the Philippines, followed by second placer Cebu. Additionally, Baguio was the only city chosen to show a presentation before a worldwide audience in Mexico by UNESCO.
Such a creative-city attitude can be catching, like a cold, for on the night of Nov. 12, an IBAGIW Creative Festival was held at the Baguio Convention Center to showcase the colors, character, and culture of Baguio, “city of crafts and folk art” through music, song, and dance, under Ferdie Balanag, creative director.
Accident or coincidence, the crafts and arts of the Cordilleras happened to be on display, trade fair-like, at SM Baguio. This SM, whether you like it or not, has become a tourist destination of its own making, and it was where my two visitors from North America went shopping like maniacs for two straight days, directly from breakfast to the mall for wall-to-wall “shopping with the eyes and sighs” and local currency at P57-plus to the dollar.
Back to the hotel, it occurred to me that I had never seen these many children – babies, toddlers, little people aka boys and girls – gathered in one setting at all times of the day. Their world, once our world, is getting smaller.
Jullie Y. Daza
Thinking of climbing up to the only fully airconditioned city in the Philippines? Do it now! Don’t wait for December, not for the New Year! Getting more crowded by the day, by the weekend, it is.
The climate is almost Christmas-like, temperatures at minimum 16 to maximum 23.
Traveling north under clear blue skies, we experienced weather that couldn’t be more fair and fine, helped along by a network of expressways that stretch smooth and noiseless; when rubber meets the road, at times you’re the only car on the road, it seems. When we landed at the doorstep of Baguio Country Club, “the only five-star mountain resort” in the country, the moment felt like a Christmas gift, just no red bow and yards of wrapping paper to rip apart. (It pays to be friends in good standing with a club member with an unblemished record.)
Last weekend, BCC hit a 95-97 percent occupancy, whether guests from the lowlands of the NCR were aware or not of Baguio’s winning an award for “best creative city” in the Philippines, followed by second placer Cebu. Additionally, Baguio was the only city chosen to show a presentation before a worldwide audience in Mexico by UNESCO.
Such a creative-city attitude can be catching, like a cold, for on the night of Nov. 12, an IBAGIW Creative Festival was held at the Baguio Convention Center to showcase the colors, character, and culture of Baguio, “city of crafts and folk art” through music, song, and dance, under Ferdie Balanag, creative director.
Accident or coincidence, the crafts and arts of the Cordilleras happened to be on display, trade fair-like, at SM Baguio. This SM, whether you like it or not, has become a tourist destination of its own making, and it was where my two visitors from North America went shopping like maniacs for two straight days, directly from breakfast to the mall for wall-to-wall “shopping with the eyes and sighs” and local currency at P57-plus to the dollar.
Back to the hotel, it occurred to me that I had never seen these many children – babies, toddlers, little people aka boys and girls – gathered in one setting at all times of the day. Their world, once our world, is getting smaller.