[Feb 26, 2012]
The last day of our grandest trip to date, ended with a bang! As we were one with the entire Baguio City in celebrating their annual Flower Festival or Panagbenga!
When I was still planning for this trip, I already had an idea how thick the crowd could get when it is Panagbenga week in Baguio City. Since I am from Cebu with our very own Sinulog festival, I definitely have a first-hand experience about the number of people, heaviness of traffic, full-bookings of accommodations and all sorts of chaos. That is why, the first thing we did was to pre-purchase a Victory Liner return trip ticket from Baguio to Pasay to make sure that we will not miss our flight back to Cebu. Even if it was still December, we already got our tickets. Yey! Haha! Anyway, the next thing we should've made sure was that we will have a place to stay on the eve of the Flower Parade. But.....we might just missed that one. Though we spent our first two nights in Baguio City, we failed to book our last night in Tuvera because it was full. And from the looks of the front desk/manager/OIC of that place..all their rooms were strictly non-negotiable. So before we left for Sagada we made sure that we will have a place to stay on our last night. All that came to mind was Teachers' Camp.
So we rode a jeepney and went for it. Though we had absolutely no idea how much their rooms cost- which at this time would probably reach the ceiling and all the more would not be available. But still, we hoped against all hopes because there is absolutely no other place we could think of that would not cost us anymore that we can afford as we are on a 'well-budgeted trip'. When we arrived, we asked the lady in their office and yes she gave us the grim news..indeed..there's no room for us. And our hearts just melted away. Down-trodden we went out of the office and began walking towards the gate when the guards asked us how our inquiry went. So we told them that we were not able to find a place to stay. God must have been listening intently to my prayers that time that one of the guards said that if we like, he can show us a place that may just have a room for us. He warned that this place is an old house and is not that promising when it comes to amenities. Well, at this point, we don't really have any right to be choosy. We just need a good bed and a clean comfort room to get by our last night
Unfortunately, we were not able to take a picture of the house. We have nicknamed it "bahay ni lola" because it was old and it was owned by a lola. It was within the premises of Teachers' Camp because lola was a former teacher with very impressive English-speaking skills. Nosebleed when we met and spoke with her. All the angels must have heralded when she said Yes she can accommodate us for one night and just for a whopping 500 bucks for two persons already. I didn't mind if the whole house looked like it has a bunch of horror stories to tell and I didn't even mind if the CR was a bit scary as long as we can stay there, we're good. Thank God! Phew! So fastrack to the day we arrived from Sagada, we went straight ahead to teachers' camp and settled in. Our room was huge, they were 3 single beds! and just like them horror movies, it had a huge antique wooden cabinet that was as high as the ceiling! And there was an old scratched mirror near the door. But whatever, we're still lucky we had this place. So after we settled in, we headed straight to the city center to savor every bit of our last night in Baguio City.
We returned to our favorite stall in Burnham Park where we were served our favorite Pospas, barbecue and siomai. Yummy! This stall was near a stage where people were performing, so you can imagine all the people walking by, loud noise from the huge speakers but who cares!We were definitely in a festive mood despite the 7-hour bus ride earlier. After we had our favorite dinner, we strolled the Park one last time holding hands and enjoying how smoke/air comes out from our mouth when we talk. Haha! We were like kids and enjoyed every single minute being together in this beautiful place! *Missing-Baguio-Mode-It's-been-almost-a-year*
Moving forward, we turned in a little beyond 10PM to reserve our energy for tomorrow's festivities and to prepare for our long travel back home.
But the adventure, is just not over yet. When were back in "bahay ni lola" creepiness started to sink in especially when I was just about to lie down on my bed and langga on his own bed- like a king and a queen. Hehe! I insisted that we keep the lights on. It was cold and the lights outside were a bit dim so yeah..we kept the lights on. So, we shut our eyes and began our slumber. But just as I was about to get lost in my dreams, I suddenly heard footsteps outside our room. I figured, oh they may just be from those Lola mentioned who will be sleeping in the sala because they got no other place to stay. Just then the footsteps drew closer to our room, no other voices heard just footsteps. And just because it was late, no other noise from outside the house can be heard and with my eyes closed, I was able to concentrate on those footsteps and where they were headed. And yes, I was getting scared, my heart was beating faster. Next thing I hear were the sound of keys--then suddenly it seemed that someone was fooling around with our doorknob and was trying to open it. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Imagine my horror! Or perhaps I just watched too many horror movies. Whatever it was, it was not stopping! So I tried to awaken my partner, who at this time was already drooling himself to deep sleep. First three attempts to wake him up failed so by the 4th time I already screamed his name and asked him to see who was at the door! So much for everything, it was Lola's grandson who mistakenly tried to open our door thinking that it was the unoccupied room. He was to open the empty room next to ours so that the guests who just arrived can settle in. What a relief!!! Haha! And because of that, thank goodness I was able to get back to sleep with no interruption and was able to wake up at 5:30AM the next day. Our last day.
We decided to wake-up early to get ahead of the thick crowd that would be sure to join the Flower Parade. After we said goodbyes to our gracious host in Teachers' Camp we tread on in the cold dark winter's night Hehe! The sun was just peaking behind the clouds when we arrived at Panagbenga park where all the participating floats are parked and it was where the Parade will start.
This Panagbenga experience was one of the things I dreamed of having and we made it! Thank you Langga for this very lovely and memorable experience. I love you! This was truly one great festival to culminate our trip! Till next time City of Pines! For now, we will go back to the Queen City of the South,still our number 1, Cebu!
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