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Friday, February 24, 2017

Walking in Baguio: Yellow Trail, Camp John Hay

the view

My cousins (and aunt and uncle) recently visited Baguio to celebrate my uncle's birthday. I asked them if they wanted to go on a short hike, and they said yes. So I decided to take them on a trip along the Yellow Trail in Camp John Hay.

The morning was perfect--the sky was clear, and it was still a bit cool. After meeting up at the Filling Station, off we went to the trail head. We took our time just walking and taking photos. I forgot to turn my tracker on until around 5 minutes into the hike, and I forgot to turn it off until I was in a cab on the way back to my unit. Anyway, it was great to finally track my time on the trail, even if it was a leisurely one.

The Yellow Trail.View the details of our walk here!

The sights (and feels) along the trail never fail to amaze me. I'm glad to live near a (slightly) forested area, even if it's considered a property of the great big US of A.

property

If you walk/hike at a leisurely pace, you'll get to the end of the trail (at Treetop Adventure) in around an hour, maybe less. We stopped frequently to take photos (and marvel at nature), so I think we spent around an hour and 40 minutes there.

For me, the best time to go there is in the early morning before or just as the sun comes up. You'll be rewarded with a grand view of the mountains to the east and the sun warming your face (see top photo). 

bright and sunny

perfect weather

I don't think I'll ever get tired of walking along this trail. Maybe next time I'll practice trail running on it!

Friday, February 17, 2017

a wee refreshing walk



It's been a long while since my last post.
#shame

Work, erratic sleep times, more work, and just plain laziness have all contributed to my lack of long, leisurely walks and motivated runs, but I know those are just excuses, because of all people I know I can make time to go out and have some fun in the northern sun.

Which brings me to today.

Talking with like-minded friends has renewed my passion(?) for going out, seeing places, and simply being. I revisited old blog posts and journal entries. I've wanted to travel, write, and take photos for the longest time. I may not be able to hop from one region or country to another (for now), but there are places that are accessible to me, places with people and events and stories of their own.

So I've decided to tell my stories about these stories.

I'm not sure yet whether I'll make a separate blog for that. Probably not. As long as there's walking involved (and there almost always is), this will do. :)

Plus, I'm slowly but surely taking up my film cameras again. It's really fun taking them along on a walk. Here are some not-so-recent shots from my lightleaky Olympus mju II (cropped out the edges).

With the major Panagbenga activities just around the corner, Baguio City will surely have more visitors. More visitors means more cars, and more cars means the traffic will be worse. If you're planning on visiting the Summer Capital in the next few week(end)s, be prepared to leave your car and just walk. The weather is really nice, and well, walking is really good for you. :)

I checked out some of the stalls already set up in Burnham Park for the annual Panagbenga Festival a couple of days ago as I was finishing a roll on my mju. The crowd was still pretty thin--it was a weekday, after all--so walking wasn't much of a tiresome activity then. Let's see how things turn out in the coming days.

This morning I just took a small walk in my area, which is one of the top tourist spots in the city. On my way back I chanced upon this little stall selling refreshments. There's a number of these 'lemonade' stalls around the city but none in my area, so this is a real treat for me. It would be great to grab some vitamin C after my morning walks, so yay!

Say hello to The Gibraltar Rind! Or is it The Gibraltar Grind? Or is it both? It works either way, but I'll make sure to ask! :)

Fun fact: I hate cucumbers as food, but I love them as drinks.

I tried out the 16-ounce single orange drink. I like that it's not too sweet.

Hot chocolate, fresh fruits, coffee, infused water, and kuya, meticulously preparing my drink.
If you're in a hurry and want your drink done asap, you're missing the point.
When you get your drink, give the juices some time to really mix ;)


hearts all around

Blurry photo because I was too giddy about hot, rich dark chocolate (16-ounce servings!).

Really pretty colors :)

Topped with mint for that perfect refreshing drink! Cheers!

The stall's currently set up where Cora's Restaurant is in Mines View, beside Budgetwise (our friendly neighborhood convenience store). They're there every day except Tuesdays. They sell oranges too!

Definitely looking forward to more (photo)walks and all-natural fruit drinks in the coming days/weeks/months/years. Here's to spending more time outdoors!

Oh by the way, I tried one of these:

My smartphone isn't NFC-capable, but I do have a QR code reader, so I checked it out if it works. It does! This code led me to this page:


Neat and nifty! Something great to have when you want to actually know more about a place. 

Anyway, I'm off. More posts to come!