One… two… three… Oh I see… I saw may name listed on Bus no. 28 with nine of my other classmates and other sections from BSIT and Comp. Tech students. I felt a sudden strike of being united as a one college.
I was only three years old when I first came to the City of Pines and that justify why it was hard on my part to remember a single detail of being in Baguio before. When I heard about the Baguio tour of CICT from my so-excited classmates, it made me long to be on the City of Pines again but this time, to capture memories that I surely can remember. Really, it saddened me when I was informed that Php. 1,700 closed the package inclusions. That is one night and two days stay. Most of us, (a good example were my classmates) fell back and decided not to join the fieldtrip anymore for it will cost us a lot. Maybe the organizers (CICT Faculty Officers) realized it’s not practical to settle for Php. 1,700 so they moved it to almost a half. Three of my friends wanted to join but only the two of us in the circle have been lucky to afford the tour’s payment. The day before, they start teasing me like “Tao ka na, makakarating ka na sa Baguio.” What I have told them is that it was my first time to visit the place.
Thank God there’s CICT Baguio Tour, I can now say that I’m able to do things that I wanted, not as a three year old little girl, but a more grown-up to treasure my experiences in my long-term memory!
When the buses came, students started prowling left and right while looking for their names in the bulletin board and on the bus where their names were listed. I saw students that midnight strolled the hallway to find bus numbers, I saw them jumped in and out of the bus and have seen some with huge bags (looks like they’re out for an out of the country vacation), almost sleeping beside the hallway waiting for the bus numbers to be posted. We hadn’t witnessed the skeletal road going up to the mountains of Baguio because we traversed the road where the night loses grasp of the light. But I’m thankful about it anyway, because I hadn’t experienced any drowsy feeling. Our tour guide with a thin but phlegmic voice really disturbed me, in fact almost all of us in the bus. For so many times, he will turn on the lights, get the microphone and would start announcing about the places were we would visit for numerous times over and over again. Nevertheless, he is a certified Baguio historian. I learned that Baguio came from an Ilocano word “Bagiw” which means a plant that grows in mossy and wet places and that Architect Burnham developed the Baguio’s structural design. That’s why Burnham park- the center of Baguio city is named after him.
I could vividly remember Baguio in an early morning. I think that’s the most beautiful part of the day. A foggish, mossy place on Earth plus the cold air – really makes Baguio different from any other places in the Philippines. I further understand why it is called the “Summer Capital” of the Philippines. One thing I enjoyed was when you open your mouth to speak; white smoke will come out of it [just like in Korean movies]. I did it when were having a coffee at six in the morning at Burnham. We’ve been to Bell tower next and there, lighted up five incense sticks in front of a huge Buddha and made our wishes. I enjoyed buying souvenirs at the strawberry farm. Ever heard of a strawberry flavored lengua de gato, strawberry taho, strawberry ice cream, and strawberry key chains? Baguio is really blessed with strawberries. We took most of the pictures in the Botanical Garden, The Mansion, the Wright Park, and Mines View Park—well, I can say that the vision of the mountain is so magnificent! You will surely fall in love standing over the deck! After that, we went back to Burnham Park for lunch- it was past one o’clock in the afternoon. Other went to SM Baguio for the last two hours. I stayed at the bus to steal a sleep. My legs were tired of walking and numb of the coldness.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, we started traveling off our way back to Malolos but this time-- no more tour guide. It was raining when we left Burnham- looks like even heaven bade goodbye as we drifted away from the cold city.
On our way home, we finally experienced the roads of Baguio. It seemed endless. From afar, I saw how blessed Baguio is. People there would not need to climb higher mountains or ride a helicopter to touch the clouds or even chase it away because during the sunset, clouds go down like bridging the top of the mountains and the sky. As the sky turned tangerine while the sun soaks through the downside of earth, you’ll see how heaven was touch by the earth through the clouds. It’s magnificent! It was past ten in the evening when the busses arrived at BulSU.
To walk back home carrying three brooms worth Php100.00, three strawberry wines, six peanut brittle, one kilo fresh strawberries and a dozen key chains is really tough especially when your legs ache. I felt loosing my feet but full of pictures of Baguio in my memory, in my camera and now, in my friendster account!
---Mira---
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