Baguio City

Baguio City, although politically and administratively independent being a highly urbanized city, is geographically part of the province of Benguet in the Cordillera Administrative Region of the northern Philippines.
This city of the Kankanaeys, Ilocanos, Ibalois, and other ethnic groups is fondly called the Philippines' Summer Capital owing to its cool highland subtropical climate at an altitude of 1,540 meters asl. The temperature in this mountain resort city ranges from around 12C to 22C in January to about 16C to 25C in May. If you're planning to come here, expect considerably heavy rainfall during the East Asian monsoon months from late May up until October.
I went there on March 2016 to check the place out and came back again last December 2016 to attend a relative's wedding and we stayed there for three days and two chilly nights. We visited some popular spots and I'm going to post some of my shots here both from my March and December 2016 visits.

After a 6-hour bus ride from Manila, we arrived in Baguio City at around 4:30 in the morning. The air is chilly and the city is blanketed in fog.

You can easily see these houses on the surrounding mountains especially if you're en route to La Trinidad town. This pic is shows the Quirino Hill houses.

Baguio Cathedral, the seat of the Diocese of Baguio.

The road in front of Mines View Park, one of Baguio's most popular tourist spots.

Mines View Park's famous mountainside gazebo.

View from the gazebo.

And another one.

This lagoon is just above Wright's Park and leads to "The Mansion", the official residence of the Philippine President when visiting Baguio City and is also known as the "Malacanang of the North".

This is the front gate of The Mansion. Personally, I think the gate is more of a tourist spot than the mansion itself. =)

The ever popular Burnham Park Lagoon right at the center of the city just behind SM City Baguio and a short walk from Session Road, Baguio's commercial district.

We also went to the Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine grotto. That's around 200+ steps.

The view of the city center from the top of the grotto.

After roaming around the city of Baguio, we then headed next to the neighboring municipality of La Trinidad, Benguet, the province's seat of government. This is a largely agricultural town. This municipality can be reached by hiring a cab/taxi or by riding a jeepney. There are two jeepney stations going there, one is right across Baguio Public Market and the other one is just in front of the Baguio City Hall.

Upon reaching the municipality of La Trinidad, remind the taxi or the jeepney driver that you are going to alight at the La Trinidad Strawberry Farm. The taxi will usually drop you right at the strawberry plantation but if you are riding a jeepney, you should alight at the main road, cross the street and walk about 100 meters to the site.

The plantation plants all sorts of veggies and fruits from cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberry, peas and many more. They have a mini market there so you can buy if you want.

We paid 500 pesos for every kilo of personally handpicked strawberries, OR if you don't want to pay that  much, you can just buy the already packed ones instead. For the handpicking, they will only charge you based on the total weight of strawberries you picked.

That's it. Other places that you can visit (and I will visit when I return) are:

• BenCab Museum
• Baguio Golf and Country Club
• Philippine Military Academy
• Session Road's Night Market (B-A-R-G-A-I-N)
• Baguio's Panagbenga Flower Festival (every early February)
• and many more!

Notes:

1. Bus Fair (Victory Liner - Regular Airconditioned): 450 pesos regular fare one way from Manila to Baguio
2. As of late 2016 and early 2017, taxi flag down rate is at 35 pesos, but Baguio is small enough that you will never get surprised by your taxi fare unless you want to go to spots outside or far from the city like BenCab Museum and La Trinidad Strawberry Farm.

Tumagbok Bridge, Miagao, Iloilo

          The bridge of Miagao or Tumagbok Bridge is one of the five major bridges that you will come across with when you're travelling along the southern coast of Iloilo. This bridge, with an approximate length of 100 m, is a steel bridge that traverses the Tumagbok River, one of the town's chief rivers. In the photo, you can see Mt. Napulak or more popularly known as Nipple Mountain/Susong Dalaga, the peak with the prominent boulder on its top. This mountain traverses the boundaries of Miagao and Igbaras. The other peak on the left is one of the chief mountain peaks of Miagao.

          The bridge connects the poblacion (town proper) of the municipality to barangays east of it or more specifically, barangays Ubos Ilawod in the poblacion and Igtuba.

Tumagbok Bridge, Miagao, Iloilo

Dalije, Miagao

               Miagao is a very scenic town in the province of Iloilo. Currently [2013], it is one of the seven towns in the province to be considered as a first class municipality based on income classification. The municipality is well-known for its UNESCO World Heritage church - Miagao Church or also known as the Santo Tomas de Villanueva Church. The town is also famous for its hablon weaving, being one of the last remaining weaving centers in the province which produces the said textile in a very traditional way using a tiral.

               Barangay Dalije  is one of the hinterland barangays of the municipality. It is one of the largest barangays in terms of land area. The barangay is characterized by a hilly to mountainous terrain terminating at the peak of Mt. Pan-ay, one of the most distinguishing topographical features of Miagao. The view of the mountains as one hikes his way to reach the barangay center is awesome. In the past, you could only reach the barangay on foot but you can now reach the village by hiring a motorcycle, locally known as the habal-habal, or you can ride one of the jeepneys heading to the barangay from the Miagao town proper. Travel is easy during the summer season but during the rainy season, jeepneys are scarce. Motorcycles are still available during the wet season but the drivers are usually hesitant to travel especially if the ground is still wet after a heavy downpour. In this case, you have to walk your way to the barrio. The usual stopover for jeepneys heading for Dalije is Barangay Bacolod. It is also where you would usually start walking if you have to or opt to walk. For others seeking more adventure, you can hire a horse to bring you to the barangay.

The welcome sign to Barangay Dalije from Barangay Bacolod.

Verdant rice paddies beside the main river that flows through the barangay, the Oyungan river.

A small cliff beside the road covered with cogon grass.

The bamboo hanging bridge along the Oyungan River.

The Oyungan River.

Scenic Mount Pan-ay, one of the prominent peaks in the southern terminus of the Madja-as Range.

Other neighboring mountains with the Alimodias Elementary School [Barangay Alimodias] seen as the small white structure sitting on the mountaintop.

Two waterfalls are visible in the mountains.

Mount Napulak or nipple-mountain, the most prominent peak in southern Iloilo.

The hanging bridge connecting Barangay Bacolod with Barangay Dalije.

The other side of the mountain belongs to the Municipality of Sibalom, in Antique.

Leaving Barangay Dalije...

               Next time you go to Miagao, aside from the historical and cultural sites, you should not miss visiting the hinterland barangays including Barangay Dalije. There are waterfalls, scenic mountain lakes, caves, the Rafflesia bloom, and many more to discover.