Baguio Memories

As promised, here are some of my old Baguio photos of summers past. The photo up top was taken in May 1977 at the family summer home in Philam Compound, Baguio City. I was two years old. We vacationed in that house almost every summer.

Us girls. Here's a photo of my mom, my two sisters and me (in my favorite denim jumper and houndstooth chaleco which I then thought was way cool). This was taken in March 1980 at the garden of the Philam house. The beautiful garden was my playground and I spent hours there doing all sorts of things. Back then, there were no iPads, iPods, cellular phones, cable tv and interent but I hardly ever got bored. I gathered wild cherry tomatoes, I exposed giant ant nests underneath the rock flower borders and watched the worker ants frantically lift and run off with one egg per ant (cruel, I know), I collected "empty" snail shells only to see them crawling out of my container minutes later, I picked up pine cones, etc. I had loads of fun there. You can see a part of the house in the background. It was a stereotypical vintage Baguio house - wood painted in chocolate brown.

That's me and my late grandfather at the Court of Appeals compound where we sometimes stayed. There goes my denim jumper and houndstooth chaleco again :)

Summer of 1984. That's my sister and me (in the striped sweater) at a hiking trail between our house and the neighbor's. I distinctly remember those Clio boots! Pasalubong from the U.S. at a time when there was a ban on imported goods. Those boots were so precious to me then!

At the park in front of the house with my sister and brother. Check out my brother's super 80's outfit. Pitis denims and Sperry Topsiders! From his awkward pose, my guess is that he was doing Michael Jackson's "Beat It" moves. Ahhhhhh... how I love the 80's! :)

Us girls again. This photo didn't have a date scribbled at the back but this was probably taken in the summer of 1986, also at the garden of the Philam house. That's me in the striped shirt. Notice the Prince Valiant hairdos? My mom had our hair curled that summer. I can still remember the strong scent of the Pagoda Cold Wave lotion ;)

Fast forward to July 16, 1990.  A killer earthquake hit Luzon, Philippines and Baguio City was practically destroyed. Sadly, the Philam house was not spared. The entire house slid off the mountain. I still have recurring dreams about that house.

Baguio City of today is a far cry from the Baguio City of my childhood. We visited the Philam area a few years back and it was in such a sorry state. There were illegal settlers everywhere and the remaining houses looked like they fell on hard times. The entire city has changed in that it has a bigger population now and has more establishments. The weather is still pleasantly cool but it has just become so crowded.

Being the sentimental fool that I am, I still try to bring my kids to Baguio every year so they can get a taste of what I enjoyed as a child. Fortunately, we get to stay in a beautiful house in Camp John Hay (borrowed, not owned) which to me is Baguio City's last frontier.

The beautiful view from the master bedroom window. Beyond those trees is a golf course.

There's a beautiful stand of pine trees in front of the John Hay house which my daughter loves to roam around in to collect pine cones. When she was much smaller, she used to call the pine cones "shells" :)

There's my little boy and his walking stick. It's amazing how kids can find ways to entertain themselves when they're outdoors.

The lean pinecone harvest. It was a slow morning :)



The obligatory horse ride along the Camp John Hay trail.

My daughter loves this inflatable ball ride at SM Baguio City. I would have also enjoyed this as well but during my time, malls were not so commonplace yet :) One had to go to Maharlika to buy stuff.

Boating at the Burnham Park lagoon is still a thriving enterprise. The boats and the lagoon look pretty much the same but check out the massive SM mall looming in the background. We definitely had none of that in the 80's but I don't feel like I missed out on anything. Baguio City (and the world for that matter!) was more beautiful then, even without the urban trappings.

We're going to take the kids to Camp John Hay again this summer. I can't wait to step out of the house, walk along the tree-lined road to...

...the rustic Starbucks(!) nearby to...

...read a good travel narrative in a quiet corner, with a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll :)

What are your plans for the summer?