Surprise Baguio Trip

On March 16th was Eric’s birthday. Since I was having a hard time coming up with a gift (I guess I have given most of what he wanted), I decided to surprise him with a weekend getaway. That’s the Baguio trip. I thought of Baguio because both of us had never been there and I knew he had been so eager to have the trip soon.

A week before, I have already asked for some opinions and recommendations from friends about lodging, how to get there, all must-see and of course, most importantly, budget. Since his special day was a weekday, I planned the trip to be on the weekend prior to his birthday, which was March 12th.

Since I only had a week to prepare, I wasn’t able to reserve bus tickets online so I had to go directly to the Victory Liner terminal for reservations. Anyways, you can reserve tickets online at least eight business days before your planned trip. You may go here for more info. For lodging, I got a few recommendations from friends and acquaintances and decided to choose De Vera Homes in Justice Village. The place was along Marcos Highway, just before you reach the town proper.

Of course I had to make sure that Eric was all free during the weekend. To make sure, I had him cancel and postpone all not-so-important appointments for March 12-14. I had to lie and say that we were going to Antipolo to spend the weekend. I knew he was not so thrilled with the idea, but he obliged.

Came March 12th. I had packed all our things the night before. He also included some board shorts for swimming and I almost laughed. I had to suppress myself and pack his shorts to make him believe that a private resort in Antipolo was waiting for us. We were then heading to Cubao. He was a bit confused as to why we had to go to Cubao when we could have gotten off at Shaw. I told him that I discovered that there were fx taxis in Cubao bound to Antipolo. Then we went first to 7 Eleven beside the Victory Liner Terminal to buy our drinks. Once settled, I gave him his bus ticket and told him that that would be his pass. He stared at the ticket and I saw the magical smile when he realized he would be in Baguio in no time at all. He thanked me and I saw the surprise and happiness in his eyes. Aww..

Total Wallet Damage – for 2 persons:

*2-night stay at De Vera Homes – P3,000.00 (P1,500.00 per night)

Deluxe tickets from Manila to Baguio – P1,430.00 (P715.00 each)

Regular tickets from Baguio to Manila – P860.00 (P430.00 each)

Toiletries/chips – P400.00

**Taxi fares (all taxi rides for 2 days) – P724.50

***Food (dinner, breakfast, lunch, dinner) – P1,216.00

Pasalubong – P520.00

****Miscellaneous – P870.00

Total      P9,890.50

*With hot and cold shower, kitchen, ref and stove, cable tv, nice surroundings  and peaceful ambiance.

**Most taxis in Baguio are in fx style with flagdown rate of P25.00 plus P1.50 for every 300 meters.

***We had dinner at Good Taste (P329.00), breakfast at Cafe by the Ruins (P347.00), lunch at Botanical Garden (P180.00) and dinner at Solibao Resto near Burnham Park ( P360.00). I will have to create a separate post for food reviews.

****Includes photo taking, bonnets, any whatever along the way.

To sum it up, I didn’t want to go back to Manila after stepping in Baguio.

 

He had a happy birthday!

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