December 29, 2008: Baguio City

The day started with a hot shower, if by "shower" you mean "standing in the shower pouring cups of water from a bucket over my head" and by "hot" you mean "lukewarm at best."  Alma, who apparently was raised with this kind of system, wasn't bothered, but for me it was a bit of a culture shock.  I considered not even bothering the next morning, although it seemed unfair to everyone else given the long car ride back to Manila.

Driving around Baguio is like riding a wooden roller coaster built in the 1930s: you can do it, but you'd probably feel safer with something more modern.  Baguio is crazy hilly, like San Francisco on steroids, and compounds that by making most of its streets about 1.9 cars wide, with hairpin turns and steep gradients.  Being in the car was nerve-wracking, like barreling down Lombard Street on every single block.  The overcrowding certainly didn't help matters, as all the hills mean that walking and bicycles are less popular.  And of course when you're visiting a bunch of popular tourist destinations it's sort of hard to avoid crowds.  It was a crawl up to Lourdes Grotto (we took the cheap way out, driving as far up as you can go so as to avoid climbing every last stair), as it was in most places.  I don't think I got as much out of the grotto as did the Catholics in attendance, but it offered some decent views of the city.

Next it was off to Burnham Park, and if that name sounds unsuitably non-Filipino, that's because it's named for Daniel Burnham, the very same architect and planner who helped shape the layout of modern Chicago.  Burnham was commissioned to lay out Baguio City, although apparently his plans were mostly not fulfilled.  There is a lake in the center and Alma and I pedaled a swan-shaped boat around it.  Then we zipped right back out of the park and off to the Philippine Military Academy.  This truly was a whirlwind tour of Baguio, trying to squeeze everything into one day.  Following our PMA trip, we had lunch, then stopped by the Mansion, the residence of the president in Baguio.  Although it's usually used during the summers, President Arroyo was actually in Baguio at the same time we were - we saw her motorcade while at the PMA, and again driving past us (we had pulled over for it) on the way to the Mansion, meaning that she was inside while we were outside taking pictures of it.  Finally we headed over to Mines View Park, which had a nice unobstructed view of the mountains around Baguio, although the best view was very difficult to get to.  I really wanted a good view of the city itself, but I don't know that anything faces quite in the right direction unless you leave town and go up in the mountains.  It was a slog up to Mines View Park as well, incidentally - eventually the traffic was at such a standstill that we simply got out and walked the rest of the way.

Our final stop was at this place called the Chinese Garden, which could only be reached, in typical Baguio fashion, by driving down a steep, narrow street only wide enough for one vehicle.  When we got there it was after five, and the garden had closed.  Alma's uncle spent ten minutes trying to talk our way in to no avail, but it probably wouldn't have mattered.  Darkness falls quickly in Baguio, presumably owing to the surrounding mountains.  There was still some light when we got there, but by the time we left, maybe ten minutes later, it was nearly pitch black.  And then our driver had to back up the narrow driveway back to the main street.  Good times all around.

A look out at Baguio City proper from Lourdes Grotto.

2008 was the 150th anniversary of the supposed apparitions to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France.  Oddly enough, Alma's parents had also been to the real Lourdes earlier in the year.

There are 252 steps leading up to the grotto from street level, but you can drive most of the way up the hill to avoid having to climb the whole way, which is what we did.

Another shot where you can see some of the city.  Baguio is built on seven hills, like Rome.  Lourdes Grotto is on Mirador Hill in the western part of the city.

All the Catholic pilgrimage sites I've been to have a place for lighting candles.  They all pretty much look like this, with a bunch of melting candles and a ton of wax.

The altar, on which flowers are placed.  The sculpted image of Our Lady of Lourdes is just above this.

This was the highest point I reached, by climbing the stairs next to the altar, which terminate at a gate that doesn't open.  I turned around and snapped this shot.

Basically the same as the above, but giving slightly more indication of the height.

A first look at Burnham Park, located pretty much smack in the center of Baguio.

Here you could rent swan boats, which had to be pedaled with the feet.  There was also an option for a paddle boat, but this seemed easier to coordinate, plus we wanted to ride in a swan.

A look out at the lake from the pier.

A look back at the pier from the water.

There were a fair number of other bangka (boats) out on the lake.  The swan boat didn't necessarily steer all that well - it went kaliwa (left) and kanan (right) just fine, but derecho (straight) was something of an issue.  At one point we had a minor collision with another boat; nothing more than a small bump and we continued on our way without problems, but it was a little awkward at times trying to avoid other boats when the steering was questionable and not always the most responsive.

The pictured swan boat looks like the one we were in.  The sickly green color of the lake isn't a trick of the light - that's really what it looks like, and it has a bit of the smell of sewage to match.

A sign on the edge of the park which looked like it had been there a while.  Literally, "hataw na Baguio" means something like "Hit it, Baguio!"

The main thoroughfare next to the park.  A number of tricycles are visible.  The street was also lined with small vendors' setups, including a memorable one that featured a girl who could not have been older than 11 selling packs of cigarettes.

A last look into Burnham Park.  After pedaling once around the lake I was pretty bushed and ready to climb back into the car for a little rest before our next stop.

Next up we went to the Philippine Military Academy, which is actually located just outside the city proper.  Near the place we came in was this pool with a slightly stylized map of the Philippines inside.  At the opposite end of the pool is where we actually were on the map.

Among Baguio's nicknames is the "City of Pines," because there are a lot more conifers in this area owing to the milder climate.

Most of the time in Baguio the skies were nice and blue, a perk of being in the mountains.  This is a shot of the Philippine flag situated against the sky.

Melchor Hall, inside which classes are held.  According to my research, it's named for Alejandro Melchor, who once headed the PMA's math department and served as secretary of defense under Manuel Quezon, the Philippines' second president.

The PMA headquarters building.

The PMA crest, at the base of the flagpole outside the headquarters building.

Several of the flags in this shot say "KKK" on them, which was a little weird at first.  The KKK flag is the first flag ever created to represent the Philippines; the letters abbreviate "Kataastaasan at Kagalanggalang Katipunan ng Mga Anak ng Bayan," or "The Highest and Most Honorable Society of the Sons of the Nation."  The Katipunan rebelled against the Spanish at the close of the 19th century.  On the last day of the vacation we went to a museum which featured a number of dioramas marking Philippine history from prehistoric times up through the 1950s or so.  One featured a Katipunan initiation rite, during which its members wore hoods.  So here's this diorama with hooded guys and a KKK flag, but it's a matter of national pride.  Slight cognitive dissonance for me there.

A large sundial outside the HQ building.

The sundial featured this marker commemorating 100 years of the PMA as of 1998.  The foundation dates to 1898; after the US defeated the Spanish in the Battle of Manila Bay, Emilio Aguinaldo declared independence for the Philippines on June 12, 1898.  On October 25, presumably as part of what he saw as setting up a newly independent nation, he established a military academy.  However, on December 10, the Spanish ceded the islands to the US in the Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish-American War, and the US decided to annex the islands rather than releasing them.  (Nice job, America.)  The proto-PMA no doubt had some use in the ensuing Philippine-American War, which lasted from 1899-1902, and unofficially until 1913 as there continued to be small pockets of anti-American resistance.  The Philippines were granted self-rule in 1916 but were not officially a sovereign nation until 1946.

The main street at the PMA.  While we were there, President Arroyo's motorcade drove down it, right past us.

One last look at the headquarters building and its array of flags, which cover most of the different designs the Philippine flag has had over the years.

Nearby was this treehouse-type thing.  Alma and I climbed it hoping for a neat view, but the pine trees cut off a lot of the surrounding area.

The view from the treehouse looked like this.  A lot of pines.  Had it been a Saturday, the field at the right would have been full of cadets doing an exercise, which might have been cool to see, but alas, it was Monday.

Next we went for lunch.  The restaurant was located about 3/4 of the way up the "Igorot Stairs," an odd kind of novelty staircase that featured a lot of figures of native tribesmen and Filipino politicians.

The goofiest of the figures was this tribesman preparing to pee in front of the "Bawal Umihi" sign.  Signs like this - usually saying the more specific "Bawal Umihi Dito," which means "Forbidden to urinate here" - were all over the place in the Philippines.  At first I thought this was odd, but then it occurred to me - a lot of public bathrooms require that you pay a fee to use them.  The fee is pretty nominal - maybe 10 or 20 pesos, though it can depend on whether you're doing #1 or #2 (#2 costs more) and if you need to buy toilet paper (which is virtually never provided no matter where you are; Alma and her mom took to carrying rolls of toilet paper everywhere since odds were you'd need to have your own).  But if you're a low-income person, and certainly there are plenty of these in the Philippines, especially outside Metro Manila, you probably don't want to waste 20 pesos just because you have to pee.  So maybe you're just going to go wherever.  Hence, the need for signs specifically prohibiting urination in certain public areas.  (I'm not sure if public urination is itself illegal, but I'm guessing not - certainly in Asia as a whole it's reasonably common, at least compared to America where it will definitely get you arrested.)

A look down the stairs.  Most of the figures visible from here are Igorot tribesmen, although there are also a couple of police officers.

Two large Igorot tribesmen.  While many of the figures on the stairs were roughly life-sized (you can see the cop and the peeing tribesman in the middle and right foregrounds), there were several Igorot who dwarfed the rest, to say nothing of passers-by.  I was interested to note that the style of the Igorot depicted reminded me a lot of Central American Indians.

Shifting to the left, you can see the third large tribesman on that stair, along with his head-holding counterpart from the left of the last photo.

At the top of the stairs was this restaurant whose name I liked.  (Pinoy is a colloquial adjective the Filipinos use to describe themselves, taken from the second half of "Filipino.")  Alma thought it was a fake restaurant that was part of the stairs.  I don't think we ever found out if it was real or not while we were there, but I Googled it just now and it seems to be a real place.

A sign at the top of the stairs.  Mabuhay means "welcome."  (UPDATE: Well, not exactly.  I was tricked into thinking it did because in context on this sign it seemed to be saying "Welcome to the Igorot Stairs" and because of all the "Mabuhay ang Pilipinas" signs at the airport, but Arvin, who would know, notes that it actually means "Long live," giving "Mabuhay ang Pilipinas" the same contextual meaning as "Vive la France."  The context in the stairs' case becomes a little confusing with this in mind, but my guess, then, is that the sign is intended to be funny.  Why not - much of what's on the stairs was.)

Two of the most influential figures in Philippine politics of the last 25 years, Corazon Aquino and Jaime Cardinal Sin.  Aquino was the widow of popular politican Ninoy Aquino, killed upon his return from exile to challenge the Marcos regime in 1983; she was urged to run against Marcos in the 1986 elections, which she lost due to likely voter fraud.  Shortly thereafter, the first People Power revolution drove Marcos from office and Aquino took over, holding the presidency from 1986 until 1992 and remaining influential thereafter.  Cardinal Sin - who one assumes had to become a priest with a name like that - was considered the spiritual leader of both the 1986 revolution and EDSA II (the second People Power movement) in 2001, driving then-president Joseph Estrada from office.  (Aquino was also supportive of EDSA II, although while we were in the Philippines she actually apologized publicly to Estrada for her role, something Sin is also claimed to have done privately.)

Wooden sculpture is evidently a big thing in the Baguio area, which explains why there were so many at all the little souvenir shops.  I got a carabao and Alma got some nice carved birds.

The entrance to Wright Park.  We didn't actually go into the park, but it was right across from the Mansion.

This banner was right across the way as well.  I tried to see if I could translate any of it using my dictionary, but it's tough because you'll get combined words and stuff, plus some of those are probably proper nouns.  I can tell you that Pangulong Gloria means "President Gloria."  (UPDATE: Arvin noted that the sign words didn't appear in my dictionary because they're in Ilocano, a northern Luzon dialect - so pretty much the region we were in - rather than Tagalog.  I found an Ilocano-to-English dictionary site online and confirmed this; "Naimbag a Pascua ken Naragsak a Baro a Tawen" is the Ilocano equivalent of Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon.  The relative similarity of Pascua/Pasko and Tawen/Taon (plus Baro/Bago) confirms this further for my linguistically-interested mind.  So there you go - it's a holiday greetings banner from the president to the locals who speak Ilocano.)

The presidential motorcade in front of the Mansion; it had passed us on our way over.  I'm not sure what I'd compare the Mansion to in America - Camp David is the only thing that comes to mind (and in fact the Wikipedia page for Camp David suggests they are analogous), but you would never in your life get this close to Camp David.

Of course, with the zoom lens retracted, you can see we weren't necessarily that close.

Okay, we're just going to get a pi- CAR!

GAME ON!  I find the contrast between the above picture and this one fairly humorous.

The entrance to Wright Park, with a long reflecting pool.  I'm not sure whether the sign at the left is intended to welcome the president or to welcome visitors, from the president.  Arroyo was in town for the centennial celebration of the Mansion, so perhaps it was intended to welcome her specifically.

Another look at the reflecting pool, sometimes called the "Pool of Pines."

When the road up to Mines View Park crowded to a standstill, we got out and walked up the rest of the way.  I took some pictures out into the mountains during the walk.  Mines View Park is on the northeastern edge of Baguio and faces east, so all you really get to see from it is the surrounding terrain.

Another look from the walk up to the park.

And another.  As I mentioned previously, Baguio's elevation is nearly a mile above sea level, with the surrounding area divided very much between peaks and valleys.

Mines View Park should really be called Mines View Outcropping and Open-Air Mall.  Virtually every inch of the park that wasn't the small, rocky area from which you could see the view seemed to be covered with various souvenir shops or, in this case, a booth where you could get your picture taken with a Saint Bernard.  I found this hilarious at the time, but given my desire to see a carabao in the flesh, I don't think I had much room to do so.

To get to the point of Mines View Park from which there was actually a view, I had to make my way down some rock steps, out to a platform area which was crawling with people and which had apparently been carved right out of a cliff face.  I was the only one of our group who went down and really it was just as well; between Alma and her parents, I don't think anyone else would have made it.  At one point I had to make my way across a downward-pointing rock face that I couldn't stand on, sliding down instead, and while there was a railing let's just say I've seen more elaborate safeguards.  I'd like to say it was all worth it for the photos, but honestly these could have been more exciting.

Mines View Park is so named because it overlooks former gold and copper mines that used to operate just outside the city.  I will be damned if I knew when I was looking at them, though.

Someone was complaining to me that the houses spoiled the view, but I mean, as opposed to what?  Old mines aren't exactly what I'd call scenic.

I'm sure the mines are in this shot somewhere.  Baguio is apparently notorious for its quick-arriving mists, which I think are conspiring to white out the top half of this shot.

The sun was already starting to set when I snapped this photo of the outside gate at the Chinese Garden.  Within 15 minutes you could not see a thing but for the street lights.

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