Bloated In Baguio: The Gastronomic Adventure

I've shared tents and bunked with strangers. But I haven't had an adventure with my BFFs  - my Amigas.This trip has been brewing since...2000-something. Since we all started to earn and some disposable income. So this year, we were set to really get out of town. Where: Sa bagong-bagong Baguio.

We’ve all been to Baguio before. It is not about setting our foot in the famous tourist spots in Baguio. We just want to bond. Chos! It is accessible and you don't have to plan a lot to go around. We got by hailing taxi cabs. No need to buy plane tickets or to rent a van. We planned to just around, EAT, and just take pics of whatever.

After just five hours of bus travel, we landed in Victory Liner’s terminal in Baguio city. We walked with our backpacks going to Hotel Veniz. Dropped off our luggage and then walked to Good Taste to replenish our intestines for the day.

Day 1 Breakfast – Good Taste

We just asked directions going to Good Taste. I’ve actually been to Good Taste during my Mount Pulag trip but I didn’t know it was a “place to eat”.

Don’t let the exteriors fool you. The venue may be blah but the food is rockin in flavour, servings and amount.

We ordered the chicken wings, beef and broccoli and chao fan. The chao fan is supposed to be good for three...three extremely hungry people. The servings were more than what we expected. The broccoli is just colourful. Cooked just right. (The vegetables in Baguio are more colorful and happier looking). The whole spread just costs Php 500. We shelled out Php 125 each.

Good Taste is just beside the jeepney terminal. We jumped in a jeepney bound for La Trinidad to check out the Strawberry farm. It was quite muddy then so we didn't go berry picking.

Strawberries: Php 300/kilo and Php 75 for a tumpok. Be warned though that the big strawberries are placed on top, and those at the bottom doesn’t look  as appetizing.

Day 1 Lunch – Oh My Gulay

This spars two floors of a building in session road. There’s this sign in the ground floor.

But you have to climb these stairs. You'll be so hungry when you finally get there. 

How To Fund Your Wanderlust: Sharpen Your Time and Money Management Skills

Someone: Wow gala nanaman! Sarap naman. Sana ako din ganyan, maka-gala.

Me: Bakit hindi? Go!

Someone: Eh kasi _____________________.

I had this conversation with friends and strangers. That blank is filled-out with a multitude of reasons excuses. Two things are needed to travel: 1) Money and 2) Time. Funding my wanderlust does not simply rest on how much I have to save to spend on a trip. I also have to find the time for the trip itself.

I realized that it all boils down in managing two elements in my life: Money and Time. I have to do three things to both: Save, Prioritize, Spend.

MONEY

Moolah. Cash. You may have some, enough or a lot. There is this common misconception that you need a lot of cash travel. It is not how much you earn, it is how you manage it.

Save: Save for something. Save for nothing. Just Save.

My first job was an auditor. I may look and dress expensive, but beneath those eyebags, I knew I was an underpaid corporate slave. I would always look back fondly at the penny-pinching decisions I made during my auditor days. That first job taught me how to budget.

The essence of saving came very handy when I the travel bug bit me. All the saving skills came into play. Want vs. Need. Now vs. Later. Being cheap vs. being frugal.

Some would say they could book tickets, reserve hotels and shop all with a credit card and pay the bill slowly thereafter. Some would rationalize that traveling prevents them from saving. Some would use travel as an excuse not to save. I frown on that. I believe that we should be financially healthy and ready before we spend on a trip.