Baguio City: La Trinidad Strawberry Fields

i've always been curious about this strawberry fields whenever any person talks about it coming from Baguio. maybe because i've always associated the fruit to be an american thing.

i remember when i was first told that strawberries are grown in Baguio, i thought it was pretty cool stuff.

many may have been discouraged to go to La Trinidad for its strawberry fields, maybe they are misinformed thinking that since it's outside Baguio then it will take a while to get to the place. well La Trinidad is adjacent to the city so it wouldn't take that long to reach the place. in good traffic, maybe 20 minutes can get you there.

A statue of an Ifugao woman stands guard at the Welcome Arch of La Trinidad, the provincial capital of Benguet Province.



here's the plantation of the Strawberry Fields. i'm not quite sure if this is the only place where they grow the fruit. if it is then it is amazing 'coz it's really not that big a field and yet it may be the place where all the strawberries encountered in this country originates from.



the field is not purely for strawberries. they also grow these colorful flowers which i failed to ask what specie. help anyone?






family photo-op.



how commercialized has this place got? well maybe the sign will give you a hint. but you need not pay, i think it's more of a voluntary thing.


how abundant is the strawberry here in La Trinidad? well, our beloved taho here is in pink. pretty awesome tasting this variety and the manong magtataho will throw in around three berries in your taho for safety measures.


guess what? their dirty ice cream is also in pink.

here we are getting our hands full of the pink stuff. strawberry taho can be enjoyed even in Baguio so you get to enjoy the pink stuff even if you fail to come here at the strawberry fields.


get to enjoy the other varieties of this pink fruit, be it in its natural state, in its processed state as a jam, and for the more adventurous in its alcohol state (wine).


funny how the berries are sold cheaper when it's bought at the stalls than when you pick them up by yourself inside the fields. even the experience has a price. the price difference is about Php100 between the two.


being a tourist spot, all other pasalubong products of the province are in full display here. the brittle, the lengua, crinkles, jackets, broom, phallic ashtrays, trinkets and veggies are also sold here for a one-stop pasalubong experience.

be sure to come here early, around 7am-8am to avoid build up of crowds. make sure to make a u-turn first before parking so that you're faced going back the main road. when the crowd comes in with their vehicles, it will be quite hard for you to maneuver your way back.

when we returned here on our last day at around 11am, traffic stretched all the way to the main road so try to check it out earlier in the morning.

finally i got to experience La Trinidad. we bought a week's supply of the pink fruit and i think i should have bought more. Strawberries has very rich antioxidant properties so if the taste won't win you over, maybe the health benefits will.

Again, La Trinidad is not that far to Baguio so the next time you go up the Summer Capital, be sure to include this place in your itinerary.

the province really has a problem with garbage. hope they'll figure it out soon how to manage it.

Baguio City: Burnham Park

On our first day, i really made it a point that we visit Burnham Park since i wanted Jaden to enjoy his first trip here in Baguio City. during the planning stage i really included things that i know my son Jaden will enjoy such as the Butterfly Farm, Wright Park, Kiddie Golf at CJH and of course boating and biking at Burnham Park.

The park was named after architect Daniel H. Burnham who built the park around which the city of Baguio was built. Ever wondered why when in Baguio we get to encounter quite a number of American names such as Wood, Wright, Kennon, Harrison and Hay to name the more known ones, well go to this link (http://www.gobaguio.com/americans-and-baguio.html) and you'll be given the short answers on who they are and what their contributions in what we now know as the City of Pines. we should be thankful somehow to them for making the city as beautiful as it now is.

"When Architect Burnham conceived a plan for the park, he saved the very best piece of real estate for a public park to serve the people and provide for their health and recreation." - www.i-baguio.com

i used to really take this park for granted, i remember coming here in my teens and thinking "so what's all the fuzz about this boring park". i thought it was so lame to paddle your way in an artificial lagoon. but family life changed all that, it gave me a different perspective to it. you don't think of your own interests as much anymore but that of the kids more oftenly (is this a word?) when you have your own family already .

so boating and biking were on the top of the list of the must-do here at Burnham Park. For only Php60 per 30 minutes, it is quite a bargain for paddling time around the man-made lake considering the experience with my son, as a credit card company puts it "priceless". you can actually over-extend your paddling time without them noticing but i guess the operators rely on a person's honesty for this.

biking was only P30 per hour.

you can do some shopping around the park...



from silver wear ...




to domestic pets.



food is not a problem as many carts and stalls offer a quick bite.



like this manang offering a fruity alternative of strawberries to the

cholesterol-filled oily fishball.

i took a stroll around the park and these are some of the scenes i encountered. now i realize how beautiful this park is and how envious i am of the people here for them to have a park like this.



burnham is where "still as beautiful as the old days happens"...



where mending a broken-hearted happens ...


where naindyan ng ka-date happens ...


where the excited little boys happens ...

where the excited BIG boys happens ...

where beauty is everywhere happens ...

where making friends happens ...

where did i say beauty everywhere happens ...

... and where BFF best friends forever happens ...

we were billeted at Burnham Hotel which was just a stone's throw away from the park. so after taking my morning shower, i went back to the park just curious on how it looks like at early morning. the park offers a a totally different atmosphere but the constant is the joy it brings to its visitors.

the health-conscious and the not-so-healthy visitors do their morning exercises. i saw two separate groups from each end with their own instructors. sighted even some hunks who participated in the exercises. you can sense their slight embarassment doing aerobics given their buff bodies. i guess for them health comes first so to hell with their pride.

going around some more, i chanced upon this coffe bag / cart. i thought it was interesting. when i took some close-up photos, this "interesting-clothed" man approached me. it turned out, he's the owner of the bag and also the head of some 50 coffee sellers around the park permitted by the local government.

he used to be a bartender and hearing him out of his plans for the coffee sellers around the park was quite amazing. he said he'd like for them to have the same interesting bag/cart and then have everyone don a more presentable uniform.

here's another view of the morning exercisers (again is that a word?). some came in appropriate get-ups, some came in shorts, others in jackets, while quite a few were in slippers.

only during this part of the morning can you find these duck-boats parked along side each other. they form one corner of the boat operators.

baguio as it transforms and welcomes another busy day ahead. i'm wearing the jacket i bought at the Wagwagan night market the previous night, an Adidas camouflage jacket with a tribal design on the chest portion. Quite a bargain at Php340.00.

as i leave the park, i really had the biggest respect for it. imagine the thousands of happy moments this park brings to locals and tourists alike. if i was to choose what the number 1 destination is in Baguio City, hands down my vote goes to Burnham Park. No park quite like it. Simply AMAZING. Burnham Park ... Where Amazing Happens....

Baguio City: Getting There

Finally, after more than 5 years i was set to go back to the City of Pines, Baguio City. i didn't really intend to be away from this mile high city that long, there had been numerous attempts to come back sooner but got cancelled for reasons i can no longer even remember. forget those cancelled trips, the important thing is i'm going back and i'm as excited as my first time some 20 years ago.

since i'd be driving going to the City That Kisses The Clouds, i had to get my car ready for the long haul ahead. i had my tires checked out for holes, luckily all five tires were ok. then i visited a Shell Service Station to have them check whatever it was that needed to be checked for a long trip ahead.

On the day of the trip, i filled my gas tank so i can compute my car's fuel efficiency. Kilometer 0 was the Shell Gas Station near Ever Commonwealth. Good thing fuel prices had been on a downtrend making driving to Baguio more practical than hopping on a bus.

Being an occasional environmentalist, i filled my gas tank with Shell's Super Unleaded E10, which is the most environment friendly fuel as of yet from Shell.

Another thing that got me interested in driving all the way up to Baguio was the completion of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway or SCTEX. i already tested the SCTEX going to Zambales early this year and it really was a welcome development for trippers like us.

i'm sure with this expressway, tourism in the provinces being served by it will get a needed boost as it cuts traffic anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on the destination. More tourists will be encouraged to travel with SCTEX in operation.

It costed me Php69.00 from SCTEX exit to Tarlac City exit, not bad for the hassle-free driving that stretched around 70 kilometers.

Left our house just before 4:30am to get a headstart over the other expected vacationers. good thing about leaving early is you get to average at a high speed due to the small volume of cars on the expressway during that time.

there are several roads leading up to Baguio, but i preferred Kennon being the shortest one of them. and i learned that this was the most scenic path leading up to Baguio. i made sure i stopped by the Kennon Viewpoint for it offers the view of the path you just took and it was quite a sight.

another reason of choosing Kennon was to show my son, Jaden, the Lion Head bust near the top. He might recognize it from the Madagascar cartoon character, Alex the Lion. Unfortunately, he was more scared that animated with the Lion Head when they came finally face to face. We arrived at the Lion Head at around 9am and it was already full of tourists.

the entire trip took about 4.5 hours coming from Commonwealth in Quezon City with a slight delay at the exit of the Tarlac SCTEX due to growing volume of vehicles by then. on a lucky day, you could really get to Baguio in 4 hours coming from Commonwealth so i think given this stat i think i'd be visiting Baguio more often than before, guaranteed.

Now that i got under way with my trip to the Summer Capital, i'm looking forward to enjoying my stay here and i'll keep you posted of the places and experiences i get to enjoy for the next four days.