After breakfast and packing up, we headed out toward Baguio. Chris also lived there growing up, and one of his sisters was born there. First thing though, we headed to a convent up in the nearby mountains that was the burial place of an uncle. The road up to the convent was steep and narrow, but the drive was beautiful. Along the drive up were crosses and inspirational sayings. I think it was the stations of the cross, but I really don't know that much about how Catholicism works out.
Once up there, we had to walk to the actual burial. It was really a well manicured and the people there were so friendly and warm. There was a pretty little flower-lined pathway to walk, but all along were sayings and verses. I truly felt like this would be an amazing place to come for a retreat and be silent with God. So much to meditate on and such beauty to remind you that the maker of this earth is truly an artist. How I wished I had time to stay, there was a definite peace and joy about the place. On our way back, the sisters took us upstairs to an amazing prayer room that overlooked all the way to the ocean. Chris' aunt showed up as well. She clearly has a strong faith in God as well. The fellow followers of Christ have been an encouragement to me here, even though they probably have no idea.
We made our way back down the windy narrow road and then onto the road to Baguio. The traffic slowed down and we discovered it was due to a funeral procession. Not the kind we think of here with cars and police escorts, but people walking, carrying umbrellas, down the road with a decorative cart. Oddly enough, Chris' dad spotted a family member in the group! We then passed a second one not farther down.
We really wanted to stop at a Pandesol to get fresh backed bread, so we came to a small town that had some shops and bakeries lining the road. We climbed out and walked up and down, but had a hard time finding the right place. Most did not have the fresh baked goods Chris remembered as a kid. We did buy a few items and continued to walk until we found another bakery that looked good and bought a few more there. We walked down a little hall in the buildings and I walked past a seamstress' shop. I could hear an old machine and I really think that machine was not running on electricity. I didn't want to stare, so I'm not sure, but I thought of my mom and how this would be interesting for her to see. We also passed a cart that make coconut juice/shakes, and I thought it was clever because they name it facebooko (buko is coconut and the two "oo"s in the word were made out of coconuts, clever). Back in the car, I pulled out one of the breads, and put it in my mouth, just as Chris pointed out there was a bug on it. Yes, sure enough, there was a tiny little bug crawling on it. I had wanted it...but not that much. We put the two breads back together and threw it away. We passed a funeral procession on the way as well. There were a bunch of people walking behind a casket being pulled on a cart. Chris' mom even recognized a family member in the crowd! We passed another just a few minutes later. There are things that definitely clog up the traffic...but what is the other choice?
We stopped for gas in another town, and that's when we saw there were some little shops open with food. We climbed out, and passed the first store and then, there it was, a 24/7 Pandesol. We ordered enough for the whole van and then got on our way, once again. It was very tasty - reminded me a lot of when we were little and my mom would make fresh bread. It was best just after it was taken out of the oven. Same with this.
The climb up the mountain to Baguio wasn't that bad...but not that good either. It was a pretty windy curvy road, with some steep cliffs and breathtaking mountain views. It's amazing how there are villages that are built right on these cliffs. I don't think I could live or work in one of those buildings.
Just before we actually reached the town, there was a big lion painted on a large rock formation on the side of the road. This is a pretty famous spot, Chris was excited that he remembered it. Plenty of people had stopped to take pictures, but we did not.
The landscape had changed quite a bit too, pine trees dotted the mountain sides. It was still pretty lush and green but felt much more like a mountain town than a jungle area. The city was fairly hilly, and you could see across the valleys and peaks were just covered with houses. With all the housing, I thought the population would be higher than it is, but I guess there is a lot of student housing because this is a university town. Baguio looks pretty well developed overall too, and plenty of businesses. The climate is much cooler because of the altitude - for this reason it is known as the summer capital of the Philippines. It was very pleasant that day, and I was glad at times I had a light sweatshirt with me. We first stopped at a shop that had many handcrafted items, but they were pricey and we were looking for somethings maybe a little more affordable. It's so interesting how security guards often also help direct parking and they use whistles to help stop traffic or guide you in or out of the parking. It was very useful as the traffic was getting worse and we needed to get back into it. We drove around and found another marketplace, this one looked crowded and full of all kinds of things from food to household items, and clothing. We couldn't find a good place to park or stop, and we saw the traffic on the other side of road was a nightmare as we kept driving further from the market. Chris navigated us up some steep hillside residential roads that apparently the jeepneys don't go on. The jeepneys made up much of the traffic on the other side.
We were dropped off and started to to make our way through the busy Marhilika market. The first stop was at a bakery with these delicious sugary coated balls that tasted a lot like doughnuts. We bought a few other items...since I love my bread. We continued on and passed a stall carrying at least twenty different types of rice. I'm sure it was more than that, but I didn't count. I had no idea so many types existed. One of our first stops of length was at a candy/snack dealer where we purchased chichacorn. I have discovered that I really love chichacorn. It's crunchy, a little spicy and tiny little balls...kind of like corn nuts but not quite. We bought some bags, some other pastillas, sampled some other foods and moved on looking at different souvenirs. One shop had only brooms - walis in Tagalog. I love the way they look - decorated simply with a brightly designed band and then this full very triangular bristles that look soft and fuzzy. One on it's own may not be all that pretty, but put all together hanging it all looked so soft and fuzzy to me. It almost made me want to sweep something up.
There were several shops with wooden creations and woven baskets in them. These had true artistic beauty of native handicrafts. If I had room to store them all back at home, I would have filled up with serving platters and baskets that had a beautiful wood with woven materials as handles or bands or stands. Sometimes the wood had carvings in them as well of flowers or delicate vine-like lines. Chris loved the barrel man - it's a little head that sticks out of a barrel - like you'd see in the olden days for taking baths. You pull up the barrel and the man's extremities pop out. It's funny...maybe a little crass. We did end up buying a cute little turtle shaped candy dish with weaving on parts of it. There were some great chairs that were very comfortable and folded up made of very solid wood, but too heavy and hard to take home. Another piece we loved was a bowl that sat on a tripod of sorts, but the tripod stand was carved all out of one piece of wood, even though it could move and be folded up. It was such a lovely piece and came in three different sizes, but we passed on all of them because they had too many flaws. This marketplace was certainly cheaper and for most goods that didn't matter, but if I'm going to take home a larger and more pricey piece (pricey for the Philippines...not here) then I want the quality to be better. 
We made our way finally through the myriad of stalls and out to where our van was as well as Chris' uncle and cousin who joined us. They took us to a place called Good Taste, which apparently is where everyone goes. It looks kind of like a large double storied cafeteria, but there are servers and menus. The place used to be in a parking lot but they outgrew it, and needed more room, hence the double storied building. We ordered a variety of dishes and more vegetables (Baguio is known for the agriculture and particularly vegetables and strawberries which you don't find so many other place in the tropical climate). I did order a cup of coffee since i was feeling awfully tired, and I have to say the coffee was the best I'd had there. I don't know why or what it was but it was dark and rich with hints of deep chocolate. It was so good. Meats and sauces in the Philippines are so well flavored too.
After lunch we headed up to Minesview Park where we had been told there would be more wood carvings and also the Good Shepherd Convent where they sell ube jam and other delights. The drive was long, but mostly due to traffic. We passed the mansion where the president stays when he comes up north. It was quite fancy and with beautiful grounds. We kept climbing, very slowly, to this park, which really was just a bunch more shops similar to the Marhilika market and then a viewing area that looks out over the mountains and valleys where several mines actually are.
It's a pretty view, but more interesting to me was all the St. Bernard dogs. Someone started posing their St. Bernard and having people take pictures with this huge dog (much larger than the ascals (aso calle - street dog) that are running around everywhere. The St. Bernard was a bit of a phenomenon there, so this multiplied to the point where there were several dogs stationed on benches, some dressed up, some with sunglasses on, some sitting there with their legs crossed looking cool, some stretched out napping, and people posing for pictures with them. They were so cute, and I missed my doggies so much that I really wanted to go up and just give one a big hug....but instead I just enjoyed them from afar. They also had native costumes of the Ibalois (a native tribe from that area) that people could dress up in and take a picture.
Chris tried some strawberry taho, which he didn't like as well, but I actually liked my taste of it better than the original. Later, Chris' dad told us he had tried some, but didn't realize that it was strawberry and thought twice about eating it since he though it might be rancid! He kept eating though, not realizing until later it was actually strawberry! We walked through the shops, not seeing much that we wanted, and joined the others who were already up at Good Shepherds convent. They had long lines with quite an ordering system, loudspeaker and all to update on what good they had already run out. Ube jam was what Chris wanted, and luckily it was still available. It was even warm from being freshly made.
On our way back down, Chris' sister and uncle stopped to get a cup of civet coffee. I wasn't sure I could bring myself to drinking this coffee, although this would have been my chance because here in the US it is expensive. It is coffee that is made from a bean that the civet (a small wild cat here) picks - apparently they pick the best and ripest fruit, eat it, and then poops out the bean. They then gather the beans, clean them and brew them. I'm willing to try some pretty crazy things...but the idea of a coffee bean pooped out of a cat was just a little hard for me to swallow. If I had to, or it was just offered free, maybe...but I wasn't volunteering for this stuff.
We walked back to the cars and decided to try to go to Trinidad for some strawberry ice cream. It was supposed to be really great and made among the fields. The problem was that traffic was so slow that what could have been a ten minute drive was taking much much longer. Trinidad also was not nearly as nice of a town from what I saw, and we decided when not too far from the fields to forget the ice cream and turn back around so that we could see Chris' grandmother one last time and then head down the windy mountain road for the four plus hour trek back to Manila.
Chris' grandmother lives in a nice but small apartment tucked back in a residential area. We parked and it amazes me how tightly of areas people maneuver their cars in here. I couldn't do it. We stayed very briefly, but I was glad Chris was able to see her one more time and see where she lived.
On our way out to the main road, we were scared we were being pulled over because a cop car had his lights on behind us. Chris' uncle pulled next to us as we were stopping and asked if everything was okay and informed us that the police always drive with their lights on. I still haven't figured out how someone knows when they are being pulled over...although with the way the driving is there, I'm not really sure people get pulled over!
We started down the mountain following a big and very slow moving truck. We couldn't get around him, due to the length of cars and winding two land road, so it caused the brakes to be used quite a bit. So much so, that they were not stopping the van well. That is when the drive suddenly became scary. Heading down a steep mountain road that had cliffs at parts in a van with no brakes was not my way of excitement and plunging to my death is a definite fear I have (hence the fear of flying). Pumping the brakes helped and it was shifted into a low gear, and we headed down, with most of the people in the van silently praying. We could even hear grinding of the brakes...although I know I've driven in a car with grinding brakes and it didn't mean I was danger, just needed to get new ones. To our great relief, a short ways later, the brakes were back to working fine and we think they may have just been overheating from being behind that slow moving truck. Needless to say, since I'm still hear to tell the story, we made it down the mountain just fine. Later at a gas station the fluids were checked and all was fine (although we did need new brakes because you could still hear some grinding).
The drive to the expressway was going just fine until we suddenly came upon stopped traffic. So we stopped and sat. And sat. And waited. We might move a little, and there was one row of cars going the opposite direction eventually, but then they stopped. I'm not sure in the end how long we were there, but I think it was about two hours. Apparently we ended up in gridlock because people on our end got impatient and ended up spread across all the lanes of traffic which locked up the oncoming traffic. We were told by a truck driver headed opposite of us, but locked in next to us, that there had been a traffic dispute between a motorcyclist and a bus driver. The bus driver got out, grabbed a rock and threatened the motorcyclist, who had a a gun. The cyclist pulled the gun and shot and killed the driver, and the cyclist was an off duty cop. He turned himself in according to this truck driver. We really weren't sure if there was any truth to the story, especially because when traffic did start to move again, we eventually had to go on an area that was a one way only due to construction so each direction of traffic had to take their turns. I don't think we ever saw any kind of crime scene...
We tried to find somewhere to eat and did stop briefly at an expressway rest stop, but the fast food places had already shut down. We made it into Manila, already at 2 am. Once into Makati, the business district of the greater metropolitan area of Manila, we stopped at a place called Aristrocrat and had "dinner" there. Even at two in the morning, with very few customers, it felt like our food took forever. We ate and made it finally to our hotel - the Antel Best Western Plus. We were hoping for the best, since we all wanted a nice clean place to relax. We were rewarded with it being such - it was very nice even for hotels here in the states. We ended up in two separate towers, ours was a suite shared with Chris' sisters. We were so happy to have nice clean spacious bathrooms and comforters on the bed (Chris wanted it so cold at night, but they didn't have more than a sheet on the bed, so our battle was keeping it warm enough I could sleep, and cool enough for him...the comforter solved our problem).
Finally shortly after 4 am I laid my head on the pillow to catch a few hours of sleep.
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