Bencab Museum

It's a sunny morning and my sissy and I both agreed yesterday that by hook or by crook we'll visit bencab museum (asin road) today 'cuz we've been yearning to do that since our last vacation here in baguio last August. We're just so squeamish to have coffee at the onsite cafeteria called cafe isabel  but it was so packed when we got there so we needed to cross that out from our list.

Baguio marketplace...

As soon as we saw the jeepneys bound to asin road km. 6,  we immediately hopped in without asking anyone where the hell the jeep is headed and we're willing to take our chance regardless. The woman asked me (in local dialect) something and since i don't speak their language i was lost in translation hadn't this other local woman asked me in tagalog where we're headed. I told her we're off to bencab km. 6, the lady said the jeep is not headed that way as it's headed uphill and bencab is downhill. So, we immediately stepped out and just decided to take the cab to BenCab (wow that rhymed). We thought asin road is just few kilometers away just and realized we were wrong again and the was quite far. Good thing, there were signs along the road that led us to bencab since the cab driver wasn't so familiar with BenCab neither. The lady in the reception was foreigner and told us that there's a Php100 entrance fee which we're already aware of based on our research. As soon as we're inside we then scoured the entire museum and took photos. The artworks were really amazing since we also draw and paint ourselves so we did not go there just to solely take photos but meticulously check out the murals and awesome wood carvings. We frenzied over each and every painting adorning the white walls of the museum, art at its finest.


We were drawn to this wooden statue made by an artist Junyee. It was a male life-sized carving from recycled wood with red paint all over it's face and body adorned with tribal tattoos. The sculpture's teeth is all black which represents the igorot's fondness with 'nganga' (chewing of betelnut). Attached at the back of the wooden sculpture is a computer motherboard, how cool is that? After checking out all the artworks, we decided to have lunch at cafe isabel. we noticed that there's only one person at the counter  and it will take long for everyone else to be accommodated so we instead decided to have lunch downtown and as usual it was crowded.

*baguio's busy sidewalks*

It took us almost an hour (if am not mistaken) this morning getting a ride bound to Baguio city.

Our house is 13km away from the city and since it's holiday season, all buses bound to baguio are packed. Geez. I only had sandwich this morning and was already starving waiting for whatever available ride we could get. Fortunately, this non air-conditioned Amianan bus came to our rescue or god must've heard us complaining. The fog must've come and go due to the gruelling hours we spent waiting for a ride. The fare was P20/head, not bad as we're desperate after waiting an hour just to get a bus ride hello?

Ok, so as soon as we got to the city we went straight to this Ukayan across prime hotel. The same place we go to every time since we've been going back and forth to Baguio for many years now. The entire building has wooden floors, walls and yes very fire hazard, three storey if am not mistaken.

The building is housed to multiple ukay-ukay stalls or a place that sells vintage clothes which you more often  needed to rummage to find best buys. It's crazy around for you'll find everything from costumes, socks, wind breakers, puffer coats, vintage figurines, toys and what-have-you. For people who appreciate unusual stuff to the weirdest degree, Baguio's ukayan is the best place to go. I saw a lot of winter clothes because most of them (if not all) came from the U.S. meant to be sent primarily to salvation army. Other country's trash is another country's source of living. Isn't that interesting? at least they don't go to waste.

Moving on, the ukayans barely allowed us to haggle. Let's just call it the season to skyrocket cost for almost everything contrary to the real meaning of the yuletide season. Not that i meant it negatively, just partial, lol. We got the cheapest tees for P80 a piece and the most expensive at P130. Let's just set aside the cost considering they're pre-owned stuff. What really drew me and my sister to Baguio's ukay-ukay would be our penchant for really unique and cool finds you won't get anywhere else. I mean, where can you find a tee less than P300-500 nowadays inside the mall unless you go to Divisoria or Baclaran?

Time to grab a bite. 
we had lunch at our new found fave spot along session road called Oh My Gulay. The vegetarian resto/artists haven (that looks like a jungle) in the middle of the city atop la azotea. My sister had their anak ng putanesca pasta (with red & chilly sauce) for a very affordable P120 (yet the serving is enough to stuff you up) and dayap brewed iced tea for P60 ;) I ordered their alpesto for P110 and mango juice P60. We also had their kung fu crepe P70 for dessert topped with blueberries. Yum! Let's do the math--just add 10% for service charge by the way so all in all we only spent P462 for everything. T'was well worth the wait and at the same time a simple yet sumptuous lunch. Wrarr!

Btw, I bought myself a cute ear flap hat for P100 also across prime hotel. I really love it because it keeps my head and ears warm. To end the day, we bought home dozen of donuts. Our Mom cooked some bilo-bilo (sticky rice balls) and a family friend brought some fiesta ham for the new year's eve perhaps. Nytie..


Related Posts:

• If a picture paints a thousand words
• kidlat tahimik: Oh My Gulay!
• everything else...
• Bencab Museum
• Solitary Nook
• Diplomat Hotel
• Foodie Time
• A Time To Take Time
• Garden in the Sky
• A Day in a Life
• Hill Station @Casa Vallejo
• Baguio Freak Shakes

christmas bunnies

it's cold here in baguio and it's zero visibility along the highway. there seemed to be a white out minus the snow.  i cough out every night because it's really cold even if i've doubled my blankets. i even asked my sister if i could borrow a comforter just to save me from freezing in the evening. i have a really sensitive back, i cough if my back is all sweaty and or the coldness already seeped through my blankets. i really feel lazy today. the cold is making me sluggish. my sister and i opted to stay home and let the christmas rush pass. it's really gloomy outside.
we opened our presents yesterday morning. mom and dad gave us little bunny coin banks. this coming 2011 would be year of the rabbit and that explains why anything bunny is blanketing the flea markets. mom said she'll give us gifts every christmas which would symbolize the year to come. they were delighted with the digital frame that we gifted them and in fact were awed to see our photos there. our little niece gabrielle loved her new pink pair of boots care of grandma and grandpa. my sister gifted her a cute pair of leg warmers she bought online. my sister is so engrossed reading 'true ghost stories' our teenage niece kept somewhere in the house. internet connection is a challenge by the way, we barely get HSDPA signal using our prepaid dongle (wireless usb modem). all i can do for now is blog lol. i miss our postpaid broadband in our flat though. hohoho! merry christmas though!

pre-xmas stuff

our house is overlooks the ocean 

so, my sister took a zoomed photo 

of this and it was breathless.

the long bus ride to baguio seemed short last night since me and my twin spent almost the entire trip chit chatting and quite a few naps. we left the victory bus terminal bound to baguio few minutes past 6pm last night. we always take turns as to who will sit beside the window, both our fave spot everytime we travel out of town on a bus. i so love my backpack, it was the most useful backpack i've had considering it was really affordable. we arrived past 12MN and mom and dad were excited to see both of us since it's very rare that we go home for a vacation break. i was glad that we are complete this christmas, not a single person left out. the new room is finished.  our youngest niece gabrielle (2years old) fell asleep waiting for us and we weren't able to see her until this morning with her new haircut. i missed the cold pillows a lot and the really huge space because our flat is really cramped up. going back late last night, as soon as we arrived we continued wrapping our presents for the two kids since we just carried them along in out backpacks and decided to wrap them once we're home so the paper bags will not crumple. we had spaghetti for noche buena. too bad slumberland is calling so we won't be up until midnight for the gift giving thing so we'll just hold it for tomorrow morning i guess. i found my nieces 'true ghost stories' books, they'll keep me busy these holiday season.

habits

i just would like to share the effects of fashion nature slimming coffee based on my experience after drinking it for quite sometime now.

good 

• losing weight is really dramatic. in a matter of days try checking the weighing scale and i assure you obviously it works really quick.
• you don't get hungry at all so no tendency of binging on food

bad

• i experienced difficulty breathing after taking it 3-5 days in a row.
• i felt restless and had difficulty sleeping in the evening.
• parched throat
• even if you stopped taking it the effect continues--as in your appetite is never normal. 
• difficulty breathing.
• palpitations.

but then, just be advised that dietary products has different side effects on people. for example, i have a friend who's weight is 170lbs, i recommended curvy slimming juice to her since she's not a coffee drinker. obviously she's plus sized so curvy did not have any harmful effect on her and she's even delighted she's lost weight dramatically. if you don't really need it just stick to the usual dieting measures such as working out and be mindful of what you eat. no rice diet really works for me but let's not forget carbohydrate is also important.

in my case, i can say the coffee had quite a few not so good side

effect on me. i'm happy with the result so far since i lost roughly 10lbs to boot and i bought myself 2 new pair of jeans because the old ones do not fit anymore.  i still work out and do boxing during the weekends because it's an excellent cardio work out. don't really solely on diet products do your part as well. eat healthy and keep your body moving. 

the vizconde massacre verdict

it's been years since the ruthless murder happened (that was way back 1991). the trial began four years after and the final verdict was announced today, roughly 19 years after. the accused partly paid for their crime and the trial of the century is finally over. they can now walk with their head up high like a freeman. let's call them 'lucky.' so, who's really the perpetrator/s? who cares now. the poor lauro vizconde fainted in dismay. where's justice? may god be the verdict.

see The Vizconde Massacre

solace mode.

there are days when you're sad for no reason. i just enjoy solace today. and there's no reason why, there's no reason for everything at all times. maybe, it's just the early morning shift.. i really find december mornings so gloomy. i can feel the christmas breeze now but it doesn't have anything to do with my gloomy-ness today. there are days when you just wanna be left alone and just be silent in a corner, for no reason, you just want to. today, i enjoyed the early morning bus ride to work whilst listening to franco's castaway and the like. i'm just sad.

sometimes, it's difficult to be different, to be unusual, to be weird, to be eccentric, yeah i know they all mean the same. people most of the time just couldn't respect the fact that you're just being yourself. some people are just too superficial to understand you while it's just easy to understand that if someone doesn't wish to talk just respect that. nothing personal. when you're quiet in a corner it seems like your silence will kill them. i'm not trying to be cool when i don't talk or every time i ignore the people around me, this is just the way i am and i don't think i even need to explain. 'normal' people just wouldn't and couldn't 'get' it. i'm not suicidal and i guess if my silence is a killer, the hell i care. it's hard to deal with mediocrity, i guess. but i'd rather not. i'd rather stand in the middle of the crowd whilst the world spins around and or sit somewhere and watch whilst the leaves dance with the wind in circles. i love the word poetic justice. i'm burn out with my job i guess. gimme some space. i feel like being underwater and i need my oxygen tank real quick, breathe....air..wind..hangin! i'm digging Portishead right now...

the amazing race asia 4

i'm not a big fan of the amazing race asia. as a matter of fact i don't watch it and if ever i do it's possibly because i have nothing else to watch. i just hate the endless running and all the stress involved. TARA (the amazing race asia) was created by the same people behind SURVIVOR, the famous reality based tv show. then, why the hell i watched TARA episode 4? whilst channel surfing, my sister chanced by AXN and saw richard herrera in TARA 4 so i figured it must be interesting because he's really cute. this is the first time the philippine team won. i've known quite a few pinoy teams who joined tara in the past but only finished in the 3rd and 2nd place so winning the first place is really a feat for the filipinos. the richards did a very great job. they never argued about anything but always agreed on which challenge to take without so much ado. theie team work is admirable compared to their female philippine team counterpart Jess & Lani. 

IMAGO galore

At first, I thought probably not but most definitely is the best imago album ever because i did not anticipate they will break away from the same music i've known them for.

probably not but most definitely was their very first album. i loved it as their music was one of the most unique i've heard back in 1997. imago back then was the first filipino indie band i've heard which infused violin to their music. then, their violinist michelle pritchard left prioritizing her love for car racing (i heard) and their drummer also left because of other priorities.
then came imago's 2nd album take 2.


at first, i thought the band took a different direction by going for a more commercially viable music. the first time i listened to the entire album i noticed the huge difference between their 1st and 2nd album. i think i just miss the violin parts otherwise they're still as awesome as ever. listening to take 2 was a different experience. it's like tasting a new flavor for the first time. the 'imago' touch was still there especially with the tagalog tracks, still very aia. the poetic lyrics still blew me away as usual. i think the album was better off without the 'danceable' tracks. but t'was a good try though.

blush--i knew imago is really going commercial when i saw aia transformed from the hippie look to glamorous since she lost a lot of weight. the band then made jingles and became endorsers for tokyo tokyo so it's understood they really need to look good. i saw it coming because that's usually the case with signed bands, they tend to become product endorsers once famous as in the case of shirley manson of garbage. since shirley manson also took a different path after garbage by becoming a cosmetic brand endorser and now a movie star. Going back, blush carried out the track  'sundo' which was a personal fave. their music video is still eccentric which showed the band's character. 'taralets' was quite different though.

after a pretty long while, but not really a hiatus, here comes effect desired none. imago's latest this year. i was curious as a cat as usual especially when my sister told me they have a new music video called 'Huling Yakap Ng Mundo.' another poignant one from the band that gave us equally poignant tagalog tracks. i'm just glad they're back and i really couldn't wait to hear their new baby so i scoured the net to listen to quite a few tracks in advance. as usual, i liked their carrier single Huling Yakap Ng Mundo not just because of the video (which featured my crushie model who played the part of aia's lover) but because it was melodic and poetic at the same time. what to expect from a very prolific songwriter like aia but profound lyrics and poignant melodies. i liked the tagalog tracks and i think aia is so good in writing tagalog songs. so...expect a different and fresh imago in their new album Effect Desired None. here's the vid...i enjoyed it immensely.

the yuletide season

my sister gifted me this black rose ring she bought online (multiply.com) and i loved it. my officemates loved it as well as it was really unique.  my clay earrings are growing in numbers.

digital photo frame
as a christmas present, we bought our parents this digital photo frame. you can either plug it to a wall outlet or use batteries for it work. nonetheless,i'm happy to watch the pictures as if a slide show. i just hope we could scan our old photos and upload them. i know my parents would be really delighted to see tons of childhood photos there. hmm..we'll see how it goes,


 i can't wait for xmas break...

watched harry potter and the deathly hallows yesterday, it was lengthy and the whole british accent thing gave us a hard time comprehending the movie.