The weekend I spent with my friends in Baguio City went well. We walked a lot, ate a lot, shivered in the cold together, boozed a lot (well, at least I did), and had lots of fun!
Baguio is a very special place for me. My family used to go there a lot when I was a kid. The last time I was there was in 1989; I went with a group of college friends. Quite a lot has changed, but so many other things have stayed the same. Kind of like the paradox of life, really--the only constant thing is change. Welcome changes, unwanted changes, unexpected changes...but all of which contribute to helping us deal with the twists and turns that we encounter in life. And what a bonus it turns out to be if we have someone to navigate those roads with, eh?
Life isn't a picnic all of the time. But what a blessing it is to have people around you whom you love and who love you in return. I enjoy my solitude, but simple experiences like just sitting with friends in a gorgeous setting, talking and laughing, drinking wine and coffee, these are priceless. These getaways become memories that I treasure because they're a welcome change from the routine of everyday life.
But I'm glad to be back. I did miss many aspects of my life here in Manila; I missed them terribly. Everyday life here is good for me as well, even though I may grumble sometimes. Until the next opportunity for a mini-vacation comes along, I'll continue with my mental getaways, one of my guilty pleasures.
If you want to see more pictures of street markets, food, scenery, and naked men jogging (okay, I made up the naked part) in Baguio City that we saw over the weekend, click here. I'll do some catching up on the blog posts that missed. Hope you all had a good weekend!
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Congratulations to Julia (more popularly known as The Thinker) whose blog is Bestest Blog of the Day today! She writes insightful entries over at Theory of Thought and she writes them extremely well. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, you young thinker!Thank you also to Dave, a blogger in Dallas, Texas. He mentions my blog in Blogs Apart, one of the sites he maintains along with Brownies for Breakfast, a blog that talks about the state of happiness. The pictures and posts there are very uplifting. Brownie, anyone?
35 comments:
A little change from the routine is always a wonderful thing. And I agree, there is a time for solitude and time for company -- cheers to those who find the balance. Welcome back.
Oh, I love Baguio! Now you made me want to go back again soon...
Baguio!!!
What a great weekend, Lizza! =)
The last time I went, I sadly found it quite not how I remembered it from the Baguio of my childhood.
Wops! Bago humirit, ha. Remember, malapit ang agwat natin. =)
sony: Your gentle words and your wisdom always make me smile. Thanks, it's good to be back.
Irene: Go, Iridescent One. The weather there was lovely. But I was unprepared for how cold it got at night!
HB: The white lady on Loakan Road says hi. :-) Things are never the same as they were when we were children.
Hoy, medyo malayo ang five years na agwat no! Haha!
I, too, cherish times spent with friends. I have so much solitude here and I love it...perhaps too much, I spend way too much time alone and am a bit hermit-like I think...but everytime I get together with friends I drink it up. So glad you had a good weekend.
Wow the place you went to look amazing. Glad you had a nice weekend :-)
The scenery is so lush. And I loved the picture of you with your family. Maybe that's what blogging is--mental getaways, mental cups of coffee and sips of wine with comfortable friends. Glad you are back.
Welcome back...so happy to hear your weekend went well and thanks for sharing the pics....My Mom always used to say "It's nice to get away, but it's always nicer to come home"...I never used to get that..but now I do.
Peace
P.S. I'll take one of those ashtrays and a frog bag!!!! LMAO
Welcome Back Lizza...
I don't smoke anymore but I'll take one of those ashtrays too. Just in case we have another FRIDAY THE 13TH.
The pictures are just beautiful.
Looks like you had a great time. Did you buy the UBE jam?
Glad your back.
It looks like you had an amazing weekend. great post about change and oh so true...
Wendz: Thanks! But you're in beautiful France, it seems like a great place for some major quality solitude time. :-)
Shadowfalcon: Yep, thanks. It was a very nice weekend.
Gale: Hey there! It's so good to hear from you. But I wasn't with family during the trip, dear writer. I was with friends. Unless you're talking about the little people in native costume. They're family in a sense--they're Filipinos, too. :-)
Odat: Thanks! The ashtray is a hoot, isn't it? And it comes in different sizes too, haha! You can have all the frog bags you want...I couldn't even stand to touch the stuff. :-D (I hate frogs.)
Matt: Thank you!
Lyn: Haha, you naughty woman! And yes, I did get some ube jam...but for the hubby (I don't eat ube, actually).
Lexa: Thanks! The more things change, the more they stay the same. :-)
Unlike pretty much everyone whos left you a comment, I don't cherish time with friends and family.
Or maybe I am just trying to be different...and difficult. ;)
Steve~
Yeah, right. We already know that you're different. Difficult? Nah. :-D
Welcome back, Lizza!
Sounds like a very special and joyful weekend. Thanks for sharing those beautiful pics... Strawberries *yummy* too bad we can´t get them here this season (or they are way too expensive and taste like... s*#t). Is this "thing" an ashtray for real??? OMG!
Lizza, I sure wish I was where you were. Sounds relaxing and beautiful. I just came back from four days in L.A. And believe me, it was the opposite! ;)
Glad you had a great weekend! After all, that's what they are for aren't they? Welcome back!
Glad you had a great time. Welcome back!
Sheesh! All I needed was another wonderful place I suddenly want to visit! I'm going to have to live to be 120 to see everything I want to see.
Seriously, the scenery is lovely, and I'm glad you had the chance to make some memories with your friends. that's what life is about - our relationships.
Take care,
Tom
Waaah!! I hate you guys, really do! Forgot who's bday is it now but happy, happy to her!
It's still in the 90s here in the OC and Baguio looks sooo purty and cold. Makauwi na nga :(
gg
Thanks for the mention, Lizza.
On the subject of your post, just think that if life were really a picnic, it would be so boring. It's the twists and turns that keep you guessing, and sometimes those changes can be for the better.
Great post, and even better pictures. They make me want to take a vacation.
It's just not the same when you're not around. No internet, weekend getaways, monsoons, etc.
I get lonely........ :(
Nice pictures. You are not a photographer, are you? c",)
omg what kind of mutant frogs are those ? they're huge.
the more question is, who'd wanna buy those 0_o
Heya.
This is Emma here from the site that used to be mysticdollarredemption.blogspot.com. As you may have realised from trying to access it in the last 14 hours, the URL no longer takes you to my blog, but to some other new link, adore kim, whatever the Hell that is, and I promise you, I have nothing to do with that.
I have no idea how this happened. I went hope last night, tried to access my blog, and realised that someone had changed the URL. So I went into my blogger account (surprisingly, the person who changed my account did not change any other settings apart from deleting my entire profile), and the URL had been changed to onomatopoeiaoyster.blogspot.com. So all my blog entries have moved to this new addy.
I’m very surprised that whoever did this merely changed my URL and didn’t do more. Quite nice for a hacker, some might say. Uh. Not me. Anyway, I’m now extremely tired, furious and annoyed, and have changed it to the simplest URL that I can: zummer.blogspot.com. I would be very grateful if you’d update all your links from your blog and favourites with this new URL, because it’s mine.
As I said, I’m extremely irritated and I would deeply appreciate your co-operation. Also delete this mysticdollarredemption link now because I have nothing to do with the contents with that blog. I’m like, really pissed off.
Thanks, Emma.
P.S. I'd also be grateful if you raised awareness about how Mystic Dollar Redemption is NO LONGER endoresed by me. I'm asking you 'cos you're influential. Thanks. :)
sanni: Thanks! The ashtray is for real, haha!
dan: Thank you. Baguio's a lovely place. Oohh, I gotta read about your visit to LA. I hope you found toilet paper!
Michael: Thanks! It was great. I hope you had a great one too.
Bud: Thanks!
Tom: Thanks! You would've loved the scenery. I wonder what kind of verses will come out of that poetic mind of yours if you come here.
GG: It was RM's birthday. Uwi na kasi! May iba pang pics, i-email ko sa iyo and kay ND.
thethinker: You're welcome. Your blog is always a pleasure to read. Yep, the twists and turns keep us on our toes. Glad you liked the post!
kiyotoe: Awww, you're so sweet. I hope Jersey is treating you well. Any extra pounds yet?
netskee: Thanks! And no, I'm not. :-)
deb: They're your average frog. We get them even bigger
sometimes. Who buys them? Crazy ass people, I guess. Haha! Love your new pic!
Wow... the place looks great...
I wanna go... I wanna go...
And all the food...
Heaven!
emma: Good lord, girl, someone must hate your 100 Hottest Men list for them to do something like that. Change noted. I hope it doesn't happen again.
ZI: Yes, it is. :-)
Thank you for sharing a part of the world I may never see. I still can't ger over those trees!
You're welcome, M. The trees are nice, aren't they? :-)
Woot! You're back!
There was a song by one Malaysian artiste ... It's called Love You More and in one of the lines in the chorus, he sang, "Down in Baguio I say Mahal Kita ..."
Reminds me of your trip down to Baguio!
There's a song like that? I gotta hear it.
Thanks for the welcome back! :-)
Hey Lizza! I really enjoyed this post about your trip to Baguio. And you're right, some pictures are identical! :)
We went to some of the same places and took similar pictures of the same scenery. :-) Good place to visit, Baguio.
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