Bamboo Carving Exhibit

We had an opportunity to visit and enter  Baguio's white house because of the Ifugao Bamboo Carving Exhibit sponsored by the Philippine Bamboo Foundation and Tan Yan Kee Foundation. The exhibit was held as a tool for information and education campaign to reforest the Cordilleras. 

Most of the themes of the sculptures in bamboo revolve around the Cordilleran culture - the people, the houses, the practices, beliefs, etc.

These are some of the bamboo carvings that were displayed during the event:

 The one in the middle is a frog. You get the stick on the right side of the frog ( if you see a stick poking out, that's it :p) and then let it roll on the jagged edges found at the back of the frog. This mimics the croak of the frog..kokak kokak

 And then there's this chest with wheels... cute :)

There's this cute house also:

These are some other carvings that were made:

Some of the details of the carvings:

The swing of the figure on top really moves

 This one is from another carving... they love to swing :P

 front view:

side view 

These are from the exhibits found at the hands off area-- the white house's dining room:

don't piss the warrior or else  your head will be hanging in his hand 

For those who will be going up to Baguio this Lenten season, do visit the Bamboo exhibit to appreciate the talents of the Ifugao bamboo  carvers and to help in the reforestation efforts in  the Cordilleras. Entrance fee is Php 50 for adults and Php 30.00 for kids.

The exhibit is at the White House, along Leonard Wood Road before the Teacher's Camp Gate .

Baguio's Haunted White House

For Baguio residents, they call this the "haunted house" along Leonard Wood Road before you reach Teacher's Camp. But for non Baguio residents, you will be able to relate to this house if you have watched the "White House" starring Gabby Concepcion because this is where the movie was shot.

There were many scary stories about it since we were in college because it really looked scary back then with the paints peeling and no people in sight. But right now, it's no longer that way with fresh paint and some people being seen within the vicinity.

My friend and I were given an opportunity to have a look at it when a Bamboo Exhibit (more on this on the next post) was displayed in the house. The house is quite old and the guard told us that the current owner is Lucio Tan. 

This is the frontage:

 The house is made of wood and inside the ceilings are carved. This is the ceiling of the sitting room:

 The one at the foyer is more elaborate:

  We had our pictures taken at the sitting room. This is Minel near the fireplace:

 And this is me near the old clock-- the guard claims it's 90 years old and we should have our picture taken near it:

We went to the dining room and this is how it looks like-- very vintage:

I posed on the steps going to the 2nd floor:

Don't be afraid, if you see a lady's head behind me. It's one of the girls who visited with us at the white house..heheheh!

This is Minel posing on the very narrow steps leading to the third floor. It was so narrow I couldn't imagine how they will bring furniture upstairs.

 I don't know if the portrait of a scared guy screaming was  meant to be a joke  but the guard and one of the caretakers were making "awwwoooooo" sounds while we were going up. Cheeky.

The picture below shows the attic/3rd floor... it was a very small room and the balconies are narrow, too.

Some of the rooms were closed off due to disrepair and privacy while others are under repair so we did not dare venture more.

So, that's the tour. Actually, we paid 50 pesos to see the bamboo exhibit but we really initially paid to see the house. And I guess, our curiosity was satisfied. :) 

Secret Garden

Last Saturday, my friend Minel and I tried Secret Garden. It is a restaurant located at South Drive which is tucked beside South Drive Manor.This is the entrance:

While going down the gently sloping wooden walkway above the gravel stones, you will get to see their cute garden.They plant tomatoes, strawberries and some plants I am not familiar with :p

Cherry tomatoes

Strawberries

They even have a cute wee pond on the right side from the entrance:

While we were waiting for our orders inside, I had my picture taken at their glass "sala" overlooking the garden. This living room has comfortable wicker chairs, a glass ceiling -that's why the lighting is good and a fireplace! Best of all, it's so comfy and pretty.

Ain't it lovely?  I could sit here for hours and read a novel if this were my home.This is one of my bucket list to have when I have my own home. 

The building is wood paneled and has a cottage feel. 

 This is the backdoor entrance from the comfort room and the South Drive Manor.

This is the counter and some dining tables and chairs. Notice that the roof has high ceilings and are wood paneled. The counter is actually on top of an aquarium.

T

Our Food:

So for our food, we ordered the following: 

Vegetable Pizza, 8 inches. It's thin crust. The vegetables are fresh and the cheese was so yummy. It's very delicate in flavor. Nice. Php 250 is worth it. 

I think the first resto which occupied the place - the original Red Orange - gave their recipe to the new management  of Secret Garden because the cheese and the style of the crust is the same as that of Red Orange.

Seafood Pasta. (Php 290). You can choose whether the pasta is penne or spaghetti. White sauce or red sauce. We chose penne and red sauce.

 

Firstly, the tomato sauce is freshly made and sweet. There is a piece of shrimp, a piece of crab leg and 4 clams and around 8 pieces of tahong shell fish. How do I know this? Minel and I divided the seafood lot between us. The pasta was super and their garlic bread was sweet and buttery and garlicky. Delisyoso indeed.

Our beverages were lemonades with watermelon and green apple flavors. They cost Php 75 each. 

The colors are spectacular but I am not that crazy with the taste because both tasted artificial. There's the yellow stuff at the bottom that's both sour, sweet and a bit lemony which you have to stir to mix with the watermelon and green apple flavors.

Overall, we consumed Php 690. The food's taste is soo good so we feel it's worth the price. I bet it's better to drink their fresh fruit shake at Php 100 each because we saw the ones seated near us enjoying their strawberry shakes which  look fresh and yummy.

I highly recommend this restaurant not only for the food but the ambience as well. It has the old Baguio charm of old wooden houses. 

How to Get There:
For those who rely on commuting, you can ride a jeep bound for Baguio Country Club. You can also ride the taxi.

You  might have to wait for about 5 - 10 mins to get a taxi to go back to town since the location is a bit way off from the city,. For the health conscious, you can walk for 20 mins. to reach the city by walking inside the  picturesque teacher's camp and along Leonard Wood road and exit to SM or Session Road.

New blog, new perspectives

I am very excited to have my new blog!

It's been years since the last one - 8 years to be precise.

As I will be starting a new career some months from now - a career I am not sure I will love but have to do because of pragmatism- I had to think of things to do alongside it so that I will have a diversion. I remembered how passionate I was with blogging and how I wanted to be at it again. So, here it is.

In this blog, I aim to share everything that is good and positive. If there are troubles then I would have to post it with a good idea on how I have conquered it. Conquered. Done and successfully fought it. 

I want to focus on Baguio, on traveling, on food.....on all the good things . In short, this blog is all about the essence of life, love, fun, happiness, beauty --- all the wonderful, gorgeous things about life.

It would be fun if even just one soul would appreciate what I post but mainly, this is to express myself and to proclaim in shouting mode :p how I see, think, hear, taste and feel things.

Cheers! ^__^