Ukay By Night

It was so nice to find an ukay-ukay tiange (used garments flea market) alfresco in Baguio City. The flea market was set-up at Athletic Bowl in Burham Park. I heard it was a temporary location.

Baguio is so populated with ukay-ukay shops. Madness, I thought the metropolitan was already smelled of old clothes. It's fun to rummage over cheap clothes and score good finds, but the crazy aroma of claustrophobic shops is so sickening, too heavy to handle.

So glad we were_ when we heard of this night market which  nudged us to pure cheap rummage fun. It was

under open sky and no more claustrophobic smell of old clothes.




look how cheap_ a dollar per garment. So apt for a random retail therapy of hormonal imbalanced moms,haha.




2nd hand barbies. I was surprised my daughters ignored them. Are they over them already? Just this recent Christmas the youngest daughter had it yet  in her wish list. Maybe not an ukay-ukay barbie?

In the end I was the one who went home empty of ukay-ukay haul. I was so tired ( I was consumed by the whole day sightseeing tour) to go over rack to rack. I just  joined my husband in the car eating street foods which were all over the park and waited our daughters finished their cheap shopping trip.

Holiday Park

So here's another one in Baguio City. After walking -in 3 hotels ( within the vicinity), all of which were against our budget and needs, we ended- up staying at the 4th hotel_ the  Holiday Park, located at Abanao Extension, which was so minutes away to everywhere in the city and so matching our little pouch budget for accommodation.

The simplicity and neatness of the reception lobby told us all what the hotel was all about _ neat and simple.

The room answered the unsophisticated demand of our trip - freshly scented room, comfortable beds, clean bathroom, and for the girls wi-fied

scent- checked.

clean bt- checked.




comfy beds - checked.

wi-fi - checked.

We originally checked -in for a single night stay but turned out okey and decided to stay in the same hotel for the rest of our 4 days trip.




If under budget and your trip calls for daily activities outside, Holiday Park is recommendable. Neat, service is kind,  accessible and doesn't punch a hole in your wallet. Hence, it's given that you ought not to expect 5 star amenities thu'.

Oh My Gulay : more than a vegetarian cafe

In the midst of hustle and bustle of  Session Road in Baguio City, surprisingly afloat is an artsy vegetarian food venue. Oh My Gulay is located at the uppermost level of La Azotea Bldg ( the green building in the photo above).  



Precaution :  take a pair of brave and strong legs with you. .

. . cos you would be needing them to take flight of stairs going up to the roof top where the resto is located. Yes, no elevator or escalator ride. It is a vintage building.

Reaching the top most floor of the building, I was taken surprise by a different world seemed suddenly appeared infront of me.

Oh My. . Gulay!!!!! was first and foremost an art gallery to me before a restaurant.

Lost in the interior  that was more than eclectic even interestingly crazy, we were all over the place, bubbling with delights of the sights of the art creations in the house.

Even the outside view was great.

Dining tables were set in different corners. We liked all the settings and took us awhile  to choose, haha.

Here?? nah!! look how thick the fog is. . brrrrr. sooo damn cold!!!!

I was seriously taken aback by the sudden dropped of temperature. When we entered the building the weather was sunny summer, fair enough to roam around Baguio in shorts and sleeveless tops. But up there, it was another world. Actually, when we hit back the roads of Baguio, after 1.5 hours upstairs, it was already cold. I had to buy leggings from a street vendor to survive the rest of the day.

How about here??? no!

We finally settled on this corner. .



. . and enjoyed our veggie dishes here, visit My 3rd & 7th Sense for the foods.

I know this is a restaurant and very much belonging in my food blog. But having seen the place, would you agree with me on posting Oh My Gulay here? It's a destination on its own right, right?

Balatoc Mines Tour ( part2 )

To enter the site a miner has first to drop his chapa ( remember we were given each at the registration ( here ),  in the box as his identification and retrieve it at the end of the day. Each chapa has a unique number to each miner. In the real mining world, this chapa is a lifeline. At the end of their working day, a remaining chapa in the entrance box means a miner left inside the tunnel.




The walking tour begun. .

Various machines, gadgets and tools of mining were showcased on our way to the tunnel. Interesting and very informative.








Gold ores!!! For those who are clueless what they are (like my girls before this tour. . ), gold ore is a concentration of gold in a rock, particles or flakes in water.  Technically, only if it is feasible to mine for extraction of the precious metal  that it is considered to be ore. Our guide said these samples were of low grade and not worth of undergoing the tedious process of extracting. I agreed no less. Otherwise, I don't think these gold ores could be seen on piles in this spot!! Don't you think so???




Until. .  we reached the Vegas Tunnel.Dated 1946, this is already is an ex-site  and currently exists as the main site of this only one mining tour in our country.

Entering the tunnel was super exciting for us. . it was a whole new world_

dark. .




dangerous. .

in every inch_ interesting!!

An actual dug hole and said to be a good one cos other holes were far smaller and meant to be crawl by the miner like a rat. This one is a lot better cos a miner can fit almost standing  and the hole can be almost walked thru. Can you imagine that?!!

We took turns  to operate this machine and managed to dig each a hole.

An actual lecture on how to install a dynamite that is being used to achieve a rock blasting.




They install not only one dynamite in one explosion but several of them to achieve a muti-blasting.

There's a hiding corner in the tunnel where a miner run to protect himself from the dangerous explosion of the dynamites.




The most thrilling moment of the tour was when we got to experience a real blasting. We were warned and had to run for our life (not that extreme but for the thrill you could internalize and pretend that the situation is actually life threatening) as a miner performed a real blasting with us inside the tunnel.




And then our ride arrived. .

Out we went off the dark tunnel back to the airy and sunny  earth.




The girls were so happy surviving the tunnel tour!!!