Azalea Residences Baguio City: A Launch Point For More Baguio Attractions

The second day looks so good from where I was. We were slowly enjoying our  breakfast buffet in TRADISYON, Azalea Residences Baguio's flagship restaurant. Their dishes mostly comprise Filipino comfort food and I did enjoy my plate as you can see.

Don't be surprised because I like local sausages and I had to taste two different ones during breakfast. I also had 4 eggs with this, all super well done on a separate plate. What diet? Even if you're just inside the hotel, a stay cation would be fine.

After breakfast, we ventured 30 minutes to the north and found ourselves in the midst of the Strawberry Fields of La Trinidad, Benguet. Some of us did engage farmers via strawberry picking, and vegetable harvest since they've got the crops alternated in the farm. After the long hours walking and picking strawberries, we went to the hills of Bahong La Trinidad to see how cut flowers and roses were picked.  

We had lunch at Jewel Igorot Restaurant at Bontoc Road in La Trinidad Benguet. I super loved the Sinigang na Bagnet which is air dried pork meat boiled in Tamarind based broth. They also got their own version of Buttered Chicken, served us Chopsuey and a bountiful Fruit Platter for dessert. Their interiors were more or less, eclectic. From hand me downs, antique china, sculpted drift wood figures, wooden bunk chairs, it felt like my own grandma actually owned the building. I bet the prices are dirt cheap, but really the Sinigang is really good. Perhaps when I go back to this place, I'll order that again.

Azalea Residences Baguio fixed up a tour that felt like the Amazing Race for us later on in the day. I was partnered with 4 different bloggers whom I don't know much about on that trip. They gave us 500 bucks and difficult clues so we could go to the other landmarks that made Baguio what it is today. Honestly, I already gave up right from the start but these gals kept their hopes up for me and went on our way. Would you believe we won and even had a few hours lead over the other teams. It was fun and amusing, the adrenaline rush kept kicking in. Thank you to these gals, Team #WalangForever won!

We started at 4pm and arrived at the hotel around 5:17PM. We're the first to win this ever! LOL

Then to celebrate the win, we had dinner and drinks at 2600 Gastropub over at Upper General Luna in Baguio City. It's a little new and quite established a following by the locals. If you wanna hook up, hang out and everything in between, 2600 Gastropub also has some pretty good food offered. It's bar food upscaled, some American as well. 

It can fit around 50-80 people. The bunk chairs are preferred. The walls are lined in neo industrial wall treatments, like pvc pipes painted on so it would look like steel. The backdrop's pretty much brick. 

I had the Tequila Crispy Porklets and Grilled American Ribs. It was nice to have bite sized portions of the Porklets but I felt the ribs was just okay as it probably may improve with a little more barbecue sauce or basting after a dry rub. Heard some good news though about the Bacon on their menu because they say it's divine! Maybe that's another reason to go back to this place when I'd be back to Baguio...I'm sure I will.

The night was still young so we went to the Night Market in Harrison plus nearby Session road for a little shopping. Bought a few things to fill up my half empty bag and turned out a little funny now because I returned the next day and bought more. Now, I had to buy another bag because there's no space anymore LOL. It's my first time to go thrift shopping so I got a little out of control I guess, but that's always a good thing

It's good because it was very near Azalea Residences Baguio and almost all the cab drivers know this place. So if you're in Baguio, you'll really never run out of things to do when you're in Azalea Residences. It's a great launch point when you plan to go to any point of Baguio City and nearby Benguet. You wouldn't feel alienated, like this is your second home. I think I could let you know more places to go in my next article, stay tuned for that! All our tours by the way was arranged by Azalea Residences Baguio City, so if you don't want to go through the trouble of making an itinerary let their experts handle it for you. As you can see, we had fun!

Ciao!

KUMAGCOW

Fresh Blogs Fast!

For more information about their hotel:

Azalea Residences Baguio City

Like them on Facebook


Visit their official website

http://www.azaleabaguio.com/

Places to go after Baguio: Mount Kalugong Eco Park in Benguet

I've been blessed last December and part of that is the trip to Baguio with some blogger friends of mine. We were able to cover quite a lot in Baguio, but in some whiff of a wind we thought about what other things to do aside from the city landmarks. I'm no nature loving kinda guy but don't get me wrong, I like the adventure of going where nobody's gone. Good thing our blogger cum photographer friend Dean Cuanso (of http://watwatworld.com/) invited us to see Mount Kalugong. At first, I thought we were just going to a hill right beside the Strawberry Fields in Benguet. I was wrong. This was a full pledged elementary rock climbing trail which was just a few minutes away from Baguio City. You'll see a full view of the valley known as the salad bowl of the Philippines. Make sure though that you have appropriate climbing shoes. I went there with a pair of casual Boxfresh shoes from the UK, which was not a good thing haha.

If you plan to go here please contact them through their Facebook page or call 09196728888/09498980328 because it is not easy going up. You'll need a 4x4 perhaps or just do it on foot if you are up to it. 

To get a feel of what Mount Kalugong has to offer, here's a video I made of the short side trip :)

And that's how good it feels from up there! =) This is only my second time to go to Baguio, it's a renewed romance with the city. Benguet was definitely a perk!

For more information about the tour:

Mt Kalugong Eco Park

Like them on Facebook


Visit their official website

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mt-Kalugong-Eco-Park/172690992820188

The Beauty That Is... Azalea Residences

I've been to Baguio twice and I must tell you I wasn't a fan of this place because I felt the distance from Manila wasn't justified when it just feels like Tagaytay "weather wise". I know, I'm so judgmental. So I went back there a few days ago and had a couple of friends along with me to attend Google's conference in Luzon. Before, I used to stay in small hotels and transient houses and always feels short changed (thanks to my friends then who wanted everything cheap LOL). This time, we were staying at Azalea Residences. It's a posh living space North of central Baguio City. It's near all known landmarks and establishments in this area and the place is just a taste of tranquility and modern convenience amidst the tourist filled metropolis of Baguio.

 

We arrived in the wee hours of the morning since we had events that afternoon. The place was indeed grandiose, it felt a little like a lodge on a mountain. The cool breeze, the dozens of wild flowers and the nipping fog covering the lush greenery outside was all but beautiful. I already felt I was wrong to treat Baguio City that way and compared it to Tagaytay. It had its own charm, it had its own personality if we can call it that. Azalea Residences in Baguio is pretty new. It's now on the lines of the other Azalea Residences like in Boracay, Davao, Cebu and Angeles City. I would have stayed here if only I had known about it years ago. I'm more glad I'm doing it now.

 You know those Chalet's in the Alpine region in Europe? That's exactly what I imagined when I saw this place. I guess they pretty much pegged it with that. That huge ball in front isn't actually just something to look at, it's a functioning fountain and it adds more pizazz to the place at night time.

 Checking in was a breeze. They didn't actually give much hassle as long as you have the papers filled up. They also gave us extra keys since we probably would end up going in and out of our rooms for the conference. That is quite convenient. 

Just look up and you'll see this huge space endowed with flowers on the wall. Props to the people who designed this space because they didn't sacrifice and put in so much rooms. It never feel cramped, plus I can't believe the rates of this place since I can pretty much stay in a lower class hotel in Manila for the price to pay for a family room here.

The Eight Degrees Lounge on the left side of Azalea was truly inviting. I can already smell the booze from where I stood while we waited for some participants that afternoon. Plus it's mighty nice to chat or have small meetings here too.

This place was packed since experts from Google applications and the social media industry converged in Baguio City to teach small and medium enterprises how to take advantage of technology. We did connect on different levels. I must say, I'd like to do that soon too.

Our Room In Azalea Residences

Our room was huge. It can pretty much house a family of around 4. We were three big guys that day and it was awesome to have that much space. This restored my faith in Baguio as a destination. The fairytale of having a pretty good room was happening right before my eyes. Take a look!

This is a full functioning kitchen. You can choose to cook or just order from their house restaurant. For china, extra spoons or forks and kitchen utensils, don't be afraid to ask the front desk for it and they'll gladly oblige. There's a place to dine and an almost 4 cubic feet refrigerator to keep your wine and drinks cold. Make sure you bring in snacks which you'll need while lounging around the TV.

This is where the magic happens LOL. As I say to my friends... A good blogger deserves a a good bed. This was housed on the right wing of the room. Yes, there are actually 2 rooms inside one room. So all in all, we had sections of it to ourselves. This one's mine. It could pass perhaps for 2 people if they were smaller than me. 

I couldn't remember if we had air conditioning. But then again in Baguio, why would you need air conditioning right? My room had a fan and an LED TV for kicks. I like how it's intimate and a little isolated. I published quite a few entries here because I had some peace and quiet even if they were just in the next room. Which brings us to the living room.

This is the living room. Azrael took dibs on this part of the room, probably because it's spacious. The actual sofa turns into a bed and it can fit two people. There's also a chair you can lounge around in if you would like to read a book, that's if you brought one of course.

This is perhaps the Masters bedroom. It was bigger than my space and had a bigger bed. Each of us had a TV to play with so there's no shortage in shows. We didn't have to quarrel about the remote and had space for all our luggage.

The toilet and bath we had was more than enough. Since this space was designed for a LOT of people, its pretty understandable that we had two inside the unit. So we don't have to scuffle around when it's time for a tour or to go home. It's pretty sad that we had to but we did have a LOT of adventures in between. I'll tell you more about our Baguio and Benguet escapades in the next few days. Stay tuned.

For more information about Azalea Residences (PLUS DEALS ON ROOMS!)

Please visit their official website

http://www.azalea.com.ph