Camp John Hay, Briefly Again
After Café By The Ruins, some of us said "tara CJH!", others said "it's already too late, bitin na". Ang ending, we still went for it! On hindsight, it's more fun when there is no pre-planned or pre-meditated fixed, rigid itinerary. Go lang nang go, come what may!
That is Ordonio Drive (going up, about 1km to CJH Manor Hotel and Mile Hi). We were at Loakan Road, turning left going up there, when I snapped that picture. I said "oist ayan me naglalakad o, it must be fun walking on this road". Disapproved! Late na daw!
To the left of that picture is city center - where we came from. To the right is still on Loakan Road - that goes 4kms down to the airport, plus 2kms further down to PMA.
That is why nobody wanted to walk like that manong above, because it was already getting late, and we all of a sudden still wanted to go to those two places, after CJH.
Frankly, while I have been to this originally American R&R Base many times since the early 80s, I'm more familiar with coming here via Baguio Country Club than this way. Not that I drove. Totoy pa ako noon eh heheh! But that was my parents' usual route.
So, no walking this time. Well, there's always a next time!
Mile Hi Center
Decidedly, our convoy's default parking area on this visit, due to ample parking slots - even if only 3 were aligaga to "stroll and shop" here, while all others were reluctant!
Ah, this place was an intense "topic of scrutiny" over our walkie talkies, as we drove from city center. I remember saying: "I was here last May. It was a disappointment".
That disappointment was my discovering that it was not the same Mile Hi we kids in the '80s used to visit. That building (in picture) was already up then, but as "offices".
And, it wasn't in this area. One friend said "it was on top of, not at the bottom of a hill". Another said "and overlooking some of the golfing greens". We 3 said "me bowlingan"!
Ah nag-nostalgia na lahat na naka-alala. We remembered the pinball machines; the giant-size burgers; we could use dollars or pesos; the automated bowling thing, etc!
Those of us who had experienced that (late 70s to 1990) were unanimous though... this present Mile Hi isn't really abhorable. It should have been called something else though. Because this ruins the expectations of those who experienced 'the original'.
It may have been commercial then - syempre for R&R nga of the servicemen. But as one friend puts it, this one is trying to replicate Greenhills, Baclaran or Divisoria, so why call it Mile Hi too, when it does not have any semblance to the defunct real one? Agree!
So, except for the 3 wanting to ransack the "outlet stores" and/or "export overruns" of that new (impostor!) Mile Hi, the rest of us walked up to The Manor Hotel @ CJH!
The Manor
This is only about a hundred meters (or less) from Mile Hi, but going up and curving Baguio-style, so those with weak knees, you'll want to re-assess that before walking!
The hotel actually has its nice wide driveway, and ample parking space. But on the day and time of our visit, we knew it would have been full, plus we anyway needed to drop our 3 ladies who wanted to scour that wagwagan, aw Mile Hi pala!
There are concrete stairs from main entrance down to the parking lot. But from that parking lot down to the road, and down more to Mile Hi are inclines that are actually fun to walk-on going down - yet maybe a challenge for some of you, when going up!
We were not surprised to find that there were so many people when we entered the lobby (di tuloy ako maka-picture!) because this was a Saturday, and this hotel is new. Well, not really very new. This was opened (I think) in 2001, so about 4 years old na.
Anyway, we went separate ways inside this hotel. Two went to inquire about room & event rates; one asked about golf packages; I made tunganga? Well, tingin-tingin din.
A dining table ready and waiting, for an afternoon tea, I guess. Wide glass windows! I liked that setup/location. Fantastic outdoorsy view, from inside an "air-conditioned" restaurant, at one of the finer hotels in Baguio. At Camp John Hay, no less. Sankapa!
I was passing by one corner on the hallway outside that restaurant, and saw this:
It's a real chess set, albeit bigger, that you can play - perhaps while enjoying coffee? Tip: look closely at all the pieces on both red and cream side. You'll recognize them.
It's a political chess set or something like that. A satirization of our present political ganglandships in the Philippines. So keep your cool when 'moving' the chess pieces!
Huwag ibalibag o ihampas sa sahig pag nakilala mo kung sino ang nakain mong piece!
Ahhehehe! The red side has Erap as King. Syempre, all other pieces in that color are characters associated to/with him. The cream side portrays Gloria as Queen, and all other pieces in that 'white side' are her main aliporeses! Can you identify all of them?
Note: contrary to what I have read recently online, that "king" on cream side is Mike. Not Erap - because he is "king" at red side. Ah, I should have taken more photos 'no?
I remember having read that laminated description of the art piece, but syempre pa, I forgot agad most of what it said. Lesson learned: take pics of -as much as possible- all details around a subject, not just for aesthetic appeal, but for useful information. Da!
Well, it mentioned "EDSA 2"; "Davide"; "Peter" - the artist who made that?, etc., etc!
Anyway, I went to a garden (at the back) and found most of my friends already there!
Lots of kids romping around, with their yayas on a constantly shrieking chase hehe!
Nothing much really, but the main event here is... piktyur-piktyuuur! O, ano ayaw mo?!
Aliw! Ay, me pa jump-shot-jump-shot at me pahila-hilata pa kami dyan sa damuhan!
As for me and this blog, it was not easy trying to capture photos with 'no' (or at least 'few') people - especially the little ones. It was such a challenge to find empty areas.
We liked that kiosk - seemingly made for nothing but photo-ops, I think. Well, maybe for whatever events hehe! I edited that pic btw - since there were kids on foreground.
Here's is a view from behind that kiosk. That's at about 4,880 ft above sea-level and facing that interesting-sounding barangay named Happy Hallow I mentioned earlier.
And FYI, I also edited that photo since there were so many people enjoying the view. So tip: if you want pics w/o people, avoid Sabado. All weekends & holidays, I guess.
Ah, to complete your pictorial, on the side of the same grass lawn, there is also this:
Definitely man-made. Kung sa Tagalog pa, eschapeyk! But, executed well. Maganda!
I wanted to walk this path, passing by the 'suites wing' (still under construction), then down to where we parked. But friends said we had to go, as we were out of time. So we returned to Mile Hi the same way we came in, which, I thought was a longer way.
One of the friends bantered with me as we walked down to Mile Hi, that passing via that "suites wing" would have actually been shorter. But, we all enjoyed this walk, so we dropped the topic. Yet we realized: that's where 19th Tee was, when we were kids!
Dialogue: "teka, if that construction site is formerly 19th Tee, where we came from was the club house"; replied with: "oo, yung pang-matanda, bawal bata, so sa 19th Tee lang tayo; replied with: "yun me malalaking waffle, walang sawa ang maple syrup at butter"; replied with: "sumasakit ang brain ko palagi doon sa malaking parfait or shake ba yun"!
Woh! That excited us, re-living the layout of the old John Hay Air Base - back when it was still a real and restricted American military base, just like Subic and Clark - when our parents needed paperwork (aruu, even "connections") for us to have R&R in them!
But we had to go. So, I said... "Douglas MacArthur" [that means: I shall return]!
Lesson Learned:
Travel is not only for discovering new places and things for the first time. It can also be returning to those same old people, places, events and things - to reminisce their wonderful past; enjoy (or at least be curious of) the changes; and imagine the future!
To the left of that picture is city center - where we came from. To the right is still on Loakan Road - that goes 4kms down to the airport, plus 2kms further down to PMA.
That is why nobody wanted to walk like that manong above, because it was already getting late, and we all of a sudden still wanted to go to those two places, after CJH.
Frankly, while I have been to this originally American R&R Base many times since the early 80s, I'm more familiar with coming here via Baguio Country Club than this way. Not that I drove. Totoy pa ako noon eh heheh! But that was my parents' usual route.
So, no walking this time. Well, there's always a next time!
Mile Hi Center
Decidedly, our convoy's default parking area on this visit, due to ample parking slots - even if only 3 were aligaga to "stroll and shop" here, while all others were reluctant!
That disappointment was my discovering that it was not the same Mile Hi we kids in the '80s used to visit. That building (in picture) was already up then, but as "offices".
And, it wasn't in this area. One friend said "it was on top of, not at the bottom of a hill". Another said "and overlooking some of the golfing greens". We 3 said "me bowlingan"!
Ah nag-nostalgia na lahat na naka-alala. We remembered the pinball machines; the giant-size burgers; we could use dollars or pesos; the automated bowling thing, etc!
Those of us who had experienced that (late 70s to 1990) were unanimous though... this present Mile Hi isn't really abhorable. It should have been called something else though. Because this ruins the expectations of those who experienced 'the original'.
It may have been commercial then - syempre for R&R nga of the servicemen. But as one friend puts it, this one is trying to replicate Greenhills, Baclaran or Divisoria, so why call it Mile Hi too, when it does not have any semblance to the defunct real one? Agree!
So, except for the 3 wanting to ransack the "outlet stores" and/or "export overruns" of that new (impostor!) Mile Hi, the rest of us walked up to The Manor Hotel @ CJH!
The Manor
The hotel actually has its nice wide driveway, and ample parking space. But on the day and time of our visit, we knew it would have been full, plus we anyway needed to drop our 3 ladies who wanted to scour that wagwagan, aw Mile Hi pala!
There are concrete stairs from main entrance down to the parking lot. But from that parking lot down to the road, and down more to Mile Hi are inclines that are actually fun to walk-on going down - yet maybe a challenge for some of you, when going up!
We were not surprised to find that there were so many people when we entered the lobby (di tuloy ako maka-picture!) because this was a Saturday, and this hotel is new. Well, not really very new. This was opened (I think) in 2001, so about 4 years old na.
Anyway, we went separate ways inside this hotel. Two went to inquire about room & event rates; one asked about golf packages; I made tunganga? Well, tingin-tingin din.
I was passing by one corner on the hallway outside that restaurant, and saw this:
It's a political chess set or something like that. A satirization of our present political ganglandships in the Philippines. So keep your cool when 'moving' the chess pieces!
Ahhehehe! The red side has Erap as King. Syempre, all other pieces in that color are characters associated to/with him. The cream side portrays Gloria as Queen, and all other pieces in that 'white side' are her main aliporeses! Can you identify all of them?
Note: contrary to what I have read recently online, that "king" on cream side is Mike. Not Erap - because he is "king" at red side. Ah, I should have taken more photos 'no?
I remember having read that laminated description of the art piece, but syempre pa, I forgot agad most of what it said. Lesson learned: take pics of -as much as possible- all details around a subject, not just for aesthetic appeal, but for useful information. Da!
Well, it mentioned "EDSA 2"; "Davide"; "Peter" - the artist who made that?, etc., etc!
Anyway, I went to a garden (at the back) and found most of my friends already there!
Nothing much really, but the main event here is... piktyur-piktyuuur! O, ano ayaw mo?!
As for me and this blog, it was not easy trying to capture photos with 'no' (or at least 'few') people - especially the little ones. It was such a challenge to find empty areas.
Here's is a view from behind that kiosk. That's at about 4,880 ft above sea-level and facing that interesting-sounding barangay named Happy Hallow I mentioned earlier.
Ah, to complete your pictorial, on the side of the same grass lawn, there is also this:
I wanted to walk this path, passing by the 'suites wing' (still under construction), then down to where we parked. But friends said we had to go, as we were out of time. So we returned to Mile Hi the same way we came in, which, I thought was a longer way.
One of the friends bantered with me as we walked down to Mile Hi, that passing via that "suites wing" would have actually been shorter. But, we all enjoyed this walk, so we dropped the topic. Yet we realized: that's where 19th Tee was, when we were kids!
Dialogue: "teka, if that construction site is formerly 19th Tee, where we came from was the club house"; replied with: "oo, yung pang-matanda, bawal bata, so sa 19th Tee lang tayo; replied with: "yun me malalaking waffle, walang sawa ang maple syrup at butter"; replied with: "sumasakit ang brain ko palagi doon sa malaking parfait or shake ba yun"!
Woh! That excited us, re-living the layout of the old John Hay Air Base - back when it was still a real and restricted American military base, just like Subic and Clark - when our parents needed paperwork (aruu, even "connections") for us to have R&R in them!
But we had to go. So, I said... "Douglas MacArthur" [that means: I shall return]!
Lesson Learned:
Travel is not only for discovering new places and things for the first time. It can also be returning to those same old people, places, events and things - to reminisce their wonderful past; enjoy (or at least be curious of) the changes; and imagine the future!
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