Baguio weekend

A lot of people are going up to Baguio. Most of them are students taking advantage of the summer break.  On the bus, with us, are soccer players and mountaineers. From the snippets of conversations I hear from them, the climbers are going to Mt. Pulag, also, obvious from the T-shirt that they are wearing. They are from UST and I think they are philo majors because they are discussing a lot of philosophy-or maybe they just like to discuss philo.  The soccer players are from La Salle, or their opponent maybe from La Salle, hard to tell from their conversations. There’s an inter-school or inter-organization league of some sort going on in Baguio. I can't help but hear people talk even though I try not listen to them. The bus is a claustrophobic place to be in.  

Baguio looks nice. The flowers are in bloom especially in Burnham Park. Last year, when I went there, the city looks dry and dusty.

 Nothing’s changed much in Burnham since I first visited the city about 10 years ago. The chess players out to gyp a few pesos from unsuspecting victims are still there. The cameramen with their shutter cameras offering to take portraits are also still there.  In this age of digital cameras, I don’t know how are they still able to eke out a living out of taking portraits using their old film cameras- they are becoming anachronisms.   

The Seventh Day Adventists are still very active engaging passers by with offers of Bible studies. I admire them for their dedication. What I miss are the Buddhists with their percussions, guitar and chants handing out literatures and friendly smiles to promenaders. Hmmm….come to think of it, they may not be Buddhist; they maybe Krishnas or Hindus…they are fun to watch and to listen to.

There’s a little difference that I notice though. One part of Burnham Park is now an open food court. Street foods, meriendas as well as lunch are served in kiosks. I assume that the food being served, somehow, passed the city’s health inspection. Anyway, I ate siomai, halo-halo, fishball, kwek-kwek all in succession. The milk in the halo-halo must have reacted with the acids of the sauces that I felt bloated, up to now.

My mother and my sister are hooked on Baker King. I had to go to the bedroom so that I will not be infected with the Korean virus. My mother loves the series so much, that, I think, this is the fifth time she had watched it in marathon.

My daughter is disappointed because the internet connection is down. Good for her, may I say.

I am sleeping when my wife wakes me up because my grade leader texted her asking me to report on Monday for some corrections in my reports. I have to go home. Anyway, two days rest did a lot of good for me physically.

Sometimes to take a meaningful rest, you have to physically get away from it all.