baguio just like before

the last time i went to baguio was like 7 long years ago with my family. my brother-in-law was still carrying a very pudgy toddler of a NANO (my stinky-sock wearing 3 grader nephew) at that time. as much as i could recall wrenching from the my nicotine-induced brain cells, we stayed in a 2-bedroom unit at teacher's camp. 'twas soo cold that the cooking oil we bought turned into cold lard (read: nagsebo na). and that when you poop as you try to wash your ass, it was like the water you were using came from the freezer and that ur fun hole was so shaking that it got the like coldest culuture shocking ass-washing yet. as far as i could discern, we also went on a rampage of "kodakan" at baguio's usual places: camp john hay, pma, burnham park, mine's view park, crystal cave, etc. that was a blast with the family.

this time, there is a different kind of excitement tingling through my nerves. i was kinda like: "malamig pa ba sa baguio?" or: "makakasakay pa kaya uli ako ng kabayo sa burnham park at mapi-piktyuran?" hell, i was all packed with a ton of clothing good for a summer's vacation.

kuya erick told us that meat was kinda expensive "upstairs". so what we did was bought some kilos of meat at makro in tandang sora. it was already 1:30 in the afternoon when we finished buying the rekados other than meat. the ever-loudmouthing hepe was already at the bus station waiting for us for the 2 pm trip. we were so pressed for time that we skipped lunch and forgot about some must-brings for our trip.

funny, as we were packing some things up at richie's house, when his erlats came down to the garage to check on us before we leave. the boxfull of 'lil grand matadors (or grandmas as we call it) clanged up as we were putting it in a big plastic bag. erlats heard this, she asked : "ano laman nyan?" no one among the three of us (ako, erik n richie) even dared to reply. "baka mag-iinuman lang kayo dun. paalis-alis pa kayo?" hehe. sarap uminom syempre. para naman maiba, d ba?

we got off at pampanga to meet maricar (our friend who was the ex-highschool sweetheart of our batchmate ral), and frans' first lady annalyn and their kid isaac, also named "skyuter". at last, we ate our much overdue lunch at 4 pm already at jollibee.

erick vhoi the baguio boy was at the steering wheel. while i was at my usual role as dj liempo. the trip going up was cruisin'. we thought that the storm at taht time won't catch us since 'twas still in the bicol region. roads have become wet as we were passing though pangasinan. btw, don't u know there was this barangay named bgy. cauringan? i bet this is a dreaded place for some homophobic male species to live in, hehe. as we reached the pugo junction at the foot of marcos highway, things got even wetter. so much rainfall caused us to slow down. and here was the clincher: fog. as in freakin' thick fog. our speed was like only 20 kmh coz we got almost 0 visibility. we turned the aircon off since it was hard for the van to go up with that speed.

we came through after more than an hour later. as we reached the town proper, fog has crept through the place. so this is how it feels to be in europe, the states, japan or korea. wala kang maintidihan dahil ilokano salita nila, para kang nasa far away land. at bukod dun, pagbaba mo pa lang ng sasakyan 'yung hiniga mo may usok. hindi ka pa nagsisisndi ng sigarilyo nun ha?

sarap!

erick vhoi told me that this has been the coldest he has been to baguio.

the pad we were staying at belongs to erick's relatives. tito abe and tita guy were the ones taking care of the place. all in all, the shack is 4 levels packed up by different ethnic stuffs form all over the country. basically, ang sarap mag stay dun. by the way, the was the most comfortable and most sulit 300 peso per head and stay-in you will ever get in town. take it from me.

luto kaagad si richie. and again, he pulled it off. da best na adobo naman ang natikman ko. lupet mo brad! :)

tinira na kaagad namin ung isang kahon na grandma. richie passed up. he got a banging headache after he took a bath. brain freeze, i thought. kulang lang sa sex, sabi ni erick.

tatlo n lang kami ang uminom. antok na din sila maricar and annalyn so decided to hit the sack already. and after 5 bottles later at around 5 in the morning ....

"pare, patugtugin mo naman yng rode ste-wart sa ipod mo. ung mga luma na songs ba? frans said in a murmuring sound about to pas out. and sounding like a drunken robin padilla.

"cge, pare ililipat ko ipod," the tipsy chairman said.

that's all was the forst to hit the speakers. reminiscent of what adam sandler sang in "the wedding singer."

"yan! yan ang gusto ko. rod ste-wart! ganda nyan!"

there was a long, silent pause afterwards. erick and i were talking about stuffs when we noticed that frans went into a standstill while soundtripping. para bang nadale ng ibong adarna. we laughed our asses out that even the newly-rejuvenated richie join our kodakan sessions taking pics of the wasted hepe. after that it was our turn to get wasted. i even nearly got myself burned as i was already sleeping while holding my smoke. richie told me to go to bed, but my stubbornness caused a cigarette hole in front of my basketball shorts. ok lang, solb naman!

paggising ng lunch, bulalong batangas naman ang kinain. isa na namang obra maestra ang niluto ni 2beg.

and there goes my bulging beer belly. press on it, and it's hard as a underripe melon. as for my nagging hangover, i guess it sank down the toilet after my "big flush" after that hearty lunch.

night came and we decided to stroll around. but heck, we got caught not only by the thick fog but the heavy downpour as well. we were suppose to stroll the bustling road along session road, but we end up posing as bodyguards for the "first couple" (frans and analyn) having their ears pierced in some silverware store when they could have 'em at silverworks at a nearest sm mall.

it was a rather lackadaisical gimik until i heard some bottles clanking outside our bedroom where i rested my body for some minutes. things got even better when as the smell of fried chicken painted a smile in me. "perhaps that's dinner, and pulutan at the same time," i gladly sighed.

lo and behold how my intuitions never fail me! chicken ala mcjo fc. peborit!

afterwards, the pig mentality, for the nth time, made us inutile for the time being. as analyn and maricar did the dirty chores to consumate our cooking duties.

you read it right. there were clanking of bottles. striding through the cooler are stallions of RH waiting to be unleashed. all 14 of them.

again, we drank. we talked. we laughed. we drank again, talked and laughed. we even got rowdy giggles from our first "zyolzyaks" experiences. but i'd rather not elaborate. let's say it's too sticky a situation o discuss, hehe.

rise and shine. it's sunday. but it was already after lunch. the cool weather got us into a slumber, as in like a log. we hit the wet market to buy some "pasalubongs" at home. i was a bit surprise that suculent veggies growing in baguio are rather cheap (30 pesos/kilo). from pechay baguio to brocollis, ang mumura ever! ibang level na 'tohhh!

as we are packing up our goodies, a senior dude approached us from out of nowhere. he was selling his sweepstakes tickets. what the heck, 2beg said, "ill buy 2. just make sure i'll get the winnig tickets, aight?" i also bought some. maybe this is the "LUCK" i have been waiting for all these years. "malay mo..." as the ad quickly resounds my thoughts

going down the curves of marcos highway, the fog still creeps through the winding roads. "babalik uli ako dito," mused frans, who sat beside me in front because of boredom from behind with his family.

i didn't get to ride a horse, i didn't toss some coins at ifugao kids risking their lives clinging beside the cliffs, i didn't get to get a glimpse of the stalactytes. but i get to see the fog. baguio still has it: the cold ambience that refreshes the tired spirits of urban dwellers. the cheeky-red faces of the natives that lifts our spirits. the colorful blossoms of the flowers, trees and veggies. and yes, baguio still cools oil into a big fat,bottle of lard :)