Precious Moments: A Memorable Baguio Trip: Part 1

"There's something about new beginnings that make me hopeful"

It started on one Friday night, little did we know what was in-store ahead. I was with friends the whole day, a prenup shoot in the morning with talit and paul, followed by a dinner and coffee treat from Candy Rhea. (Read more about this here). Casey, on the other hand, was with friends too for a buffet dinner in Ortigas. We were having fun with friends that we ended up feeling nervous about making it to the bus terminal for our 11pm trip. Thankfully Casey got a really fast cab driver which took her from Ortigas at 10pm, to Makati to fetch me at Starbucks by 10:20, then at the bus terminal by 10:45. To add to the adrenalin rush, the cab driver failed to go to the right lane taking us to the Magallanes bridge going to SLEX! We almost panicked, well okay we were panicking already, but we remembered that there is a street at Paseo de Magallanes where we can turn and go back to the right route. Just right before we go down, I asked Casey for our bus tickets to look for the bus number so we can hop right down from the cab to it. This was when I noticed that instead of 11pm, the ticket said 11am!(Casey's mom, booked our trip and she was certain that it was for the 11pm trip, we don't know what happened here.) Waaaaaah! Talk about everything almost going wrong. 11pm, we boarded our bus going to Baguio. Casey used some magic thus the 11am ticket was honored and we got front row seats which allowed for more room for stretching our legs. hehehe. From Pasay to Tarlac it was non-stop kwento about personal life, work, church and other interests. It helped with the 6 hour trip.

We arrived at Baguio at around 5am. It was sooooo cold! My feet froze and refused to move for a while. But boy was I loving the cold weather already! JM fetched us and took us to the transient house where we will stay for 3 days and 2 nights. Day 1 of our Baguio adventure begins! :)

Day 1: Surprise Surprise!

Casey is the mastermind of this whole trip. It was her plan to go up to spend time with her special friend, JM. She opened the invitation to friends, and originally Dino and Saraah will join us too but failed to do so. From the very start Casey already has a plan to surprise JM. She asked help from JM's close friend, Maui to help her do it. Today is the day we execute everything.

We slept/tried to sleep for a few hours after arriving in Baguio and agreed to meet JM for brunch by 9am. But instead we met with Maui at Chowking, Session Road to finalize everything for JM's surprise. It took us like quite a while to finalize everything. So here's the plan:

Step1: Casey will text JM she has meeting with her boss and ABS CBN Baguio for a possible shoot at Tarlac and to meet Tutann at Cafe by the Ruins for brunch

Step2: Tutann to text JM saying she left Cafe by the Ruins to get Casey's stuff to bring it to her meeting thus hinting that she will go to Tarlac for the shoot instead

Step3: Maui to go to Cafe by the Ruins to meet JM, tell him that Casey went to Tarlac.

Step4: Casey to come from the back, cover his eyes and then say "surprise" and give him the happy donuts!

Okay, so that was all set and Step 2 was accomplished already. Casey, Maui and I proceeded to Cafe by the Ruins to execute Step 3. We arrived there and decided to check out the place when I saw JM across the street leaning on a tree, listening to music patiently waiting. Panic strikes again! Good thing he didn't see us. We went inside the Cafe hurriedly. Maui got a table, Casey and I hid at the farther end of the cafe. To make the long story short, JM arrived, Casey came from behind and did what she planned. It was successful for 5 seconds until JM said that he smelled her cologne and instantly knew it was her!!! That was really funny! All the planning boiled down to just a 5-seconder surprise!

That was the highlight of Day 1. We had brunch at Cafe by the Ruins, went to SLU, and then went to Tamaw-an Village. After that, we decided to go to Forest House for coffee and dessert. We fell in love with the place instantly. It was cozy, and since Christmas is near, it is already adorned with Christmas decors and a very nice Christmas Tree. I loved that place, but I am having a feeling that Casey and JM loved it more than I do. :D The day ended with a trip to SM Baguio where JM got a haircut and where we met the Baguio boys-James, Maui and Danny.