CHILLED WALKS

I just got back from Baguio 3 days ago. The December air in Baguio is perfect for people needing some change of atmosphere and for long walks along the Session road.

Walking along Session road is really something; from the tip near the SM Baguio mall down to an intersection nearing the public market. The downhill part reminds you of the New York bustle depicted in movies. Lots of black dots bouncing on its own declared space. Session road has that melancholic setting that makes you want to cuddle and breathe deep. The lights are yellow making your skin less pored and the amount of street dirt is bearable it can be used as nuances for your cinematic musings on life. 

I am not gonna talk about the horses, pine trees, strawberries and peanut brittles (the most overrated Baguio pasalubong). I went there for some change of atmosphere. It was what i needed. The city isn't maddening but i need something. I'm not really bored.

Me, Carls, JP and J are scheduled for that trip but the 2 men backed out for valid reasons so i ended up going to Baguio with J, my ex boyfriend. We stayed in his Uncle Naas lovely la vakasayon grande type of home along Balacbac road. Its a good thing too that me and J are the closest ex couple of the century. And we don't dispel and avoid talking about getting together again, we are just together as good friends and we both know its not gonna go that far. Our relationship is kinda weird because we can really look like a couple and we never get awkward that one is falling for another. We just get along. I shop and he carries all my stuff. Haha!

The change of atmosphere comes in the moment i entered the home of Uncle Naas. They all speak and understand Ilocano. I'm a frustrated Ilocano speaker and a Belgian speaking fluent Ilocano makes me salivate over being an Ilocano more than ever.

Uncle Naas is a wonder. Just like any European, he loves and engages in serious stuff. He balked about politics in the Philippines, how to change society and the steps he took to make this country a better place to live in. He knows the Filipino psyche more than i do. It’s a good thing actually but it makes me feel like he's splatting me my dung in my face. It makes me bitter sometimes to be having this kind of society--- Filipino society. Poodrahbel suggested that the only cure for this society is to wipe out all Filipinos with an Anthrax virus and create a new breed of Filipinos. Haaay… sounds so science fiction to me.

Here's Uncle Naas. He looks like the Pope. If you add some chinchansu on his face and don him a black cloak he'll look like Darth Siddius of Star Wars. I like him really. He thinks greatly of this country if we only know how to work things. He said if he becomes president he'll ban people from going abroad, we should clean up our own mess.

He's married to a Filipina doctor in Baguio named Tita Juliet . They have a 10 year old kid named Karen. Now, Karen isn't a stone's throw away from his father. She's still a kid anyway and a very pampered one being the only daughter of a Belgian national and a doctora. Now, i have a dislikness for pampered kids mainly because i never had the luxury to be pampered back then so i'm allowing my past horrors to affect me in small amounts particularly in dealing with kids like Karen.  

She watches TV all day after school, she wolfs her food down in 3 seconds and she has 3 servings of rice in a meal. Uncle Naas and Tita Juliet acts like a food police on her everytime we eat. She took my hand one time and dragged me to her room just to show how many books she has read  as if to show me that TV watching is very much compensated by all the children's books she has around.

She showed me her 5-6 medals in full kayabangan to which also my mayabang and patolera mode came in with a bang as i told her that i had so many medals when i was your age i couldn't count them anymore and sometimes i throw them away! Aha! And her eyebrows stretched as far as Manila (and a 10 year old kid at that!).

While killing time, she had a contest between me and J where she would judge us on who would be the best reader of Guy de Maupassant's The Necklace. Of course, J won and i had zero points daw because i talked too fast and couldn't stress the dialogue parts. Duchcck! I told her i don't need points from reading because i won 2 declamation contests in elementary school back then. And she gave me a look as if to tell me that i am such a fucking bitch for telling her that.  Patulan talaga ang bata di ba? Anyway, she's still a kid and a nice one when she grows up. I took her a picture upon risk of me being shoved. I told her she looked cute.

The food served to us for 3 days was very yummy, organic and Ilocano! We had organic salad every meal and they had their own secret vinaigrette which i asked from Ate Amy. They make their own yogurt and mayonaisse. And its the first time i ate whole wheat pasta with home made mayonaisse and cooked ground beef as sauce! And i get to eat the ultimate Ilocano food next to pinakbet which is usually served at my Lola's house--- dinengdeng!

Baguio is a nice place to live in especially if you really are in love as in smack down head over heels in love. It has become a bit crowded with additional Koreans hiking around in their costumes. Koreans are everywhere lately!

The chilled city is also loved by moi due to its  25 peso flag down rates and very honest taxi drivers who give you the exact change until your last butal of piso.

My Baguio trip mode ended abruptly on our last day as i had more shocking news from work which, i think, can lead me to another change of atmosphere for a time. These small cellphones can really give me so much headache with so big of a news i want to know what they feel for being the the bringer of it. I lost all my giddiness in searching for the perfect brocoli and the Baguio chorizo so i ended up buying a 3 for 100 doormat.

I say, be careful what you wish for.