Baguio City has been called a lot of things—the City of Pines, the Summer Capital of the Philippines—but what it is, really, is my favorite city in the Philippines.

It is arguably the hub of tourism in Luzon, especially during the month-long festivities of the Panagbenga Festival every February. It has the best thrift shopping places with its ukay-ukay stores. A food trip paradise with its numerous restaurants lining Session Road. And a weekend-getaway haven with its numerous tourist spots and general accessibility from Metro Manila. Its year-round cool and temperate weather only adds to its charm as a tourist destination.

I know I’m not alone in nominating Baguio City as their favorite city, but if you’re still unconvinced, here’s a travel guide to convert you to become a certified Baguio Junkie.

One of the things I make sure I never miss whenever I travel to Baguio are their delicious garlic longganisa sausages. I dream about it during the six-hour bus ride en route to the city, then I make a breakfast out of it when I arrive. I eat it on cheap carinderias for lunch, and dine on it on posh restaurants for dinner. And more importantly, yes, I do bring some back home with me after the trip.

BAGUIO’S DE RECADO AND JAMONADO LONGGANISA

Apparently, Baguio’s very own longganisa has two versions. Most people are aware of the garlic one, the de recado type as they refer to it, but they also have a sweet one, the jamonado version. While I prefer the former, I haven’t really tried the latter that much.

Boom. The force of an exploding dynamite inside a dark and claustrophobic gold mine isn’t really what you wanted to experience during a tour. But there it was, its strong shockwave still reverberating through our whole being as we removed our hands from our earS and checked our limbs if they were still complete.

A SCULPTURE DEDICATED TO THE MINERS OF BALATOC

Our day started off mundanely enough. From our suite at the Azalea Residences Baguio, we went down to the restaurant for the requisite buffet breakfast (Baguio longganisa, check) before boarding a van to the nearby town of Itogon, still in the province of Benguet.

Baguio City has the perfect weather for al fresco dining, but it’s even more perfect for outdoor drinking. Before discovering 108 Session Road Café, Bohemian Café was our go to place when we wanted a bucket of beer in the City of Pines.

BOHEMIAN CAFE’S AL FRESCO AREA

Located at the corner of Lower Assumption and Session Road, its setting is perfect for people watching. We’d usually sit ourselves on its outermost wooden table, almost kissing the sidewalk, before ordering our favorite drink, Red Horse Beer. The street intersecting Session Road is busy enough for an entertaining afternoon session. And yes, we usually frequent this place during the daytime, 108 Session Road Café being still closed during those hours.

During one of our trips to Baguio about a couple of years back, we hunted the city for a budget hotel we could crash into after going through the mountains of Banaue and Sagada. We checked the net en route to the City of Pines but we really need not have looked far, as right across SM Baguio, along one of the main thoroughfares of the city, is Hotel 45.

The hotel is quite prominent along Baguio’s chaotic skyline. You can easily see its billboard when going to Session Road. I have long since read about this place’s affordability, but haven’t really tried their rooms since they almost always were fully booked. I guess that’s a testament to how cheap their lodgings really are.

SEE: BAGUIO TRAVEL GUIDE

Session Road has always been special to me. I love walking along its chilly sidewalks, dodging both locals and tourists garbed in sweaters, boots, and bonnets. I love the many shops and restaurants inside both new and old buildings. I love how during rainy Baguio days, we’d hole up on a second floor veranda of a certain bar and simply watch the passing cars along its slick roadways, beer in hand, stories passed around.

That certain bar, 108 Session Road Café, is located at the old La Azotea building, the same one where celebrated filmmaker, Kidlat Tahimik’s quirky Oh My Gulay! can be found. But we frequent La Azotea, not for OMG’s leafy offerings, but for a few hours of beer and acoustic music.

I’ve always wondered what’s inside the Ifugao-inspired building at the corner of Harrison and Governor Pack Road in Baguio every time I pass it by. I know it’s a museum, but for the life of me, I can’t seem to find the time to visit it, considering how frequent I go up to the City of Pines.

This last time, I made sure I get to enter its doors.

CARVED WOODEN SPOONS DISPLAYED IN BAGUIO MUSEUM

Baguio City has always fascinated me and whenever I meet someone who actually lives here, I always make it a point to ask a few questions about its history. Like how the Americans discovered it, what it looked like before it became the Summer Capital of the Philippines, and even, how life was during the American Period.

SEE: BAGUIO TRAVEL GUIDE

It was raining in Baguio City and we wanted a bowl of piping hot bulalo (beef shank soup). We know there are a lot of eateries hawking bulalo in the city so there really was no challenge in finding one. And staying at the Paragon Hotel & Suites near Burnham Park, we easily found one such eatery, what surprised us though, was that besides bulalo, they also have pigar-pigar, a Pangasinan dish, on their menu!

The name of the restaurant is St. Martin Breadhouse Bulaluhan. Alright, there’s really no bread in sight, but that was alright—we wanted our bulalo with a steaming cup of white rice. Apparently, their original branch is located at Umingan in Pangasinan, and they do have a bakery in that particular eatery. That explains the mystery name, and the pigar-pigar.