April 12: Trisha leaves for Baguio

This is a sequel or continuation to my earlier post. We woke up early today because Tet's mom came to fetch her sister Len and Trisha. Len was going to spend a part of her vacation in Baguio and Trisha will be going with them for a week without us.

But before they left for Baguio, we went duty free shopping first (we almost won a brand new Toyota Vios) and ate at Dampa Paranaque (yummy lemon butter shrimp at Alban's). It was Trisha's first time to go anywhere without us. Surprisingly, according to Tet's mom and sister, Trisha did not cry. They said that there were times when she would call/find us but that was it. It's probably because she's already familiar with her Lola, Tito and Titas.

Anyway, when they left, we went for a fitting at Eric Pineda's shop in QC for my sister's wedding. Then bought some fruits at the Suki Market. After that, Tet had a haircut at Fix Salon in Serendra. We then had dinner at Mezzaluna (their US prime rib eye steak is delicious!) before we met up with our friends Tony and Hazel.

Our initial plan was to have coffee but we ended up eating Halo-Halo at Razon's and Pares at Goodah! It's ironic that with the number of coffee shops in Manila, it's so difficult to decide which coffee shop to go to. Hehe.. We went home past 12MN and I slept past 1AM. I still needed to wake up early the next morning for my run.

About SCTEX and other Government Infrastructure Projects

Ever since I learned about the construction of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway or SCTEX, I've been curious about it. Last Holy Week, I discovered that they soft opened it to ease the traffic since a lot of people were going north for the long holiday.

At that time, on our way to Baguio, I didn't know that SCT stood for Subic-Clark-Tarlac so I didn't dare use the highway fearing that we might end up going in the wrong direction. After I came back from Baguio, I googled it and found several information about SCTEX.

Now this is what I know about SCTEX:

• It's a 93.77 kilometer highway which is divided into two sections.
• The Subic-Clark section stretches 50.5 kilometers.
• The Clark-Tarlac section stretches 43.27 kilometers.
• It costs over Php27 billion to construct.
• It's to officially open by mid-April this year.

More information can be found here. But I wasn't able to find the information that I wanted. Since we travel mostly to Baguio, I was trying to find out if I could take the SCTEX so that I could skip the traffic in the Tarlac area. I basically wanted to know where in Tarlac the SCTEX ends.

Anyway, I also heard that SCTEX will be extended up to La Union. I'm not aware of the timing though but if that happens, travel time to Baguio will definitely be faster. 3 hours maybe? Now that's something to look forward to. I hope it pushes through and that no controversies will come out of it.

While searching the net regarding SCTEX, I discovered that there are actually a lot of similar types of projects that the government is undertaking. The ones I found were:

• C-5 expressway project(NLEX-SLEX link)
• SLEX extension project (we all know this)
• Manila-Cavite toll expressway project(R-1 expressway extension)
• Northrail project

I hope all of these government projects finishes because all these infrastructures would really benefit our economy. I'm not a fan of President GMA but kudos to her for these projects. I just hope there won't be corruption involved. I wish!

In Baguio for the Holy Week

We were in Baguio for the holy week and just came back yesterday. The traffic was terrible! It took us 8 hours to drive from Manila-Baguio and 7 hours from Baguio-Manila. The normal trip time is 5-6 hours. This long journey was caused by several road accidents and the huge volume of vehicles going North. Good thing Trisha was behaved during the trip (that was because she was sleeping most of the time, hehe).

Baguio, being the summer capital, was also packed with people who were also there because of the long vacation. I wouldn't recommend going to Baguio during long holidays as the traffic around the city gets really bad and if you don't know the shortcuts/alternate routes, you'll end up spending so much time stuck in traffic. All the tourist spots are also crowded and that includes SM Baguio.

The next time we go to Baguio for a long holiday, we'll make sure to leave Manila at least a day earlier and come back a day after. No more joining the throngs of cars on the road. Waste of time and precious gasoline.

Oh! On your way to Baguio and vice versa, try to take the alternate routes if you can, I think the route is longer but there will be no traffic and really few cars. And some good restaurants to dine along the way that we have tried are:

• Fortune Restaurant - serves chinese food located in Tarlac, Tarlac (in front of a medical center I think). Very near Metrotown mall. It's on the right if you're coming from Baguio and before the mall.
• Matutina's Restaurant - serves filipino food located in Urdaneta, Pangasinan. It's along the highway. On the left if you're coming from Baguio.

Food Trip with my HS Friends

I just came back from an overnight trip to Baguio for a get together with my high school buddies. It has been a while since we had a chance to go out. They are my oldest friends and we make it a point to keep in touch (via yahoogroups) and if our schedule permits, go out once in a while.

It was a tiring trip but it was also a chance for us to catch up on each others lives. We spent most of our time eating and chatting. This particular get together ended up more as a food trip among friends coupled with conversations about anything under the sun or rain. =)

These are our pit stops (places where we ate) in Baguio and Dagupan:
1. Starbucks, CJH - Ever reliable coffee shop. This was where we met up and had breakfast.
2. O Mai Khan, near Rizal Park - We had lunch at this eat-all-you-can Mongolian BBQ restaurant. This is a famous restaurant in Baguio and they serve good food. (Thanks NSK)
3. Brothers Burger, CJH - This was more of a pre-dinner meal for us, otherwise known as "meryenda".
4. Wood Nymph, SM City Baguio - We ate at this Korean Restaurant because we wanted to try Korean food and this was highly recommended by one of my friends. (Thanks NSK)
5. The restaurant at Golf Estates, CJH - This is strictly for members only and one of my friends was a member so we were able to eat here. We had breakfast here before going to Dagupan. (Thanks Alan)
6. Enso, OPC in Dagupan - This is a Japanese Restaurant owned by one of my friends and this is where we had lunch before going back to Manila. (Thanks Howie)

I am thanking my friends because most of my meals and the overnight stay at The Manor in CJH was free. Thanks guys! Let's do this again. hehe..