Tips for Buying Baguio Blankets

Normally, those entering the market via Abanao Road or the Maharlika Livelihood Center side would buy up the blankets at the dry goods section and head back out. That’s actually good if you are just buying just one or two pieces. But if you are buying them as gifts, or in volume for present and future use (you want to hoard your favorite colors because they may not be available again in the same shade, and it’s awful to have mismatched colors in the same room – I’m being oye here…) you will want to go to an area where they are cheaper and plentiful.

The Hangar actually is the only area in the public market with an upper level (aside: where you can still get hap-hap coffee, which is half coffee and half evaporated milk). To get there, walk past the brooms and baskets, the fruits and vegetables and keep heading straight until the lighting starts getting a little dim. Find the stairs to you left, climb the stairs and feast on a wide variety of choices.

Now they sell furry blankets, ribbed ones and even some made of terry cloth (good idea for those living here because one tends to be a little cold and damp still even after toweling off after a shower) and not just your run of the mill flannel variety.

They also come in different sizes now although one has to be careful when told that the blanket is a double or a queen because that means it’s just 54″ or 60″ width, and blankets always need extra inches for the “drop,” which is the allowance so that you can tuck the blanket sides under your mattress when making up a bed.

Current prices are no longer the same as when Anna got them 10 years ago, but they’re still only about Php100-220 these days, depending on size and quality. And when they say double or queen, that’s good for a single bed; “extra king” is good for a queen size bed.

If we were to do as our mom taught us, the layering of the bed goes this way: fitted sheet (although this is a relatively recent innovation, as we were taught to use flat sheets for the base, too), flat sheet, blanket over the flat sheet with the latter folded on top for about 6 inches — and then the optional comforter. By the way comforters are thick blankets, not bed covers, you heathens! And I say optional because we’re in the Philippines and we have no winters here.

For those in Manila, it would be wasteful to make the room uber-chilly using artificial cooling, like an air conditioner, to justify the use of a comforter, especially when facing the threat of an energy crisis. And especially when you can buy relatively inexpensive light flannel blankets from Baguio for your use.

Now, these blankets do not last forever, mind you. But they’re good for about 3 years or even more if you use them in tandem with flat sheets. So buying them by the dozen will not cost you an arm and a leg.

And for the kiddies, there are also available those have their favorite superhero or cartoon character in the design, so really there’s such a wide choice available. But honestly, good taste dictates that we choose the plain ones, and at the most, those with geometric patterns, Mondrian being so “in” these days. Remember that floral designs are so mid-80s (!) and it’s hard to coordinate them with the floral wall paper (oooh, you can redo those too!).

At the market, there are also available those Ilocos blankets that are loosely woven fabric, not as soft as flannel of course, but elegant enough if your house is decorated in Filipiniana. Sometimes, these same blankets are used as bedcovers instead of because of their texture. I had a restaurant once that even used them as tablecloths for the rectangular family dining tables. These are more expensive but that’s because they’re heavier and take much more work to create.

There are few Ilocos blankets available at the Hangar — but mostly one fins better choices at the dry goods section on the opposite side of the market.

One more tip for Baguio visitors: Since most bedrooms here have no temperature control (meaning, even the hotels never felt the need for air conditioning, except those in the city center that want to shut out the noise and dust) remember to ask your hotel or host for extra blankets even before you feel the need for them. You may think that your single-ply or flannel blanket is enough at 10:00p.m. when you are about to sleep, but the temperatures here drop considerably after midnight and you make even wake up in the early morning hours because it’s too chilly.

And by the way, it get’s way chillier here in January. Temperatures last week dropped to 12?C but early this year in mid-January, it went way lower — 7?C!

Finally, for those who are freezing these days because this is after all Baguio and it is December, you may want to take a look at a previous post on How to Survive the Cold in Baguio –it talks about innovative  ways to use your hair dryer or even your toaster oven, so go check it out, too!.

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