Baguio Insider

I know I mentioned before that living in Baguio City is like being on vacation all the time. But since I decided to run a bed & breakfast inn, everybody’s vacation time is when we work the hardest. Personally, I hardly took a day off for about 3 months and was on call 24-hours a day. And it’s during the off season that we in the hospitality industry can take real time off.

So I’m off to KL with my family, starting tomorrow for about 5 days. My sister Rosanne patiently lined up for those Php1.00 Cebu Pacific promos and got us all round trip tickets. Of course with taxes and all, she paid about  Php4,500/person. My sister Karin got us accommodations a little off the golden triangle but well located between Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur at a hotel adjacent to their MidValley Megamall, about 5 minutes away by cab to KL. Rooms cost about MYR190-270 inclusive of buffet breakfasts for 2 persons. Current exchange rates would be about Php13.00 - MYR1.00.

My brother Alfredo (Dits) and I actually lined up at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to get our passports renewed last week and were surprised with how easy and cheap it all was! First, we got to the DFA main office at Libertad corner Roxas Boulevard in Manila, got our photos taken at a stall there (Php100/person for 8 copies). Then we were very efficiently led to different counters where some guys kept initialing our papers (Dits remarked that that’s what Gloria Arroyo probably meant by creating more jobs). And finally we lined up, got our old passports canceled and were given claim stubs for 48 hours hence. Cost for express renewal was just Php750.00 each. Forty-eight hours later we were back there to claim our new passports. Simple as that. There were just two major lines to be conquered on each day but nothing compared to registration for UP Diliman in the 1980s.

In Baguio, NOANTS Travel Consultants will handle your passport renewal for just Php1,500.00 in 3 days. That comes out cheaper too since you will save on the trip to Manila or San Fernando, La Union. I did not have it done here because my brother needed company while lining up. Plus I did have numerous meetings slated in Manila while I was there.

My cousin Nacho Legarda says that KL can be explored in 2 days, and that the nightlife is great at Bangsar. So we will probably have time to see another Malaysian State, or maybe even take a train ride to Singapore if schedules permit. Mom and I are into tours while Karin and Dits are into shopping. Rosanne is a good mix of both. All five of us are into food!

How much money am I bringing? Not much, really, because I figured that we’d be in a South East Asian nation, so how much more expensive can KL be compared to Manila? All I know is that there’s an IKEA at Petaling Jaya and that’s important since I’m fixing up my condo in Metro Manila. Hahaha!

Will I be blogging from Malaysia? Probably not! This is the first time we will be traveling abroad as a family since 2002. Everybody’s been busy with work and businesses. My siblings and I are in our 40s and 30s, Mom in her late 60s. We’re all very much single (brother insists that’s dysfunctional but there’s just so much to do - hahaha) but even then it’s been hard to get everyone’s schedules to coincide.

And what about Atenara House? Well I leave that in the capable hands of my business partner Nico C. and our very competent staff.