Pista at Cultura

          Pista at Kultura ng Baguio                      

Panagbenga Festival

 

 

 

 

PANAGBENGA is a local Kankana-ey term in Cordillera, which means “a season for blossoming; a time for blooming", coined by Ike Picpican, curator of the Saint Louis University Museum in 1997.
It is a month-long celebration in February/March during the business-lean months to attract tourists to the City of Baguio after the holidays and before the peak Summer Season.
It culminates with a Grand Flower Float Parade, held usually on the last Sunday of February.
The Flower festival symbolizes the rise of Baguio from the city's devastating earthquake disaster on July 16, 1990.
To kick off the BEST of Baguio series, here's my first-timer's take on the Panagbenga experience...

 

Kultura ng Baguio

     Ang Baguio (bigkas /bá·gyo/) ay isang 1st-class highly urbanized na lungsod sa hilagang Luzon sa Pilipinas at ang punong-lungsod ng Cordillera Administrative Region. Napapalibutan ito ng probinsya ng Benguet. Itinatag ang Baguio ng mga Amerikano noong 1900 bilang isang bakasyonan sa panahon ng tag-araw sa isang nayon ng mga Ibaloi na dating tinatawag na Kafagway. Ginawang "Summer Capital" ang lungsod noong ika-1 ng Hunyo, 1903 ng "Philippine Commission" at idineklarang lungsod ng "Philippine Assembly" noong ika-1 ng Setyembre, 1909. Ang pangalang Baguio ay hango sa salitang Ibaloi na bagiw na ang ibig sabihin ay 'lumot'. Tinatayang nasa mahigit-kumulang sa 1500 metro(5100 talampakan) ang taas ng lungsod na naaayon para sa

paglaki at pagdami ng mga punong pino at mga halamang namumulaklak.

                
                                                                                 

                                                                              

Katakam-takam na Pagkain sa Baguio

Katakam-takam na Pagkain sa Baguio

     Ito may isa sa mga katakamtakam na pagkain sa Baguio. Ito ay matatagpuan rin sa Manila Makaka-adik ang recipeng ito kapag ito'y natikman. Sa karagdagang impormasyon tungkol dito bumisita sa www.pinoycarvings.com

                               

Baguio City is the strawberry capital of the Philippines, so a visit to a strawberry farm is a must when in town. Most tourist get their strawberry fill at the market, but I say, head to La Trinidad and go loco over strawberries as well as vegetables such as lettuce and broccoli. A taxi may be rented which will take you straight to the farm. But PV and I like to do things the local way (often the long way), so its the jeepney for us. Fare is only Php12 on a jeep bound to the La trinidad which cue in front of City Hall. Ask the driver to drop you at the Strawberry Farm. From the drop-off point, its a short walk to the entrance of the farm.There are two options for buying the strawberries. Option 1: you can buy it from the farm lot owners for PhP150. Option 2: pick the strawberries yourself, but this will cost you double at PhP300. The reason for the mark-up, they said you can choose the best strawberries. Prices are pretty much leveled here, but if you know how to negotiate, you might get a better price for the strawberries. PV had this experience in China in which he noticed that tea prices become cheaper as he walked farther and deeper into the farm. We tried the strategy, and not a moment soon, we struck a deal and bought 5kilos of strawberries. We had only enough budget for 3kilos originally, but with the same budget, we were able to buy 5kilos, for walking the extra mile, quite literally.These beautiful heartshaped berries only grow on certain months. As early as October, farmers start planting. They cannot harvest until January, but the prime harvest is at least a month more, just in time for the Panagbenga Festival. By June, strawberry harvest decreases, and farmers shift to planting other vegetables such as lettuce and wait until the next strawberry season arrives.. 

                                                            

        Mapapa-laway ka sa inihanda ng Baguio para sa inyo, katakam-takam tignan pero mas mamamangha ka sa lasa nito. Ito ya ang Lechon Kawali on a Bed of Mixed veggies. Yummy!!!

                                 
      But since I was lactose intolerant, I had to go for this equally yummy Banana Singapore! Just when I thought this was the fullest meal we were gonna have during the trip (because I was honestly full to the brim), our next meals during our entire trip proved that this was just a taste of what’s to come. Burp!!


                   


We all went “Whoa!” when the Crispy Pata was served. As satisfied as we already are with all the other dishes, we willfully dug in and had our share of the ever popular “pampabata” dish.


 Kaya Halina't Sabayan Ninyo Ako at Langhapin ang     mga Pagkain at Humanda sa Sobrang Busog!!!!

      The Lion's Head is a famous attraction along Kennon Road, a major highway in Luzon,Philippines that leads to Baguio City. Located in Camp 6, the Lion's Head measures 40 feet in height.It was conceptualized by the Lions Club members of Baguio City, during the term of Luis Lardizabal as mayor of Baguio City from 1969 to 1970 and as the club's president, ito become the club's symbol or imprint in the area. Prior to the artistic sculpting, the limestone was prepared by a group of engineers and miners, then the "actual artistic carving of the façade" was rendered by Reynaldo Lopez Nanyac, an Ifugao artist and woodcarver from the Cordillera Administrative Region. The construction project began in 1968 but was interrupted. The project was continued in 1971 by another Lions Club president, Robert Webber, and was unveiled in 1972.

Burnham Park is an urban park located at the heart of theCity of Baguio, in thePhilippines. It was named after the American architect and urban planner, Daniel Hudson Burnham who laid the plans for the city. Several stretch of roads around the park lead toCamp John Hay, a former recreational base of the United States Armed Forces in the Philippines. It is a scenic park overlooking Mount Kabuyao, the tallest mountain in the Baguio region.

The park features a man-made lake situated at the center where tourists can enjoy boating with rented boats. At the southern part of the park, a skating rink was constructed. The Melvin Jones Grand Stand and Football Field at the eastern part of the park are normally used for several activities like parades, concerts, and political rallies. The Children's Park and the Orchidarium is located at the western part of the park. There are also bike rentals if one so wishes. You can rent either single bikes, tandem bikes or even bikes with side cars. They even have small bikes for the little kids of both two and three wheel versions. A bust of Daniel Burnhamwas erected in the northern section where a rose garden is also located.

When the 1990 Luzon earthquake killed more than 100 people in Baguio, many homes were destroyed, leaving many displaced people seeking refuge in Burnham Park.

     Ang Baguio Catholic Cathedral ay isang simbahang Katoliko na matatagpuan sa isang burol saLungsod Baguio. Ang kulay rosas na pula nitong tuktok at magarang estruktura ang malimit umaakit sa mga taong nagdaraan. May hagdan patungo sa itaas ng katedral kung ikaw ay magmumula sa Session Road.Unti-unting itinayo ang katedral na ito sa ibabaw ng burol. “Kampo” ang unang tawag ng mga katutubong Ibaloy sa simbahang ito, at hindi nagtagal tinawag itong Mount Mary ng mga Belgian Catholic Mission na pinamumunuan ni Padre Carlu, CICM. At noong 1936, pinalitan muli ang pangalan nito bilang Our Lady of Atonement.
Ang Baguio Cathedral ang nagsilbing pansamantalang tuluyan ng mga biktima ng Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig, na nagligtas sa libo-libong residente ng Baguio.

                            

    Session Road is Part of Radial Road 9 also the main thoroughfare of Baguio City and is the main hub of what is called the Baguio Central Business District. Located at the city center, it is actually divided into two parts:

• Lower Session Road, extending eastward from Magsaysay Avenue (opposite the Plaza or Kilometer 0 and Malcolm Square) running through the BCBD until the intersections of Father Carlu Street (towards the Baguio Cathedral and Upper Bonifacio Street) and Governor Pack Road. This is the area where businesses are located, among others banks, shops, restaurants, bakeries, hotels, newsstands, boutiques, and studios.

• Upper Session Road, extending from Post Office Loop, Leonard Wood Road, and the foot of Luneta Hill (where SM City Baguio is located) to the rotunda cutting toward South Drive (towards Baguio Country Club), Loakan Road (towards Camp John Hay, Loakan Airport, Philippine Military Academy, Baguio City Economic Zone, and the mine areas ofItogon, Benguet), and Military Cut-Off (towards Kennon Road)

    Session Road derives its name from the fact that it used to lead up to the old Baden-Powell Hall, where the first Philippine Commission held its sessions from April 22 to June 11, 1904 and officially initiated the use of Baguio as the Philippine Summer Capital. The Commission was composed of Governor General Luke E. Wright, president, and Commissioners Henry Ide, Den C. Worcester, T. Padre Tavera, Benito Legarda, Jose de Luzuriaga, James Smith and William Cameron Forbes. A marker by what is now Baden-Powell Inn, right beside the enormous bus terminals on Governor Pack Road, stand as the only visible evidence that anything of historical significance ever took place on Session Road.

    Nowadays, the only session that regularly take place in the vicinity are the jam sessions at Ayuyang, a favorite watering hole of reggae, folk, and indigenous Filipino music fans and artists alike. A local Philippine band calledsessiOnroad based their name on the famous thoroughfare.

  The Mansion was built in 1908 to serve as the official summer residence of U.S. Governor-Generals at the instance of Governor-General William Cameron Forbes. The name is derived from the summer cottage in New England of Governor Forbes whose administration the original Mansion House was built under. Architect William E. Parsons, based on preliminary plans by architect Daniel H. Burnham, the planner of the city of Baguio, designed the mountain retreat following the tenets of the City Beautiful Movement. In 1910, the meeting of the Second Philippine Legislature was held at The Mansion for three weeks.The house was badly damaged during the Second World War and was rebuilt in 1947. Since then, it has served as the holiday home and working office for each President of the Philippines during his or her visits to Baguio.

The Mansion House was also used as the venue of important events, such as the second session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) in 1947, the second session of the Food and Agriculture Organization in 1948, and the first meeting of the Southeast Asian Union (SEAU), more commonly known as the Baguio Conference of 1950, which was conceived and convened by President Elpidio Quirino. More recently, The Mansion has been the site of a number of international conferences.