On To The City of Pines

Tomorow, I will be going up to Baguio for a much needed R&R.

Baguio has always held a soft spot in me, as like all other people who have been smitten with the city's magical lure.

I only wish I wasn't going to Baguio with all other million people going up for the Panagbenga Festival. Nevertheless, I still feel excited.

KG will be going with me and we have a lot of activities lined up. We havent been really to Baguio as a couple so this time, it will be like just the 2 of us, a million other tourists withstanding.

Baguio feels like Elbi to me sometimes. I don't know why. Well my mom went to college there and based on the stories she tells us, she had the time of her life there. She used to date PMA cadets and her bestfriend actually got married to an officer who later became the country's Chief of Staff. My mom would tell us stories about how much her allowance was back then. She would say that our late Nana was very generous with money and she got around 20 pesos monthly allowance. Uh, okay, how much was 20 pesos worth then, anyway?

Well, mom says, a bottle of coke cost around 10 cents. A pair of Levi's was 7 pesos. A tray-full of eggs was 25cents. So I do a little math in my head, and santa banana, my mom must have been rich!

When I went to college, my monthly allowance couldn't have afforded me a pair of Levi's. Sure, I always had money then, and it was always easy to ask for "advances" , but I didnt have any of the luxury stuff. Maybe except for the Alcatel cellphone my parents gave me plus the extra loads they sent me soon after. Looking back though, I wish I had the discipline back then to have spent my allowances on more meaningful stuff. I splurged a big part of it on parties, booze and cigarettes. I wish I had chosen to spend for a class ring instead. Or maybe a yearbook. I don't know, I just feel sometimes that I wasted an awful lot of money on useless stuff.

This weekend, when I go to Baguio, I will make certain that I dont do so much of the tourist-ty stuff. No more buying mundane stuff that you can buy at every little tiangge across the Philippines. This time, I want to invest on the things that matter. The ones that will last.

Will post about the Baguio trip soon!