Baguio City In A Nutshell: 5 Amazing Reasons Why Baguio Is An Ideal Place To Live

by Joana Paola Gutierrez; October 6, 2020

I have a confession to make. I am a frequent traveler who truly hates cities. It’s quite ironic that I lived in Manila for 4 and a half years, yet I am a self-confessed hater of cities. Surprisingly, Baguio City is an exclusion to this odd feeling I have for cities. As a matter of fact, I was able to come up with the amazing reasons why Baguio is an ideal place to live and settle down in the future.

Baguio City has everything that I normally hate in a city but these same reasons are exactly what made me fall in love with the city. Odd isn’t it. Baguio has commercial buildings, but impressive sights. There’s traffic jam, but everything is a short walking distance while the atmosphere compliments a cool breeze. It has crowded streets and busy people, but organized and synchronized. Baguio has a lot of rules, but people adhere even to unwritten rules.

With all these being said, here are my top 5 realistic reasons why Baguio is an ideal place to live! For Baguio City’s current update on tourism (COVID-19), clik here.

Table of Contents

• Honest Taxi Drivers Returns Change Even To The Last Cents

• Take Off The Mask & Say Hello To Thrift Shops

• Best Place To Celebrate Christmas In The Philippines

• Enjoy Romantic And Cozy Places

• Indulge To Musical Serenades At Session Road

Honest Taxi Drivers Returns Change Even To The Last Cents

You probably heard about this observation from someone who has been to Baguio. In Baguio, honest taxi drivers does not only equates to returning things that passengers left in the cab. Honest taxi drivers also meant returning your change even to the last cents.

Whether it’s 25 cents or 50 cents change, as long as the meter reads Php 99.50, then you’ll get a 50 cents change from your 100 bill. This amazing practice never fails to amuse tourists coming from Manila. I can’t blame them because I know how taxi drivers are in Manila. You won’t get anything in return if your change falls between 1 – 20 pesos.

It’s a totally different culture just by the taxi drivers’ practice. Also, if I left something from the cab in Manila, I’d kiss it goodbye in my dreams because there’s only 10% chance of getting it back. Sad but it’s the truth.

Take Off The Mask & Say Hello To Thrift Shops

The iconic thrift shops in Baguio is a conventional lifestyle that will help you save up money for your future. Instead of buying expensive clothes and shoes just for the sake of masking your outer appearance, make your way to thrift shops and splurge into dirt cheap items and stuff.

In Baguio City, people do not wear first-use branded and expensive stuff. But in Baguio, people boasts off their second-use Php 10.00-worth blouse, a Php50.00-worth jacket and a Php150.00-worth ukay shoes.

People in Manila would say “I bought my ZARA pants for Php2,500.00”.

But people in Baguio would say “I just got this GUESS blouse for Php30.00 in the night market”.

Best Place To Celebrate Christmas In The Philippines

A combination of colorful LED lights, artificial snow, Christmas songs and dance performances in a Christmas Village? I can’t imagine of a more epic combination than this.

The holidays in Baguio City truly makes it incomparable to other cities. Wrapping yourself with the most comforting clothes for the city’s coldest season, walking in a street painted with red parols and shopping for cheap items for Christmas present at a night market.

Furthermore, aside from Christmas Villages you can also expect an annual celebration of SLU’s Lantern Parade. Every December 1st, the university honors Christmas by welcoming the month of December through a celebration of Lantern Parade. The school of St. Louis University showcases a parade of colorful lanterns in Session Road while locals and tourists enjoys watching from the streets.

Tudor in the Pines, Baguio City

Enjoy Romantic And Cozy Places

What makes Baguio even more enticing to visit are the romantic and cozy places. For instance, we have a number of romantic restaurants around the city such as (1) Arca’s Yard, (2) Oh My Gulay and (3) Vincent’s Place. These places has the best romantic ambiance and food in the city.

Given that the weather is cool, cozy places are also the best accommodations. You can choose from Valleypoint Campsite or Tudor in the Pines if you want a relaxing accommodation.

A cozy place with a serene atmosphere is just what we need to temporarily disconnect to our toxic life in the city. And Baguio is definitely the place for that! Imagine that Baguio is already an ideal escape vacation from your work. This adds up to the more reason why Baguio is an ideal place to live in the future.

Indulge To Musical Serenades At Session Road

Serenades have never been more romantic in the City of Pines. Just imagine walking in an old American-like street at night while hearing music that makes your heart dance with the rhythm. A compliment of a cool atmosphere joins the vibe and you realize that your heart is captured by the beautiful harmonious sound of a violin.

Busking is very common in Baguio City and it is just the perfect place to listen to talented musicians. There are guitarists, pianists and violinists. Of course, my personal favorite will always be the violinists. For some reason, the sound calms my restless soul and takes away grown-up stuff problems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bzkzqGso6U&t=7s

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Source: https://joansfootprints.com/2020/10/06/baguio-city-in-a-nutshell-5-amazing-reasons-why-baguio-is-an-ideal-place-to-live/