Mines View Park and Good Shepherd Convent- Baguio City

Mines View Park was the first place we went to when we arrived in Baguio, after eating breakfast, that is. We arrived in the city by Victory Liner bus, and after dropping our bags at the bed and breakfast we were staying at, off we went. There was no time to lose!

We arrived in dreary weather, it was drizzling, and it was super cold! It was 13 degrees Celsius, which reminded me of the autumn weather in Seoul, which I was missing by the way, or the winter temperatures in Hong Kong.

We decided to go up there as early as we can to avoid the crowds, and yes, there were only a few visitors as it was a Thursday morning when we arrived. We commuted and fare is 8.50 pesos. We took the jeep around the Center Mall area in Baguio, and we just asked around where we can take it. The locals are very helpful, which made it easy to go around the city.

Welcome to Mines View Park, fresh from the bus, with little to no sleep. Join me again as I take you around the area of Mines View Park.

There was hardly anything to see because of the rain. There was fog everywhere, in fact, even as we were going up along Kennon Rd, the fog was so thick the bus had to go up very slowly along that long winding road.

And of course there was no sunrise as it was drizzling, but it was at least trying to peek through the clouds. We took pictures nonetheless, rain or shine. Ha ha.

There was not much light for good pictures, but it was fun blowing air and seeing the mist coming out of our mouths. The children in us came out and enjoyed the cold weather.

Behind the clouds, the sun is still shining indeed. We were blessed to have seen this view, and since it was my birthday that day, it was very special indeed.

There is a lot of new buildings in the area already, so different from a few years back when I was last there.  Development happens everywhere, so we just enjoyed the trees and the fog while we could still enjoy them.

This is the other side of the viewing deck. Fog everywhere.

And of course we had to take a selfie. And we tried several times as we were trying not to show our sleepy faces.

In the area there is a part where they offer visitors to wear the traditional Igorot clothing for 20 pesos and you can take pictures everywhere. Of course my niece was game, and I took several pictures of her, although she was worried about it getting wet because of the rain.

This is the entrance to go down the viewing deck and the rocks were slippery due to the rain.

As with every place we went to, there were always plants and flowers on display and I could not stop taking pictures of them. This time, cacti.

Since I love cooking, I was super happy to see  herbs like tarragon, basil, rosemary, mint and parsley. I wanted to bring them all home but I couldn't.

This cactus plant was named Mickey Mouse because of its branches that resemble Mickey's ears.Whoever named it had a very good imagination. :-)

I love the vibrant pink color of these flowers. I don't know what they are called though.

These are also very nice.I have seen these in Hong Kong before but I also don't know what they are called.

Hydrangeas are very common in Nantucket, Massachusetts, another place I've been to, but still have to write a post for, and they are found in almost all houses in the island.

Can anyone guess what this is? Any guesses? Its actually a variety of chili.

While I was looking at them, I was reminded of the same ones I saw when I was in New York. If you'd like to see that post, you can read it here.

There were also succulents there but as it was still too early, the people manning the plant shops were not yet around so I could not ask how much they were selling them for.

These flowers reminded me of the time when I was walking around in Seoul. Spring is a really good time to be traveling there as well. To read that article, click here.

Just wanted to take a picture of it close up. Very healthy plant.

I wonder if these are as spicy as the siling labuyo we usually have. 

I am a plant lover so bear with me as I share loads of pictures. They may be repetitive but they also have their individual beauties.

More herbs. Mint, Lavender, Basil, Italian parsley, rosemary and tarragon. Hmmm.

After Mines View Park, we decided to walk down as it was not hot, and we just thought it would be a fine day for a leisurely walk down, so that we could look around the neighborhood.

And that's how we came about Good Shepherd Covenant. We saw the sign and we just followed it because they are famous for their food products.

It is also a training center, and there was a garden of reflection in the compound and we walked around as well.

You see the fog everywhere. The words God bless were again spelled out with plants.

This is part of their garden. There were also a lot of pine trees in the background, which gives the Baguio feel.

I took this picture looking down from the gallery. There's a sign that says Zipporah's well. There was also a Rebekah's well.

They have a lot of plants - vertical gardening, they call it. Pots of plants on a wall.

A picture of the pine tree tops. Although they are not clear because of the fog.

This is by their cafe that overlooks the garden below.

I just took a picture of this- it is supposed to be a viewing deck but it was all white when we were there because of the fog. The only picture I was able to take was of the garden with Zipporah's well below.

It was named zebra because of the white stripes on its fronds. Again, pretty smart thinking. 

I need not say anything more to this, do I?

There's my niece posing with my umbrella. After this, we walked all the way down to Wright Park, and this will be shared in the next article.

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