BACK TO THE CITY OF PINES: PART 2 / MAY 23-26,2009 =D

Notwithstanding the desire to just hole up in the cottage and never leave the vicinity of BCC, a trip to Baguio will not be complete without a trip to Burnham Park and Wright Park. The trip to Wright Park was high on the little girls' list of Things to Do.

"I want a white horse, Nangnang!" declared one.

"I want a white horse too, Nangnang!" declared the other.

Thankfully, there is no shortage of white horses in Wright Park these days, although, pray tell, when on earth did every single white horse start sporting pink (yes, PINK!) manes?! Hahaha. =D

"Mas gusto po kase ng mga bata," explained Manong, and the sparkle in the eyes of Patita and Ray*-B provided absolute confirmation. The kids, apparently, don't see anything wrong with dying a horse's mane pink. It was, I suppose, the horse of their dreams. They only dreamt of riding a white horse; they each got one with pink hair to boot! Haha. O, sya, sya. =D

The other thing that the little girls did not see anything wrong with was the strong smell of horse manure that overtook our senses as we approached Wright Park. We got used to it after sitting around for a while, but unfortunately for Patita and Ray*-B, their moms have not yet gotten themselves used to the strong smell while they were negotiating with the manongs.

"Oh, Mom! One hour please!!!!!" they both whined, as the manongs gave the rates for 1/2 hour and a full hour.

"Thirty minutes only. If you like it....." they paused. I half-expected them to say that they will then extend to an hour after thirty minutes if the girls want to continue riding their horses.

"Thirty minutes only. If you like it...." they paused, "We will go to Camp John Hay tomorrow and you can ride the horses there." Hahaha! =D

Now, I realize that somewhere in the photo library in House Better, Bro I-gue, Sister Pusjing and I have photos that look exactly like these. I had meant to scan them over the weekend but completely forgot to do so. In any case, I do remember Sister Pusjing insisting on a white horse (with white mane back then) that turned out to be so slow, everytime we passed her, we called out "tidum-tidum-tidum-tidum....". She didn't care; her horse was white. Haha! Bro and I got big, brown, sturdy looking horses. Not that we actually knew how to ride. We just wanted the big, brown, sturdy looking ones. =D Now they may not be smiling much here, but trust me, as Patita and Ray*-B were going round and round and round and round the oval, their smiles pretty much breached a thousand watts. =D

The following day, the entire family hauled our asses off the couch to drive downtown to the other prerequisite Baguio activity. Boating on Burnham Park. Haha! Now, I do remember enjoying this activity when I was a kid. Really. No, really. I did. I remember being on one boat with Lolo Danding (after whom our ancestral home, Eduardo's was named after), Father, Mother, Sister Pusjing and Bro I-gue, racing with and/or calling out to Tito Art, Tita Thelms and Cousin Day on the other boat. I remember having the time of my life. I suppose that's the magic of being a kid. Every experience is magnified a million times on the fun meter. As an adult though, it was more of like, uh.....OK.....is our 30 minutes up already? Hahahahahaha! Still, giving Patita and Ray*-B their own Burnham Park memories made the experience worthwhile.

And yes, of course we had to pose as a family beside the lake! Haha! =D (Waaaaaah! Ang taba ko na naman. And I should have combed my hair! Haha! Grrrrrrrrrr..... =D)

After lunch at Cafe by the Ruins (to be posted separately), we fulfilled the promise we made to the girls. Camp John Hay was high on the agenda, and yes, it is twice more expensive than Wright Park, but the horses are more sosyal and the facilities are better. Unfortunately for the girls, no white horses with pink manes. They had to "settle" for these. ;p

Unlike Wright Park were most riders go round and round an oval (hence the accumulated droppings), horseback riding in Camp John Hay takes you down a trail. Against her will, therefore (after all, she is not about to let the kids go off to a mountain trail alone with a stranger), Sister Pusjing got on a horse too. Hubby Sweet, for his part, was not about to let the two kids and Sister Pusjing wander off into the woods with strangers so he also got on a horse. (Truth be told, I think it is also part of his secret dream--"Tweet, para akong si FPJ!" Haha! =D)


As they wandered off for a good hour and a half, the rest of us walked / drove over to the Mile High export overruns / outlet shops right across The Manor. We only realized it was time to go when Bro I-gue's and my cellphone started ringing incessantly.

It was Sister Pusjing and Hubby Sweet on the other end--with a single message.

"We're done na with horseback riding. Sunduin niyo kami. Nasa inyo gamit namin. Wala kaming pambayad."

HAHAHA! Ngyah. =D