panagbenga 2007

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Baguio, like Bicol, is practically my second home.  I've been going there since I was a kid, invading my aunt's house, but have never ever joined the Panagbenga Festival.  So when Jen invited me to join them this year, I said yes instantly.  I mean, what the heck, might as well experience as much as I can in this lifetime, right?  What excited me more though was the fact that THE Band will be playing in one of the concerts.  Friends, THE Band, food-trippin', shopping, camwhoring, alcohol…where in this equation could you go wrong?

Brrrrrrr.  We arrived in Baguio around 4:30 a.m.  Instead of wasting precious time sleeping, we immediately headed down to Session Road to grab some breakfast.

 

The Human Walrus lost in the cold city.

 

Camwhoring in the middle of the road.  Yep, hungry as we were, we still had the time and energy to pose.

    

Volante Restaurant.  (Left) Mer, Jem, Jen, and Peter.  (Right) Sharing smokes with Mer.

 

The Flower Power Bus.

 

Men in uniform.  With our navigating skills combined, we were able to find the starting point of the parade and plant ourselves in a nice spot.

  

Little Drummer Boy and Little Flower Girl.

 

Another flower girl.

 

Tired, hungry, and supposedly sad.  Instead of a sad face, Jem came up with a sultry one!

 

Where have all the taxis gone?  Mer and I actually thought these poses would help us hail an empty cab :p

 

Cafe by the Ruins.  Around 2:30 p.m. we rendezvoused with Michelle, Tek, Dino, and Joan for a late lunch.  Afterwards, we went back to the hotel for some power-nap.

 

Fresh and ready for battle.  After three hours of sleep, the whole group finally congregated at our room in Hotel Supreme to prepare for the night's escapades. (L-R) Mer, Anne Marie, Vangie, Nenette, and…who's that pretty girl?  Oh, yeah that's me.  Haha!

 

Made up and gorgeous.

 

Cafe Azotea.  For dinner, Jem brought us to this reeeeeeally nice artsy-fartsy restaurant in Session Road owned by Kidlat Tahimik. 

 

Moi and Jen.  The food was a bit bland, but the ambience in the cafe made up for the not-so-satisfying meal.

 

Ang Babae Sa Bintana.  Oh and the view!  It was spectacular.

 

Upper Session Road.

  

Great photo op.  Of course, we didn't pass up the chance to take some great photos…of ourselves!  Haha! (Left) A solo picture, finally! (Right) Jen and Michelle in front of a makeshift house which is actually the cafe's bathroom.

 

Ouch!  Peter and his newly-shaved head.

 

Inuman naaaaa!  THE Band was late for their performance so we whiled away our time by downing some alcohol (Duh!  What else would we do? :p)

 

THE Band.  We were so far away from the stage, this was the only photo I was able to take of them.  Dino was in his element that night ("hyper" in Peter's words), responding to the crowd's unbelievably wild energy.

 

"Namiss ka namin!"  After their performance, of course, we went backstage for some quality time with THE Band.  And namiss ko rin sila!

 

Jayson and I.  After buying some booze, we went to the Prince Plaza Hotel where Pau set one of their rooms up as the "Party People" area.

  

Time for some food-trippin'.  (Left) Jem, Peter, Mer, Joan. (Right) Tek and Michelle. Dancing all night made us hungry again, we devoured four orders of Andok's Lechon Manok. After filling our stomachs with food, we then filled it with rum.  What happened after I got wasted, I don't know anymore hence the lack of pictures.  Heehee.  All I remember was that we went home around 3:00 a.m. and I was immediately transported to Dreamland!

The Panagbenga Grand Parade

Now these floats are what the festival's all about

 

 

 

  

 

And my favorite float of all time….

 

 

It's sooooo me, isn't it??

Around 1:30 p.m. we went back to the hotel to pack our stuff and catch the 4:15 p.m. trip back to Manila.  All the walking and partying made us so tired we were all dead asleep during most of the trip back home.  But not without a little sedative before boarding the bus…

 Cesar's Best Yacon Wine. Wala talagang patawad, anlupet!