A Celebration of Love in the Highlands

I haven’t been back to Baguio for like, ages. With the ongoing restrictions due to the lockdowns, one would think this wouldn’t be the best time to go to Baguio, or anywhere else for that matter. But really, how could one pass up going to such a beautiful place and how could we pass up the opportunity witnessing two of our friends (Vince & Jill) tieing the knot?

We were initially on the fence whether to have the Covid test upon arrival in Baguio or at the terminal in Cubao before boarding. Thank goodness we decided to have it done pre-boarding. Otherwise, we would have been pressed for time. The flipside however is that we had to go to the bus terminal at least two hours in advance to have the test, which meant having to sacrifice sleep. As you can imagine, I spent the five-hour or so drive catching up on sleep.

So, off to Baguio we went. The confirmation of us going was on short notice so we had to hustle finding outfits and booking our travel since we had to commute going there.

Upon arrival in Baguio, we were whisked to the triage area where we had our interview with the local authorities, pretty much like how immigration would do it. We presented our negative Covid test results and the QR code for the travel pass we had downloaded online. In the end, we were cleared and given a piece of paper with the reminders to keep the health protocols followed at all times – social distancing, the wearing of mask and face shield, and regular hand washing.

Navigating around the city was made easier with the use of cab-hailing apps like Grab. Correct me if I’m wrong, but is it true there aren’t any options for Grab car in Baguio, just cabs? Or does it depend on location and time of day? It’s also interesting to see cars not needing to use A/C and have their windows down because you get the cold air from the outside anyways. I think that’s good for the environment and you even get to save energy.

The wedding venue is at Potenciana Avenue, in Beckel, La Trinidad – a part gallery, part events place, part café, part accommodation. We arrived just in time so we could prep up for the ceremony. We met new friends from the family of the couple, both two-legged and four. Meet Hugo and Ginger, our newfound furry friends, the pug and the Dachshund respectively. Aren’t they the cutest?

This is probably the coolest wedding I have ever attended and not just because of the weather. I mean, the bride arrived in a classic Volkswagen kombi 1969. How ’bout that? I’m sold.