Easy breezy Baguio

Posted on by Bing Ledesma - De Los Reyes

This City of Pines is a place of retreat from the hustle-bustle of the busy city and is simply the kind of respite we crave from time to time. With an estimated 2.5 million Benguet pine trees surrounding the city and the uphill and downhill terrain and panoramic view of houses on the hills as well as foggy mountains, Baguio is definitely a wonderful escape I consider one of my happy places.

Apartments and staycation places abound with price range to choose from and for people like me who travel to places to relax and be refreshed there are lots of choices. I go for homey apartments with a view of either the pine trees or the mountains in quiet neighbourhoods and our recent trip is certainly one choice I am happy to have made especially with its tasteful interiors and thoughtful amenities and very attentive caretakers . http://freds.com.ph/baguio/page/gallery

  • The spacious living room with high ceiling is lovely space for family time
  • Waking up to this is such a treat!
  • And watching this from the dining area is enthralling!

Coffee Shops and cafes are staples in our agenda and we search for nice ones with good reviews. For our family trip this time, we were quite satisfied with our choices and the cold December weather added to the thrill.

  • Lovely welcome breakfast at Chocolate de Batirol
  • Lunch or dinner at Hill Station is a must!
  • These buns from The Patch are yummy!
  • Make sure you get this terrace table at Arca’s Yard overlooking pine trees and the mountains
  • Nice seats for lovely conversations at Arca’s Yard
  • You should try Arca’s Yard’s camote pie which goes very well with hot choco drink
  • We love the garden setting of Hatch Coffee
  • Try Hatch’s Dirty Horchata with grilled cheese
  • Lemon and Olives is another must-go place for breakfast or lunch. Great food and lovely ambience!

A visit to Camp John Hay is another must. With a large concentration of pine trees in the area, one can easily fall in love with the place. Early this year (before the stricter travel measures due to the pandemic was imposed), we had the chance to participate in the Baguio Marathon which started and ended in Camp John Hay. I did half marathon and the downhill and uphill route was certainly not for the faint of heart. The route went all the way to the Lion’s Head along Kennon Road and just when the finish line is already in sight, you have to run another kilometre uphill with your legs almost giving up.

  • My running buddies in our traditional “taho” toast after the run (taho is a protein-rich sweet drink made of soft tofu with sago pearls and syrup)
  • With my husband and daughter who ran 5K
  • So thrilled to be halfway through the challenging 21K route but going back to the finish line with the uphill route is even tougher!

Another must-visit is the Bencab Museum. The display of contemporary artworks in this museum is wide and the museum itself with its modern and clean design is lovely. National Artist Benedicto Reyes Cabrera’s (Bencab) works are beautiful. He is indeed one source of Filipino pride. Read more about his works and profile: http://www.bencabmuseum.org/national-artist/

Due to its idyllic weather, fruits are abundant and the Baguio market is a feast of various produce from the province. For coffee drinkers, Benguet coffee is synonymous to great coffee. In fact, an Atok-grown coffee emerged as the grand champion in the 3rd Philippine Coffee Competition held in March 2018. Oliver Oliem’s Arabica coffee entry won 1st place while 2 other Benguet Arabica coffee entries also won 3rd and 5th place among 700 entries. Atok coffee was described as a blend with flavour characteristics of apricot, lemongrass, pomelo, oolong Tea and the aroma of a rose. The National Barista Champion 2020 Adrian Vocalan also used coffee from Itogon, Benguet. No wonder there was a queue in the Fresh Roast shop at the Baguio marketplace where you can get Benguet premium and flavoured coffees. Read more: https://pia.gov.ph/features/articles/1019148

  • Strawberries of different sizes abound
  • Locally grown grapes have seeds but are equally sweet as the imported seedless variety
  • Get your premium Benguet coffee from this shop inside the Baguio Market

For sure, Baguio will always be one of my favourite places in the country and I am just so happy to note of Baguio’s Re-greening Masterplan which includes a tree-cutting moratorium. It is my hope that House Bill No. 7090 seeking for 10-year moratorium on tree cutting in the city (by Baguio Congressman Mark Go) last July 13, 2020 will be passed to reinforce the 5-year tree-cutting moratorium imposed in residential, business and public areas in the city.

With the newly opened NLEX-SLEX Connector which is expected to cut down travel time from Metro Manila and is set to be fully operational by January 14, 2020, Baguio will certainly be more attractive to people like me who just want to be away and experience easy breezy Baguio.

Life begins at 40…it’s time to look back and look forward

Posted on by Bing Ledesma - De Los Reyes

We oftentimes say, life begins at 40 and for some, it means it’s time to get serious with life but do we really start when we are already halfway though life?

“The day you plant the seed, is not the day you eat the fruit.”

Dr. Sanjay Tolani

With life expectancy of 80 years, 40 means we only have 20 more years or 7,300 days to make a difference in either being financially independent in our old age or being a burden to our children, who, by then, would have their own responsibilities to a carry.

Life begins at 40 should mean, we have done a pretty good job at preparing for the best phase in our lives by the time we are halfway through life. Then and only then, can we say, that indeed, life begins at 40.

Look back…have you done what you should have done? Your answer must give you the urgency to either do more or continue what you have started. As Tennessee Williams said, You can be young without money, but you can’t be old without it.

For more appreciation of this concept, watch Dr. Sanjay Tolani’s you tube video on 28,000. It will make you do a reality check just as it did to me. https://youtu.be/hV_rDPEpLEc

The 3 Wallets we must Have (to be financially stable)

Posted on by Bing Ledesma - De Los Reyes

We always hear this aspiration in life: “I want to be financially stable” and oftentimes when we probe what this exactly means, we hear answers like: I want to give my family more than what they need, my children will be able to finish the degree they want and live a comfortable life now and in the future.

In a study conducted by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to define the “Life Filipinos Want”, an overwhelming 79.8% said they want a simple and comfortable life and by that, the study revealed, we want to live in a house we own, have a car, being able to have our children finish school, have money for our daily needs and being able to travel occasionally. Filipinos’ aspirations are very family-centered which even includes the ability to take care of our ageing parents reflective of our close family ties (https://youtu.be/WT1mXV8TqN4)

“A simple and comfortable life is the kind of life Filipinos generally want.”

NEDA Study, Ambisyon 2040

Sad to say though, a lot of us, never get to do all that we aspire for. In the process, we either delay or downgrade our plans and most often than not, it is because we failed to prepare. The good news is the fact that more and more Filipinos are improving the amount of disposable income they have as we progress towards an upper middle-class society. However, we need to change our attitude towards financial planning to truly enjoy the kind of simple and comfortable life we aspire to have.

For a family with children, I include their education as part of the daily needs especially if they are already of school age now and I strongly suggest that a College education fund be set-up while they are young that goes side by side with setting-up your retirement fund. One big mistake that a lot of Filipino parents do is to set aside saving for retirement in favour of setting up our children’s education fund and run the risk of running out of time to build-up enough to become self-sufficient in our old age.

Most Filipinos keep just one account, whether in the bank or investment funds for these 3 requirements so the tendency is we spend for daily or emergency needs what could have been for retirement. To avoid this, we should have 3 different programs for each and make sure you invest or save in funds that match your needs. Short-term needs should be in easily accessible funds while long-term needs (10 years or more) in aggressive funds that offer better returns. A rule of thumb is to set aside 5% of your annual (or monthly) income for education fund (if your children are still very young) and 20% for your retirement fund (to give you more options on what to do and continue to be productive in your golden years); build an emergency fund equal to 6 months of your cost of living and do not touch it unless it is for emergency and full-proof your financial plan by having income protection coverage (ie life insurance and health insurance) ideally 10 times your annual income (there are many insurance products that can give you the security of a big coverage that is easy on your pockets and the younger you are, the lower will your premiums be).

Think about it as having 3 wallets – each serving a specific purpose. You can never over-save or over-invest. Include funding your financial plan in your priorities. You will thank yourself for this.

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