I immediately sent a message to Ferj, but he just saw the message the next morning (27 Feb) at around 8am. He said that he will be taking the bus trip at 9AM, which clearly meant we cannot go there together. We just decided that we would meet the next morning, at the parade. I loaded my luggage with a mix of fresh and already worn clothes (which I will just wash when I get to La Union) because I didn't have that much time to prepare all my things.
I have decided to take the bus via Victory Liner, and I was having problems with my luggage and how I will survive the day with it, so before going to the station, I passed by Viron Transit where I asked them to take my luggage to La Union and will just pick it up at their San Fernando sub-station.
I was planning to take to the 12MN trip to Baguio so I could arrive maybe at around 5 or 6AM, but as I get my ticket, I was told that the only open trip was the 10:15PM bus and all other trips are fully booked. I didn't want to risk getting on the waiting list, so I decided to take it.
I greeted Baguio City at 4:30AM. It was freaking cold in the city, I think I heart palpitated four times, and I was happy I did take my sister's jacket with me. The last time I wore a jacket was when I was 2nd year high school, but this time I had to take one because I don't want to get my lips all shades of blue and purple again. It was a life saver. =)
I took the taxi going to the Cathedral because I know it opens early and I could use a little prayer to help me carry on with the day. By 6:30AM, I took the side stairs to the Session Road to eat breakfast at any fast food, but when I get to Session Road, I noticed that people are already securing their places along the road because the parade will run through Session Road. I am a bit of a paranoid and don't want to lose space, so instead of eating breakfast, I stood there and waited. By 8AM, the parade started.
One of the critical errors I committed was that I didn't charge up my batteries knowing that they are already showing signs of giving up. Halfway through the parade, my batteries emptied out, and my replacement batteries gave up after 5 or 6 shots. I knew I had two sets of spare batteries, but I cannot find the partner of the third set, so in the end I used up one slightly empty battery, and one fully charged battery. It did hold for me, but zooming in over and over to get a nice shot was draining my batteries so quick!
On top of that, I positioned myself in a wrong place. It wasn't my fault basically, but because a television network set up a camera at the intersection, the groups would stop and perform by that part of the road and all I get are just people walking by.
I received a message from Ferj telling he's just across the road nearly in front of where I was. It was a relief to know that I wasn't alone for this festival and I was happy that out of all the thousands of people watching the parade, he was able to locate me. I didn't finish the parade anymore when I realized that he wasn't in his position anymore. He said that he has found a great spot by the television station set up, so I just went over and waited for him to finish shooting pictures.
We ate lunch at Zola Restaurant while waiting for our another Shutterbug friend, Michael. I sent Michael a text message telling Ferj and I were in Baguio for the parade, and surprisingly he was also there. He met us up at the restaurant and in our chit chats, he recommended that we check out the Tam-Awan Village, because all other key spots in the city will be filled with tourists. I didn't know there was a Tam-Awan Village in Baguio, so Ferj and I decided to check it out.
There was a funny thing while getting to Tam-Awan. Ferj and I didn't want to take the taxi because we wanted to save money, so Michael said we would be taking the jeep with the "hill" on it, as soon as he saw "Aurora Hill" by the jeep, he was ecstatic to send us off. Good thing Ferj noticed a tourism information booth and we all went to ask how to get to Tam-Awan by jeep. The man said we should take "Quezon Hill." After giving out the instructions, we were laughing at how we would be if Ferj and I would take the jeep going to Aurora Hill.
It was quite a long walk going to the jeepney stop, but once we arrived in Tam-Awan it was great. Michael didn't come with us anymore as he was with his parents and they still got plans for the day. Ferj and I enjoyed our time at the village, but then again, my problems with my batteries kept on pestering me. I still was able to take pictures, enough to carry on a blog entry over my travel blog.
Ferj and I went back to the main city and stayed in Burnham Park because he wanted to take street photographs. It was fun seeing his shots, but at past 4PM, I called it a day because I really need to take the bus going to La Union. I still have to get my luggage at the bus station, but was happy that my Aunt Julie and my cousin Mai met me up at the bus station because they were in San Fernando to buy some things.
It had been a nice trip. Thanks so much to Ferj and Michael for keeping me company. Until the next photo shooting day!
*** Jenn ***
