March 29,

Jeff slept some better, awakening at 0600. I woke up at 0640. Feeling good! Anyway, we got around, had our Javas and breakfast of Corned Beef with an egg each. We watched some YouTube about the earthquake in Burma and Thailand… it saddened us, and we will be praying that whole situation. Then I saw a message from my sister that one of our Aunts passed – she was under Hospice care at her daughter’s house. It was my mother’s sister. I called my mom. She was taking it well.

So we wanted to get out and take in the day we were blessed with! We checked the weather app and seemed it would be a good day. So we went down our street, right before the main road the is a motorcycle/scooter place – not sure if they rent. When we arrived, we were told they were all booked up… so we went back to our place to regroup. Jeff tried to E-hail a Grab, no luck… so we went walking. It is Saturday, so that would explain the lack of availability.

Jeff had found a coffee roaster a mile away. We went walking there. The parks along the way were all busy with locals out enjoying the day! It was nice to see. We arrived at the coffee place, called Nest Coffee. We went up into the shop. There were bags of their own whole beans for sale. I asked the barista if she could grind a bag if I bought some. She affirmed this, so I got a cup to try it… Yum!😋  As I drank it, I sat and took in the little shop. (Jeff was having the barista grind a bag of the beans.) There was the normal coffee sayings on the walls, but one picture was a hand drawing of the shop. It was done in ink and was drawn from the vantage point behind the counter – looking out into the shop. It was nicely detailed and impressive. I asked her about it. She said, “The other barista drew it. He’s talented.” I agreed with her. I wish I had taken a picture of the picture!😂

We left here and attempted another E-hailing, without success. So we just flagged a taxi, which ended up being cheaper than a Grab! It was slow going as the traffic on Saturday is busily overcrowded! We arrived at The Mansion. We had been by here many times before. I was taking pictures and Jeff talked to the guard. It seems you have to book three days in advance to enter! Oh My!! So we left and crossed the street to go Wright Park. One part of this park is for horse rides – “from ponies for kids, to stallions for the more adventurous adults,” according to a placard. We strolled through the park. It is way smaller than Burnham Park near us. There were some souvenir shops, and many of the pine trees the city of Baguio is known for.

We left and was looking for lunch. We thought we would eat at the mall, but we found a cafe, 42^nd St. Cucinino. There were some locals here – that drew us, but the menu – that kept us. We ordered two, ‘next level favorites’. One was ‘Lemon Chicken- deep fried chicken in toasted garlic, honey and lemon sauce – a zesty flavor to try.’ The other was ‘Salt and Pepper Pork- Breaded pork loin sautéed to perfection in peppercorn and salted cinnamon.’ Both dishes were next level, but the pork dish was the most unique and surprisingly fantastic tasting meals we’ve had in a long time. It was not sweet tasting at all – salted cinnamon and pepper. The meals came with sweet tea (which we end up diluting with water we have with us) and big scoop of rice. The pork dish had some sliced green, mild chilies with it. They were amazing with the pepper and salted cinnamon flavoring. Our lunch cost us 358 PHP ($6.24). They had a great sign here, “People who love to eat are always the best people.” We totally agree with this.

Now we walked back to our place. It was a good venture day.