April 1,

We awakened to sunny skies, so we went out walking. It is supposed to rain much of the day, so we wanted to take advantage of sunshine while we could. We walked, looping around to the west of us. We had not actually looped around this way, except to follow the main road to the laundry place. As we went, we tried to figure out where sunset would be and checking places for views. This of course is for potential places if we were to come back here on more lengthy-long term staying, which is turning into more of a reality for us.

We finished the loop coming back to and through the Burnham Park. Today, is a Muslim holiday(?), and there seem to be more people about. So not sure how much Muslim Holy days are incorporated into main Filipino holidays, since majority of the population is Christian?? Questions? This reminds me of another question I have had. In some of the public areas, I have seen a posted sign: “No spitting of Momma”!! What?!? I finally remembered and looked it up! My Question was answered! Baguio, Philippines has an Anti-Moma Ordinance. This is referencing ‘Momma or Moma’- which is a mixture of betel nut, tobacco, and other ingredients. Momma is the word in Tagalog, for chew, basically. The town has regulated to spit this concoction, publicly, into your own spittoon! Fines can be imposed if you are caught spitting it on the street or on buildings, etc.! I found the answer to a question!! Whoop- whoop and Yahoo! And I’m glad to say the signs have nothing to with mothers!🤣😂

Anyway, we arrived back at our place and cooled off, had some Iced Javas and breakfast of Muesli and yogurt, and relaxed. I caught up the blogging and Jeff read. We went back out walking for lunch. We went to Som Tam Thai Restaurant. We shared a Krapow Gai- a Stir-fried ground Chicken with Thai Holy Basil and String Beans; and a Kao Kluk Kapi- a large dish for two of Bagoong Rice, Sweet Pork, Green Mango, Scrambled Egg, String Beans, dried Shrimp, Chillies (they were spicy hot), and Onions. There was enough rice in this dish to use for the other dish. I had a Lemongrass-mint Iced Tea, Jeff had a can of San Miguel Beer (usually it comes in a glass container). We also shared our first Halo Halo, which is a Filipino shaved ice dessert. Halo Halo means “mix-mix” in Tagalog and it is just that a mix of different things. Ours had corn kernels, Jack-fruit, and two kinds of agar based jellies (? – not sure about those last two). It was… an experience, but we neither one, need to have it again. The bill was 840 PHP, Jeff gave 900, which was $15.73. We finished and went back to our place, chancing it by walking. The skies where changing slowly – we had been watching it as we ate.

We arrived back at our place… realizing we had locked the keys in our apartment! We checked at the hotel where we got our key originally. The guy at the desk checked with our host, as he did not have a spare key. Only the host has it and she isn’t in Baguio. Well, long story short… the hotel personnel had to break the doorknob and replace it! While we had been waiting for a new doorknob at the hotel, it finally rained. We got into our place after just an hour from when we discovered we did not have the original key. As we entered, there sat the key right beside the door on a chair… Humph! We’re both surprised this has not happened before, but most places use cards or keyless entry pads.

Supper was last of a slaw we had and a melon. Watched some Youtube and to bed… Another day, somewhere else.

     April 2,

Up and about by 07… something. We had our Javas and breakfast of corned beef with eggs steamed on top. Around 0930 we went out to the SM Mall. We registered my SIM Card at a Smart store so I can top up for the rest of our time in the Philippines. Also we finally found the super grocery store nearest to us, right in the mall! It was kind of tucked behind the food court we never went to.

We got our stuffs and walked back briskly as it spit on us a tiny bit. In our place, we unloaded. Then we proceeded to get our yearly budget figures going.😶  Not a fan, but it turned out better than I thought it would. Between this and taxes on Sunday, it has been some figuring, but both went way smoother than either of us thought they would! Blessings!!!!!

Then we had lunch: Salami and cheese sandwiches. We just hung out at our place for the afternoon, because it was supposed to have been rainy – as in 75% chance. It did not happen. I blogged some and Jeff read.

About 1700 we readied and by 1730 we went out walking for supper. It was about a mile trek there. We went to Highland Smokehouse, Texas Style BBQ. We discovered it when we came here for my coffee. They share a second story of a building. We had to go through the coffee shop, Nest Coffee Roasters, to get to the restaurant. So I stopped to take a picture of the drawing, which I did not do before. As I was taking the photo a guy barista came from behind the counter. I asked if he was the artist. He said yes and we conversed briefly. He showed me another drawing of the shop he’d done. I took a picture of it also. Fantastic! I told him this. Of course this is my humble opinion, but he is good! Anyway, we were here for food. We went in and were bought the menu. We ordered a small USDA Brisket- Navel end brisket smoked for 12 hrs, with rice and coleslaw; and a medium Pastrami- cured for 2 weeks then smoked, with rice and coleslaw. Both of the meats were great. The coleslaw was tasteless, but we were there for the meat and that met our expectations, nicely! The BBQ sauce was good. The portions were just right for me, Jeff probably could have had more!😂 I had a Mango Juice, which was brought out in a can – that was a bummer! They did not have wine.😒 Jeff had a craft beer by ‘Lokal Homebrew.’ They gave free samples of a Golden Ale and a Stout. He chose the stout – described as full-bodied with rich, malty and creamy head. The bill came to 1300 PHP, which was $22.73.

Finished we walked back to our place. It was actually our first time out walking after dark. It was no problem with well lit streets and the decent sidewalks, which we love here. Would I walk by myself at night here… probably not, but this is more my upbringing. There were plenty of local women walking by themselves. Still by myself, I probably could not do it. The temperature was lovely, without rain, still! Back at our place we had a bit of dark chocolate and a night cap of local rum. I finished this blog and Jeff read. It was a pleasant day!