BAGUIO: Where to Find Baguio Country Club Raisin Bread Outside Baguio Country Club

BAGUIO: Where to Find Baguio Country Club Raisin Bread 

Outside Baguio Country Club

If you're not a member of Baguio Country Club, you can buy their famous raisin bread at Villa Cordillera  also known as Fairways and Greens Bed And Breakfast. 

(Photo taken from Villa Cordillera website)

Price: 265 pesos 

Villa Cordillera is located at Outlook Drive, Baguio City. It is also known as Fairways and Greens Bed and Breakfast

Contact Information: 

Villa Cordillera
www.villacordillera.com
Landline: + 63-74 -442 6036
Mobile: +63-917 400 7146

My tip: 

Call ahead of time to reserve and make sure that the raisin bread is available when you arrive. Raisin breads are usually delivered at 7:00 AM and gets sold out pretty fast. They don't accept advance payment for reservations but they will text you when new deliveries arrive within the day. They accept credit card for payment. 

BAGUIO: How to book the Victory Liner Bus Online

BAGUIO: How to Book the Victory Liner Bus Online

The Victory Liner Bus going to Baguio from Cubao and Pasay terminals can now be booked online. Before this method was introduced, you can only buy tickets at the terminal from where you will depart and not from any other terminal or branch of Victory Liner. This means, you cannot buy the ticket in advance unless you're willing to go to Baguio, to book your Baguio to Cubao/Pasay trip,  and vice versa. Most people just wait till the day of departure to buy tickets. This is inconvenient when it's peak season of travel and you're not sure of getting a ticket when you arrive there.

With this new method of booking, you can book in advance from any location and be assured of a seat when you arrive at the terminal. 

WHAT YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO BOOK ONLINE:

1. You need to have a VISA and MASTERCARD credit card that you can use to pay for the seat.

2. The passenger who will use the ticket must have a valid government ID. 

After you pay and book online, a voucher is emailed to you. The passenger whose name appears on the voucher, must present the voucher and a valid government ID to be able to claim the ticket at the ticket booth in the terminal.

3. A senior citizen/person with disability/student, who wishes to avail of discounted tickets, CANNOT BOOK ONLINE. He/She must purchase the ticket at the terminal. Discounted tickets cannot be booked online.

HOW TO BOOK ONLINE:

Go to www.victoryliner.com.
NOTE: As of this writing, ONLY BAGUIO TRIPS are available for booking online

You can book the ff. routes:
Cubao-Baguio, Baguio-Cubao
Pasay-Baguio, Baguio to Pasay

The earliest trip you can book is a week in advance.
This means, if today is July 17, the earliest you can book is July 25.
If you want to book a trip from July 18-24, you need to go to the terminal to buy the ticket.

The latest trip you can book is 2 months thereafter.
The bus company makes available for booking 2 months of trips.
This means you can book trips as early as 1 week to 2 months in advance.

You can book a minimum of 1 person up to a maximum of 10 persons in one booking.

You can book only SELECTED TIME slots,
not all trips available for this route.
The other time slots not included online can be booked at the terminal.

You can book both regular aircon bus trips and first class (non-stop) trips

You must fill out all blanks to be able to go to the next page.

You are required to choose your seat.

Regular aircon buses have 45 seats.

First class non-stop buses have 29 seats.
The blank space you see on your right is where the toilet is located.

Check out my post for more details: Victory Liner First Class: Nonstop Bus from Manila to Baguio

You pay a booking fee of 50 pesos per way.
To be able to pay, you need to click the TERMS AND CONDITIONS portion first.

This contains instructions on how to exchange your voucher for a regular ticket.
This also shows the cancellation and rebooking policy.

Click "I AGREE" to be able to go to the next page.

Click "Pay with Peso Pay".

You can pay using VISA or Mastercard.

The cardholder does not have to be the passenger.
Victory Liner does not require the presentation of the credit card when claiming the ticket.

After payment, the voucher will be emailed to you.
Present the email and a valid government ID
at the ticket booth at the terminal
to be able to claim the ticket you will present when boarding the bus.

NOTE: Tickets booked online are NON-REFUNDABLE but rebookable with restrictions, as shown in the terms and conditions. Tickets bought at the terminal are refundable but with 10% surcharge.

NOTE: Not all times are available for booking online. There are more schedules available for purchase at the terminal.

BAGUIO: My Guide to Visiting the Bencab Museum and Baguio Craft Brewery

BAGUIO: My Guide to Visiting the BenCab Museum and Baguio Craft Brewery

My tips: 

1. Visit the BenCab Museum and the Baguio Craft Brewery together on the same day. 

You pass by the Baguio Craft Brewery on the way from the BenCab Museum, so you basically save time when you schedule both visits on the same day.

2. Visit the BenCab museum late in the afternoon then go to Baguio Craft Brewery afterwards. 

Baguio Craft Brewery opens only at 5:00 PM, while Bencab museum closes at 6:00 PM. If you plan on visiting both places, then my suggestion is to go to Bencab museum in the afternoon.

MY ITINERARY

Amount of time spent at BenCab museum: 1 hour

Amount of time spent at Baguio Craft Brewery: 1 hour

4:00 PM- 5:00 PM: BENCAB MUSEUM

Who is BenCab?

Benedicto Reyes Cabrera, better known as "BenCab", is a Filipino painter and was awarded National Artist of the Philippines for Visual Arts in 2006. He has been noted as "arguably the best-selling painter of his generation of Filipino artists." (wikipedia). 

His biggest Sabel series painting was sold for 46.72 MILLION PESOS last September 2015. (To view the painting and details of the sale, see HERE). Sabel, his muse in many of his paintings, was a bag lady roaming around in Bambang were he used to live. 

More details of BenCab's life is at http://www.bencabmuseum.org/national-artist/

Must See at the BenCab Museum if you have only ONE HOUR:

(Photos posted are the ones I personally liked and a must see in the Gallery)

1. BenCab Gallery:

This gallery shows BenCab's personal collection of his own artworks.

BENCAB
Geisha Reading
Acrylic on handmade paper
2009
52 x 42 cms

This is my favorite of all his works exhibited in the gallery.

BENCAB
Blue Sabel
Acrylic on canvas
2012
99.5 x 75 cms

I like the Blue Sabel best!
It somehow reminds me of my favorite Vermeer painting,
The Lacemaker

BENCAB
Sabel
Acrylic on handmade paper
2011
47 x 36 cms

BENCAB
Sabel
Acrylic on canvas
2008
57.5 x 55 cms

THE FOLLOWING ARTWORKS REVEAL THE MULTIMEDIA TALENT OF BENCAB

BENCAB'S ARTWORKS IN STEEL

LEFT SIDE:
BENCAB
Twins
Mild Steel
2013
42 x 28 x 12.5 cms

RIGHT SIDE:
BENCAB
Homage to Matisse
Mild Steel
2013
36 x 33 x 15 cms

BENCAB
Woman Fixing Hair
Painted Metal
2012
147.8 x 81.5 x 22 cms

BENCAB'S ARTWORKS IN BRASS

2. Cordillera Gallery:

This gallery shows BenCab's collection of Cordillera artifacts.

Layout of the gallery

Kupit
Used as lunchbox, tobacco container or jewelry box

Healing bulol

RAYMOND HALILI
Portrait of a Man/Woman from the Cordilleras
Watercolor & gold dust on paper
2004
4.5 x 3.5 cms

Close-up of the artwork
You shouldn't miss this artwork when you visit the museum!

ISMAEL OGNAYON
Bibak Tribal Dance
Bamboo carving
2011
98.5 x 24.5 x 23 cms

Headhunting Implements
Spear, shield, axe

Musical instrument

Backpacks (above the shelf)

Even the broom's handle was carved.

Kulkulis (foot massage)
Resting bench for massage

Hagabi
Long wooden bench carved from a single piece of wood.

Bulol installation
Bulols are rice granary gods. 

3. Gallery showcasing works of other artists

ABI DIONISIO
Ready to Hope
Acrylic & oil on canvas
2011
90.5 x 60 cms

LEONARD AGUINALDO
Faking Me
Rubber cut
2003
168 c 128.5 cms

Close-up of the corner of the artwork above. 

JAMES GABITO
Tungod
Oil on canvas
Undated
64 x 44 cms

RAMON ORLINA
Cordillera
Glass
2008
37 x 76 cms

Ifugao furniture
ca. 1930s

JOHN FRANK SABADO
Ancestor in the Wooden Age
Mixed Media
2008
244 x 183 cms

4. BenCab's house

BenCab's house is located beside the museum.
This photo was taken from the upper floor of the museum.

5. BenCab's farm and garden

Located at the foot of the museum.

6. If you're lucky, you will see BenCab himself.

The man with the cap is BenCab.

He was in the midst of an interview
so we didn't disturb him with a selfie. 

MY TIP:

You can request a tour guide at reception. The tour inside the museum (gardens not included) lasts one hour. The payment is tip-based. However, during peak season in Baguio (usually during summer or holidays), a guide may not be available, so it's best if you can call in advance to book a guide if you have a definite date for your visit.

Entrance fee is 100 pesos.

5:30 PM- 6:30 PM: BAGUIO CRAFT BREWERY

Why Visit the Baguio Craft Brewery?
It's the only craft brewery in Baguio. You get to taste a wide variety of freshly brewed beer not normally found in local stores.

INSIDE THE TASTING ROOM

KINDS OF BEER AND PRICE

Individual glasses range from 170 to 190 pesos
There are dark beers, fruit beers and lagers.
A total of 18 kinds of beers

ABV (Alcohol by volume) is indicated.
Stout Crusader, a fruit beer, has the highest ABV.

IBU (International bitterness unit) is also indicated.
Hop Attack has the highest bitter hops

We got the Six Pack Sampler
It costs 320 pesos.

It's composed of:
2 dark beers: Throat Cutter, Hop Wheat
2 lagers: Old Xavier, Bergnebel
2 fruit beers: Ripe passion fruit, Orly's Dunkelweizen

The beer on top from left to right:
Throat Cutter (Herb and Spice Ale)
Old Xavier s6 (Bohemian pilsner)
 Ripe (passion fruit) beer (Fruit beer)

The beer below from left to right:
Hop Wheat (Imperial IPA)
Bergnebel (German amber lager)
Orly's Dunkelweizen (German dunkelweizen)

The beer's name is indicated in the container.

PRICE LIST OF BEER MATCH (FOOD TO MATCH THE BEER)
Food price ranged from 280 to 550 pesos

We ordered the fastest to cook.
The fish n chips was delicious.
This costs 320 pesos

A pack of 6 costs 999 pesos

A pack of 6 costs 999 pesos + 20 pesos for each individual bottle