It's absolutely chilly, especially in the evenings. The temp drops to 11 degrees and below at night. Nevertheless people are just pouring into the city like ants to sugar. In the days just before and after December 25th, getting a cab was a task for the strong-hearted.
Without a car, my old college chums and I went off for dinner to a new resto called Forest House along Loakan Road. Done in the ski chalet - log cabin motif so rarely seen by many since John Hay was sold and Country Club being what it is, the diner was a good enough reason to stray away from the crowded town. We went out at past nine and no cab was to be found until some friend miraculously called from nowhere and offered to fetch us.
The next day it was my turn to bring Manila-based friends to the resto, after a disappointing turn at the good ol' cheapo Cathy's (they ran out of the steamed chicken and I mistakenly ordered the buttered chicken), and they were suitably enamoured of the place, probably because it comes close to everyone's visual ideal of a "Baguio"-looking establishment.
We did a quick tour of several places -- Ibay's silver shop, the Lourdes grotto, and then Mines View-Pacdal -- and they were swarming. Commerce is good. The wagwagans -- Baguio is the used clothes capital of the world -- are part of everyone's intinerary. It has become chic stop for rich lowlanders aping the New York retro fad and a necessity for the poorer ones. Unfortunately, the best bargains are the jackets and you don't get to wear those all the time in Manila. Speaking of business, the Muslim traders got to convert the entire Melvin Jones athletic grounds to a tiangge from December to January, only to have their permit declared null by the city council after almost a month had passed. Ah, business also means making a fast buck.
I left the city just when the First Family came to spend the post-Christmas season and New Year in the Mansion so the entire entourage of officials and media and hangers-on must be packing the city. The President inaugurated a multimillion viaduct in Tuba and mended fences with former President Ramos, who in turn, ceremonially opened the Fil Estate-owned John Hay. Ah, commerce is good.
Friends who visited the city after a couple of years' absence noted the new infrastructure: overpasses everywhere and lights all over. The Baguio-La Trinidad road is interrupted with strange digging activities. Signs of progress? I'd like to believe they are but I ultimately doubt it. Signs of fat commissions would be more like it. Some people are warmer than others. Well, what else is new? Have a wonderful New Year. Each year, for me, only proves we do live in the proverbial interesting times.