Road trip to the City of Pines Part 1 : The BenCab Museum

The last time I was in Baguio was five years ago.  I was there with my office mates and boss. Majority of us were single back then and there were only two little kids in tow.  Last week, we came back to the City of Pines with my now ex-office mates with five energetic kids.  We still stayed in Camp John Hay, but in Le Monet this time (we previously stayed at The Manor).  Being huge fans of Deal Grocer, we purchased our groupons months ahead for P5,200 a night inclusive of breakfast buffet for two and massage for two.  It was a pretty good deal, indeed!  

Travel time was around five hours, with one stopover for a quick breakfast at NLEX.  The travel was smooth. The only time we encountered traffic was already in Kennon Road since they are doing some major road repairs.  In terms of the weather, it was a little hot but definitely cooler than Manila. It was not a jacket kind of weather. Well, probably at night you need a jacket for the kids to keep them warm. Nevertheless, with the scourging heat here in Manila, I would do anything just to have a cooler weather.  

We had an itenerary for the trip that was made by one of my friend.  But when you have kids with you, things sometimes cannot go as planned.  Our itenerary was supposed to be more of a food trip and just staying in CJH.  Out of the six planned food destinations, we were only able to check out three.  We also wanted the kids to experience to pick strawberries at the Strawberry Farm, but the weather did not permit us to do so.  No worries though, there is always next time.

First thing we did once we set foot in Baguio was to visit The BenCab Museum.  It is around thirty minutes away from CJH.  This was a must see for me because I admire his works, especially the Sabel series.  We were also lucky to bump into BenCab himself.  Sadly,  we were not able to ask for a photograph with him because he was such in a hurry.   

I would love to visit this Museum again the next time we go to Baguio and enjoy the place a little longer.  


Here are some of the pictures at the BenCab Museum.  This is definitely a must see when you go the the City of Pines especially when you want some art and culture.

The BenCab Museum

Art, culture, beautiful scenery and good food blend so perfectly.

My favorite among BenCab's works.

 Contemporary artworks.  These are the same artists that have masterpieces at the Pinto Gallery as well.  

I love the colorful yet simple design of the cafe.  We opted to sit indoor because of the kids.  Warning though, if you have active toddlers, better to always stay alert since there is a long flight of steps leading to the duck pond from the Cafe.  

Cafe Sabel is located at the basement of the Museum that opens up to a garden, overlooking the duck pond and the forest.  We ordered Carbonarra, Grilled Porkchop,  Volcano ice cream, Tomato soup and Lemonade with Basil (not in the picture).  We give it a thumbs up, except that we wish that the serving of the pork chop was bigger.