Nice touch at the entrance to Baker's Hill |
Yesterday, my nephew and his wife came to the house for a visit. His wife is on her 7th months
pregnancy and yeah as tradition dictates, she needs to move constantly, sort
of exercise, walk more as it would facilitate an easy delivery of the baby when
the day comes. Sooo, we set off to
Bakers Hill. My nephew is a seasoned
tour driver but this day he wants to play the tourist.
We hailed a taxi along the highway… errrr…. I mean a tricycle, the ever
popular, locals favorite and dependable form of transport around the city. You have to haggle for the cost as always
with the driver of this 3-wheeled highway machine. We got it for 60 pesos for the whole tricycle
(3 of us) from Robinsons Place where we took our lunch at Chowking (local
Chinese-ish fastfood) to Bakers Hill.
Not bad, I felt like I’m starting to get the hang of it – I mean
haggling with tricycle drivers. The
first one was charging us 80 pesos, which means with this one we’ve saved 20
pesos, not much actually if you convert that to a western foreign currency, but
if you’re planning to stay in this city for quite some time – or in my case –
probably for a long long time, it’s gonna be a lot of savings if I’m going to
take these tricycles on a regular basis.
The flower heart. |
So now you know, the trick is – similar to Egypt and most other tourist
destinations – HAGGLE… HAGGLE… HAGGLE!
It’s the month of July though so you know what it means in the
Philippines, the rainy season, and if you’re sitting at the back of the driver,
you’ll be exposed (your lower legs at least) to the drizzle, plus the agony of
bending your neck a bit because the ceiling is low especially if you’re tall,
and I’m just 5’ 8” tall. From Rob
(Robinsons) to Bakers Hill, the trip is about 15 minutes or less, the road is
concrete all the way unlike some of (or maybe most) interior roads in the city,
that means, it’s not bumpy. The nearer
you get to the place, the more the air is getting colder which of course is a
relief.
The fat baker statue. |
I bet you know her. |
Bakers Hill is situated on a hill top.
So what’s a Bakers Hill?
One of the things that comes to mind for some tourists who visit this
place is their delicious “hopia”, a local pastry that originated from
immigrants of Fujian province (mainland China) who introduced it into the
country, in various flavours. It’s
being sold at the small bakeshop near the main entrance – very strategic
location indeed.
Yet, Bakers Hill is not at all about the yummy hopia nor the devilish
brownies nor the cheesy ensaymadas. The
hilltop attraction in Puerto Princesa is the best landscaped garden I’ve ever
seen in the city. The plants and trees
are well arranged and contoured, some plants are rare species, mostly flowering
and fruit-bearing. Well-cared for by
several gardeners, and there are themed gardens with several statues such as
Marilyn Monroe, all the cast of Shrek, Snow White and her 7 dwarves and of
course the iconic statue of the fat baker.
Down inside the gardens you’ll find a cage of talking birds (Mynahs)
who I’ve mentioned in my previous post (Crocodile Farm) were amazing birds, a
colourful pheasant chicken, some majestic peacocks, geese, Japanese garden, orchid-roofed
house, some beautifully recycled broken ceramics, beautiful umbrella-shaped
trees, bonsai shrubs, ponds, an observation deck where the view of the ocean is
visible, and several other interesting stuff.
There’s a nice restaurant, some drinks and bakery booths and the main
residence – which is an architectural beauty itself - of the owner (I presume)
just beside the gate and the souvenir shop.
The best thing is – entry is free!
The artist of this place is no less than the owner(?),a famous landscape artist named Shirley Flores. Incidentally, her last name is so appropriate for her talent (flores is spanish word for flowers, right?).
The artist of this place is no less than the owner(?),a famous landscape artist named Shirley Flores. Incidentally, her last name is so appropriate for her talent (flores is spanish word for flowers, right?).
When we arrived at the site, there aren’t much people around but it
gets crowded in the afternoon when tourists in tour vans arrive. I think I’ll be frequenting this place as
it’s a good place to relax, maybe bring a book and sit at one of the wooden or
concrete benches while sipping a cold bev sold at one of the booths.
I highly recommend visiting this place, you can either reach the place by booking the “City Tour” that cost 600 pesos
and the Bakers Hill is one of the stop in addition to some other
itineraries. Or like I've mentioned above, if you’re the
adventurous traveler, you can take a tricycle to take you there at 60 to 80
pesos depending on where you’re coming from.
From the downtown, it may cost probably 100 pesos for the whole
tricycle, so if you’re more than a couple, say, a group of 4 it saves some bucks. Or if you’re
into real adventure, you can take the shared multicab - pay 8 or 10 pesos - that runs along the
highway bound for Puerto Princesa South Road, after Sienaville and Casuy Road
will be the concrete road to Bakers Hill, just ask the driver to drop you off
the road that goes to Bakers Hill. And
from the junction it will take less than 1 and a half kilometers walk to the
place. It’s an easy leisure walk as the road is good.
And then, after your visit to Bakers Hill you can make a side trip to
the nearby Mitra’s Ranch which is about 10 minutes walk passing by some spectacular
mountain views and green plains.
Now, going back to the town or downtown.
From Bakers Hill back to the downtown or wherever your
hotel/hostel/guesthouse is, there's a tricycle queue also waiting just outside the
gate, but this time it’s more costly, 100 pesos for the whole tricycle or maybe
a little more if you’re going back to the city centrum. Try to haggle as usual, though in general they
do have some fixed rate.
But before you head out, visit the bakeshop and pick some really delicious hopia, the brownies is yummilicious, the buttery slash cheesy ensaymada is to-die-for, and some truffles and other quality baked goodies too. Surprisingly, they’re reasonably priced compared to some so so baked goodies anywhere else. So pick a box or two – a great gift to your friends and relatives back home (or in Manila or wherever city you came from?) or you’ll regret it, don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.
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