Kafagway

         September 1, 2005 marks the 96th anniversary of Baguio, the Philippines' summer capital, when it was established as a Chartered City in 1909. 

        Baguio City's original name was "Kafagway", a name given to it by the Ibaloi settlers which means "wide open space".  The name "Baguio", given to it by the American colonizers, was adapted from "Bag-iw", a moss plant that grew abundantly along the shores of what is now Burnham Park.

        I'm sure there will be lots of fun to be had during the days and weeks prior to and after the anniversary date, with concerts, art shows, a beauty pageant, a parade, fairs and lots of ukay-ukay markets sprouting around and doing their share to attract visitors and tourists to the city. 

        Hmmm... I wonder who will get the "Outstanding Baguio Citizen Award" this year?  It obviously won't be me, hehehe.

        I have yet to see the "road art" along Session Road, which is the latest talk of the town over there.  It's strange becuase everytime I go home to Baguio, I almost always never pass by Session Road, prefering instead to pass by other routes just to avoid the traffic and huge crowds packed on the sidewalks.  I have to make a mental note to take pictures of these "road arts" and post them here in my blog soon.

        While reminiscing about my hometown, I stumbled upon Nick "Watson" Ballesteros' Baguio-Quezon Blog.  He writes about Baguio City and about the sites and places that make the city unique.  He even takes pictures of many places and describes events and happenings that I can clearly recall during my childhood.  Heck I even remembered that I was always "Star 1" when me and my cousins played Star Rangers in my grandparent's frontyard before (Everybody would run and hide muna, and then one by one, each of us would shout STAR 1, STAR 2, STAR 3, STAR 4, STAR 5... We are the Star Rangers!  Tsaraaaan!!!)

       September 1, 2005 is Baguio Day.  Ag-biag iti Baguio!

       Umali kayo amin!

       Ok ngarud!