Baguio Shopping

The Good Shepherd shop is a must visit place in Baguio. Run by the Good Shepherd sisters it is a good place to buy food stuffs such as Peanut Brittle, Strawberry Jam and Angel Cookies.

What to buy: Peanut Brittle

Strawberry Jam

Maharlika has a lot of souvenir items that you can find- from knitted sweaters, hats, sweets, baskets, wood carvings, purses, belts, backpacks made of rattan, the Last Supper wood carving, etc. If you are looking for anything that is made of wood, then the best place to search is Maharlika.

I went to the shopping arcade at Maharlika just to find a cane for my mother. And, I found a really good one, made of mahogany so it is very sturdy and well-made!

What to buy: This is an unusual buy for me but I bought a cane. My aunts and cousins bought souvenir items like little purses, key chains, knitted sweaters, etc.

What to pay: bI paid P350 ($7.00)

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Just in case you went and visited the Mansion House. The guards are actually selling Filipino pride t-shirts and "Office of the President of the Philippines" pins. Just ask one of the guards and they have boxes of t-shirts in their posts stashed in a box. You can choose from small, medium, large and extra large sizes. The t-shirts comes in black, blue and yellow.

I bought a yellow one and I loved it. In fact, I wore it when I came back to the United States!

What to buy: T-shirts and pins with the "Office of the President of the Philippines" logo

What to pay: I paid P350.00

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Okay if you don't have time to shop around at the Magsaysay Market(close to Session Road), then buy your souvenirs at Mines View Park. However, you will save a lot of money if you shop at the back of the market at Magsaysay Avenue. Just get inside the market and you can see an array of souvenirs from baskets, handwoven clothes, t-shirts, nuts, wood works, etc. There are so many stores there that each and everyone compete with each other. When you buy one, try to haggle and bargain first. This is like the night market in Italy that every seller tells you almost double the price of the item. So, when they tell you it's two hundred pesos for a souvenir, make sure to cut the price in half and start bargaining from there.

Don't be fooled around because the item you are buying for can be found in many stores. There are also other stores at the Maharlika Building.

What to pay: Bargain half of the price the vendor gave you and start from there!

This is the place where local residents buy their daily needs like sugar, coffee ("barako"- coffee beans roasted and grinded), meat, vegetables, fish, etc.

There are so many small stalls in here. The local students also come here because it is way cheaper than those found at the grocery stores.

There are also shops that sell clothes and other items.

The street is flocked by vendors especially in the evening when the local residents come and pick up the food they are going to cook that night.

Haggling is usually the name of the game here.

The market is kind of wet at the fish and meat section. Sometimes, it gets smelly because of the fresh fish they sell. Be careful as it gets slippery.

Also, be careful of pickpockets, too.

What to buy: Fresh vegetables, grocery items, fresh meat, fresh fish, dried fish, souvenir items, clothes, fresh flowers, etc.

What to pay: Depends on what you buy.

There is an arrray of local shops on Magsaysay Avenue. At the front of the the roads are basically stores owned and managed by local residents. They sell souvenir items from woven Igorot backpacks made of rattan, Igorot woven purses and bags, the famous "walis" (broom) made of tiger grass, peanut brittles, the big carved spoons and forks, peanut butter, strawberry jams, carved rosaries, key chains, the famous barrel Igorot guy (you have to remove the barrel and see a naked man!), snake bamboos, carved Last Supper, etc.

There are also vegetable vendors in the middle part of the stalls. They sell fresh cabbages, carrots, lettuces, cucumber, strawberries and pineapples. These are usually a sell-out to visitors going down to Manila or to the Ilocos provinces.

Make sure to haggle when you pick a souvenir item. The prices usually vary so make sure to ask for discounts.

What to buy: Souvenir items and fresh vegetables

What to pay: You must haggle to get a better price especially when you buy in bulk. It really depends on what you buy

The shop inside tam-wan village

What to buy: They sell special wine made from local ingredients. One of their wine flavor is coffee. It was absolutely different. It taste sweet, recommended for non-drinkers. :) The fermentation process takes about 2 years so, it'll be another 2 years before I can have one of these goodies again.

What to pay: 200 pesos per bottle.

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The Store offers a wide selection of Baguio crafts some of which are unique and authentic. Here you can find woven cloth which you can buy to have your own clothes made or ready to wear clothes of these fine woven materials.

What to buy: Woven cloth, silver jewelry or Ifugao woodcraft