A trip to the city of Baguio will never be complete without paying a visit to some of the city's more famous attractions such as Burnham Park, The Mansion, Wright Park, and even the Strawberry Farm in the neighboring town of La Trinidad, Benguet. Going to Baguio without visiting these places is like going on a trip to New York without immersing yourself in the chaos that is Times Square, or visiting Agra in India without admiring the beauty of the Taj Mahal. The places mentioned above are an essential part of any Baguio visitor's itinerary.
These past few years, however, another attraction has been quickly cementing its place among Baguio's must-see stops. The BenCab Museum in the nearby town of Tuba, Benguet houses the works of National Artist for Visual Arts Benedicto "Ben Cab" Cabrera, as well as a number of other artists. This blog posts covers our visit to the museum to see the works of art, as well as our dining experience at Cafe Sabel, the museum's in-house cafe and restaurant.
The BenCab Museum is a 20-30 minute journey from the heart of Baguio via the Naguilian Road and the Asin Road. Our journey, however, took longer than that because we got stuck in a nasty traffic jam along the way (yes, traffic in Baguio can be pretty nasty at times--they even have a number coding scheme in effect just like in Metro Manila to somewhat ease the congestion).
A view of the museum from behind. To see all the works of art, visitors must start from the uppermost level (where the entrance is) and then work their way downwards.
Even the parking area is decorated with works of art.
The museum's lobby. Tickets to get into the museum are at P100 each.
The museum has been getting a lot of attention from the media since it opened its doors to tourists back in February 2009.
32 Variations on Sabel (Glaze on Mariwasa Tiles) by Ben Cabrera.
The museum also houses an Erotica Gallery. Obviously, this area is off-limits to minors.
What an amazing view!
The museum also has its own duck pond and mini-farm where crops like onions are grown.
Cafe Sabel
After exploring the museum and seeing the wonderful works of art, we decided to have lunch at Cafe Sabel, the museum's in-house restaurant and cafe.
Since it was already lunchtime, the cafe was already quite crowded. The line at the counter where guests order the food was long, and the place seemed understaffed. As a result, service was a bit on the slow side.
Visitors must order their food at the counter. On their menu are items that include salads, sandwiches, pasta, and dessert. They also have a decent selection of beverages.
This section of the wall is adorned with promotional posters of Ben Cabrera's previous art exhibits.
It was my first time to try Lemongrass Tea (with honey), and I actually like it. This whole "lemongrass" thing didn't seem so appealing to me at first, when I would see it on TV.
A plate of Organic Vegetable Lumpia. Being a veggie lover (but not vegetarian), this one was a winner for me. It was really good!
I ordered a plate of their Carbonara which came with a slice of wheat bread toast. It was certainly one of the better carbonaras I've ever tried, but nothing I would exactly rave so much about. The serving size was decent.
Camote Fries, which I did not get to try.
It took a really long time for this Blueberry Cheesecake to reach our table. We had to call the attention of the staff several times. This was served to us warm so the cheese was runny (it should be refrigerated first), so it didn't taste as good as it ought to be. How disappointing.
Overall, I think the staff could be better trained to handle a sudden influx of diners. That should have been expected already for a tourist attraction such as this one, that gets hounded by local (and even foreign) tourists on holiday weekends such as the time we were there. Still, with the exception of the Blueberry Cheesecake, the food we ordered (the lumpia, especially!) did make up for everything.
BenCab Museum
Km. 6 Asin Road, Tuba, Benguet
Tuesdays-Sundays, 9:00 am-6:00 pm
It's quite a refuge when it's uncrowded. And yes, the food is awesome! Great collection of artwork here. I hope there are more museums like it around the country.
ReplyDeleteHello, I do agree--we do need more museums. It's such a shame museums are usually perceived as boring--I've been to a number of museums abroad and they're really really interesting! I could spend the whole day inside The Metropolitan Museum in New York just admiring all the artwork on display there.
Delete