Taking Bahaghari Literally: Baguio in Colors | Basta Pinas | TravelBook

Like Keanu Reeves and Mark Twain, I am color-blind; although only in the red-green spectrum. It's not that I can't distinguish between "stop" and "go," but it's when the green and red apples mix in a barrel that I get confused.

Which is why it's imperative that I group things by color, like my books and pens.

Or take this test: close your eyes and think of an idea. What color is justice? According to Seals and Croft, she is a lady in a long white gown. Experts in flags say that blue represents justice. Others say it's black and white while some say justice should be color blind. I, however, picture Justice as like Joseph with a Technicolor coat.

In fact, I picture most things in Technicolor.

Think of Baguio and I see a rainbow. In fact, I now close my eyes (yes, I can type blind) and subject "Baguio" to the ROYGBV test. Off the top of my head, these are the random things one can see, and experience, in Baguio City, presented to you in full color:

Red

If we go by the beautiful Filipino word for rainbow which is "bahaghari" or "G-string of a king," I would picture it as the G-string of a Kalinga king which means that red is the predominant color. Red meaning bravery, royalty, and sacrifice.

I also envision momma. When we were young, we used to sing a song to the tune of "Joy to the World" which goes, "Oh my momma, gawed ken bua. Ngalngalem ket ngalngalem (2x) samuntu itupra. Kitaem kitaem nalabbaga (O my momma, paan leaf and areca nut. You chew and chew and chew and chew and then you spit it out and look at it. It is red.)" The old Baguio market used to have spittoons for the momma-chewers. Later, they would just spit wherever they wanted, so if you see red on the walls, it's not blood but momma spit.

Also, the red roof of the Baguio Cathedral. One time, there was a city ordinance for Baguio residents to paint their roof red, which we did. A month later, our TV antenna got hit by lightning and so we changed the roof color to green. There is the Red Lion Bar, which is frequented by US servicemen and expats. Also the University of Baguio's Red Cardinals, which, for a long time, was the best college team in Northern Luzon.  

Then you have strawberries and wild tomatoes, the latter smaller than cherry tomatoes but tastier. There is red sili sold by the bilao in the market, although some prefer to buy them ground, but still fiery red. Red roses from Bahong barangay. Those common red flowers of our childhood: hibiscus, zinnia, anthurium, geranium. Once I was given a red tulip in a pot from King Louie Farms. I stored it in the ref and showed it to my neighbors. The oohs and ahhs lasted for more than a week. Later, I was left with the bulb, which refused to grow again because Baguio wasn't cold enough. Ripe coffee berries. Red beet salad. The red napkins of Rumours bar. Poinsettia flowers during Christmas. 

Orange

Orange was the official color of Baguio back when we were athletes in elementary. I don't know why. Maybe it's from the orange passion fruits we get on a vine that climb everything, including pine trees. The cocktail known as Baguio Skin. Persimmons from Sagada. My favorite orange food in Baguio: Don Henrico's Summer Salad, Mario's Paella and Oyster Rockefeller.

Gold should be at the end of this rainbow, but I've included it here, in the middle. Gold is what brought the Spaniards (they failed) and the Americans (they succeeded) to Baguio. There is a story of Camote Bill, an American prospector who would come to the Pines Hotel every week and spend all his money there on things like paying for the drinks of all the patrons. By Monday, it was back to the mines again.

The nearest we ever got to a significant amount of gold was the Golden Buddha, which is still stored in one of the closets at the Baguio Justice Hall. Former First Lady Imelda Marcos once came here, got a one peso coin and scratched the Buddha's head. "It's fake," she said. Fake gold, which we knew as children as fool's gold or pyrite, used to be easily found along nearby creeks.

More golds and oranges: the marigolds in my mother's garden. Gladiolus, birds of paradise, freesia and amaryllis. Orange marmalade. The Red Orange restaurant off Session Road. The Clockwork Lounge (from Clockwork Orange), an English pub along Brent Road where Choy Pangilinan did the swagger and I did the slide. The longganiza curtain at the Baguio Market. The Red Orange Bar at South Drive, not to be confused with the Red Orange restaurant mentioned earlier.

Golden embers in the fireplace. Remember the bonfires where we placed large camotes inside a bonfire and then unearthed them when the fire died? The camotes looked like coals but when you opened them up, the smell of the camote was enough to feed your dreams.  

Yellow

"Bakit Dilaw ang Gitna ng Bahaghari," asked Baguio indie director Kidlat Tahimik in one of his most famous films about his sons at the cusp of the EDSA Revolution. It is also a question that Baguio has been asking itself.

Marapait, the wild sunflower, is the emblem of the city's Panagbenga Festival. The marapait is the harbinger of cold in Baguio. They bloom (and they do by hundreds of thousands on the mountainsides of the city) only when the weather reaches a certain low temperature. The local bee industry depends on their petals, and their interlocking roots literally hold up the mountains.

Other yellow Baguio flowers are the everlasting, wild iris, chrysanthemum, and goldenrod. Some of these you stumble upon in Camp John Hay's Yellow Trail, one of the more popular orienteering trails here. There is the Mickey Mouse plant with fruits that resemble a yellow Mickey Mouse. Squash, lemons and the unassuming pineapples from Sablan, sweeter than the ones in the South. Also from Sablan are the yellow latundan and saba. You must have seen the amkis, which is like a small yellow pumpkin but hotter than your sili. Also Baguio yellow are the lucbans, which is why we live in New Lucban, but I don't see any pomelo orchards here anymore.

The old taxicabs and boats at Burnham Lake were all yellow before, but not so now. Also gone are the banana breads of Shanghai Bakery, not the brown cakes, but the yellow, shaped bread which you used to be able to get from itinerant vendors. Mikasan butter ladyfingers, which can be bought in the Baguio Market and which is still a pasalubong favorite. Café Luisa's special pancit noodles. Benguet State University's squash canton.

Remember the yellow cans of Baguio Oil, ang order ni Misis? In Baguio, we don't bore a hole on two sides of the can and pour the oil out but open the whole can and scoop it out, because the oil tends to coagulate here at room temperature.

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