Bencab Museum and Cafe Sabel - Benguet
January 10, 2016
Museums are one of the places on earth that i want to visit most. It gives me a sense of peacefulness. The calm ambiance of the place provides a relaxing sensation plus i get to have the chance of seeing different things like art works of different artists or historical artifacts and stories of the past and present. On that note, our fantastic vacation in Baguio is not complete without visiting the famous Bencab Museum. It is a place full of different art pieces, may it be paintings, drawings, sculptures and a lot more art pieces not included on those categories.
Bencab (Benedicto Reyes Cabrera) is a Philippine National Artist for Visual Arts (Painting, 2006). It was 1986 when he decided to settle in Baguio and built his studio which then eventually became a place housing a lot of art pieces made by him and other well-known artists. It has 9 galleries and 1 function room for workshops, seminars and other art-related gatherings.
How to get there
Bencab is located in Km. 6 Asin Road, Tadiangan, Tuba, Benguet. Since i was travelling with my mom and partner, we opted to ride a taxi from our hotel. The museum was quite far from the city so we agreed to pay Php 250 (fixed rate). If you are on a tight budget, don't worry! There is another way to get there, more pocket friendly. You can go to Baguio Public Market and look for a jeepney that will be heading that way (km. 6). It will only cost you 11 pesos (each) and you will be right at museum's doorstep.
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| Ticket - Php100 |
We were greeted with a lot of art pieces when we started touring around. We strolled all 9 galleries and we were so busy looking on all beautiful master pieces and of course taking pictures! We're so overwhelmed with what we saw inside the museum.
There's more! The museum does not only offer an overwhelming sight inside, it also allow the goers to appreciate nature at it's best and you can enjoy the zest of the fresh air. We were amazed by the view at the balcony of the museum. You can see mountains covered with green trees and they have this beautiful garden with a man-made lagoon with a small gazebo in the center. We went there and enjoyed the breeze of the fresh air while feasting our eyes to the beauty of nature. Of course, the place is so picture perfect so we didn't let that moment pass without taking some selfies ^_^.
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| Man made lagoon with the gazebo in the middle |
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| From right to left: Longaniza Pasta - Php200 Banana Pancake - Php200 Cafe Latte - Php100 |
We then found ourselves sitting in the cafe (CafeSabel) located at the lower ground floor, after a tiresome tour around the place. We were lucky to have occupied a spot without waiting on queue, since i have mentioned earlier there were a lot of people during our visit. I have read in some reviews that if you're going to visit Bencab in Baguio, this cafe is a must try, so we did! Me and my partner ordered Caramel Latte and Banana Pancake while my mom ordered Longanisa Pasta. Zipping a cup of hot coffee sitting in front of a garden overlooking the nature is a super perfect moment! The Caramel Latte taste so good, really different from other coffee's that I've tried. I was overwhelmed when they served my order, i think it was good for 2 persons and it was very delicious. Maybe the strawberry syrup added a different flavor to it. Their Longanisa Pasta was also one of a kind. Overall the food in that cafe is really a must try. The prices were not that expensive. I mean, i wouldn't mind paying an expensive food as long as it tastes like no other and Cafe Sabel's food really catches my "foodtension" (like attention) ^_^. I wish i was very hungry and had a lot of money so i can order all food from their menu, lol. Your Bencab experience is not complete without at least tasting some food in the cafe.
Bencab was only our first stop during that day so as much as we would want to stay longer, which i really want to but we have to leave and head to our next itinerary, Burnham Park. As mentioned above, the place is quite far from Baguio City so there's no cab around. You can wait for a cab which i don't know how long. We opted to ride in a jeepney. It's just a 5 minute walk from the museum. Please take note that there's no jeepney terminal so you have to ask the locals where can you hail "para" a jeepney.
......and that's all about it! ^_^ Our eyes really feasted all the art works that we saw and of course the beauty of the nature. Oh! I almost forgot, they also have a Souvenir shop and we bought a shirt and a planner ^_^.
Your Baguio escapade is surely not complete without visiting this famous Bencab Museum.
Hope you enjoyed reading and got some helpful tips if you're planning to visit this place soon! If you have been there before please share your experience in the comment section ^_^.
Have a safe trip and enjoy!
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