My most favorite pasalubong from Baguio is none other than the famous Good Shepherd Ube Jam. The delectable and sweet ube jam is always my request to anyone who care to ask me what pasalubong I want to have from the City the Pines. It is sweet and creamy that I can almost finish a jar in one sitting.
Ergo, when we visited Baguio City, we made sure that to spare time to visit the source of ube jam yummy goodness: Good Shepherd's Convent Baguio.
How to Go to Good Shepherd's Convent
Commuting to Good Shepherd’s Convent from
Burnham Park is quite easy. Just ride a jeep going to Mines View Park at the terminal located near Harrison Street corner Mabini Street. The jeepney terminal is located in front of Danes Bakery.
Good Shepherd's Convent is around 500 meters away from the entrance gate of Mines View Park. We went to the convent after our lunch at
Cinco Antonios Bistro. The convent is above the hill so it was a walk against gravity. Good thing that our little ones were able to recharge during lunch break so they managed to walk to the convent.
Our Experience at Good Shepherd's Convent of Baguio
We were welcomed by St. Joseph upon entry through the gate of Good Shepherd's Convent. He is a model worker, thus, he is a perfect patron for the hardworking people of Good Shepherd's pasalubong factory.
It was still an uphill climb from the gate. Good thing that trees and vegetation within the convent area so we walked under the shade.
At the end of the road is the image of Jesus the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd’s Convent is not the original structure in the area. The site was given by the Baguio City government as gift of gratitude to the American Governor-General William Cameron Forbes, who was considered as the Father of Baguio because Kennon and Naguilian Roads, Burnham Park, Mansion House, Baguio Country Club, and other city projects were finished during his term.
The governor-general named the place “Top Side”. He later sold it to Elsie and Samuel Gaches when his term as governor general ended in 1913. The Gaches were the owner of the
Heacock's Department Store, which was a prestigious department store in Escolta.
The Good Shepherd Sisters, officially known as the Religious of the Good Shepherd, was established in France by Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier in 1835. Their pastoral work is focused on the care and education of girls and young women in difficulty.
The Good Shepherd Sisters went to the Philippines from Burma in 1913 in response to the invitation Bishop Joseph Petrelli of the newly formed Diocese of Lipa. The sisters established St. Bridget Academy in Batangas City.
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| Old gate of the Good Shepherd's Convent in Baguio (source: RGS website) |
The Good Shepherd Sisters first went to Baguio to escape the summer heat. They stayed in the convent of other religious sisters. The sisters wanted their own vacation house in Baguio so in 1948 the Sisters Mary Dominica Long, Holy Name Hamilton, and Evarista Mullaney toured the city until they came upon a half-open gate with a fading "FOR SALE" sign. They discovered the abandoned house of the Gaches that was damaged by bombs during the War. Despite these, the sisters still bought the place where they built their convent and a chapel. They also built a cottage for visitors.
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| The old convent of Good Shepherd Sisters in Baguio. (Source: RGS website) |
The Good Shepherd's Convent has wide space for vehicle parking. It also has a viewing deck that have a good view of the old mines, which is similar to the
Observation Deck in Mines View Park but less crowded.
The viewing deck is adorned with beautiful flowers. Actually, the whole place is adorned with plants, trees, and flowers.
At the viewing deck is the image of Good Shepherd's Sisters patron: Our Lady of the Good Shepherd.
Ube jam and other yummy pasalubong are not the only items for sale at the convent. The sisters are also sell organic arts and crafts.
After our short tour around the grounds of Good Shepherd's Convent, we returned to the store and patiently waited for our turn to buy my favorite Good Shepherd ube jam. The line is quite long and the parking lot is filled with cars of tourists who wanted to bring home yummy pasalubong from Baguio.
The business success of Good Shepherd Sisters was actually born out of necessity. In 1952, the Sisters established an orphanage that serve as home for around 120 orphan girls of the Cordilleras. Unfortunately, they don't have enough money so the Sisters were forced to beg and the orphans were often fed unsold and rotten veggies.
The Sisters knew that they cannot go on begging forever so they started a business and the Mountain Maid brand is born.
The Sisters first product is the strawberry jam, which they sold at Mines View Park. The reason why they chose strawberry jam is because of the “divine inspiration” of Sister Mary Carmel Medalla who remembered the strawberry jam recipe that she learned during her novitiate training in Los Angeles, USA. The Sisters and the orphans helped in perfecting the strawberry jam recipe. Mother Mary John of the Cross Kroner, the mother superior during that time, also provided a recipe that she learned while growing up in a strawberry farm in USA.
The strawberry jam became a hit to the tourists because they can bring home strawberries, which are easily bruised during transport and have short shelf lives. The Good Shepherd's new enterprise provided fund not only for the orphanage but also for the nunnery.
My favorite Good Shepherd Ube Jam was also created by a nun. In 1976, Sister Fidelis Atienza created the recipe of ube jam in an attempt to copy the original Baguio ube halaya Tantamco. Sister Mary Assumption Ocampo perfected Sister Atienza's recipe and the result is the best ube jam in the city. In an
article in Yummy says that Good Shepherd ube jam is so delicious because they only use fresh ube (purple yam) sourced directly from farmers, Alaska milk, Anchor butter, and no food coloring or preservatives.
Strawberry jam and ube jam were not the only products being produced by Good Shepherd's Convent in Baguio. Their other products are mango jam, orange-lemon marmalade, orange marmalade, pickled sayote.
Aside from jams, they also sell cookies and biscuits like chocolate crinkles, alfajor, angel cookies, snowballs, lengua de gato, and choco chips oatmeal. They also have peanut-based products such as peanut butter, peanut brittle, toasted peanuts, and peanut adobo.
My Beloved Wife waited in line and after 30 minutes we finally got my favorite ube jam. She also bought ube jam and peanut brittle, which are the pasalubong for our loved ones.
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Read more about our adventures in Baguio City:
Let's Go to Baguio (Part 1): The Family Adventure Begins
Let's Go to Baguio (Part 5): Picking Strawberries in La Trinidad, Benguet
Let's Go to Baguio (Part 6): Underwhelming Experience in Mines View Park
Let's Go to Baguio (Part 7): A Savory Lunch of Baguio Bulalo at Cinco Antonios Bistro
Let's Go to Baguio (Part 8): Buying Our Favorite Good Shepherd's Ube Jam
