It had been two years since I last went home. After I got an office job, I pretty much saved my vacation leaves for when I wanted to travel overseas. My parents were away all the time anyway, so I didn’t see the point. Last year, however, my mom personally asked me to come home and spend New Year’s Eve with them. So, I booked a (very expensive *sniff*) flight home and went on leave for about two weeks.
I was initially planning to stay at home and do nothing, but my best friend needed a breather and decided to tag along. We really didn’t plan very much but I asked her for a list of things she wanted to do while she was there. This wasn’t her first time, but I wouldn’t count the first trip because she was barely able to explore Zamboanga City then.
Here’s her list:
- Go to the beach.
Hahaha. It is a short list, but she did have a special request: to go to Dakak and Sta Cruz island. And I also wanted her to try the food. So here’s my list of food to have the best friend try:
- Curacha and the famous Alavar Sauce
- Knickerbocker
- Zamboanga White
- Satti
And of course, a trip to Zamboanga City won’t be complete without going on a pasalubong shopping trip at the Canelar Barter.
Dakak, again
If it weren’t for the 8-hour ride, Dakak would be up there in my list of favorite beaches. I’ve been there three times, and it’s always a short trip because, one, it is expensive to stay overnight, and two, like I said, it takes 8 hours to get there from Zamboanga City.
We took a bus from the Zamboanga City Bus Terminal going to Dipolog. Our trip was at 8pm, so we basically just slept through the whole ride. We arrived at our hotel at around 5am, but since it was too early for check-in, we decided to just go to Dapitan and get the Dakak trip over with.
Chapters Cafe
When I first went to this cafe, I told my girlfriends (including the BF) that I would someday take them there. It is somewhat rundown, but it is cute and it has its charms.
The BF and I went to have dinner here after our Dakak trip. It was nearing 7pm and I was really tired so we didn’t get to spend as much time. We just watched the sunset for a bit and then had a quick dinner.
I didn’t take as many pictures because all I really wanted was to go to bed.
Exploring Dapitan
The next day, we went back to Dapitan to visit a few places like the Rizal Shrine.
It was a rather short trip because we were planning to head back to Zamboanga City at 12nn. We packed our bags as soon as we got back to the hotel, bought lunch to eat at the bus, and went straight to the terminal for the 12nn trip.
It was a very tiring trip, one that I would probably not do again or a very long time.
Paseo del Mar and downtown Christmas lights
One of the places I go with my friends whenever they come over is Paseo del Mar. It has a great view of the sunset, awesome restaurants, and generally just a great place to hang out at.
My best friend and I decided to go there for sunset-viewing, snacks, and the dancing fountain, and then walk over to City Hall to see the amazing Christmas lights.
Chinito’s
This restaurant was a big part of my college life. There was one in front of Ateneo de Zamboanga and Mindpro. When my BF saw the one in Gov. Camins, she immediately asked if we could eat there. So we did.
Apart from the Sta Cruz trip not pushing through because of the tsunami alert after the Davao earthquake (my parents didn’t want us to go), we were able to cross off everything from our list during this Zamboanga Peninsula trip.
Have you been to Zamboanga City? What’s your favorite thing to do there? Leave your comments below.
