uno's first zambo trip!

my 2nd pamangkin!!! his first time to travel.... his first time to be in zamboanga! last time i spent time with him he was just 9days old... look at what 4months can do! he's suuuper stuffed hehehe sooo gigil!!!

glimpse of Pagadian

i had been to Pagadian twice... but it's always a less than 4hrs pass-through. :D the first was some 12 years ago when we were on our way to Cagayan de Oro, we stayed in Pagadian for a few hours while waiting for our boat going back to Zamboanga City. I remember how i hated riding their tricycles because it was soooo uncomfortable (specially if you're the one riding on the backseat hehe)... it was the most unusually built tryk i've encountered.

my Point&Shoot Photography blog :-)

i had been blogging my fave photos... all of them were taken using my Canon Digital Ixus 70 or my Zeke! (Olympus 1030SW) --- all point-and-shoot cameras only! :-) i am editing my photos through Canon Software or Picasa 3.0 only. :D no real PP hehehe

here's link to my photoblog: charmie tamba P&S Photography

fishpond party! :-)

well... not really a party hehe... yun lang ang tinawag ko sa activity na to... :D it was supposed to be my birthday celeb/treat sa mga officemates ko sa Ciudad Medical Zamboanga... but since we got into an accident last HolyWeek we moved it a weekend after...

the plan...? fishing galore in the morning, lunch and videoke galore after!


here's the gang... in one of the 10shots we had...

Dipolog-Dapitan Itinerary

I just want to explain the music used in the vid... hehe we were all tired after the 3003 steps in Linabo Peak during the first day... but our IT says we have to wake up early so we would still have time to go around Rizal Shrine before heading to Dakak... we all agreed to set alarm at 5am... but Kathy set hers at 4am!!! and with this song!!! funny thing nobody even tried to turn it off...it justs snoozed and set off again several times... during breakfast everyone was laughing when we were sharing our thoughts during the time Kathy's alarm was blasting around the room. :D the song was groovy and very upbeat so just imagine... hehe


Here's our itinerary and total expenses. :-)

Dipolog: Three Prominent Dipolognons

this monument of three prominent Dipolognons is right in front of Dipolog City Hall.

who are these 3 Dipolognons... please refer to photos below... :D

Dipolog Boulevard!

we made sure we would still be able to check out Dipolog Boulevard before we end our trip... that's a HUGE welcome sign! :-)

Dipolog: Sta Cruz (Punta Corro)

This is the spot where migrating Boholanos from the Visayas landed and established settlement. A cross was erected by the settlers on May 3, 1905 as a thanksgiving altar to God for their safe journey. Roman Catholic mass were likewise celebrated on this area before the Spaniards established a Chapel 1.5 kilometers inward along the town center street now known as Rizal Avenue.



i only got one shot here... hehe good thing it was good enough to be used for a blog... :D directly behind this cross is already the entrance to the Dipolog Boulevard... the girls were already heading that way that's why i only had one click here (before a local passed by to pray at the foot of the cross)

Dipolog: Holy Rosary Cathedral & Magsaysay Park

we messed up with our original itinerary... hehehe we're supposed to do the Dipolog tour in Day1 but opted to go to Linabo peak instead... we decided to move the Dipolog tour on our last day before we head back to Zamboanga... only when we arrived at the Holy Rosary Cathedral did we realized it was not a good time since it was a sunday and mass is scheduled almost every hour... :D


but i still want to photograph the church. :D i love how it looks from the outside... i think this facade is just new, iv seen photos on the net without these bricks yet...i like the effect of the arches.

Dipolog: Estaka-Turno Y Junction Fountain

i've learned about this from doing research for the itinerary... but it looks more beautiful upclose. :D

Dapitan: going around town

here's a mini tour around the town of Dapitan... i love how it feels sooo laid back... :-)


bridge from Dapitan's town to Rizal Shrine and Dakak Beach Resort... i can imagine that this used to be a typical wooden bridge during Rizal's time and this is his route everytime he goes to the town for Sunday mass or for whatever. :-)

Dapitan: Villa Pilar Pension

Villa Pilar Pension
Sunset Boulevard, Dapitan City
Contact Number: (065) 213-6579



we didn't consider other place to stay in Dapitan anymore... we've made reservations right away with Villa Pilar. Juvee and Caress highly recommended the place, they've been here a year ago with CMZ doctors and nurses.

Well, here's a list of reasons why we gave it a go and we were not disappointed:
1) the rooms are clean and airconditioned
2) very affordable (we paid Php1,050 plus Php600 for additional 4... that's Php206.25 per head!)
3) it's in Sunset Boulevard, you just need to cross the street to get to the beach!
4) it's just a 3min walk to Gloria de Dapitan (and fantasyland!)
5) you have a lot of choices to eat across Sunset Boulevard. :D

Dapitan: Fantasyland!!!

at first we were hesitating if we're going inside Fantasyland or not... it was around 10pm when we decided to give it a go... but we opted to go site-seeing inside instead of purchasing a ride-all-you-can tix... there's just simply too many people(the same busloads of people we saw at the Rizal Shrine and Dakak beach that same day) inside we know we wont be able to maximize if we'll get the ride-all-you-can tix...


but once we got in almost all of the people inside the park already began to pour out. It was a good thing for us because it was the time the park's mascotts were at the entrance... so we got to take photos with them too! :-)

Dapitan: Gloria de Dapitan

i never heard about Gloria de Dapitan until i was already preparing the itinerary for our Dipolog/Dapitan trip... but I remember seeing photos of Fantasyland in one of the blogs i follow. :-) Good thing the place where we stayed is just walking distance from Gloria de Dapitan... so we stayed there for as late as we can...


it's along the Sunset Boulevard... once you go inside the first thing that will catch your attention is this fountain... it changes how it flows ever few minutes...

Dapitan: Rizal's landing site

this is a newly constructed historical spot in Dapitan. Actually, at the time we were there this was not yet open to the public. But we were allowed to take photos. :-)


This is supposedly where Rizal first stepped Dapitan when he was thrown here for exile. I supposed they arrived while it was still dark (notice the lamp held by one of his guards hehe)

Dapitan: Dakak!

but of course a dapitan trip is not complete without checking out Dakak beach resort. When Boracay was beginning to become popular some years ago, I can remember people down here mentioning about a similar place here in Mindanao. Eversince I really want to see it for myself... Is it really comparable to Boracay...?


we really need to have this classic shot with the Dakak logo. :-)

Dapitan: Rizal Shrine Part 2

we got sooo many photos inside the rizal shrine that's why i decided to have a 2nd post for the place. :D Here's how it looks and feel around the compound....


It has a beachfront! :-) I can imagine how perfect it is to swim then chillax in the shady trees of the compound after you've had enough of the sun. :D

Dapitan: Rizal Shrine Part 1

We're not sure what time the Rizal Shrine opens so we just decided to take our chances and head there at around 7am... :-) good thing we did because we were the first guests... 30mins later busloads of students from zamboanga arrived, at least for 30min we had the place to ourselves. :-)


they were kind enough to open the museum already for us. :-)

Dapitan: Sunset Boulevard

It's just but appropriate to create one photoblog for Dapitan's Sunset Boulevard! :-)

Dapitan: Map of Mindanao and St.James Church

Dapitan City.
February 26, 2010

We've completely veered away from our itinerary, doing Linabo peak first... we had little time left in the afternoon to explore Dapitan City... we rushed to their town to check out the Map of Mindanao and St. James Church before sundown...


Map of Mindanao
I was particularly excited about this one. This was created by Jose Rizal during his exile in Dapitan. And I first heard about this back in highschool when our English teacher was telling us about a student winning the Photojourn category in the Press Conference, one of her shot included this map taken from the bellfry of St.James Church since this is just directly in front of the church.

Dipolog: goodtimes cafe

when i was preparing our itinerary for the Dipolog/Dapitan trip I accidentally found out about Goodtimes Cafe. :-) This place made me more excited about the trip! It reminded me of Sonya's Garden in Tagaytay...

Goodtimes Cafe is located at corner Lopez-Jaena and P. Garcia streets in Biasong, Dipolog City. Created and owned by Ed Tabancura. It's an artists' haven.Goodtimes Cafe is actually a private mini-park about 1,000 square meters with a two-story ancestral house along the road, an art gallery by the left sideyard, a pension house by the right, and an indigenous open chapel at the back area.

Dipolog: stations of the cross

i love how the stations of the cross was made at the Linabo Peak... here's for my holy week post....


-----------------------------------


First Station: Jesus is condemned to death.

holy thursday accident

we we're supposed to go to the Divine Mercy hill in El Salvador City (near Cagayan de Oro)... Around 1am, that's 5hours into our trip (it was supposed to be a 12-hr roadtrip), we were all awaken by the plunging and flying feeling of our Strada, there were several loud and hard thuds until we stopped... my initial thought was that we're falling into a ravin... it was such a relief that after we stopped what we saw in front was a house (our headlight was still on) and that we did not flip over.