Pagsalabuk Festival (Dipolog Festival)

Main reason we scheduled trip to Dipolog in May is because of its Annual Pagsalabuk Festival. This is the biggest festival in the city joined in by all the "barangays" of the area and there is also a Miss Pagsalabuk 2008 competition as well. From what I understand, Pagsalabuk means togetherness and unity for the different districts and sections of the city.

This is a week-long event which will be end by a very long street parade during the day and to be followed by a Miss Pagsalabuk judging contest right after.

Since we were given special IDs, we can mingle with the participants and take their pictures up close and personal....

Mt. Linabo hike (3,003 steps)

On May 24, 2008 , I woke up early to try and do the hike to Mt. Linabo Peak near Dipolog City. This is to challenge myself and also to burn some calories during this 5-day vacation. But forego going here to join the group tour instead (they had me at seafood buffet lunch...yum).

Good thing another opportunity presented itself in the afternoon when our tour ended at 2PM. Since it was already free time for the group, I used mine to try and do this hike by first taking a "habal-habal" (an extended version of a regular motorbike) to the drop off area. I got there at about 2:30PM. Enough time for the supposed 1 hour hike to the peak (this information I got from one of the lodging house staffs).

I was excited at start of the climb and ran up immediately (as a way of training myself too for incline running). That didn't last too long as by the time I've reached the Fourth Station of the Cross, I was panting, my shirt was drenched with sweat and my backpack turned into a burden for my back. At that stage, I just walked all the way up with some stops along the way (there were benches on each Station of the Cross). Too many steps to climb and pretty soon, even my knees were in pain.

Each Station (total of 14) is a countdown for me to guage how much more I have to climb. I was on track as on the 7th or 8th Station it was just 30 minutes or so from when I started the hike. I was so relieved to finally reach the final Station and at just 45 minutes. But then, instead of getting a view of the city, what I saw instead was a small community with houses, sari-sari stores and even an elementary school!

To go to the peak, you have to hike among boulders and do some trail hiking. I got tricked! The 3,003 steps is just for the Stations of the Cross and not for the Peak of Mt. Linabo. Well, no other choice but to keep on going and after an hour of walking on steps and hiking on incline plane, I've finally reached the top of the mountain.

View was very nice as can see the entire Dipolog City. There is even a Lover's Rock and a bench to sit on so you can savor your hardwork and enjoy city view. Unfortunately, I had no time left as had to hurry down for dinner. To make things worse, it started to drizzle so had to speed my descent or it might be dangerous once the trail becomes slippery.

Faster going down but still bad for the knees. I got down at about 4:30PM and bought two bottles of softdrinks at the sari-sari store. Waiting for a habal-habal to pass by took longer as not much vehicles going here. The locals were very helpful though and got me a ride with one, which already had a passenger on it. Got back to the hotel just in time for a quick shower and change before we were off for final dinner for this tour.

Some information on Mt. Linabo:
This area is located about 15 minutes from the outskirts of Dipolog City and the only way to get here is via the habal-habal, which are found anywhere in the city. Cost for one-way fare ranges from Php 20 - Php 30. Maximum of 2 passengers can ride this behind the driver. This mountain is more popularly known as 3,003 steps because it takes 3,003 steps to climb to the village, and scattered around here are the 14 Stations of the Cross. This area is most crowded during Holy Week, where devotees climb and visit each Station of the Cross. There is a small convenience store located at base of hike where climber can purchase softdrinks and food there at affordable prices. There are also some convenience stores at the top but they were closed when I got there.



Various Stations of the Cross where I took my rest after walking at ordeal below....


And that's only about 40 - 50 steps!




















Elementary school at the place I least expect to see...on top of the mountain!





Lover's Rock at the Summit




Various views from summit of Mt. Linabo

Dipolog Sights

Some other sightseeing areas around Dipolog City:

Sungkilaw Falls.

Eco-Tourism Park: This 344 hectare forest includes some trekking inside a replica of a typical Subanen Village, where they will show us some of their native dances. Subanean were the original inhabitants of the city.

River Cruise along Dipolog River: Drop off point was at Quezon River where lunch was served buffet syle on the boat. Very similar to Bohol's Loboc River cruise but this is wider and longer than the other river (but Loboc has advantage of having a mini waterfall at end of the ride).

Food in the city is very cheap (where else can you buy Bulalo soup good for 2-3 pax for only Php 100???) but shops/ restaurant all close early (except for some bars).

Strange but true experience in Dipolog: we usually head back to Pension house at about 8pm or so as everything quiet and dark outside and nowhere to go. Plus the fact that American Idol is on (predictably, David won) and sleep about 10 -11PM (as have 6AM wake up call the next day).

All is quiet until TOOOT BAM BAM BAM TOOT BAM BAM BAM TOOOT. What the hell??? It's 2AM! What's making all that noise???

Apparently, it's a marching band with cheerdancers on the desserted streets right in front of our lodging. And they practice for 30 minutes or so before retiring...only to repeat the performance the following day at exactly the same time. And it's not just one drum playing, it's the entire drum squad! GRRRRR!!!

So weird that the city is dead by 9PM, with hardly anyone or car to be seen there but only to be alive again at 2AM. I know practice makes perfect but kept on wondering why they couldn't start at 8-9PM when the streets were mostly empty anyway. This kept us up for two nights. Thankfully, parade was on the third day so was able to catch some uninterrupted ZZZ's that night.

Note: Dipolog City is the capital of Zamboanga Del Norte and we took Cebu Pacific Air flights to go there (depart manila 10:45AM, depart Dipolog 12:40pm).

Triple D Tour (Dipolog, Dapitan, Dakak)

I joined the Federation of Photographers for this 5-day tour from May 21 - May 25, 2008. This is the 3rd time I've joined them with previous tours being at Hundred Islands, Pangasinan and at Batanes.

Flight time for Dipolog was at 10:45AM but plane got delayed for more than an hour and since no food offered in the plane (except for the highly expensive cup of noodles), we were all starving when we reached Dipolog. It was a good thing lunch was already prepared with lots of seafood dishes set on the table and near bottomless rice. First day was just orientation and getting settled in the hotel (or pension house for us as ran out of hotel rooms). But still, pension house rooms are okay. Only hindsight here is lack of hot water for showering.

We had some extra time so we used it to visit the Artists' Centre where every member of the family has some creative side to him. They paint, make statues, play the piano and the voilin, and even make a hella cup of coffee too. Now, that's talent!

Lots of family portraits and family sculptures done by other family members

Second day was spent at Dakak beach resort, about 30 minutes drive from Dipolog City. Resort was nice and had some fine sand on beach with no pebbles or rocks on it. Very clear water too. They also had 300 steps climb to the peak, which offered wonderful views of the beach area and nearby islands. Resort also have two nice swimming pools. Too bad we couldn't use it as only for hotel guests. Other resort facilities include billiard tables and bowling alley. Lunch was at the resort restaurant.

Beach view

Two different pools found at the Dakak Beach Resort.

The view after climbing the 300 steps. Tiring but very much worth it for this picture.

Heading back to Dipolog, we passed by Talisay, Dapitan to visit the Rizal Museum , a site which has re-created living quarters, kitchen and clinic of Dr. Rizal. At the entrance of this area, is the main building which contains various Rizal pictures, memorabilia and even his family tree. It is in this place that our national hero was exiled for 4 years before he headed back to Manila.

House and bedroom of Dr. Jose Rizal

Clinic of Dr. Jose Rizal

More to come....