Lapaz is one of the 98 Baranggays in Zamboanga City, Philippines. It is located along the east coast of the city. This place is also know as the "Baguiao of Zamboanga" beacause the weather is colder due to its high elevation.
I've been to Lapaz recently and it is so much different now since the last time I visited. The road is paved and the many house are built. Thankfully, the trees were still alive and the fog is still within reach. However, the thought of building the paved road in this baranggay, one can conclude that it cost the lives of many trees. :(
While we where leaving the place with a motorbike, I hastily took my smartphone when the heavens fell. I filmed the surreal atmosphere with my phone while the motorbike was speeding along the paved road. It was cold and I loved it. Too bad I left my Samsung NX200 at home. If I only had my NX200 with me, I could have taken a better quality video than the one showed below. Still, I manged to make it loo a little appealing by editing the video in Adobe Premiere Pro. I changed the color a bit, applied a colder tone. I slowed down the video for a relaxng ride. Added a surreal music to reflect the feeling I had while shooting this. (though I'm aware that music mood can be subjective)
So if you happen to visit Zamboanga City, and offered an opportunity to visit this place, please do not hesitate to say "yes". It is all worth it!
Travelling isn't only about going and exploring new places. It is also about savoring the best food that a new place has to offer.
In Zamboanga city, one of the important things that a traveler or a city visitor should do is to indulge one's self in food. Zamboanga has so many food that can not be found anywhere else, at least in the Philippines. We have Satti, Pianggang, Daral, Pastil, Curacha and more. Most of these food are influenced by the Spaniards when we were once a colony of Spain. The Indian and Malaysian influence are also evident in these food where curry is common in some of these 'Zamboagna only' food. The indigenous Muslim Filipino tribes, (Yakan, Samal, Tausug, Maranao and more) also has their own unique taste in desserts which was further enhanced when their food where introduced in Zambonga City.
One of the food that I really like is the Mi Goreng. I didn't know what the name meant until I googled it. It means "Fried Noodles". A simple and sensible name. The noodles is being fried in oil and mixed with their 'magic' soy sauce and served with fried egg topping.
Mi Goreng just sprouted in the streets of Zamboanga City recently. I don't remember seeing this food in the streets of my hometown few years ago. Now I'm wondering how it flourished here. Hmmm That would be interesting.
It wasn’t a good start. Everything
was messed up. Three of us had the same flight to Cagayan de oro city. I was
able to catch my flight but unfortunately, two of us didn’t make it. They were
late. So I flew to Cagayan all alone. The rain was pouring hard. I am soaked. The
rain water embraced my as I stepped out of the plane. It was my first time in
this big city in the south and it wasn’t a warm welcome. I was about to inform
them about me situation but, WTF! My phone was not with me. I was lost in CDO
without a phone. Not to worry because there's the power of the internet. I went
to the nearest mall, in SM and went online. Bang! Rescue is on its way. I
contacted my friends in Facebook and told them about my situation. Then, met me
in SM and LET THE FUN BEGIN.
DAY1
We woke and got ready for
our trip to Camiguin Island. It was a long ride so we got up at 4:30am. We
reached the island at 7am. We hired a small jeepney for 1500pesos, that's for 1
whole day. It wasn’t that much because there were 6 of us. First stop, Katibawasn
falls.2nd stop, White island,
3rd, sunken cemetery and the volcano ruins, 4th stop, soda pool, 5th stop. Niño
cold spring. Then back to CDO.
We went to many places in one day. I felt like we spent a week long in
the Camiguin. FUN!
DAY 2
White water rafting- it was an awesome experience. My skin got burnt
from the sun. We were rafting along the river for almost 5 hours under the heat
of the sun. It was scary, especially for a person like me who has a fear of
water. I was so scared yet confident because I trusted our guide. I also felt
my life vest was secured in place. 2 hours after the ride, we were asking for
bigger rapids. We enjoyed whenever the water splashed against us, pushing us
away from the raft. We met new friends during the ride. For sure ill try do
again.
DAY 3
Dahilayan park adventure-
it wasn’t really an adventure. It was more like a relaxing experience. The
scenery was great. The mountains were marvelous. The landscape was so
temperate-like. It felt like we were in Twilight (the movies). The air was cool. We have experienced the
longest zip line in Asia. It was “ahhh ok”. It wasn’t like “WHOAHHH!!!”. It was
similar to Eden’s Park in Davao City. Although the nature felt nice, I still didn’t
find it amazing because it was man-made. It kept popping in my mind that I was
man-made. (of course, it’s a park). the most awesome part in this trip was our visit to Camp Philips in Bukidnon. The pineapple plantation. It was like "pineapple as fer as the eyes can see". It a lot of photos in the pineapple filed. The place was so peaceful and the people were friendly. I loved it.
LAST DAY
Last trip- we were
headed to Zamboanga City, my hometown. It was twelve hours away from Cagayan de
Oro City. We ran out of time and we didn’t get the chance to roam around the
beautiful spots in the city. But atleast we were able to visit the popular
place in Zamboanga, Fort Pilar, Paseo del Mar, Boulevard. We ate yummy food
too.
This is one of hte best trip that i had so far. I have experienced a lot of things for the first time, i ate great tasting food, got lost in a city with no cellphone, tried zipline line and white water rafting. and most of all, the friendship the was built!
I simply got fed up from work. This had made me decide to take a long break and have a good time in my hometown. Well, as usual, I always invite my siblings and my cousin to go out with me when I get home. We planned to go to the beach. However, the plan has changed. My mom and my aunt decided to go with us too; they’re afraid that their skin will get darker. They spoke like they hated the beach.
The kids were excited. I was excited too. Everyone was ready. Off to Ecozone!
My brother is very conceited.
LOL at the swag. The hipster in me. Go indie art and fashion.
After arguing with the kids to where to go, we ended up in Ecozone or the Zamboanga Freeport. It was an hour away from downtown. We didn’t have our own vehicle so we walked from the gate of Ecozone going to the pool. It’s a little distant. It took us around 15mins to get to our destination.
My mom enjoyed while she walked. She has never done this for quite a while now.
Rhea and Aika were a liitle camera shy.
Rhea and Aika have twin voices. Walking is the best exercise.
Anti, very superstitious.
Almost there!
The destination was not surprising. Nothing is really special with the place except the view of the lake, the car cable ride and the ever popular but boring zip line. My sister tried the zip line. I didn’t. Zip line does not fascinate me.
the lake with the zip line cable above it.
Ecozone pool. Great for family trips. Not too deep and not to shallow.
Isn't it obvious? we're having so much fun.
FUN!
Don't worry. She's not scared.
I just realized that the coolest people on earth are found at home. Now I’m back here in the metro, I am missing them. My family is something that I can never replace. I am looking forward to go back home again and spend quality time with them again.
In the van while going home. Crazy little big boys.
We roamed around the city and enjoyed with each other's company. It's is the first time we did this. Now that my brother has a new motorbike, we can easily go to places we like to go and spent quality time with each other. We have never done this before. We usually do this with our friends. We used to hate each other company but now seem different. I think because we've grown now.
Guess what's in their mind?
I just bough this camera. We're enjoying its fish-eye feature.
Our first stop. The newly renovated R.T. Lim Boulevard.
Like skateboarding?
And the conclusion: FOOD.
I just realize that your best friends can also be found just within the walls of your house. Monet, Jepoy, and Monray are three of the coolest people I know.
