Random Detox » Dakak

Buklod sa Dapitan

Flisha — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:17:00 +0000

A friend alerted me to this new website called Buklod sa Dapitan. It’s a travel agency dedicated to touring Dapitan.

It costs P2,700 per person for a Monday-Wednesday tour and P3,700 otherwise (minimum of 10 persons though). Included in the package are tours of Gloria de Dapitan and the famous Rizal Shrine plus a 2 night stay at Dakak Resort.

Airfare / Landfare is not included in the package of course, but bus transfers from Dapitan to nearby Mindanao cities are provided free.

Tags: Dakak, Dapitan, Travelogue

Yesterday I Swam

Flisha — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:19:00 +0000

Gim and I were supposed to head on home to Zamboanga, but we couldn’t go home without once using our newly bought snorkel gear. So we postponed the trip to today and happily went to Dakak Resort (except that we overslept and had to postpone it again to tomorrow).

Habal-habals (motorcycles that carry passengers on rough terrain for a fee) in Dapitan charge an exorbitant P200 ($5) per head for a 15-minute round-trip ride to Dakak Resort. I insisted that my boyfriend find me a cheaper ride.

So he asked a local tricycle (a passenger three-wheeler common in the Philippines) driver whether anyone was offering a motorcycle for rent. The driver answered his friend had one, and he charged us P200 for the use. Great, Gim said, and took him up on the offer.

Later the driver insisted he himself drive the motorcycle. Much later we learned he wasn’t used to carrying two people on a motorcycle. Much much later we learned he wasn’t used to driving on rough terrain. Nearing the end of our horrible, horrible, life-threatening trip because he was a horrible, horrible driver and a horrible, horrible person, he stated he had never been to Dakak Resort and it was a good thing we knew the way, because he didn’t.

So yesterday I swam. I have never swam in my life. I don’t know how. And I’ve always been scared of drowning. But with the aid of the snorkel, I breathed underwater. With my masks, I saw clearly underwater. And with my Gim’s encouragement and teaching, I learned to float on my belly and swim the breaststroke.

To celebrate my second life (or third or fourth, I don’t know, I’ve so nearly lost my life too many times I can’t remember), I needed to swim.

I never knew it could be so easy. But it was! And so fun! I wanted to do it for hours and hours! And we did. Gim took me to the reefs and we snorkeled over corals of so many colors! Green and red and orange and violet! And we saw sea anemones moving beautifully and a clown fish just like Nemo hiding inside! And then the father clownfish saw us and stared at us angrily and tried to get us to leave, haha! It was so cute, their little family. I saw rainbow colored eels and I saw flat fishes and fishes that looked like stone and fishes that looked like sand.

And the whole time I was swimming all over the reefs, with Gim protectively swimming by my side.

It was such a wonderful day, yesterday. I swam.

P.S. Thank you, Gim.

P.P.S. For the return trip, Gim had our horrible motorycle driver bring a friend and an extra motorcyle so Gim would take me home himself. I no longer wanted to ever ride with that horrible man on the helm. We paid the same amount as if we had rode the habal-habal. I hope that horrible man will have terrible karma for his horrible driving!

Tags: Dakak, Dapitan, Travelogue, Zamboanga

Funny Door Sign in Dakak

Flisha — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:35:00 +0000

Found this outside our cottage in Dakak Resort. This is what is said on the front:

…and then on the back:

Gim and I dissolved into laughter after reading it. Hahaha. (Nice way to rephrase “sleeping”… or did they mean something else???)

Tags: Dakak, Travelogue

Funny Instructions in Dakak

Flisha — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:30:00 +0000

Phone Instructions:

To call cluster A, B, C, Beachfront, Presidential Suite, and other outlets, please press [key] or [key] then dial the corresponding phone number of the room.

To call cluster D from cluster A, B, C, please press line 2 or 3 above, then you hear TOT… TOT… TOT…

Tags: Dakak, Travelogue

Hammocks in Dakak

Flisha — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:29:00 +0000

Gim and I spent my birthday (August 15) in Dakak Resort, Dapitan. It was a beautifully cloudy day. (A sunny day on a Philippine beach equals a really, really bad sunburn.) We took a dip in the water first thing when we got there. Ate a hearty lunch after hours of playing in the waves. Went back the water. And then enjoyed swinging in the hammock in between.

I love the hammocks in Dapitan. Very comfy and they offer a great, uninterrupted view of the horizon.

They hang from the branches of the trees that ply the shoreline, and they’re the perfect place to rest and sleep or just enjoy the view.

See how much fun I’m having up there??? Hehehe.

Here is Gim resting underneath a tree. And there are his new slippers that I gave that he lost in a Dumaguete beach. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Hehehehehe. At least he has a photo.

Here is me not wanting to leave Dakak yet. The Dakak management is calling us to the van that will take us back home, but I’m too comfortable to get up! I don’t want to go!!!!

And here’s the breathtaking view from our hammocks.

See? No wonder it is sooo hard to leave Dakak. And of course, here is the venerated hammock.

Hehehehe. I want to go back!

Tags: Dakak, Dapitan, Travelogue

Travelling Mindanao

Flisha — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:05:00 +0000

Arrived in Dipolog, Mindanao safe and thrilled. Met by boyfriend Gim and rode a tricycle (a quirky three-wheeled transportation common in the Philippines) towards Dapitan. Took over boyfriend’s temporary quarters and made it messy, as I am wont to do.

Dapitan (Visayan for “a place often visited”) is beautiful as always. It is the rainy season, so tourists are few, but foreigners in retirement many. The sky is clouded many a sunset, and the ocean roils angrily all day. But oceanside barbecues still taste divine and walks on the beach still romantic.

So far Gim and I have been enjoying the food mightily. I’ve gained a lot of pounds doing nothing but eat all day — lunchtime chopsuey (freshly cooked vegetables in a creamy salty sauce), pork and beef steaks, iced teas and orange juices and Cokes and Pepsis, afternoon raspberry and blueberry cheesecakes and hazelnut capuccino, and dinnertime garlic sausage pizza, crispy pata (crispy fried pork) and a many many more.

Tomorrow I turn 26 and I am spending it on a white sand beach resort called Dakak. Next week Gim and I will be visiting another white sand beach called Piñahon. We’ll try to reach the beautiful beaches of Aliguay and Silinog if funds and time allow.

We will also be trekking to Cagayan de Oro and engaging in some whitewater rafting and ziplining. Also visiting Camiguin to enjoy White Island, Katibawasan Falls, Hot Springs and tours.

Later in the month will be visiting Dumaguete and hopefully seeing some dolphins.

I have so many pictures I wish to upload but darndarndarn I don’t have a cardreader! Gim’s laptop doesn’t have a built-in one either. So I will have to wait until I get to Cagayan de Oro and buy a card reader there. Am excited to show you all the food I’ve eaten hahaha. And of course the sights.

Until then…

Tags: Dakak, Dapitan, Dipolog, Travelogue

Dakak Resort Experience

Flisha — Wed, 17 May 2006 02:49:00 +0000

It’s not everyday one goes to a beautiful white sand beach. We were thrilled the week we got to go twice.

Dakak Resort is beautiful. The beach is small but often deserted during the day. The sand is a sparkling beige; the water clear green up close, crystal blue from far away.

Barangay Dakak is filled with, on the right, towering, glittering limestone cliffs, crowded vegetation and pebbled rivers; on the left, blue green sea and white surf.

For all its natural beauty, however, the help are quite unhelpful – and even downright rude.

At the gate of the resort, a queue of luxury cars hum in waiting. A little off to the side, a beachwear-clad crowd stand arms akimbo, half-empty mineral water bottles nearby. A guard busily caters to the vehicled un-VIPs and blatantly ignores us walk-ins. We walk up to him and ask for the rates. He says to wait.

We wait. And wait and wait. Passes an era, and again we inquire how much for a day tour. Instead of answering, the guard tersely informs us that the resort is fully booked, that no food is available (save for juice) nor can be ordered and that none can be brought in. Without waiting for a reply, he turns his back to us and greets a Toyota Revo, then a Mitsubishi Adventure, then an Isuzu Fuego.

We look at one another. Were we to starve if this useless beast of a guard were to have his way? Would we even be able to see the beach at all?

Soon it is clear the porter intends to serve every vehicle and not one walk-in. It is hot. We are annoyed. We are starving. Irately now, we raise our voices and insist to be served. Without a word but with many a withering sigh, the guard charges us the entrance rate and shooes us off.

Utterly disgusted with the help but relieved we are finally past that hurdle (when it should have been a breeze if Dakak really cares about its customers!), we march in. For a warm (and not in a good way), worn-out, wearying suprise.

Dakak Park and Beach Resort is 15 hectares woodland (of course no welcoming guard has bothered to inform us of this pertinent fact beforehand). We walk, nay trek, all 15 hectares to the beach. Road is paved yet uphill most of the way. Backs are weighed down by beachwear and smuggled chicken and chips. Not even halfway to the beach, mineral water bottles are empty. Heads are aching, legs sweating, chests heaving, knees quaking, breaths and tempers short.

We reach reception in for.ty.five.fucking.minutes. Our throats are parched, tongues stretched all the way to the ground.

Then we see the beach. Guard be damned. The view is breathtaking. (And this time in a positive way.)

We find a restaurant and are pleased to see lots of food and lots of free tables. (That lying bastard.) We order scrumptious pork pata and stomach-filling rice. We sit back and enjoy the white sand, bright sun and sparkling blue sea from a cool shade.

And the rest of the day is wonderful. See the pictures for yourself.

Here is a sandbar in the middle of the beach. Dapitan is famous for patches of land that surface above water when the tide ebbs down.

Being exploration-hungry, Gim and I wander to the coves at the edge of Dakak Resort.

We find a myriad of sealife – schools of fish, brittle stars (starfish), jellyfish eggs, water striders, crabs, corals, seagrass, shellfishes, hermit crabs, sea urchins. We don’t take too many pics, a bit afraid our camera would fall on the water.

At 5 PM, we trek back towards the gate. On our way, a shuttle van picks us up along with a few other passengers. Greggy meets us on the other end and takes us back to our boarding house. We rest awhile and afterwards go out to eat – roasted squid (one of the most scrumptious fares in the entire world) and puso - boiled rice wrapped in nipa leaves.

A wonderful experience.

More pictures here.

Tags: Dakak, Dapitan, Photography

Dakak, Here I Come!

Flisha — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 14:37:00 +0000

I’ve had it! I am NOT taking it anymore! This separation MUST stop! I am reuniting with that errant little child and once I see him, I am going to kick his supple little bottom!!!

And I am going to take a nice long vacation while at it, too.

The boy thinks he can fool me, says he’s spending summer away from me to play doctor for a month in a poor little province somewhere in one of the forgotten crevices of the country.

Yeah, right. Dapitan is SO NO LONGER the same little old province Rizal was once exiled to. Check their website and see. Tourism is booming and the place is getting all snazzed up. (Sorry if I sound weird, chalk it up to my reading Terry McMillan.)

The point is, I’m jealous. And I’m not gonna sit here salivating over pretty pictures of islands, waterfalls, floating restaurants or even bump cars (so old school, I know, but we don’t have them here and I want them!).

I am going to Dapitan. And yes, I am going to Dakak Resort, Aliguay and Silinog Islands, Linabo Peak, Sunkilaw Waterfalls and even the Rizal Shrine, yes I am. Well, I hope.

So, have a peaceful Holy Week, everyone. Pray I don’t blow my entire life savings in the same week. (But if I do, Gimmi boy, don’t expect to be able to sit down in a month!)

P.S. These beautiful pictures come from Carribeviaggi. Dapitan may be getting prettier but its website hasn’t quite caught up yet.

Tags: Dakak, Dapitan, Personal