The Sweet Escape (Part 1)

The previous weekend passed by as if in a blur – while the rest of the country is torn between occasional rain and sunny days, some of my officemates and I are in the southern part of Pinas under the semi-scorching July sun, amidst blue waters of Dipolog, and passing round shots of alcohol coupled with heavy smoking. (Honestly, I skipped the smoking part… haha!) I mentioned in my previous post that we will be going to Dakak Resort in Dipolog for our departmental TCP. It's more of an informal company outing for three days/two nights.

Day 1: Ok, I won’t dwell much on the pre-departure stuff since most of you know the airport drill already. As usual, airport staff and crew are in their grumpy selves. *Sigh* By 12:21 p.m., our plane has landed in Dipolog City Airport. After some more photo ops at the airport, we got into the van for what seemed like an hour’s ride going the resort. While in transit, we noticed a peculiar sign that says “Kinabayo Festival”. Say what?! Yep, you heard it right! (Now, why do I have the slightest idea on what the green-minded peeps out there are thinking right about now?!? Hmmm… *wink*) I did a bit of research on the web, and as it turns out the Kinabayo Festival is an annual festival held every July 24 and is being celebrated by the City of Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte. It honors St. James The Greater, and how it was believed that his apparition atop a horse guided the Spanish Christians into victory against the Moro pirates that flooded Dapitan back then. (How’s that for some Kinabayo Festival 101? Hahaha!)

Kodakan before boarding for Dipolog

Posing with Cebu Pacific crew

Roadtrip going to Dakak Resort

Going back, so it was not actually a pleasant ride all the way to the resort. The road is very (And I mean VERY) steep and massive (Again, I mean MASSIVE) road constructions are on-going along 90% of the way. It almost kinda reminds me of the Baguio roadtrip minus the safety rails and the smooth asphalt road. When we finally got to the resort, I must say that it’s worth the travel because the view is awesome! Clear, blue waters and white sand that line up the shore, plus they’ve got nice outdoor pools in case one prefers to have some dip inside the resort. And since the place is not as commercialized as the other resorts (the likes of Boracay and Puerto Galera), it’s far from crowded which gives ample space for some private moments and more photo ops with the beautiful Dipolog waters. Am I exaggerating? Hardly!

SMART - CPG Crew

Beach 1

Pool

Beach 2

After lunch, we went with our respective groups to settle in our assigned cottages. Ours was room 1-B. I was roomies with Ryh, Ms. Cathy, and Ms. Lily. Good thing Mond and Kim are just a few steps away. They were our next-door neighbor, together with Sir Lester. We rested for another hour or so inside our cottage while the boys slept the entire afternoon away, then Ryh and I decided to explore the resort. Call it another one of the many bonding moments with my favorite ‘pare’. After some time we decided to go back to the cottage and take a bath before heading for dinner, after which we proceeded to enjoy the rest of the first night with videoke, dancing (Sir Elton actually had the convention center opened that became our makeshift ‘disco’ hall.), alcohol (I only had 1 bottle of San Mig Light… dunno why but for some reason I wasn’t up for more alcohol intake that night.), and cigarettes (Now this part I intentionally skipped. ^_^ ).

With my 'pare' ^_^

Tagay/Videoke Session

So far so good for our first day in Dakak. The next day was all planned out for some island hopping, swimming, and some more tagay sessions with the rest of the crew. I’ll be posting about it on my next entry. Watch out for it!

^_^