For the past two months, our group, the Oriental Negros Moto Club, had been planning, praying, and dreaming about doing a major ride from Dumaguete to Zamboanga City in the big island of Mindanao. The recent long weekend (from Oct. 28 to Nov.1) was encouraging enough for Team ONe MC, so we decided to grab the opportunity.
Prior to the actual trip, we had only been hearing about Vale Zamboanga! back in our schooldays, or reading in the news about this Chavacano-speaking place down south. A number of the news, in fact, were not so encouraging — bomb blasts here, kidnapping there, siege here, more bomb threats there…. But we were not discouraged. We wanted to see and experience Zamboanga for ourselves, and on wheels.
As a backrider, I was just as ecstatic as our designated drivers in the group for this major trip: my husband Jeremy, Atty. Allan Martinez, Ludo Managing, and Dan David Orbeta.
I’m sure they were enjoying tremendously being in control of the driving, but I also believe the backriders had the better view, as the drivers had to be focused on the road. My fellow backriders were Beth Managing, and the Singco sisters Engr. Geronica Martinez and Gina Orbeta.
Since it was also a long weekend off from school, surely it wouldn’t have been complete without our kids in tow, so we decided to take them along in our long ride. We assigned a Nissan Terra for the kids, which also served as our support vehicle carrying everything else, including all our personal effects and snack food. We are so grateful to Henri Voltaire “Dondon” & Tata Sojor who volunteered not to ride their bike but instead be in charge over the children in the support vehicle.
We finally planned to leave Oct. 28 to be able to meet up in Dipolog with 15 other motoriders — our family and friends from Kabankalan City. Our 6 a.m. FastCat eventually left the port of Dumaguete at 8 a.m. on that sunny Friday morning. Aboard the vessel, it was a joy to witness (and overhear) students excitedly talking about visiting home in their respective provinces in Mindanao.
Little did we know that all ships after ours had been cancelled already, in preparation of the onslaught of typhoon ‘Paeng’. In short, our ride companions from Kabankalan were stranded in Dumaguete.
Then suddenly, the excited chatter from the students just stopped, everybody fell silent as typhoon ‘Paeng’ started causing huge waves to slam on our FastCat, “shaking” the catamaran, and delaying our supposed three-hour boat ride to Dapitan City by three hours more! It seemed like the motion discomfort and nausea would never end. (I suspect FastCat ran out of seasickness bags!)
Until finally after six grueling hours at sea, we landed in Dapitan by 2p.m. We are just so grateful that God kept us all safe! The humor we found in our boat experience became a highlight of our trip.
We had a quick late lunch at Jollibee, and left Dapitan by 3:15 p.m. as we wanted to arrive in Pagadian City before dark, for safety reasons. Thankfully, we hit our target, and were in Pagadian before 6 p.m. After checking in at Xaris Suites, we were treated to a sumptuous dinner in a local restaurant by Atty. Escalante Jr. and his family, Allan’s classmate in Political Science at Silliman. It was a unique experience riding the Pagadian kind of tricycle, which are designed to be able to negotiate the hilly undulating roads there. Then we walked around the gated plaza, still trying to relax from the boat trip earlier.
The next day, we planned to hit the road early but we encountered a minor problem with Dandy’s motorbike: his radiator malfunctioned because it got drenched on the barge due to the big waves. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to get it fixed.
So off we drove! Late lunch was in Yani’s Place in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, another lunch treat, this time by Atty. Edwin Alibutdan, Dondon’s classmate at SU Law. The food was so good, gibutdan gyud mi tiyan sa kabusog! We are just so grateful to God for blessing our trip not just with protection and safety but with provisions through friends’ generosity.
On the road, we experienced only light rains with no winds nor flood. Paeng was a little ahead of us. We continued our adventure in good weather, aiming to arrive in Zamboanga City before nightfall. But for some reason, we got to Zamboanga City safely. Contrary to the news on TV, the flood there had already receded by the time we got in past 8 in the evening. Indeed in God’s perfect time, He continued to protect us and keep us safe!
We checked in at Marcelina Hotel, and had late dinner at around 10:20 in the evening at Tom N Toms Coffee-Zamboanga. It seemed like it was newly-opened because it was still crowded, while the other restaurants were already closed that time.
The food was superb; especially because we’re so hungry.
The next day was our laag day, so we booked a trip for Sta. Cruz Island, popularly known as the Pink Sand Beach (due to the red corals that abound in the area). While our children played near the cottages, the backrider mommies, on the other hand, delighted in shopping for pasalubong (inexpensive pearls, jewelries, souvenirs, and other accessories locally made by the islanders); we almost forgot the time!
Then we took the banca back to Zamboanga City as we had decided to have lunch at Alavar Seafood Restaurant. For me, it was the best amongst all the restaurants we had dined in. Alavar specializes in curacha, Chavacano for large red frog crabs, that was steamed in coconut milk, crab paste, curry, and other spices.
After lunch, we headed to the historical Fort Pilar Shrine, also known as the Nuestra Señora La Virgen del Pilar de Zaragoza, a 17th century military defense fortress built by the Spanish colonial government to protect themselves against attacks from pirates and raiders. It is now a national museum of the National Museum of the Philippines.
Then we went straight to the Yakan Weaving Village in barangay Calarian. This was my best experience in Zamboanga thus far (next to motor back riding). The hardworking Yakan weavers allowed me to experience the traditional backtrap weaving technique. It would take them three days to finish a long table runner. I was amazed at their artistry and skill, I had to buy an eight-seater table runner, several batik bags, genuine malongs, and some accessories — not just for souvenir but also to show my deep appreciation and support for what they do.
We continued our City tour, and visited the Barter Trade Center in Canelar Street to buy (more) pasalubong for family and friends (especially those who got stranded in Dumaguete and didn’t make it to our planned trip). Everyone enjoyed our “shopping spree” of malongs, imported food items like Old Town coffee, chocolates, White Rabbit, Apollo biscuits, sotanghon, shirts, bags. Most products are from Malaysia and Indonesia, and are truly inexpensive. My personal favorite would have to be the Safe Care aromatherapy oil from Indonesia (just goes to show how old I really am!)
Our last stop for the City tour was KCC Mall de Zamboanga across our hotel. It’s the biggest in their chain of malls, and the largest of all malls in the Zamboanga Peninsula, with over 200 stores spread over seven floors (including two basement levels). We ended our day being warmly welcomed by Cielo Lynn Gadiane Saavedra-Navarro and family, Dan’s classmate at Silliman. They treated us with a stately dinner at Astoria Regency Hotel.
Our three-day adventure, riding our motorbikes for more than 690 kilometers to Zamboanga, felt like it was quick as lightning. As they say, it’s always like that when you are in good company and are having pure fun! Our love for motor riding brought us all to Zamboanga. And only God’s love and protection saw us through!
