4 interesting things to do when travelling to Dagupan City in Pangasinan

A highly urbanized city

Dagupan City in the province of Pangasinan is a highly-urbanized metropolis that will always be part of a traveler’s itinerary whenever one needs to explore Northern Luzon.

What is good about Dagupan City is its proximity to other places in the province of Pangasinan, including Lingayen Gulf. This means one can enjoy all the luxuries of city living while still being close to the sea.

Getting to Dagupan

I used to work for a content production outfit, and as part of our coverage of interesting places up north, we took a roadtrip to Dagupan in early September. Our rented van took the NLEX-SCTEX network, and coming from Quezon City, the trip took about 4 hours or so. 

'To do' list

Here are  a few interesting things you can do in Dagupan City.

1.) Time your visit during the "Bangus Festival." We timed our trip to Dagupan to visit the "Bangus Festival," a fairly new but very popular festival drawing huge crowds. The festivities center around the bangus or milkfish, perhaps the most popular export that Pangasinan is known for. The street parties were noteworthy and witnessing the longest grill in the world and partaking of fresh grilled oysters from generous locals was quite an experience.

2.) Hire a boat and cruise Pantal River. Our next stop took us to Pantal River where we hired a few motorized bancas to cruise on the river. It was an interesting experience, as we sailed past communities living on the shore. It was also noteworthy that the river remains clean, despite the number of houses in communities along the river banks.

3.)  Buy some seafood at the Magsaysay Fish Market. If you want to take home some of the famous Bonuan bangus and other seafood, don't forget to drop by the Magsaysay Fish Market. We brought with us our own medium-sized coolers to store those seafood that we took back home.

4.) Eat at Silverio's Seafood Restaurant. They say you can't go wrong if you follow a local's recommendations when it comes to dining. And that's exactly what we did. We went out for lunch at the famed Silverio's Seafood Restaurant and loaded up on seafood, particularly the different dishes featuring bangus belly.

A nice stopover

For the jaded traveler, Dagupan City may no longer be that appealing and that there are more exotic places in Pangasinan that are worth the trip. However, Dagupan City continues to be a nice stopover for those trekking up north.

A journey to Caramoan

We prepped up the 7-seater vehicle, packed our gears, and drove off one early morning. We have a long drive ahead of us, going south. Far south.

It was almost dusk when we arrive to the first leg of the trip. We had dinner in Naga City, then re-traced our tracks to Ragay in Camarines Norte.

We still have a long way to in this journey to Bicolandia and our ultimate destination will be Caramoan.

Caramoan is a small coastal town surrounded by numerous small islands. The town can be reached via ferry. The islands have become very popular because of the reality show “Survivor.” During our trip, there were no less than four “Survivor” editions being shot or have been completed in the isolated islands surrounding Caramoan.

The interesting part of our journey is that we almost did not make it to Caramoan. The ominous looking grey clouds as we drove along the length of Camarines Sur going to the port were not a good sign. And true enough, a storm raged on preventing ferry boats to set sail and go to Caramoan.

And there we were, stuck in a modest hotel hoping and waiting to the clouds to clear up. It was a good two days of waiting before we finally saw the sun peek out of the clouds.

Leaving our vehicle in the port, we rushed to the ferry boat station eager and excited. After an uneventful 2-hour boat ride, we sat foot for the first time in Caramoan town. After securing our accommodations for the night and getting in touch with our local contact, we hurriedly went to this small dock where a moored “bangka” is waiting to take us to the many islands surrounding the town.

It was nice seeing a cluster of mangroves with many sea birds perched among the branches. It was nice seeing emerald waters reflect sunlight. It was wonderful seeing an unspoiled cove, with crystal clear water, and jumping in the water from a seemingly out of place 10-foot boulder gutting out of the beach. It was nice walking barefoot in white sand that is comparable to the world-famous white sand of Boracay.

In essence, it was nice getting away from it all. We were in paradise.

A trip to see the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon

The annual Pahiyas Festival is perhaps one of the most popular feasts in Lucban, Quezon.

At first glance, the Pahiyas Festival may seem like your ordinary fiesta, but the celebration is truly replete of tradition that the people of Quezon are mighty proud of.

From the “kiping,” to the parade, to the “agawan,” the Pahiyas Festival is a tradition so deeply ingrained to Quezon town folks that it has lasted the test of time.

The harvest festival held every May, only becomes more colorful and more festive year after year.

We went to Pahiyas Festival aboard one day, and although our rented van was a bit cramped, the 4-hour trip to Lucban was worth it

It is not often that one can go to an age-old celebration that attracts a wide variety of visitors from foreign and local tourists to locals living in nearby towns.

It seems the Pahiyas Festival is reflective of that long gone era of community bonding and unity in commemorating the town patron saint.

Streets are often closed for the P that the

It is reflective of what a true Filipino tradition embodies which has become rare in this day and age. I would not mind getting back to Lucban and seeing the Pahiyas again.

Papa's dogs: Scotty and Blacky

Scotty and Blacky

Scotty and Blacky are probably two of the nicest dogs you’ll ever see. The two dogs are our resident ‘guard dogs’ in a modest ‘farm’ in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija where my parents now spend most of their time.

Scotty and Blacky are very much part of the family. Their master is my dad. Scotty is massive next to Blacky, probably because Scotty is part Labrador and part Retriever. Blacky on the other hand, is half Labrador and half Pinoy dog (read: askal).

Old and young

Blacky is now 6 years old, pretty old for a dog, while Scotty is a springy 9 month old puppy. At first, Blacky wasn’t too thrilled to find a dark brown dog being introduced in the farm. Blacky even tried-and succeeded—in physically imposing his natural instinct to let the other dog know that Blacky is the alpha male in the farm.

After a few weeks however, and with Scotty’s willingness to ‘bow’ to Blacky, the two dogs now happily share the guarding chores in the farm, although the two dogs rarely do ‘guarding’ because of their friendly disposition.

However, the sheer size of Scotty, and the respectable growl of Blacky seem to serve the purpose of intimidating neighbors and strangers passing by the gate of the farm.

Leader of the pack

My dad would often go out on walks every morning, and on his side are two loyal, albeit hyper-active dogs. Dad would often lead his ‘pack’ outside the farm and into a dirt road. The road is unpaved and is surrounded by rice fields and a small river.

My dad and his ‘pack’ would often go out on walks very early while the morning dew still glisten from the rays of a rising sun.

Before breakfast, the pack would be back in the farm.

The farm in Sta. Rosa

Our modest 600-square-meter farm is in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija, a good 2 hours and 30 minutes away from Manila. This is where we go on vacation especially during summer and whenever we need a temporary respite from work.

During the start of the summer, the branches of the mango trees will be heavy with fruits although it will take a few more weeks before we can enjoy the sweet fruits. The guava trees will be full of guava fruits, and the macopa will be decorated with small, pink and dark red fruits. These are just a few of the fruit trees at the farm.

Scotty and Blacky, as well as chickens and ducks, would often rest under the shade of these fruits trees.

My parents and I would often sit on a long wooden stool under one of the mango trees and enjoy a cup of hot coffee while letting time pass by slowly.

Perhaps the humble farm serves the same purpose for me. Whenever I need to take a short rest from work and avoid the stress of living in a fast-paced city, the farm will always be there.

Surfing in San Juan, La Union

It may not be as high-profile as Siargao, but San Juan in Urbiztondo, La Union is steadily becoming a surfer's paradise.

The rates are pretty reasonable and the surfing instructors are very friendly. The waves are about 4- to 5-foot high and the swells are relatively mild.

Funny though is that I was not even able to surf the San Juan surf.

It was a family trip, and the very first time that I'll be introducing my then 14-year-old son to surfing. The plan was for me to encourage him to try something new, beyond video games and basketball.

I was beside him while the surfing instructor gave him the basics. And yes, being a doting dad, I was pretty nervous. Can he handle the waves? Can he stay upright and not crash? Will he enjoy the experience?

After a few minutes, my son was ready to go. I saw excitement in the eyes of my boy as he started making his way to beach, with the surfing instructor tagging along. His deceptively reed-thin frame look even more frail as he wore the rash guard, a kind of surfer's garment meant to protect his torso from the surfboard.

I always knew my son was athletic, despite his seemingly frail frame. But seeing him go and ride the wave--at his very first try--made his dad proud.

The hour whizzed by and before I knew it, the surfing was over. But for my son, it was just the beginning.