It seemed we never have enough time. We roared through the road as the sun was setting. Palm trees bent as we sped, bleeding the golden afternoon light between its green leaves. We were leaving Dapitan City too soon, we were saying goodbye to Mindanao.

A ferry was silently waiting at the port of Dapitan City. The sun had set and left magenta embers across the sky. It started to fade as our vessel departed from the shores of the city. The lumbering ship sorrowfully howled across the open sea and darkness soon welcomed us.

The ride to Cebu City would take a total of ten hours and we should’ve been more prepared. With no dinner food for the night, we were forced to eat unawesome food at the canteen at a very unawesome price. Our stomachs filled with bland chow, we bunked down for the night and imagined Cebu in our dreams.

The faithful of Dapitan City stood up and bowed as their priest showered them with blessings in the vernacular tongue. It was a Sunday and the cavernous hall of St. James Church is filled with locals attending mass. The choir started their last praise, an altar boy rang his bell and the people solemnly chorused along. It was a quiet afternoon in Dapitan City. Kids were out chasing each other at the larger than life map that Rizal had made across the church but the streets were devoid of people. It seemed everyone has gathered inside the towering Dapitan Church.

Half a kilometer away from the Rizal Landing Site in Sta. Cruz beach is another set of landmarks worthy of a visit when in Dapitan City. Towering over the town of Dapitan is the Baroque-styled St. James Church and along its perimeter, the relief map of Mindanao made by none other than Jose Rizal.

The map is made of grassy mounds in rough scale of the Mindanao Islands. It was based from a scientific one made in 1734 by a University of Manila professor, French Jesuit Fr. Murilio Velarde, for the then Governor Valdes Tamón.

On the night of the 17th of July 1892, our National Hero, Jose Rizal landed on the beach of Sta. Cruz in Dapitan. Escorted by artillery men and Captain Delgras, they trod the dark roads of the town, lamps in hand, and presented him to the district’s Military Governor to live life in exile.

With the publication of his first book Noli Me Tangere, the Spanish government branded Rizal as an enemy of the state. Further implications in a July 1892 rebellion sealed his fate to exile.

The streets of Mindanao were empty, everyone was tuned to the tube as Pacquiao and Bradley smashed each other senseless. We planned to head to Dapitan City the day after the Hudyaka ZaNorte Festival but delays were inevitable as we found ourselves drawn to the TV like the rest of the country.

As the fight ended, life moved forward again. We boarded a non-aircon bus and looked for lunch. L of PinayTravelista who went ahead hours before us recommended that we try Erlinda’s Food House when we asked her where we can eat in Dapitan. She said that her tricycle driver cum guide suggested it and added that one should never argue with a tricycle driver’s nose for good food.

The drums beat, the sun flared, the crowd gathered and the dancers marched forward with their fancy, shiny festival dresses glinting in the hot afternoon light of Dipolog City. Zamboanga del Norte’s Hudyaka Festival commenced!

Hudyaka which means revelry in Bisaya is an annual festival that is attended by contingents from the whole Zamboanga del Norte province. The festival celebrates the founding of the province and the cities and municipalities of Zamboanga del Norte usually send in contingents to compete.

I was dreaming of electric sheeps when my alarm flared. It was quickly followed by an explosion of knocks on the door, L of PinayTravelista was checking if we’re alive for the sunrise at the old pier in Baybay Galas in Dipolog City. My consciousness was almost floating to the surface of reality but my roommate’s, C of JuanderfulPinoy, was still at the deep end of the ocean.

Those who were able to fight off sleep met at the lobby and marched off into the crispy Dipolog dawn. A tricycle was hailed and we piled aboard for a connecting ride to Barangay Galas.

When Dipolog City is mentioned on dinner tables, posh cafés and cosmopolitan western dishes are really not the ones that pop into mind, the city being more associated with its bottled sardines. I was surprised then on our first night at the city when we visited Big Joe’s Café along one of Dipolog’s avenues.

The café’s façade is modernly chic, paneled horizontal walls frame a rectangular window, with red, black and whites dominating the colors. The café has a metropolitan look that would not be out of place in Greenbelt or Bonifacio High Street.