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| in Fantasy Land without my brother in the picture because he doesn't like to be taken a picture. |
Last year, my family and I went on a getaway trip. Escape from the busy life – that’s what we did. It’s still fresh in my memory, the most adventurous trip ever. You know I’ve been through many exciting trips, but the most memorable of all was when my family and I went to Dapitan.
Just before New Year’s Day, my father made a surprising announcement. He wants to take us to an interesting place where we can relax, enjoy, and have fun. My father is actually full of surprises and just so you know it, he’s actually taking us the Fantasy Land in Dapitan. The Fantasy Land is actually like Disney Land but not quite. Disney Land is much nicer and bigger, with lots of rides and stalls; I’ve always dreamed of going there ever since I was a child, maybe one day I will, when I can actually afford to go there. Fantasy Land is just the first step, at least I can experience a little bit of Disney Land, and I’m thankful because my father put an effort of making us happy. I’m really glad that finally we can enjoy our vacation, we can finally go to a place that is so interesting for me because I really want to go to an amusement park. I’m also glad because my best friend came with us; I actually invited her to come so I can share an exciting moment with her, because she’s like a part of our family. We were all excited really for this trip.
We actually planned on a two day trip so we can return on the eve on New Year’s Day. We just want to visit Dapitan so we can enjoy but we need to get back home quickly because it’s risky for us to leave our house unattended and our pet’s will starve to death. We scheduled our departure on the crack of dawn of the 30th of December. And with this trip, we decided to use the family car.
On the night before our trip, just before we went to bed, we prepared everything for the road tomorrow; we packed our extra clothes for one night sleep over in Dapitan, and we prepared enough snacks and water for our travel. My best friend also prepared everything she needs and decided to sleep over so we can leave early in the morning. My best friend and I were really excited and to so much delight, we didn’t have much sleep and we actually got up very early. We got ready, fuelled up our stomachs, and with a full tank, we were all set to go. We left at exactly 6 am in the morning, and estimated time to arrive in Dapitan in noon. In our travel, the most familiar places we have to pass are: first is Ozamis City, second is Oroquieta City, third is Calamba City, and then straight ahead would be Dapitan City.
On the start of our trip, my best friend and I actually fell asleep, but when we got to the barge going to Ozamis, my mom woke us up. We all got out of the car, and went up the deck of the barge. It was really fun riding the barge, we can fell the breeze going through our faces and just blowing our hair with the strong wind. While riding on the barge you can’t actually see much, it’s just water everywhere, but we had fun just by riding. When we arrive in Ozamis, we got down the barge and in to the car, and on our way again. We were wide-awake since when we got to Ozamis, so we enjoyed all the way. We enjoyed looking outside the window just seeing all the “palayan” and the mountains. When we got to Oroquieta City, we got lost because we didn’t know which way to go next. We looked around and at the sign boards, and we found the arrow leading to Calamba City, although it was a rough road so we were wondering if it’s the right path, and we actually go for it. It’s quite a long and rocky road, and it took us a long time to get out of that path, and we’d confirm it – we were lost, and there no one there to talk to. We just keep on going until we finally found someone riding on a motorbike. We were lucky; we ask the man which way to go to Dapitan. He told us that we took the long road in the Oroquieta mountains, when actually there an easy road; well that’s that, he told us to go straight ahead and we’ll find a steel bridge, once we’ve pass that, we’ll find our way out of the mountains. We went on, and thankfully we got out just fine. We found ourselves in Calamba City and just continued on to Dapitan. We’ve manage to arrive in Dapitan at almost 1 pm in the afternoon. We toured around a bit so we can manage find our way later on. We got really hungry after the long ride, so we decided to find a fast-food, surprisingly, there’s no fast-food there in Dapitan, just small “karinderias”, therefore we have no other choice but to eat in one of the “karinderias”. We ate in the “karinderia” near the Fantasy Land. The food there was not that bad, but I didn’t like it so much, so I didn’t finish it. After having lunch, we rest for a bit, then we went on a head to Fantasy Land. When we arrive in Fantasy Land, it was closed; it won’t open until 3 in the afternoon, so we have a lot of time to spare. We decided to visit Rizal Park. Dapitan was actually the place where Jose Rizal, our national hero, got exiled. In honor of the hero, they decided build a place for him. The Rizal Park was the actual place where Rizal stayed in. You can see there, a lot of huts made by Rizal himself. There’s the hut where he sleeps in, the hut where he teaches children, the huts for medical purposes, and there’s even the hut for bathroom purposes. It was an amazing place really. there’s even the first drainage system that Rizal made. Also, there was a museum, where the life and works of Rizal was displayed, even the copy of the old manuscripts of the famous writing of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo was there. It’s really wonderful to see that the people really appreciated what Dr. Jose Rizal did for our country. After going to the Rizal Park, we went on to the famous Dakak beach resort. It was outside the boundaries of Dapitan actually but it’s not that far. It was really nice there in Dakak, with all the white sand. We just went in the waters real quick because it was really very hot there and we don’t want to get sunburned. After finishing up, we went back to Fantasy Land. When we got there, the power suddenly went off, but luckily it went back. We then bought our tickets so we can get in. We chose to get the 300php ticket where chosen rides are unlimited – it means that we can ride as many times as we can. My best friend and I went over directly to the roller coaster ride that I’ve been dying to try out. It wasn’t really that scary, it quite exciting, but unfortunately it wasn’t the one I expected; I expected it to be a 360o roller coaster, but none the less, I enjoyed it. We actually rode the roller coaster many times, more or less 10 times, and then we went on to the bumper cars, and we also rode many times. We were actually enjoying ourselves; we went on all kinds of rides and rode it many times; we were having the time of our lives. Also this one both that is really interesting, but it wasn’t one of the unlimited rides. The Horror House – we were really drawn to it because a lot of people actually got in line, so we too, tried it; we paid extra 50 so we can get in. When we got in, it was really fascinating, the props and effects were really believable, I even got a little bit scared. The Fantasy Land was really an amazing experience. We really enjoyed our time there. We finished all the rides just around midnight but still the fun there never stops; they had programs prepared at night where people can really enjoy the time but we had to get some rest for our trip back home. We stayed for the night in a hotel near the beach, we got ready for bed, and slept in with all the enjoyment.
The next morning, we got up early. We went a walk on the beach before dawn, it was really cold, but the fresh air was nice. Afterwards, we got ready to go back home. We took our free meal in the hotel and went on the road. Before we head back, we decided to see Dipolog City, just straight ahead of Dapitan. The boulevard there was really stunning, it was well constructed, it’s good to go for a jog there next time. After Dipolog City, we went on our journey back home. Our final stop, before going home was in Oroquieta City. We ate our lunch there in a restaurant, and then we went to the marine sanctuary and me and my best friend went swimming with the dolphins. My mom, dad, and my brother didn’t want to get in so it’s just the two of us. It was really amazing, we got down the waters, we used the diving equipments to breathe underwater, and we saw the dolphins up close, we even fed them, it was really a wonderful experience. We actually stayed a long time there because we were enjoying ourselves, we explored the seas there, we saw a lot of marine animals underwater and also the huge coral reefs. It was really fun. Then, we went out of the waters and took a bath again. After were done, we went on our way. We took the barge again and it was already dark, we saw the beautiful lights from the city across the waters. It was really stunning. Then, we got down the barge and drove on the way home. We got home just in time for New Year’s Day.
The get-away trip was really very enjoying and exciting. That was the most fun experience that I’ve ever had. Although it was really tiring to go on a two day trip, still, it was worth it. I hope to have that experience again next time. “What A Wonderful Day”.
