Travels: Zamboanga City Day 1

Day 1 03.01.11

I woke up at 3am to prepare for our 5:20 AM flight to Zamboanga. We had a light breakfast, and was out of the house by 4AM. We traveled light as M didn’t like to check in our baggage. Note to self: never wear shorts - ang lamig sa Terminal 3! I was shivering, still nursing a slight fever. After passing through ticket counters, I had chamomile tea and cookies (second breakfast for the day) at Mrs. Fields, had a 30 minute full back massage at a spa inside the boarding area. The massage made me relax and the antibiotics I took the day before had started to do its work. I spent the one and half hour flight sleeping. By the time the plane touched down in zamboanga, I felt better. The last time I was here, was 19 years ago. That was the my second visit, the first was when M & I were still newly weds. M was born here in Zamboanga. And now most of his work/projects are here, thus, the reason for this trip.

Zamboanga is known as the city of flowers and one of the busiest port cities in the Philippines. It is also known as Asia’s Latin City due to its native dialect, Chavacano, a spanish-based creole (which is made up of 80% spanish words, and the 20% - a mixture of italian, portuguese, bisayan, tagalog.)

From the airport, we checked in at The Lantana Hotel by the sea. After freshening up, we had our third breakfast for the day – beef tapa.

Lantaka Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in Zamboanga. Though not of 5 star hotel standards, it’s luxurious enough to feel like one is staying in a resort. The room we got was spacious and clean. Though we stayed in the ground floor, it has the view of the pool and garden and a glimpse of the sea beyond.

The terrace has a good view of the sea and pier. This is where we have breakfasts and night caps sipping red wine as we listen to the sound of the waves and watch ferry boat docked at the pier.


On a clear day, you can see Basilan Island and Sta Cruz Island (I heard has pink sand) and Paseo del Mar on the other side. There were small nipa huts scattered on one side near the shore.


a view of Basilan Island from the terrace.


view of Paseo del Mar

the food, merits a separate entry.... :)