Travels: Zamboanga City Paseo del Mar

I fell asleep while waiting for M to come back. He arrived in time for dinner. I had a light pre-dinner meal of caesar’s salad at the hotel’s coffee shop before I slept that’s why I wasn’t really very hungry. As he promised earlier, we went to Paseo del Mar. It was near Petit Barracks (which we missed going to that morning). Paseo del Mar is Zamboanga’s answer to Manila’s Bay walk.

the entrance to Paseo del Mar in the morning when we passed by on the way back to the hotel from Fort Pilar.

Who says Zamboanguenos don’t have a night life? But what I have seen now was a far cry from 19 years ago when the streets were almost empty and everyone was home by 7PM. M said, before Paseo del Mar was built, you won’t see people in the area after dark. It has such a bad reputation - where one can get robbed, raped, kidnapped or worst be killed. We went there at around 8:30 PM, having made a detour to visit M’s friend in the hospital before having dinner. The wine store that M told me about had closed down.

Paseo del Mar at night... zamboanga's version of Manila bay walk





the view of the pier from Paseo del Mar

Dinner was a crab meal (sorry, no photos) at Alavars at the Plaza del Mar. We had steamed crab with alavar sauce – made of coconut milk, crab fat and a bit of food color.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and sat on the terrace having red wine, enjoying the view and sound of the sea.

Paseo del Mar at night as seen from Lantaka Hotel

Later, M’s friends joined our table. I excused myself early to go back to our room and transfer the day’s photographs into my laptop.

It was a day spent eating – three breakfasts, lunch, mid afternoon meryenda, and dinner, not to mention eventful... I was tired and heady from the wine, yet excited and looking forward for the next day’s meal of satti.