Dagupan: a different kind of experience

its been almost a month since we went to Dagupan to conduct a research about the city's Bangus Festival... but upto now, my experience there will last in my memories for as long as i live... so what really happened there that made me never forget Dagupan? Here's my story:

thursday - we planned to leave early next morning... and because it was also my friends birthday, i've decided to go to his party instead of staying in the apartment of one of my group members to spent the night away.... we thought that Dagupan is so far that we decided to go to the bus terminal as early as 1:30 in the morning... i'm so sleepy because i'm partially drunk... when we arrive at the terminal... the bus to Dagupan is scheduled to leave... only when they are totally filled with passengers... and base on the people present there... it would take some time for it to be filled... suddenly a man (conductor of the bus going to Baguio) approached us... offered as an alternative route if we really are on a hurry... still thinking that Dagupan is far... we decided to accept the man's proposal... at 2 am... we left Manila... are route: Manila-Urdaneta Pangasinan, then we have to transfer to another bus from Urdaneta-Dagupan...

inside the bus... everyone (i think) is somewhat excited... after a while... my excitement rised up and i'm almost chilling... but not because we are almost at our destination but because i want to get off the bus as quickly as possible because... its too damn COLD inside!!!!!!...

after that chilling ride... we get off the bus... and because im too excited to get off from that freaking bus... i didn't notcice the number of steps the bus have... my foot slipped because it stepped at the edge of one of the steps and almost slide out of the door... but luckily i managed to hang on the railings...

at Urdaneta, we are waiting for a bus that is bound to Dagupan... 15 mins... and still no sign of a bus... suddenly a jeepney stopped in front of us... and yes... it is going to Dagupan... so we decided to take that opportunity... inside the jeepney... i smell something fishy!!! (literally)... damn, it smells like were in a market... it seems that the jeepney had just delivered bangus in a nearby market in Urdaneta...

after 20-30 mins of that smelly ride... we finally arrived at our destination - DAGUPAN... but we noticed that something's wrong... we expected to see busy streets and people flocking from one place to another... we expected to see markets and malls full of people... but what's this??? all of the business establishments are closed... streets are almost empty... we look at our clock and......... what???? it's only 6:30 in the morning???? i knew something was wrong...

we started walking around hoping to find a place to stay... and then we found a park... luckily, it has benches and some sets of chairs and tables... so we stayed there... brought out the foods that we have and started eating... at that time... i brought out my GAME BOY and try to make it work... and because of my perserverance i miracolously make it worked and i started playing...

8 o'clock... we decided to search for a computer shop to type the survey questions we need... we finished and photocopied it and then decided to go to the city hall because our schedule for interview was at 9:00...

inside the city hall... we went to their tourism department office... unfortunately, the person that we expected to meet is unavailable because she went to Makati for an emergency meeting, but she left us with three tour guides... actually they are just trainees... but i guess, we are still lucky becuase those three are simply marvelous... they exerted all their best to help us out in conducting our interviews with their city officials... they also toured us around Dagupan... and showed us all the best Dagupan can offer...

we finished touring around Dagupan at around 1:00 in the afternoon... we're so exhausted and hungry so we decided to find a fast food chain... we first went inside the mall near the city hall but all the fast food chains there are full... then we saw a KFC store across the mall and decided to just eat there...

after eating... we decided to continue with our research and then we head back to the city hall... and then something unexpected happened... as we cross the street... suddenly... a kid bumped me from behind... i just look at him and didn't bother... after we crossed the street... one of our tour guide... noticed that the pouch of my back bag was open... the first thing that came into my mind was my.... GAME BOY!!!!!! cause i've mistakenly placed it in there... unfortunately... it was gone... at first... i try not to think about it... even comforting myself saying "its alright"... but as time pass by... i started to realize that my mother will get mad at me 'cause that GameBoy wasn't really mine... it's was my litlle brother's... so i started thinking of ways of how to cover up for it... since then, i've lost not only the GameBoy but my focus to our research as well... when we are interviewing the city planner... whenever i look at him it seems that his face looks like my GameBoy... and my enthusiasm is just simply diminishing... i started feeling mentally drained and physically exhausted... i just want to finish the research and interviews quickly and go home...

we finsihed all the interviews at around 7:00 in the evening... at the terminal... the bus is waiting for passengers to fill all up their seats... at that time... i'm trying to forget that unlucky event... the bus left at around 8:00 and arrived at manila at around 12:00 in the morning...

at home... the first thing that i did was told my mom of what happened... and i guess my mom was not in the mood to scold me 'cause she's so sleepy... but the next morning... the interogation starts... lucky for me... my class was at 7:30 in the morning so i was spared... hehehe...

that event really tatooed on my mind... i guess, everybody is entitled to a first time... come to think of it... it's been almost 4 years that i've walked the harsh environment of Manila and i've never experienced that kind of event... compared to a 6-8 hours of stay in Dagupan... thus, making a conclusion that "Dagupan is a haven of thieves"...