three stop zamboanga city

the city of Zamboanga holds the most number of Chavacano speakers in the country, also the language which i grew up using. many are fascinated at the language, which indirectly resembles to Spanish. beyond the language, the city also has fairly good spots and here are three of the most of famous. [1] Fort Pilar. it is one of Zamboanga city's iconic landmark, a quadrilateral fortress very significant to the Zamboanguenos. close to the size of Cebu city's Fort San Pedro, this one was built around 1712. famous for the miraculous story of the Virgin Mary's apparition from saving the coastal area from a Tsunami. it has an open shrine that gathers thousands during its feast day.
this is just a walking distance from the central city area passing by the beautiful Valderosa street. but one can take a tricycle or a taxi from anywhere around the city to the fort. by night, the nearby Paseo del Mar transforms to a night spot for food trip and sound trip.
[2] Pasonanca Park. holds a number of spots in the upper portions of the city. accessible by public jeepneys and taxis to just about 15-20minutes from the central city area. it covers a large area with several well maintained green lawn parks. the Boy Scout Camp grounds remains to be one of the nicest camping grounds in the region. a site that commemorates the 24 Filipino boy scouts who died in the 1963 plane crash in India while they were on their to the Jamboree in Greece. one of them is Antonio Limbaga who is from Zamboanga.
my childhood memories of the tree house, the swimming pool, and large the soldier hat in Abong-Abong. the old Zamboanga Convention Center, used to be one of the largest structure in the area. it was in this center where i first saw a large preserved fish.
[3] Zamboanga Barter. one can't end a trip in Zamboanga without dropping by the barters. an area where one can buy goods coming from the city and majority coming from the nearby Malaysia. these includes malongs, batik, dusters, shawls and handkerchief. it's where you can haggle and get the best price.
among my favorite are the imported chocolate biscuits Apollo, which now has several flavors. i would usually place it in the refrigerator which hardens the chocolate inside the thin layered biscuit.

how to get there:
Fort Pilar - it is just a walk away from the central area of Zamboanga city on the East coast but one can also take a tricycle to go there.

Pasonanca Parks - also accessible by tricycle and public jeepney but taking a taxi will be good. in our case, we rented a van to go around the city.

Zamboanga Barter - there are several barters in the city, one would be the one in Canelar. not so far from the airport and area is just fine.

from Manila, there are daily flights from Manila to Zamboanga with the major domestic airlines. usual flight time is an hour and twenty minutes or less.

location:
island: mainland Mindanaoo
province: Zamboanga Peninsula

GPS location:
6^ 54" 15' N
122^ 4" 26' E