Last week, I went to Dagupan City. My main purpose is to attend the wedding of Ruby, one of my closest friends in high school. I admit feeling lazy to travel by bus again since I want to just work on my laptop the whole week, but this is an important event in a friend’s life that I shouldn’t miss.

Together with Maire (another close high school friend of mine), we rode the 9AM Five Star Bus trip from Cubao to Dagupan. I stayed in their place and it is my first time to visit her house in YEARS. I am quite surprised that there’s a lot of CCTV cameras around! I guess it’s for safety purposes since they have some apartment spaces for rent on the third floor. One time, I got caught dancing via CCTV 0_o Still thinking if I should upload that part or not =))

Anyway, I want to share what I did in Dagupan last week. I am planning to write about the different establishments I’ve been to in Senyorita and will write a longer entry about Ruby’s wedding soon.

Coffee and Milk Tea at YELLOW TREE CAFE

YELLOW TREE CAFE is one of the most promising coffee shops here in Dagupan City. It was my second time to visit that time and I’m just happy that Maire loved it. We also got the opportunity to meet Chester Tan, the founder/owner of Yellow Tree Cafe. He is 23 years old (wah younger than me) and was born and raised in Dagupan too. He also narrated on how he worked in Singapore for a few years and decided to open his own coffee shop upon his return.

They recently added several flavors of milk tea in their selection. Maire tried the Strawberry Milk Tea while I ordered my usual Iced Mocha. We got stuck in there due to the heavy rain and the electricity was just crazy. I can’t remember how many times the city experienced electrical misery that night LOL. I’m glad we are in a safe place though. Chester, Maire, Kuya Simon and I just stayed there until the heavy rain stopped. I also took the opportunity to have a little pictorial courtesy of Maire =))

Yellow Tree Cafe became our official tambay place for three days and something interesting happened. I will let Maire narrate it soon on her blog hehe. Also, i consider it as a good workstation since the ambiance is not as stressful as other coffee shops turned out to be. Is it because of the colors or the playlist or simply because of the drinks? I dunno. Basta! 😛

PIGAR-PIGAR

PIGAR-PIGAR is popular among Dagupenos and it is best to dine in Galvan Street at night. Maire and I were excited since it’s been a long time since we both went there. Well, my last Pigar-Pigar in Galvan was last year with some college pals.

I really love eating Pigar-Pigar in Galvan especially after a rainy moment. It’s all about the ambiance, I guess. You will see all sorts of Dagupenos in that street either eating or drinking yet you feel safe. Thanks Kuya Simon for the company and the little historical trivias!

DAROY-TAGUIAM NUPTIALS

We went to Ruby’s place right an hour after we arrived in Dagupan. She was busy preparing for the wedding – the candles, the souvenirs and the like. It was my first time to meet Dharwin, her husband. We asked him on how he feels that they’re getting married after 5-6 years of being together. He looked tired, but you can see in his eyes that he is excited for the special day.

When we back home, Maire and I still couldn’t believe that a friend of ours from high school is getting married. During the wedding ceremony, I felt happy for Dharwin and Ruby. The reality just sinked in when they exchanged ‘I do’s’ to each other. Yay, we’re now in the marrying stage! I will share my complete thoughts on this one soon. It will be an interesting one, I promise you! 😀

MORE COFFEE – Gaudencio’s Cafe

Right after the wedding, we transformed from our gowns to the casual clothes to Gaudencio’s Cafe in Calasiao, where a Food Photography is being conducted. Gaudencio’s Cafe is not yet officially open (I think the grand launch is sometime in June), but they conducted a food/drinks tasting and at the same time a food photography workshop.

Maire is excited for this one as I just sat in the corner taking some snapshots, but my LX3 is not really in a good condition now 0_o. I ended up drinking various types of drinks – from coffee to chocolate to mixed juices. Of course, I ain’t gonna complain! I also met Lovely Bulatao, a Fashion/Lifestyle blogger from Dagupan. She’ll be big soon! 😀

MORE MILK TEA at Panaderia Antonio Bakery in Robinson’s Place Pangasinan

Robinson’s Place Pangasinan a.k.a. Robinson’s Calasiao opened its doors to the public last March. It is my first time to visit the mall. In fairness, maganda siya. I hope its beauty and cleanliness will last.

We went straight to the grocery to buy some home stuff (wut?!) then went straight to Panaderia Antonio Bakery to buy some pastries and milk tea. It is my first time to try out Moji Milk Tea and it didn’t disappoint. I hope that they develop the Moji Milk Tea and open a number of stalls soon just like what they did with Plato Wraps.

CATCH UP WITH LECEL

Lecel is my bestfriend from college. We haven’t seen each other for a year and I just found out that she resigned from her work a few months ago and started a photobooth business in Pangasinan. So if you’re from Pangasinan and you’re interested to hire a photobooth machine for your parties, weddings, concerts and other events, just contact this page. Woot!

It is fun to reconnect with your real friends in moments like this. I am glad that she finally ventured into entrepreneurship and the other developments in her life *winks*. Like me, she is also a Taurus. Maire joined us afterwards and she’s a Taurus too!

We ate the Special Pancit from City de Luxe before we parted ways. I remember how we used to share the cost whenever we want to eat pancit in a nearby place since we don’t have enough money way 😛 At times, we would share food for merienda toinks. How fast time flies 🙂

VISIT at PRETTY TIPSY NAILS & WAXING

It’s been months since I last went to Pretty Tipsy Nails and Waxing. It’s funny because they were watching the afternoon series ‘Broken Vow’ when I arrived. Bianca King is the celebrity endorser of Pretty Tipsy Nail & Waxing and she is also the lead star of the said telenovela. Loyal much? Hehe. 😛

Kreme just arrived from her family vacation in the US. Looks like she did really have fun in her much-deserved break yet she is now set to face more responsibilities (hurray? hurray!). She told me that she’s adding new promos in Pretty Tipsy. One of which is found below:

PIXELHUB CREATIVE’s GRAND LAUNCH

Pixelhub Creative’s VIP Opening is a successful one. Mike invited me to attend a few weeks ago but I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to go. I’m glad that my grandfather gave his go signal that I can extend my stay in Dagupan for another day. I’ll blog more about it soon as I wasn’t able to take much pictures 0_0

Congrats to Mike Fernandez and the rest of the Pixelhub Creative team! Bibisita ako ulit at nawa’y maka-tambay ng wagas =))

CHITCHATS and More Coffee

I went to Figaro afterwards to meet up with Maire. We both think that it is the best Figaro branch we’ve been to. My cousin Melvin also went there to say hi and we eventually talked about random things related to the usual stuff a younger cousin asks her Kuya. I am lucky I have someone like him to keep me grounded.

So there you have it! That sums up my Dagupan Trip from last week. Although I only stayed for a few days, I think I’ve done a lot and at the same time ate too much 0_0. I’m glad that I have Dagupan as my hometown. <3

Special thanks to Maire and Simon for the pictures! 😀

Join the What’s Up Dagupan Facebook page!

Have you been to Dagupan? If not, why not? Haha 😀 Kidding aside, Have you been to your hometown lately? Share your thoughts below =)