January 27, our sixth day began with a breakfast buffet at The Manor. A wide selection of early morning treats were waiting for us that I had two plates full of whatever my eyes deemed good – breads, sausages, pork tocino, baked tomatoes, fried fish, fruits and more.

By seven in the morning, our bus left Baguio for the Pangasinan leg of the tour. We arrived at Dagupan City at nine in the morning and went straight to Dawell River for the cruise. Inspired by Bohol’s Loboc River Cruise, the local government invested on boats and turned the river into a tourist spot. Their driving force was not actually tourism but to clean the river and get rid of the fish pens that once covered their waterways.

With the staff of the local tourism office of Dagupan, the cruise went on while we were devouring the native kakanins that were served to us – Masikoy (toasted brown sugar and sesame seeds), Onda-Onday (sweetened grated coconut) and Bibingka with Latik. We got to plant mangroves and witness bangus harvest too. The cruise ended on a bangus-all-you can treat. After finishing some of the bangus prepared for us, we bid Dagupan goodbye and proceeded to the last stop of our Pangasinan leg, lunch at Matutina Restaurant in Carmen.

Two hours have passed and we reached our next destination – Tarlac City. The bus went straight to Kart City in front of SM City Tarlac for an afternoon of fun in the kart track. I was so excited, the last time I went karting was seven years ago in Speedzone Fort Bonifacio.

We were welcomed by Mr. Pio Arugay, one of the owners, who briefed us about the sport. Over pizza, we grouped ourselves into four and the rules of the game were explained. Rally Game! In thirty minutes, each member of the group will take turn and ride the kart for at least five minutes. The group with the most number of laps made wins.

I was grouped with fellow bloggers Edcel of soloflighted.com, James of journeyingjames.com with Mr. Renato Ticzon, president of North Philippines Visitors Bureau and Vice President for Marketing of Manila North Tollways Corporation. The competitive side of everyone surfaced but in the end the Living Asia Channel composed of Rodel, Dickie, Joy with the publisher of One Sport Magazine Edsel won the game with 38 laps. We, on the other hand, made only 32, good for fourth spot.

The night ended on a dinner and videoke where everyone was given a chance to hit the scoreboard. All, except me and Christian sang. Sorry, I am really not into singing in public 🙂 Darren and Sam got the prized jackets for scoring the highest 97%.

By nine in the evening we packed up and headed to Microtel Luisita and La Maja Rica Hotel where the group spent the night.

Lakbay Norte is an eight day media familiarization tour of Northern Luzon organized by North Philippine Visitors Bureau in cooperation with Manila North Tollways Corporation, Victory Liner, Mc Donalds, Petron and Universal Robina Corporation.

Thanks to Pangasinan Conventions and Visitors Bureau, City Government of Dagupan, Matutina Restaurant, Kart City Tarlac, Microtel Luisita, La Maja Rica Hotel and Tarlac Conventions and Visitors Bureau.