dapitan at last!

Since I read Ms. Connie Veneracion's December 2008 post on her great Dapitan finds, particularly a charming wrought iron wall clock, I made a mental note to visit this bargain place. My hubby who is not just a couch but a bed potato and who abhors traffic, scarce parking space and out of the way destinations dissuaded me from going to Dapitan. The months went by but the memory of the clock never left me and I had hoped that one day I would be able to satiate my curiosity of this intriguing shopping destination.

I grew up in the South and was never familiar with Quezon City so going to Dapitan by my lonesome also scared me. This year, in January, due to a project in the office, I went with two of my colleagues to Apo St., and while trying to find the place, I found myself at the corner of Dapitan market. I wanted to stop and park right there but work beckoned so I mustered all self control and continued driving. But boy, was I thrilled to be in the vicinity and to finally have an idea how to get there.

Last week our bedroom wall clock acted up. We were late one work day because our clock was thirty minutes behind. It ticked again but stopped briefly even after we changed the battery, so hubby suggested that we should be on the lookout for a new clock. We went to Dimensione (they were on sale) last weekend to get frames for my other home project but we found the clocks uninspired so we decided to make do with the existing and risk being late again until we find the timepiece that feels right. I thought again of the wrought iron wall clock that I saw in the Pinoy Cook blog.

Lo and behold, I saw a similar piece at the Regalong Pambahay/ Egg/Simple Joys store in Trinoma last Sunday. I was meeting a friend and hunting this small beige dress, which I saw at Mia Bella Serendra but in medium size. Sorry, I digress, it's another post altogether. The clock was selling for 3,000 pesos and I clearly remember that the blog author said she was able to haggle the original 1,500 peso price to 1,350. That stopped me from taking out my plastic and getting the haunting clock but I resolved to go to Dapitan and hunt that timepiece.

My long time friend, a native of Quezon City and a master of Metro Manila roads, finally took me to Dapitan this
afternoon. It was a dream come true. I got the clock finally, not exactly the same as the one in the blog, no bird perched on my clock but I don't mind, I like this simpler design. It goes well with our wrought iron four poster bed which we got from Rustan's using the gift certificates from the wedding and some GCs from the items we returned. Now, before you frown upon what I just said, please hear me out. While we were registered at Rustan's, we skipped the part of guest gift suggestion, we just felt it was tacky to tell our guests what to get us. We feel the same about telling them we prefer cash. Oh well, the downside: we got a dozen or so cutlery, good cutlery but there were just too many sets that would probably last us ten lifetimes. They were good gifts that their sum allowed us to get a really good queen size wrought iron four poster bed. Our guests will be happy to learn that they have gifted us with a wonderful bed, which we will treasure all our life. Sorry, I digressed once again.

Going back to the clock, there was a bit of drama. I like the design on the clock's face and boy, was I glad that I was able to get this particular piece. You see I was so thrilled to see the first stall, which sold timepieces like this. Going to Dapitan, I wasn't sure if I could still find wrought iron clocks. After all, it has been almost 18 months since the blog post. So when I saw a stall that carried this type of timepieces, I bought the dark colored piece right away even though I wasn't too happy with the floral design on the clock's face. It was too hallmarky for my taste but I like the bones and the color of the clock so I decided to not waste my first trip to Dapitan and got it. The vendor said it was the only dark piece left. When we got to the next pasilyo checking out the other interesting stuff on offer, I saw another similar clock with a more French country face. My heart sank but quickly realized I could give it a shot and get this piece that I really like. It took me over a year to get to Dapitan I might as well go home with the piece that I would be giddy with excitement, no ifs, no buts. So I did the unthinkable, I talked to the manong vendor who sold me the first clock and asked if he could help me. And help me he did. Without directly saying the word refund, I was able to get him to allow me to return the piece I bought from him. That, in turn, allowed me to purchase the clock from the other stall, which turned out to be owned by his brother. The sales lady was afraid to sell me the piece as it could cause conflict with the manong's mom but kuya Dennis, the first vendor was so kindhearted that he told the sales lady he will take care of it with his mom and ordered the sales girl to sell me the piece. Thank God for considerate business people like kuya Dennis. To thank him, I bought something else from his stall: a table runner. I know, it's not as big a ticket item as the clock but it's a small gesture of gratitude for granting me the refund which allowed me to take home the piece that I completely heart.

So how much did the clock cost me? 1,300 pesos! What an amazing deal. Got the clock at less than half the price at Simple Joys and 50 peso less than the haggled price in 2008. The 1,700 pesos, that I was able to save by not buying from the mall store, I was able to use for other great finds which I will share in my next post.

P.S. To my dear friend who took the time to accompany me to Dapitan, please allow me to thank you one more time. Thank you!