Surf’s
definitely up folks! Again, as my last tribute to October being the
surfing month, and before we go all Holloweeny, I wanna share with you
the 4th and last segment of my surfing adventures this
year, which started only last summer. Watch how better I got at this
sport. I mean now, I can already ride waves, both big and small! It’s
pretty hard, I tell you — paddling and catching waves on my own. Most
importantly, I’m no longer afraid of huge waves! They’re actually a lot
more fun than the calm waters of various seas I’ve snorkelled in my
lifetime. Anyway, here’s what we did last weekend at our favorite
surfing spot in San Juan, La Union. Oh, did I mention that I brushed
elbows with the gorgeous Luke Ladrigal and the very talented Poks (the
one-legged surfer), both top wave riders in our country?! Woohoo!!!!
Enjoy!
~~~oOo~~~
Isn’t Luke the most gorgeous surfer ever?!!!
This
last leg of our surfing adventure (for this year at least) was the
scariest of all! No, not because of the huge waves or ghosts and spirits
that made themselves felt that fateful night, but because of the
traffic buildup way past Sta. Rita along the North Expressway so early
that Saturday morning, 21st of October, 2006.
Jericho (our loyal surf instructor), Odhe, Jem and Peachie upon arrival at San Juan Surf Resort
Peter
and I met up with our two surfing buddies (Jem and Peachie) at around
2:30 a.m. at the parking lot behind 7-11 near Q. Ave. MRT station. By
3am, we were already on our way to pick up Odhe at Meycauayan. Traffic
was a breeze and we felt we’d arrive in San Juan at around 8am, in time
for breakfast. Suddenly, as we were about to approach the long bridge
after Sta. Rita, we were greeted by a long line of unmoving traffic. At
first, we didn’t mind it. We used this time to chat and catch up with
each other. Since Jem, Peachie and Odhe weren’t friends, this traffic
time-out was spent getting to know each other and having loads of
laughter and fun in the process.
Getting ready to surf…
UNTIL
an hour almost passed and we were still in the same spot, ok maybe 5
meters away from the original traffic spot. That’s when I noticed that
on both our sides were HUGE trucks filled with gigantic cement/steel
tubes chained to each truck. The moment I digested this, my heart
skipped a beat and soon, I was palpitating! Remember all the gory
details of movies like Final Destination and The Eye
where death scenes involved trucks, huge logs, combustion, etc. causing
a major freak accident along the highway?! Those obscene images were
quickly creeping into my sleepy head, I thought I’d die!
Time for pictures!
Anyway,
after waiting forever, the traffic finally moved ever so slowly, and at
around 5:30 am, we were already entering Mabalacat, Pampanga.
Finally!!! Whew!!!
Go Peachie! Go Jem!
I though that was the end of our bad luck….
Odhe and I with Poks, the one-legged surfer
Going
to La union for the 4th time now, I thought we’ve already memorized our
route. Nevertheless, I still brought our ever reliable mapbook with us
just to be sure. And we were keeping our eyes open for all the turns we
needed to make the entire time. Still, we missed our turn in Gerona,
Tarlac, causing us to pass by Dagupan, a much longer and unfamiliar
route than we were used to. In short, we got lost!
At is point, Jerico was teaching me how to position my hand in such a way that I’d be able to touch the waves.
woohoo!!!
Oh yeah!
After much delay, we arrived at San Juan, La union a little before noon, tired and hungry. Sigh.
Good
thing that the waves were excellent that after an hour of resting, we
were already braving the waves and enjoying the beach scene. Yahoo!!!
resting as the boys went surfing
That night, we brought Peachie to our favorite dining place, Halu-Halo de Iloko.
Pakbet, Sisig and Tinolang Iloko
65 peso halu-halo
After
dinner, we headed back to the beach and scared the hell out of each
other when we visited the empty tower house of the town’s lifeguard.
Jem almost climbed Peachie’s back when I turned off the lights making everyone run down the steep stairs…hehehe…
Me and Peach Peter and Jem
A ghost of a guy was actually crawling under the wooden bed behind us.
See that orb beside me? Guess what it is…
The
next day,we woke up early, around 6 am. Jericho was supposed to bring
us to the Botanical Garden. But as usual, we couldn’t wait to ride the
waves so we headed straight to the beach instead. And of course, we
surfed and skimmed some more too!
Surfing and skimboarding the morning away!
Gosh, I really should diet… I’m so FAT…
Peachie tries surfing again while Peter skimboards.
Perfect ride!
Go Peter! Go Jem!
entering Isdaan
Feeling Bangkok or Bali?
Feeling Bangkok or Bali?
Care for some Bulalo?
Naughty Odhe…
Naughty Odhe…
Were apes this big before?
The attack of the Tirex!
Oops! Chansing!
Give me some!
Feeling senti…
Chow time!!!
All in all, in spite of the bad luck early on (read about the WHY of this misfortune in my next entry soon), it was a fun surfing weekend we’ll surely miss!
PS: My CREATIVE TRAVEL MATE was busted by the sand too. Oh well!
~~~oOo~~~
For things to do when visiting La Union, here's an awesome list of La Union Things to Do.
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