Bolinao in Pangasinan - Reminiscing Old Times

It's been a long while since the first time we visited Bolinao, Pangasinan last June 11-12, 2006. I only remembered it when our *foreman, Kuya Angie, saw all our beach photos hanging around the house, and he started talking about his hometown, Bolinao. I said, "Hey Kuya, we've been there!" How great would it be if we try to visit the place again this year, after 4 long years. I bet the place is still the same.

*we are currently having my bathroom retiled and the front yard renovated by constructing fences, trellis and gate.

It turns out, Kuya Angie's ancestral home is right over there, fronting the white sandy beaches of Bolinao. And whenever we want to visit the place again, he said to just let him know. Wow! My mind started ticking. It was the month of June when we last went there. We were surprised by the sunny weather that weekend but the water was not that calm. Maybe, if we go this month, we'd see the more serene, calm, and beautiful facade of its turquoise blue waters. I'm getting excited! I want to go this weekend (March 20-21, 2010). But Kuya Angie insisted it would be better to go during their fiesta on March 27-28. We're just waiting for word from his aunt, but more or less, it's a date! ^_^

I actually bought new Speedo & Finis snorkeling gear complete with mask, snorkel, life vest and fins. For some reason, I am itching to snorkel. Originally, I was thinking of taking scuba diving lessons, but because of my fear underwater (my ear hurt and my heart rate was abnormal the last time we went fun diving in Anilao in 2006), plus Peter is not so excited about it (he's already an excellent skin diver to begin with and he gets claustrophobic and bored when surrounded by an immense body of water and when he's underwater for a long time), we decided to forego the activity and just use the money to renovate the house. The whole thing turned out more practical and at least the money didn't go to waste.

So anyway, going back to Bolinao, here are some of our unpublished photos from our last trip there. Peter and I went with Brownman Revival's vocalist, Dino Concepcion, my GF Joan, and our friend Paw. Looking at these photos makes me all the more excited to visit Bolinao once again!

Setting foot at Bolinao's white sandy beach a few hours after midnight...

While the others were sleeping, I was waitin g for the sun to rise...

La Union Surfing Near Death Experience

As I’ll be leaving for Boracay tomorrow early morning for the 20th Neil Pryde Boracay Funboard Cup and I’ll be staying there (at Laguna de Boracay Resort) until the 13th,  let me leave you with a summarized travelogue/photoblog of the most recent surfing trip we had (Dec. 15-16, 2007)…

Enjoy the rest of the week, folks! I’ll try to go online during my stay in Bora, but I can’t promise. I might be dead tired from all the physical work during the day plus I might be partying at night (crossing my fingers). You see, although this will be my 7th trip to Bora, it will be my first time traveling alone (read: without Peter). Oh God…. This will be so much fun!!!! Ok, I’ll try not to miss my baboo too much. He’s always working anyway, making more money for the both of us, hihihi. Don’t worry baboo, we’re millionaires! (Think positive lang yan! Hehehe!)

My mantra for this week goes:

I AM BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS, HAPPY, HEALTHY, SMART, SEXY AND WEALTHY. I AM EXPERIENCING WONDERFUL NEW HORIZONS OF OPPORTUNITIES AND ENJOYING MY LIFE IN BORACAY!

~~~oOo~~~

Back to my La Union travelogue now:

  

We dropped by SOUL cafe for brunch.

   

We haven’t had anything to eat since we picked up our friend Rea from Wack-Wack, Greenhills at around 5am and headed straight up north. 

La Union: Surf’s Up Again Folks!

 The Beach Babes of La Union!

   

So off we went to La Union on the last weekend of April. We had been planning this for several weeks now and had already been postponed a couple of times too due to various reasons whether personal, financial or otherwise. I was just glad that it still pushed thru even if some backed out at the last minute like Ode ( my guy friend at work who was tasked to finish a major project before Monday) and Gab of Parokya ni Edgar (Peter’s cousin). He and Peter got so wasted the previous night and was afraid he wouldn’t be able to wake up. True enough, I think he didn’t. Oh well, maybe next time.

 

Soaking up the afternoon sun… my purple bodyboard can’t wait to try the waves! 

La Union Surfing - Of Pleasure and Pain: Didi's Christening

Me and Didi --- from the word "dilaw" (yellow)

La Union Surfing Part IV

 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…

La Union Surfing and Skimboarding (Part III)

 Surf’s up folks! Again, as a tribute to October being the surfing month, I will be sharing with you more of my surfing adventures which started only last summer. Watch how better I got at this sport. I mean now, I could already stand up the freakin’ surfboard even if there are no strong waves! It’s pretty hard, I tell you. I can already paddle and I’m slowly learning to catch a wave on my own. And 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 the third segment of my surfing adventures… Enjoy!

~~~oOo~~~

Iza’s brother, Van, Iza, Peter, Me,  Cecille, Mark  (Ninette and  Dodgie  were somewhere else at this point)

It’s been a month since we last surfed and being pretty addicted to it, I couldn’t wait to go back to the waves again. So I asked all my friends if they are interested in going with us. Fortunately, seven of them said yes. That’s more than enough. Yipee! La Union, here we come!

Welcome to San Juan Surf Resort (238 Bgy. Urbiztondo San Juan 2514)

However, when we finally arrived at San Juan Surf Resort, we noticed that the waves weren’t that huge. We were bombed. Travelling about 6 hours from Manila to La Union is no joke especially when it means having little sleep and scrimping etxra money just so we can have more than enough for gas, food and surfing lessons. Good thing we brought our new skimboard and this was the perfect opportunity to try it out.

 
Peter and Jericho tries skimboarding for the first time.

I have my own style in skimboarding which the others couldn’t quite get (the way I couldn’t do it standing up).

 

At around 4 in the afternoon, our luck started to change.  Waves were starting  to form and we immediately took advantage of it.   Even if we had only 1 surfboard, we didn’t lose any time. One by one,  for 10 minutes each, we  tried our best to catch a wave. And that’s just what we did! Yahoo!!! The waves may not be the kind we hoped for but they will do.

Peter and I caught a small wave

La Union Surfing Part II

Surf's up folks! And as a tribute to October being the surfing month, I will be sharing with you my surfing adventures which started only last summer. Watch how better I got at this sport. I mean now, I could already stand up the freakin' surfboard! I can already paddle but I have yet to learn how to catch a wave on my own. And 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 the second segment of my surfing adventures… Enjoy!

~~~oOo~~~

Arriving at San Juan Surf Resort: Irene, Vicente, me, Peter, Vina, Van, Iza, Jem

Sexy Nomad Goes La Union Surfing I

Surf’s up folks! And as a tribute to October being the surfing month, I will be sharing with you my surfing adventures which started only last summer. Watch how better I got at this sport. I mean now, I could already stand up the freakin’ surfboard! I can already paddle but I have yet to learn how to catch a wave on my own. And 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 the first segment of my surfing adventures… Enjoy!
 
~~~oOo~~~

 

First Time Surfer Dudes and Dudettes

It seems like Peter and I are being continuously blessed with such amazing friends and we just can’t let the season sizzle without enjoying their company. So one weekend, we decided to try a different interest and that is to surf.