Heading to Real, Quezon with Barefoot Travels... Who wants to join?

*Due to typhoon Glenda and Henry recently, this trip was re-scheduled to Aug. 2 and September 6.

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Just a quick post... I'll be going with Barefoot Travels this Saturday, July 19, 2014. There are still a few slots left. Who wants to join? Please read the details below:

Surf and Trek Adventure

Real, Quezon

Real is a small first class municipality in Quezon province, approximately 145 kilometers from Manila. Conveniently located only 2.5-3 hours away from the Metro passing by the picturesque Laguna Lake and the scenic Sierra Madre Mountain Ranges, this town is slowly becoming a beach destination for quick and easy weekend getaways. With its coastline facing the Pacific Ocean, this has also become a surfers’ haven due to its great waves and much less crowded surf spots.

Barefoot Travels Baler Surf and Trek Adventure

Baler Adventure

Hey gais! I'm still here in Cebu, in Oslob in particular. I've been traveling non-stop so to speak since last year and now that I'n resting a bit here at my bessy's place (my flight back to Manila is early tomorrow at 3am), I decided to make time for another blog post, this time about Baler. I was just there last Jan. 11-12 when I joined Barefoot Travels in their surfing adventure. I'm going back there for a longer vacation this time, from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, for a surfcation as they call it. Two more slots are still available so if you want to join, contact Barefoot now at +63923-5610062; +63917-3589716. So yeah, as soon as I go home tomorrow, I'll have to pack again for another  surfing trip. Just look at some of the surfing videos my new friends took last time. Who wouldn't want to go back there, right? Whew! What a life! ^_^

Cloud 9 Surfing in Siargao

Now that I've left my most favorite island, Siargao, I'm regretting the fact that I've only surfed in Cloud Nine twice. Looking back, I did more Siargao wild partying than what the island is really known for --- the great surfing breaks. Hahaha! I guess this just means that I have to come back again and stay longer if possible (perhaps 1-3 months? Praying that my hubby will allow me. Hehehe.)

Surfing in Cloud 9, Siargao

I promised myself that I will one day brave the waves of Cloud 9 in Siargao. But it was only on my 6th day that I was finally able to do it. I guess my previous trauma from before hasn't been completely erased and my heart was skipping a beat the whole time I was in the water. But I gotta do it. I rented the biggest board Ocean 101 has and I hired an instructor who basically just pushed my board and brought me to where the waves were.

La Union Things to Do

It was supposed to be a day full of sun and  surf. Yep, we had a ton of sun alright, but no surf. The waves weren't big enough to go surfing so the next best thing would be to bodyboard instead. Good thing that we always bring not just our surfboard and skimboard every time we go to La Union, but our bodyboard as well. At least there'd be other activities we can do in the water.

Speaking of other activities, going to La Union is always such a thrill. I'll just summarize here the highlights of our short trip and perhaps you can do these things too if you wanna go to La Union sometime soon. Here are the amazing things you can do when going to La Union:

Cloud Nine in Siargao

Siargao is known as the surfing capital of the Philippines, as well as the surfing paradise of Asia because of the famous waves and beach breaks of Cloud Nine. Now that the surfing season is coming (September to March), more and more people from all over the world are visiting either to surf or watch surfers brave the thick, hollow tubes of Cloud Nine (or Cloud 9).

Awesome Things to See and Do in Siargao

If this is your first time to go to Siargao and you're looking for a perfect guide, well, you've come to the right place. I consider Siargao my second home and below is a list of awesome things you can do on this beautiful island off the coast of Surigao del Norte. Are you ready? Here we go...


Check-in at Patrick's on the Beach

Patrick's on the Beach located in General Luna, Siargao, Surigao del Norte. It has been recommended by my best friend's ex-boyfriend, and though he was a jerk, I believed in his judgment. Teehee.

That's me enjoying the beach in front of Patrick on the Beach. Behind me is their famous and romantic Beach Tree House.

Check-in at the more Affordable Ocean 101


For my two-week vacation here in Ocean 101, I opted for their most affordable room with its own bathroom. They call this kind of room a surfer's favorite. It's a fan room that is usually priced at Php750.00 per night but for people who are staying for at least a week, they give discounts up to 20%! So I got my room for Php600.00 per night. Awesome!

Do an Island Hopping Adventure

My last blog post was about our arrival in Siargao where Patrick's on the Beach gladly accommodated us at 50% off their regular price. Peter and I were so happy that we availed two of their exciting tour packages. The first one was the 3 ISLANDS TOUR (for Php2,500). Basically, we spent one whole day touring the three major white islands in Siargao namely: (Please click the highlighted names for more information)

Visit Naked Island

Windsurfing @ Surf Kamp, Lake Caliraya

Being on the surface of the water has always been very appealing for me. This is why I prefer snorkeling more than diving, why I swim with my head up all the time, why I did wakeboarding a couple of times, and why I got hooked into surfing.

Car Check Before Traveling

It's been a long time since Peter and I last went to La Union to brave the surf. I miss the beach, I miss the waters, I miss the thrill of surfing. It’s just that whenever we go there, we have to use the bigger car so we can also bring our surfboard with us. The smaller car should be great because with it, we can save a lot of gas. The only downside is that the surfboard won't be able to fit in there.


Now, the thing about our older car is that it may already need some fixing. It's already due for registration, but before we do that, it may need some water pump replacement to make sure that it does not overheat during the long drive, especially under this grueling summer heat; the timing belt might have to be checked to make sure that the components of the internal engine are in sync; the tires need to be pumped; plus it really needs a good car wash with waxing.


If this is Texas and Phoenix auto repair shops are almost everywhere, it would be easy. But from where we live, and due to our very hectic schedules, we should really stop working first and find the time to find a good car shop to get these matters in order so we can once again enjoy riding our old car, and be able to bring it with us whenever we go surfing.


For things to do when visiting La Union, here's an awesome list of La Union Things to Do.

La Union Surf Resort and Isdaan

Yep, you read it right. I went sunbathing in La Union together with our friends instead of doing what I naturally loved to do there before — surfing.

 

Crystal Beach and Subic, Zambales Part III

 

After a very “fruitful” night, Peter and I woke up early the following morning feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. As we had our breakfast cooked, we headed straight to the beach hoping that Peter could catch some waves and get to surf. As for me, my body still shivers at the thought of being out there in the open sea so I opted to just body board for a little while and just watch Peter from afar. The current was so strong that in just seconds of being in the water, it immediately dragged Peter at the far left side of the sea. Scary!

Cystal Beach Zambales Part II

Gosh, it’s Saturday morning after shift at work and I’m not yet sleepy… I’m  missing the beach a lot even though we’ve just been there last weekend.  Too bad, we’re attending the blogging event later at UP and the after party at Katips. Actually, I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to go to the Summit coz I bet I’ll be super sleepy by then and I’m surmising that it might be boring. And if ever I will have the energy to travel this afternoon, I might just go shopping and attend Irene’s baby shower. But all of these things will depend on my state of health and if Peter can drive me all the way to Marikina since I think he is obliged to attend the Blog Summit. Oh well. Whatever! I miss the beach… Huhuhu… So to appease myself, I’ll just post the remaining things that happened last weekend when we went to Zambales…

 

This is from Peter’s point of view… 

 

This is from the crab’s point of view… 

This was what I missed… 

    

Crystal Beach, Zambales Part I

 

It’s the middle of summer so what do you expect? Of course I’ll spend as much of my free time as possible at the beach! Regardless of the fact that I’m already getting as burnt as a coal and the sun’s rays are A LOT  hotter than the previous years (no thanks to global warming). So last weekend, after packing all my beach attire, gadgets and gizmos in a trot, off we went to San Narciso, Zambales to explore Crystal Beach, one of its more famous beaches known for its great surf, kind locals and great ambience! Never mind the fact that I haven’t slept in 24 hours and looking (and feeling) like a zombie, I was still very much excited to go. It’s just me, my hubby, and our four girls. Yep, we brought them with us — Samantha (our ever lovely adopted basset hound), Didi (our ever reliable yellow surf board), Bebe (our sturdy and uniquely-shaped green skim board) and Pupu (our ultra mighty purple body board).  Despite the fact that Peter and I were both excited, we were also preparing ourselves for the worst like what happened the other weekend when we went to Calatagan and ended up in Nasugbu.

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 with Pops

 

Pa has some friends in Narvacan he wanted to visit during his stay here. Peter and I wanted to go surfing. So together with Peachie, Vina and Francis, we headed to La Union three weekends ago (Feb 10&11) and had the time of our life catching waves, soaking up the sun, eating good food and just plainly hanging out with each other.

As the sun was rising on our way up north, we stopped over at one of the gas stations in the town of Rosario.  It has a nice ambience and it made our breakfast alive and fun. After about 20-30 mins of eating and talking about anything and everything (including some weird stuff c/o me, Peachie and Vina), we continued our journey to the land of surf and sea…

 

Me, Peachie and Pa having hotdogs for breakfast.

Surfing in La Union

   

Pa has some friends in Narvacan he wanted to visit during his stay here. Peter and I wanted to go surfing. So together with Peachie, Vina and Francis, we headed to La Union three weekends ago (Feb 10&11) and had the time of our life catching waves, soaking up the sun, eating good food and just plainly hanging out with each other.

Francis, Vina, Peachie, Pa and Peter

As the sun was rising on our way up north, we stopped over at one of the gas stations in the town of Rosario.  It has a nice ambience and it made our breakfast alive and fun. After about 20-30 mins of eating and talking about anything and everything (including some weird stuff c/o me, Peachie and Vina), we continued our journey to the land of surf and sea…

 

Me, Peachie and Pa having hotdogs for breakfast.

When we arrived at San Juan Surf Resort, our rooms were not yet ready. So, we hung out by the shed first and checked if the surf’s already up. Unfortunately, the sea was flat and we didn’t think we’d be catching waves any time soon…

 Hanging out at the surf shack fronting the beach…

True enough, we didn’t catch any waves that Saturday. But because we didn’t wanna waste any opportunity, we still brought Didi to the sea and practiced paddling. Pa tried to ride our surfboard and he was great! Now, if only he can catch a wave too. Hehehe.