bits of boracay

Others find that Boracay island is not as beautiful as it used to be. The shores are tainted with trash, the sand not as fine, the common areas over commercialised and the island swarmed by numerous tourists that contribute to the island's degradation. It's a sad but somewhat true statement, as I've seen photos of the place and visited the island years back when "Laboracay" and "batch Boras" were not yet in place. It looked bare and clean, contained less structures and was surrounded by more natural greens. The boats could easily be counted and the waters clear of bits and pieces of a tourist's last meal. It may not be exactly the same as it used to be, but despite the horrific image that these truths may put in your heads, I must say after my visit last November, the island still holds a beauty worth going back to. 

White House, the go-to for 7am-7pm happy hour. 

The Strand

We tried out The Strand for this visit since we were able to get our rooms at 50% off thanks to our friend Marga. It cost us Php 3,000 a night for a suite that looked as though it could fit 8-10 people.  Though the place is quite a walk from D Mall, located a few resorts past Fridays and a minute walk into the back area, it was a comfortable, beautiful place to stay in. 

Our room was very spacious and clean, had a lanai, a living room, a mini kitchen, a big bedroom with a king sized bed and separate toilet and bath.

It was always clean upon returning from our daily activities, and we'd be left with a little note from our cleaner wishing us a wonderful stay.

When our flight got cancelled and we ended up having to rebook to a much earlier flight, we had to leave at 5AM to get to the airport on time. Leave it to The Strand to lighten up this inconvenience--the staff happily got up at 4:30AM to check us out, help us with our bags, call us a trike and even prepare a sandwich breakfast for takeout.

The Strand also has a pool and lounging chairs by the breakfast area.

As for the food, I was only able to try the free breakfast since we spent the rest of our days out. It wasn't anything grand and came in small servings, but surprisingly I still got full during all my breakfast meals. You have the option of a Filipino or American breakfast, and it comes with coffee, juice, and a mini fruit platter.

It was my first time to visit the island outside the summer season and it was surprisingly more filled than I expected. The beach wasn't empty despite the bipolar weather and the bars were pretty filled come night. It wasn't as packed as summer, I'd say just the right amount of people, so it was comfortable, relaxing and easy to get seats in restaurants. I was a bit worried about Boracay in November because of the weather, but even though the rain poured on us a few times during our stay, the bits of sunshine on the island, the beautiful beach, wonderful people, delicious food, and of course, great company, definitely made the trip worth taking. 

surf break

Snapshots from my friend Carla's birthday weekend in La Union.

I've been to La Union several times but it was my fist time to stay at Flotsam and Jetsam. Every time I would plan a trip, the hostel would be full so I'd have to look for another place to stay (The Circle's a good place too). This time I was finally able to get a bed at F&J thanks to my friend Carla, the sister of F&J's creator, Mia Sebastian.

In my first La Union trip (Soul Surf 2013), I was able to visit FlotJet (and was one of their first breakfast customers!). Ever since then I never failed to visit the place every time I'd pay San Juan a visit. The artist hostel is just so homey and beautifully designed, I can't get enough of its motif--from the pillow and bean bag cases, lamps, color, blackboards, Mer Sea Boku kubo, to the bed setups and room decors.

Not only is this place so aesthetically beautiful; it also gathers the most simple, friendly and down to earth group of people.

Here we are at Elunion Coffee, another go-to when visiting La Union. It's a quaint little coffee shop located by the main road in front of Sebay. The place serves delicious coffee and freshly baked (and moist) cookie skillets.



My regular Elunion order: the Dirty White.

Back in Flotsam & Jetsam, having my post surf papak: Hungarian sausage with tomato sauce and onions, and Truffle fries.



Another yummy F&J staple: their brick oven pizzas!



A FlotJet burger my friend had which came with a generous amount of salad and fries. I had the chicken which also came with salad and rice. Both (or all) being delicious meals!

Mer Sea Boku Kubo, one of FlotJet's common areas that holds some of the best memories of relaxation, good conversations and pig out and jamming sessions.



You'll also find the cutest pets and dog lovers at F&J. Everyone loves animals!

For videos from the trip, check out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImP5X-KKlqU - Jamming sessions as Mer Sea Boku Kubo
https://vimeo.com/99028162 - The surf and F&J night

As for the surf, it was awesome. I loved being in the water along with other professional surfers, learning from them and watching them gracefully ride waves. I was also able to surf more than my last trip so I got more practice. There's still much needed improvement, but nothing feels better than a little progress at something you enjoy doing!

Another short but sweet trip. The beach (or vacations in general) never fails to leave me hungover (not from the alcohol) and longing to go back. Can't wait for the next trip! 

baler

It's been a while since I've written anything here because I spent last term revising my thesis over and over, that I got too lazy to write anything at all. A lot has happened throughout the latter part of that term, and in as much as I wanted to write something about some events, I just couldn't get myself to write a decent post. But now that I see that my to do list has cleared (temporarily) and I've taken a break from being forced to write, I am finally ready to post again. 

THE FIRST OF SUMMER: BALER
Just a few days ago, my family was very lucky to have been invited by a family friend to their province. The invitation came with a very convenient transportation and accommodation deal, new friends, and the best of Baler. All I looked forward to in the trip was the surfing and eating (which was heavenly, really), but it came with other exciting activities, such as a tour (to Ermita hill, Digisit, House of Donya Aurora, a chapel, and the oldest Balete tree), lunch at the private cove of the Angara's with Senator Angara, dinner with Governor Angara, and a visit to the house of the governor. It was amazing! Here's a little walk through the trip.

Took a bus ride to Baler with the host family and their friends. Left at 4:30 AM and arrived at around 11 AM. 

Where we stayed. The name of the resort is Bahia (owned by one of the members of the Angara family). This part of the resort was suppose to be a house, but since no one stayed in it, they made it part of the Bahia resort (this part only has 4 rooms). It was nice, comfortable and clean, and had unlimited wifi + ok service (service in the province is really slow, but the resort service was actually okay).

Bay's Inn. Where we had most of our meals because it was accessible from our place, had boards for rent, and of course, delicious food! A photo of their famous crispy pata. 

Surfing on the first day was good! It was my second surfing experience so I struggled a bit. Halfway through our surf time everything started going smoothly, and I was able to get some good rides. It was a short first surf because we had to head to get ready and head to dinner (which took a bit more than two hours to be served. ggaah horrible service at this other resort). 

Day two started out with a tour. Upon getting up in the morning, a van was ready and waiting outside the resort we stayed in. Visited Ermita hill and learned about Baler history, took pictures in Digisit, entered the 600 year old Balete tree and drank some buko, prayed in a chapel, looked around the house of Donya Aurora, and learned more history at the Museum. All this under the scorching heat, moving around in an old van that might as well have been aircon-less. It was extremely hot, but all worth it! Headed to Gerry's for a P150 "Chinese" buffet (it wasn't all Chinese) and P50 halo-halo, then went for the waves. Now my second surf day.. was a-ma-zing. Got more rides and a better instructor, plus the waves were good and the sun was out the whole day. Extremely drained after, but i absolutely loved every minute of it. From paddling out to getting on the wave to getting wiped out. The feeling is overwhelming! 

Museum

Inside the 600 year old Balete tree 

By the Mangroves of the port.

Day three, our last full day at Baler, started out with a ride to the private cove of the Angara family for our lunch with the Senator. It was beautiful. Here's a photo of the beach area.

Private Cove of the Angara family where we spent the whole morning of day three.

A private beach all to ourselves, the sun, and no signal. The ultimate getaway from the city! Unfortunately it was too dangerous to swim in the ocean because the current was too strong, so we settled for the cold, clear water flowing from the stream. Annng sarap. My siblings and I spent the morning just chilling under the sun and lying by the stream, while the rest of the group sipped on some buko juice by the house or climbed the light house (right part of the photo on top of the mountain).

While at the cove, we were also brought to the artists village where we found a beautiful hidden house. If i'm not mistaken, artists go to this place to work or display their works. Such a lovely open house located within the woods, with the view of mountains. So peaceful!

More pictures inside the house on FB

After the cove was our last surf. My siblings and I spent two hours in the water--our first hour practically wasted waiting for waves. It was a long, tiring wait, paddling our way through the strong current to try and catch the little waves that did come. It was exhausting and I wanted to end. But thinking that it was our last surf for the trip, my siblings and I decided to wait it out. When the second hour came, so did the waves, and we surfed till the sun was almost gone. It was absolute happy happy happiness.

Our last night was spent with the governor of Baler, and the morning after was the visit to her house. We took our last photos, then headed back to Manila.

It was a good four days in this province. Eating the food of Baler, walking the streets of Baler, learning the history of Baler, and surfing the waves of Baler made for an interesting and fun, yet tiring way to begin this summer. It was such a great second surfing experience for me, and I'm really hoping that I'll be able to have a third sometime this summer. Aside from the good surf, I am extremely glad to have been able to go with the family that hosted the trip, because if not for them, then I don't think the trip would've been as fun and interesting as it was. Thank you tito Dino and tita Joy!