Went on a road trip last 20 August 2010 with newly licensed doctors Yan, Ola and Tanjol and of course 2 month old Chloe. We left Manila at 6:00am (a rainy Friday morning) and headed north. And this was the start of our AWESOME road trip :)
We reset the gauge to zero so we know how far we can go. Gassed up at Shell in EDSA and spent P2,500.00 for a full tank (we brought a Honda CRV '97). First stop was breakfast at Jollibee Shell, NLEX. We we're looking for McDonald's but they were all on the other side of the road. Then we were off to our first stop, La Union.
Before reaching our destination, we stopped for lunch at one of the highway bulalohans, Babalu's. It was a cheap thrill, really. Place was packed with truckers stopping for lunch as well. We ordered bulalo at P50.00 per bowl. It really was just a couple of cow bones and lots of beef stock. It wasn't superb but it was good for the tummy.
Then we finally reach our first destination for this road trip: La Union. La Union has one of the best surf spots in the Philippines and we drove ourselves to San Juan where we met up with Ian and his group. He was introduced to Yan by Tzai who keeps coming back to San Juan not just to surf but also because the locals here are
really great. We checked in at Sea Nymph where the room rates range from P600.00 to P800.00 depending on how many you are in the group. We got two rooms at P600.00 each. No airconditioner but you really won't need it because of the cool air from the beach. It rained a bit so we were hesitant to surf but when the sky cleared a bit at around 3 pm, we grabbed our boards and got to work.
I was able to stand up on the surf board 5 out of 8 times. Once I jumped out of the board coz I thought my instructor said "talon!" -- apparently he said "Tayo!" hahaha! Anyway, being official photographer means I don't have any pictures on the board. But I did enjoy my time in La Union and bonding with the locals.
We had a couple of beers (one bottle to be exact -- had a long day ahead y'know!) that night and I really had fun hearing their surfer dude stories. Yan and I went to bed at around 11pm but woke up at 4am because it was super cold already! I had to switch off the fan and grab a thicker blanket. Day 1 was tiring but fun :)
*Surf lessons including board rental is for P400.00 per hour but you may be able to use your charms and get a discount from the instructors. *wink-wink*