Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Surfing and Skimboarding Philippines

Have you ever tried something beyond your comfort zone? Going out on a vacation without doing any extreme and unusual outdoor activity is a bit boring for me! So I usually pick places where I can try something new. An example is surfing and skim-boarding , the 2 water sports that are gradually becoming popular in the Philippines this past years.

Way back few years ago, I tried both surfing and skimboarding but eventually stucked in just surfing as I cannot appreciate and learn skimboarding -  not sure if either because I had bad teachers (knowing they don't even know how to skim well) or I'm just scared to fall down and get injured. Though I'm not a good swimmer too and so I cannot go-pro in surfing hahaha! Stucked in being a beginner at everything huh?!

Well , you can do both and I can say they are both extremely fun to try! It depends on your mood. If waves are bad or too big for beginners in surfing, then there's always a choice to play on shallow waters without waves - there's skimboarding.



The Equipments:

Skimboard is much cheaper than surfboards. It is also much easier to carry around because their sizes are smaller compared to surfboards. You can choose either a wooden or foamie board. (I tried both and I kinda liked the foamie board more!) . And for surfboards, I'm used to using long boards and fun boards as of now (I'm still struggling in catching waves on my own...) .

In the Philippines, only few stores supplies both these equipments. One of my favorite is the Aloha BoardSports located at random malls and R.O.X in BGC, Taguig. Some other board-sports supplier stores includes Mad Kahuna Surf Shop in Cubao Expo  and J & S Surf Shop in Makati.



R.O.X Philippines (photo from ROX's official facebook page)




The challenge:

Skimboarding and surfing both requires a lot of skills in terms of timing and balance. You have to be sure you can run and ride on a board you're ready to trip off and get fall.

For skimboarding, wait until the last waive come into sucking back to the sea from the shore then throw your board and get into upon running. Lucky if you were able to ride and go until you'll stop and fall off .

For surfing, you have to paddle your way to the place where the wave is not crushing. Turn the board facing the shore and paddle as fast as the wave at its crest and of course stand up fast when you can feel that it's already pushing you.

Both has it's own kind of challenge but definitely the gives you the adrenaline rush and the fun!





The danger: 

Skimboarding is associated with common falls the can lead to serious injuries if bad enough. 

Surfing is dangerous if you're not good in swimming upon getting wiped out by waves. For me, I'm scared to paddle far to get waves. Fearing I might drown any moment because of panic.



Here are my top nearby places in the Manila to try these sports:

1. Sabang Beach, Baler Aurora

2. Urbiztondo Beach, San Juan La Union

3. Liwliwa, San Felipe Zambales

4. The Park, Real Quezon



Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Baler via Bongabon : Scary Route

Here I go again... wandering around wherever my feet and money will take me :) !

But anyway, my main purpose for visiting Baler is for my new BF's cousin's wake. Yeah, it was sad that I am going to visit there not for a getaway, but because a person whom I don't even had a chance to meet who also loves traveling and exploring and enjoying had his life cut short by a genetic disorder...

This is my 3rd time to visit Baler, one of the places in the Philippines I love most!!!
We left Manila at around 2:30AM riding an SUV-Adventure. We took the usual root NLEX - SCTEX - Pan-Phil Highway ! Since almost all of us are very sleepy during the trip, we got a little lost with the usual route from Cabanatuan to Baler. We weren't able to take the Pantabangan Route and took the Bongabon route instead.


What a surprise! The nueva-ecija road via Bongabon is not as we were all expecting (a shortcut they say). Upon entering the route, we decided that there's no turning back! We already took a long road only to get stuck in a mountain drive range and rough roads that looks impassable.  It was a very scary route like that in the movies Wrong Turn and other creepy gruesome movies where people suddenly get lost and someone appears in front of them, torture and kills them (this is just to exaggerate the eery feeling I had that time).

On top of it, it was also a bit rainy that time. Glad we're riding on an SUV . Along the way, we saw one Kia Pride struggling on the road (I hope they survived the road and got out safely).  This is the longest 3 hours of my life on the road! I can feel that almost everyone of us were thinking of the worst possibilities that might happen. At first, I took some photos to kill my boredom and lessen my fear but as we go along, I'm no longer in the mood of taking pics.


Slippery Mountain Side Road

Bongabon Route
Bongabon Route

This is the first time that I appreciate looking into kilometer markers to make sure we're having progress on the road. Hahaha, thinking that we might have been played by "engkantos" and got totally lost in circles!

River Cross at Nueva Ecija-Aurora Road



After the long winding road, it was a relief when we finally reached San Luis, Aurora... we can already see a little civilization. Thank God!

I advise that the local government of Nueva Ecija should warn people passing in this route as it looks not so safe and especially when it's raining. I advise that small cars shouldn't try or anyone trying to get to Baler normally shouldn't take this route!



Thursday, April 4, 2013

Priceless Moment on the Road


This blog was intentionally for the different adventures I've encountered in my life. Lately, another unexpected adventure came out of the blue (God has his own way of making good things out of bad things). Well, my boyfriend (now an ex-bf) just broke up with me with some b*shit reasons of his own... Anyway, we'll forget about it and focus on the unexpected road priceless moments...

On a very fine day of March 23-24, I decided to go with this guy I had a crush on before on a road trip to Real, Quezon with me driving my car and him riding on my passenger seat and some other friends with us. Being on the road is one of the things I love most doing in my life. Having that feeling of just driving especially on a road full of trees with a good view of the mountain.... and add up the fact that you're on the road with good and fun people. A very good timing indeed as I just came from a huge heart break that I really need an escape time and a "hayahay" escape

How come I avoided this kind of trips well in fact way back before, I promised to myself that I will never give up traveling.... that this is what I love most doing... appreciating nature at it's best.... but thank God this guy was there suddenly for me just in time when I need someone to be with me and get comfort from. I know some people might think that it would be very unfair if I go out instantly with a new guy. But I'm not looking for a new relationship right now. I just want to do the things that would make me happy without hurting anybody...

The fact that I had a crush on this guy before made it more exciting... I noticed that he's been doing things he never did before... I felt it... He likes me. He might not tell it, but he shows it. He cares.

And so we spent the whole weekend together with other friends on the beach... and I can tell that there was something with this guy... and only to find out that yes, even before... he has been waiting for me... he already liked me even before we personally met each other... someone had introduced me to him just in facebook, and he was shocked to meet me in person unexpectedly... and same with me, I was shocked to find out he likes me when in fact I already had a crush on him before...

We're on our way home Sunday afternoon when suddenly my car overheated. It didn't start. Odd turn of events and we got stuck for 4 hours along the Sierra Madre highway. I almost got hysterical with the turn of events, but I realized, maybe... just maybe God has a very good plan why it did happen. And yes.... to spend more time with him during the undesirable event...  how we were able to knew each other in terms of how to react in a bad situation... :) Just before we left when my aunt and uncle fetch us  we had a good talk. I had felt it... where the hell am I along those months? He's been waiting quietly for me, and I didn't know that... but I too before I had my ex bf was waiting for him...We were both played by time... But above it all,  I can be more of myself in front of him than my ex boyfriend... I feel at ease with him...

But still the day has to end... but I know what we have over the weekend is just the beginning of another chapter in my life.



Moments like these are priceless and no money can buy it...