Hello. It’s been a while – almost three years. I’ve been a few other places since then – Japan, again! – Hong Kong – twice! – Taiwan, for the first time! – but have neglected to write about them. But this year, I’ve got a few places lined up, so it’s as good a time as any to revive the old blog.

The first of this year’s destinations is one that’s not very far away from home. Last weekend, my boyfriend and I took a weekend trip to Luzon’s surfing capital, La Union.

Why La Union? Well, I got the idea in my head that I needed to learn to surf. One of the other destinations I have lined up this year, Bali, is a well-known surf spot. I figured I ought to at least try surfing while I was there, but I balked when I saw the price of lessons at surf schools in the area.

But then I thought – why wait until I get there to learn? I live on a Pacific island, after all, and there are places where I can learn the basics for much cheaper. So I had the bright idea of going to La Union to learn – accessible, cheap, and convenient, right?

San Juan is one six or seven-hour bus ride away from Manila. There are several bus lines that ply the north of Luzon, some of which will stop directly in San Juan – the one we went with was Partas. Tickets, one-way, are in the neighborhood of 500 PHP, and Partas buses leave the terminal every hour.

We departed from the Cubao terminal at around midnight, so we could sleep on the bus and be at our destination early in the morning.

If there was one thing I regret not bringing with me, it was a jacket for this bus ride. The air conditioner is on at full blast the entire time – it’s incredibly cold, and though the seats adjust (much like a plane’s seats) to make it easier for passengers to sleep, I didn’t get a very good rest because I kept waking up, shivering from the cold.

We arrived in Barangay Urbiztondo at around dawn. The first thing we did was look for the hostel we’d booked – even though it was far too early for us to check in.

Even though this trip had been planned a month in advance, many of the places I had looked into were already fully booked. March is more or less peak surfing season in San Juan, and we were not the only corporate slaves who only had weekends free to spend at the beach. In the end, I booked two beds in the coed dorm of The Circle Hostel for a very affordable 550 PHP a night.

The Circle is a very open, relaxed place. Reception was still closed when we got there, but there were signs encouraging us to nap in the common area if we were sleepy and had not yet checked in. There was already another group of travelers sleeping on the floor of the bahay kubo when we got there.

We stayed there to get a few more winks of sleep in, until my stomach decided to complain it was time for breakfast. So off we went, to the nearby El Union Coffee for breakfast.

Here I start revealing what really became of this weekend beach trip. I came to surf- which I did, mission accomplished – but I also, apparently, came here to eat.

That’s my buttermilk pancakes and horchata, and Sonny’s grilled cheese – which I immediately regretted not ordering once I got a taste of it.

Our stomachs sated, we headed back to the hostel – but not before taking a short detour, to walk along the beach.

We got a good look at the waves we were planning to ride later that day.

Then we headed back to the hostel to take a nap, change into beach-worthy clothing, and play Jenga.

We sorted out payment for the lessons as well. The price for an hour of lessons with probably every instructor in San Juan is 400 PHP an hour, including board rental – and we managed to book an hour each with the instructor by talking to the helpful lady at the front desk of The Circle.

After a short, refreshing nap in the common area (since it wasn’t check-in and we didn’t have bunks yet!) we found ourselves getting hungry again, so we headed off for a bite of lunch before going back to the beach. I neglected to photograph any of this part, but lunch was at Gefseis Grill, a Greek restaurant just by the beach. Very scenic, bangin’ Greek music. I can recommend the hummus and the moussaka.

And so, on to the surfing. I was a complete beginner, so I was expecting to have a very difficult time, but it was (surprisingly) not as bad as I thought it would be. The first few minutes are spent on the beach – the instructor shows you how to stand, how to push yourself up, and basic safety, like what to do when you (inevitably) fall off your board. With that basic information crammed into your brain, you’re ready to face the waves.

Let me tell you, I drank a lot of seawater that day. Once you’re in the water, the instructors cue you when to stand and even give your board a little push if necessary, but standing up is all up to you. Falling is also all up to you.

I definitely learned something in that hour in the water. One hour is nowhere near enough practice to call yourself proficient, but I managed to stand up and ride a few little waves all the way to shore a few times.

We agreed an hour was not enough, so we agreed to come back the next morning. In the meantime, though, we had to check in to the hostel. And there was still a lot of eating to do.

Dinner was at Flotsam and Jetsam Hostel. In addition to being a hostel, it’s also got an attached bar and restaurant.

And they serve delicious brick oven pizza, as it turns out.

Dinner was immediately followed by dessert – we returned to El Union Coffee for some smores before heading back to the hostel for the night.

As we headed back Sonny remarked that Urbiztondo looked just like – and was just as crowded as – the hip parts of Makati on a Saturday night. Food parks, live music, craft beer, you name it. The town definitely caters to a certain hip, twenty-something clientele.

San Juan is probably not the destination you want to go to for peace and quiet. As we were relaxing in the common area of Circle before bed, we could hear live music from all the neighboring bars – sometimes up to three distinct songs, playing all at once. If you’re the type of person who needs absolute silence in order to sleep, you might not find it in San Juan.

Luckily, I am the kind of person who can sleep through a nuclear blast. We managed to get some shut-eye before waking up bright and early for…

…petting dogs, apparently…

…and for finding ourselves back at El Union. It really does have excellent food and coffee, and I really wanted a whole grilled cheese to myself this time.

We went without instructors for our second day, and rented boards for two hours. Being out there alone as a complete beginner is a different experience. Without the instructor there to guide you and to push you along, you have to figure everything out for yourself – where to paddle to, whether or not your feet are in the right place, and when you can actually ride a wave.

Overall, we would have probably had more success if we’d hired instructors again for the second day, but going out there unaided was a useful experience too, because it proved that the one hour with the instructor did actually teach us something.

So after we finished with our far-too-short two hours, it was time to start packing up to go home.

Our final meal in La Union was buffalo chicken tenders and brick-oven pizza again, this time at Surf Shack. The pizza was better at Flotsam and Jetsam, in my opinion, but pizza is pizza, so lunch was not a disappointment.

We leave La Union a little tanner and a little more adept at surfing than we were when we first came.

It was a good trip. We came we surfed, we… didn’t conquer, exactly, but we had a hell of a time trying.