Surf and Music Festival 2012

So it all started with this poster... I saw it from a friend's FB wall early October I think? and instantly, I blocked these dates.

I've been intending to go to Surf & Music Fest last year at Baler but didn't make it due to... I can't remember!

But this year, I made sure that no matter what happens, I'll go to this event hence the "law of attraction" was triggered and I was able to go :)

Since taking a leave was not an option, I wasn't able to ride with my friends to La Union. They went there early morning of October 31 while I left Manila after office hours. Me and my bestfriend rode a deluxe bus of Maria De Leon bus line to Laoag for 750php. I know it was too expensive but it was "Undas" and we were chance passengers. What a stupid move not to reserve our tickets beforehand, lesson learned. Anyway, we left at around 11pm from their terminal in Dapitan and arrived in Brgy. Urbiztondo at 4 in the morning. Luckily, my friend woke up and opened the gates for us and let us in. I slept for an hour or so and started my day.

The waves were still "sleeping" at 6 in the morning however as the day progressed, the waves also got bigger and wilder. It was actually my first time to surf so I hired an instructor. I thought it would be hard to stand up and balance myself but apparently, it was really easy. You just have to spot your wave, paddle hard and then balance yourself in the board and that's it. You're surfing! It feels good to do it right the first time.

This is me and my friends after our morning surfing session.

The next day, the waves were really wild at Urbiztondo so one of our friends suggested that we surf at Bacnotan, a nearby town. We hired a jeep and executed the plan. When we got there, true enough, the waves looked much tamed however, I wasn't able to ride the waves here that much because my surfboard was all slippery and "kuya" owner of the board rental forgot to bring wax.

After surfing for approx. 3 hours, we went back to Urbiztondo and had our lunch, rested and chilled out at the beach again. Before the sun set, we tried taking group shots so this is our most decent jumpshot which was taken by a stranger. Hehehe.

In conclusion, surfing is really an addicting activity. It feels good to be able to balance yourself, ride the waves and just float there. You gotta try it! I swear, the feeling's one of a kind! I can't expound on it, it's not out of this world - just one of a kind!

Practical tips:

1. Eat at the Carinderia near Patubos Store. It's not in the beach front; it's located along MacArthur Hi-way but the food is a lot cheaper and tastes pretty ok.
2. If buying food at any resturant in the beach front, be ready to wait. Estimated time for food to be ready is 45minutes. ALWAYS!

Expenses: 2576php
Bus 750
Brunch 81
Snacks 80
Lodging 500
Surf 200
*Surfboard rental with instructor is 400php/hr
---but you can split this up with a friend like what we did. we had 30mins. each so we only paid 200php each
*Board rental only is 200php/hr
Hotdog 25
Fishballs 10
Minute Maid 35
Drinks 80
Noodles 30
Breakfast 20
Jeep Rental 60
Lunch 25
Surf Board Rental 300
Bus 380