J’s favorite sport has always been basketball. But I always told him that he looks more like a surfer to me… A cool sexy surfer dude! hehe..

At around 1:30 AM, we headed to Partas Terminal in Pasay to catch the 2AM trip to La Union. But apparently there were no buses to be found in Baclaran area near MRT Taft station where I thought Partas buses were stationed. We  wer told that Partas Terminal Pasay has now a new bigger terminal just a few blocks from old location. We also learned that they don’t have any trips between 2AM to 4AM which leaves us to try our best to settle for the hard steel chairs for our bed for 2 hours. When the bus did arrived, we bought out tickets for 400 per head. It takes 6 to 7 hours to get to La Union. If you have your own car, it would probably take you 5 hours. But in our case, it took us more than 7 hours because the driver might have eaten something that got him to do several personal stopovers at restrooms. Believe me, some male passengers heard him doing his business in the CR. Poor driver! Tips for future travelers to La Union, bring some snacks, ipod, psp or a book to entertain you during the ride. But they also show movies on the bus. I got well acquainted with all Vic Sotto movies, they got a whole collection of it.

This resort has the Billabong Surf School headed by hottie Filipino-Australian surfer/model Luke Landrigan, who bagged a silver medal at the Bali Asian Beach Games. We saw him hanging out all day in the resort. I was just  too shy to approach him for a photo-op and I don’t want to come out like a craze-fan.

(image from the web)

We already paid in advance, a downpayment for our stay. The girl in the front desk named Rowena was the one who entertained us. We wanted to get this package they were offering for P2050 per pax which includes 1 night accomodation, free breakfast for 2 and 3 hours surfing lessons (instructions, surfboard & equipment).  Since our room wasn’t ready yet and we were completely famished from our trip, we had a late lunch at their open restaurant bar. J ordered the grilled chicken and I ordered the tuna belly. Their food isn’t that amazing but it was alright.

The resort currently has 6 types of rooms namely: Standard Aircon Rooms, Bungalow Aircon Rooms, Deluxe Rooms, Villas, Fan Rooms and a Family Room.

• We stayed at the Deluxe room but it would be nice to have stayed at the bungalows. The rate for deluxe room good for 2 people: P1760.00 and for 4 people: P2360.00.
• The room has a hot & cold bath, a small flat screen tv, aircon and a little terrace. Don’t expect a phone or room service. You have to go down to the front desk or restobar if you need something.
• Hoping to get our surfing lessons that afternoon, we asked Rowena to arrange it. She directed us to the shop beside the restobar where surf boards, Billabong apparels and other stuff where sold.
• There was this nice lady and a surfer instructor who told us that the waves are pretty strong for newbies like us. It is better to do surf lessons in the morning or another option is that we will hire a tricycle or jeep to go to a Mcdo that is 20-30mins away, where the waves are tamer but since it was getting late the instructors there might be heading back already. Too bad, Miss Rowena didn’t inform us of this situation. We told the lady and the instructor that if we do our surf lessons in the morning we couldn’t avail the 3 hours we paid for since we will catching a bus back to the city in the morning. They were pretty sympathetic, the nice lady personally talked to Miss Rowena and had our money refunded. We have to wake up early the next day for the lessons and we can have a 1 hour lesson for P400 inclusive of instructor and surf board rental.
• Since surf lessons were cancelled, we went to look for a nearby mall to buy a few stuff. We were instructed to ride a jeep to San Fernando and tell the driver to stop at Monterey. Then at Monterey, we got a tricycle to CSI, their mall which reminds me of Gaisano City in Iloilo. On our way back, we stopped at Midway Grill, a restaurant my sister recommends.

The place looks like it has a 50’s theme. It reminds me of the restaurant in Archie comics. So cool! We ordered take out of Mongolian rice, Sizzling Pulpog (chargrilled pork cutlets with fresh onions, chilies & pepper) and lumpia shanghai. My sis was right. Their food were really good!  My sister told me later that their bestsellers are their baby backribs and their breakfast meals.

Next day:

We were ready to hit the waves!

 

with my instructor, Marley

Before heading back to Manila, we had our free breakfast first.