Surfing On Cloud 9

Siargao Trip
[March 25-26, 2013]

All smiles after our first ever surfing experience!!! Waaaah! 

We enjoyed it so much we wanted to surf some more!!! 

By 3pm we were already fetched by our guide from the hotel and he brought with him other instructors. They brought with them giant surfboards. Man! These things are huge! I wonder if I can handle my surfboard??!

But it's kinda late to worry about that right now because the waves are definitely excited for us too!!

I can't seem to take my eyes off the waves as a gazillion thoughts of fear and excitement rambled in my mind all at the same time. This is it! This is really is it! is it! Haha! When we reached the briefing area, our main guide introduced us to each of our surfing instructor. Thank goodness this will be a one on one lesson or else, I'd fall way back in the class. I'm not a swimmer and I'm only comfortable in the water if I have my BCD. Braving the waves with no life jacket is not something I look forward to. However, my guide reassured me that he'll be there to rescue me all the time and that I just need to hang on to my board.

I initially planned to ask our guide if I could just wear a life jacket. But apparently, there's not a single surfer nor a student surfer in the area who wore a life jacket. Well, I could be the first one and start a trend. But nah...way too embarrassing!Haha! Anyway, our lessons began immediately and lasted for only about a minute or two. That was it?! All I remember was to keep my balance and pull the string tied to my foot if I fall  to bring my board closer to me. Then I can grab it and live to tell my experience. Oh and I have to lie flat on my stomach on the board, paddle to the designated area and wait for my instructor to tell me which wave I have to take. I also need to hold the board at the side near my shoulder. I think. Those are pretty much what I can remember. I keep reminding myself that I will not drown..No..No..No...not today.

That's Paul trying to get ready. 

All set. It's time to hit the waves. Go lang nang go!!!

My friends were on fire! They were like pros. They were able to stand-up immediately.

While I, on the other hand....was struggling so very much :( I just couldn't keep my balance. Even if I am just lying flat on my stomach, my instructor says my board is not balanced. Woah! My shoulders were sore from going back and paddling hard over and over again. My first instructor did not really help much. He wasn't that 'encouraging'. How unfortunate. After all 3 of my friends were able to stand on their boards, our main guide approached me and volunteered to help me. He gave me all the encouraging words I needed and he coached me all so well that after the first few 100 wipe outs and after drinking about a barrel of sea water...

Finally..here I am!!!!! Standing on my board..... like a scarecrow...hahaha!Who cares?! I made it!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks master surfing instructor! They say, the student is only as good as his teacher. Yay!! Surfing is definitely off of my bucket list. After this achievement, i forgot how sore my arms and shoulder were, I just wanted to paddle and hit more waves. So did my other friends. We forgot about the time and hit 'em waves!

Our pictures were not that great but what the hell, surfing is F-U-N!

 No wonder why surfers have the best looking bodies. It ain't easy.

 It requires a lot of muscle strength to paddle and to balance and more than anything else, 

it requires patience to wait for that perfect moment to ride a great wave. 

And when you are able to stand on your surf board while riding a wave for the very first time, 

the feeling is so surreal. All your muscle pains will be worth it. 

A salute to all the surfers out there!  (Yes I can handle my board alright haha!)

By the way, the long boards are best for beginners while the pros can already play with the smaller ones.

After we had our pictorials, we went back to the hotel to wash up and get ready for dinner. All that surfing made us very hungry. Good thing they have this restaurant (forgot the name) which serves grilled food and seafood dishes and hot soup. We sure did ate a lot. After we had our tummies filled, we visited their souvenir shops and made a quick stop in their so called boulevard. We were amazed at how clean the public beach was, there was white sand and not a single litter in sight. They were kids playing beach volley nearby. I just wish I was able to take a photo but nevertheless, it was a surprise for us. We also sang a few songs at a nearby store with a videoke machine. Then we decided we'll have our drinks at the hotel just to be safe. It was our last night in Siargao and we'll be leaving for Cebu the next day. We needed to end our trip right.

So..rhum night it is. After we filled our glasses, we made a meaningful toast to this very memorable trip of ours. We shared our memories and thanked each other for the wonderful company. With that, I will leave you with a composition by my dear friend Carol..this was inspired by everything about Siargao..

"...on an island you sit and stare at the sea. You stare at its nothingness yet it gives you a peaceful bliss. It's magical beauty drowns you in tranquility. You close your eyes...you feel the soft cool breeze gently touch your skin. You hear the waves crashing...the sound of it is like music to your ears; a lullaby that gently puts you to sleep. You open your eyes and find yourself somewhere you've never been..a place so serene it gives you a peaceful feeling from within. Then you know you're exactly where you want to be." -C. Flores

photo credits

[paul, noel & cro]

until our next adventure!

Beautiful Day At The Boardwalk

A breathtaking view from the reception/ dining area of the Boardwalk at Cloud 9, Siargao.

With surfing in mind, buffet breakfast on the table and this view..ahh this is the life!

 Siargao Trip
[March 25-26, 2013]

When our alarms went off at 3:00 am, it didn't take long for us to get up and pack our things. We need to leave Cinnamon Island this early so we can go to Socorro and catch the ferry bound for General Luna leaving at 6:00 am. We chose not to laze around longer because we knew that if we miss the first ferry, we'll  have to waste hours waiting for the noon trip. And that is definitely not an option for us. So in the dead silent cold night, we mustered every strength we have left and had ourselves ready for a long travel.  Like it was on cue, we heard the sound of our boat approaching. Boy!Everyone was on time! The staff of the island were awake to bid us goodbye too. Aw..we'll surely miss Cinnamon Island the most. Moving on, we boarded the boat, arranged ourselves on the wooden seats (with no back support) and sailed away in the pitch-black night. There was only one light that you can see and that is placed on top of the boat to serve as warning/signal light. And it wasn't even bright. There was no light in front of the boat that could guide the boatman where he was going nor was there light at the back of the boat. Eeeeekk! I was scared, I didn't realize our travel would be like this. So I prayed dearly that we be safe throughout the trip. The four of us were not even talking because the sound from the engine of the boat was too loud, so there was no way we could establish a good conversation. I just wondered if they were as scared as I am, travelling at night seemingly blind. But then I grew tired wondering and I just dozed off. After more than an hour, we've reached Socorro. We hopped on to the ferry we were supposed to ride with a dozen other passengers who were also bound for General Luna. The guys bought us food and hot choco to warm our tummies. Yey! Oh by the way, we had the same wooden seats (again with no back support). 

They weren't comfortable at all, good thing I choose to sit near the window at the left side of the ferry and just leaned on it. We all managed to find comfortable positions to help us through another 2-hour ferry ride. I tried to sleep the entire time and it helped while away the minutes. The next thing I knew, we were already approaching the busy town of General Luna. It was quite a busy port, the one where we docked. So we decided to walk away further, escape the chaos and that's when we faced each other thinking of the same thing: NOW WHAT??!!?? We didn't book any hotel for us beforehand, we don't know where we are going and even if we did, we wouldn't know how to get there. Hahaha! This is just the best part about travelling with dear friends, every inch of the way is an adventure! We just laughed at ourselves and hailed a tricycle that could bring us to the area close to the surfing site. Apparently, that is the place called Cloud 9 in Siargao. En route, I remembered I printed out a list of accommodations in Siargao before we left Cebu. Thank goodness I found it! My friend tried to dial the numbers, the first call was unsuccessful with no answer/out of reach. Tough luck! Second call, we got through. Yey! My friend managed to book us over the phone and informed the hotel that we were on our way. The driver of the tricycle wasn't sure were the hotel exactly was but he said he'll take us there. When it seemed that we were nearer, we passed by lots of resorts/hotels and we couldn't seem to find the one we were looking for. Though we are not entirely sure, we suspected that the driver had a hand in this and that he was really directing us to another hotel. He brought us to The Boardwalk. Woah! A blessing in disguise indeed because I read about this place and I initially liked it. I just didn't put in the priority list because the room rates listed on the website were not in our budget. But we decided to inquire for available rooms anyway.And to our surprise, they had rooms available for us at Php350 per person. Siargao, we have arrived!!!

As what my friend said: "We are exactly where we are meant to be."

This place is beautiful...it's perfect!

Oh and did I mention our Php350 included a buffet breakfast??!! We're so happy we got here thanks to manong driver. Haha! Our back to back sea travels made us very hungry so we consumed our 'buffet' breakfast whilst enjoying this view.

After breakfast, we asked about surfing lessons because we want to get on it right away. However, surfing is  best done when the tide is high and at this time of the day, the water is still shallow. Our surfing instructor said he'll come back for us after lunch and see if the water is high and safe enough for us to go surfing. In the meantime........we decided to go around and explore this talked-about destination:

The boardwalk is a long walk..haha! yes it was and the sun was high up in the sky. But we didn't really mind.

We walked all the way to the viewing place.

They have this three-story viewing structure were spectators flock to during surfing season.

It is where you get the best view of the surfers riding the waves.

Too bad it was low tide when we arrived, there were not  much surfers around.

Great art structure near the entrance to the hotel. We decided to go back to the hotel around 1pm and see if our surfing instructor is back. He met with us and said that we'll start by 3pm because it is dangerous when you surf in shallow waters. A surfer could hit his head with a rock when he falls.

With our free time, we decided to grab something to eat. There's quite a number of stores nearby

We chose to eat at Happy Gecko where they serve this huge burgers. This place was also a lodging house own by a foreigner and his Filipina wife.

Minutes before 3pm we hurriedly went back to the hotel to get ready for our surfing lessons.

Refer to next post for details on our first ever surfing experience.

photo credits
[noel, paul & cro]

Oh So Lovely Bucas Grande

Surigao Trip

[March 23-24]

A bit weary from the day's activities, it's now time for us to cool down and relax. 

And there's no better place for us to do that, than Bucas Grande's La Fortuna Lake.

It's actually more than just a lake...it's one of nature's grandest masterpieces!

The water was a bit mysterious and when we examined it closely we saw small fishes swim by. Still, we decided to take a quick dip to test the cold but refreshing brackish water.

We were even suppose to do kayaking here but the kayaks where locked up. Nevertheless, after our quick dip, we just spent the rest of the time sitting on the wooden plank, staring at the lake in amazement.

When you spend your afternoons in places such as this, it would be very hard to worry about anything. I'd like to spend more of my afternoons here. The scenery is a cure for my computer vision syndrome and the ambiance is a cure for my bent (not broken) soul. Haha! Well, we almost got carried away and didn't want to leave this place but there's still a powdery white sand beach waiting for us. Let's hit the beach!!!

Thank you Lord for awesome friends who also love the beach as much as I do.

Swimming it is!!!

Bucas Grande was a very nice surprise for all of us. It gave us an experience that exceeded our expectations. It is truly a paradise.

Happy beach combers we are ^^,

This place is actually a resort in the making. I'm not sure if they accept guests already. We didn't even get the chance to ask for its name. But this is surely a great resort to watch out for here in Bucas Grande.

Sand markings: We love Surigao!!!

Though there's not really getting enough of the water and the beach, we decided we just had to go. We also can't wait to embrace the comforts of our super marvelous accommodations in Cinnamon Island. So we hopped on to our boat and sailed away. Several minutes later, the island was already in sight and our wonderful guide, Junjun, suddenly directed our view to this islet and pointed out that this place also has white sand. Well of course you know what happened next: we just had to make a quick stop. We got off the boat and swam our way to this islet. We just had to see for ourselves if he was telling the truth. 

. And yes it's true!!!! The sand on this islet is very fine and pure and white! Let's swim again!!!!

It might take a while for us to come back or we never might be able to come back so...we all just wanted to make the most of our trip.

And every single stop was so worth it. 

Several minutes went by and finally we're off sailing again towards our lovely home.

Oh and there it is, our cozy little cottage in Cinnamon Island.

This island was named after the Cinnamon plants that once proliferated the place. But we never really got to see them when we stayed there. Somehow we just smelled cinnamon. I think we did, just a bit.

Who better to give us a warm welcome than Teddy!

Our room was on the second floor and this is our sort of veranda. 

Very basic, simple and humble. 

And those are our beds, no, I mean, our mattresses. That's what we'll sleep on tonight. There's no air-conditiong (obviously), no fans as well and no electricity at night. A taste of the true island life is what this is. When I first scouted this place through the internet, I was really so excited to stay here. I wanted to stay here even by just merely looking at the photos. Then I thought about my 3 other friends who will be staying here with me and I realized, they might not be comfortable in this type of accommodation. But I went ahead and told them about this place anyway, and surprisingly, they were as psyched as I am to stay here too. 

So here we are on our terrace overlooking the waters of Bucas Grande with not a single hint of regret. We made the right decision to stay here even just for a night. This may just be one of the best accommodations we've had so far in each of our travels. Stripped of glamorous amenities but definitely a home for all four of us. Thank you again sir Dodo for helping us arrange our Bucas Grande trip. 

It's not everyday that you get to see this view, especially when you're like most of us whose lives have revolved in the city filled with skyscrapers and smog.  This is something everyone should try.

Thanks for being a gracious host Teddy! We enjoyed our stay so much!

In case you wanted to ask, yes we all had a good night sleep even if we had to wake up at 3am to catch the 6am ferry that will take us to General Luna, Siargao. Yes the place of the huge waves for surfing!!

That's another story. Refer to succeeding posts. 'Til then Bucas Grande!!!

photo credits

[paul, noel & cro]