Livin high and takin it easy

You don’t really have to surf. Hanging out and enjoying the action from the beach is perfectly fine.

The sand in this beach moves from one side to the other depending on the season. At this time of the year, the rocks over by Little Surfmaid are exposed while the sand is by the little pier on the other side.

Dad plays with the kids in the setting, warm, afternoon sun.

While PJ plays on the beach with her 4-month old handsome golden retriever, Fabio.

And this has got to be my favorite photo for this trip, how sweet!

I take time to snap a photo of this pretty little boy with the golden hair.

I was not really taking a photo of this skinny girl, I was trying to take a photo of the point where I had surfed for the first time this weekend and had both a blast and a scary time BUT this girl was in the way. Might as well.

Just look at how far I had to paddle to get to the line-up, which isn’t even in that photo because it’s still farther to the left. I just wanted to show the kind of waves that pummeled me every time I paddled back to the line-up.

I could’ve surfed on the beach break, just like this guy. No, not this on the right who is also in my photo’s way, but that one guy on the left making a pretty good job of paddling out.

If I got pummeled on my way out at least I had some sand to step on every now and then, instead of swimming my darnedest best, with the results of having to feel like my legs are made of lead afterwards. Ho-ho!

Yes, I wanna be cool like this guy. Or maybe I am already. Ho-ho!

And this is my fish, that I can’t ride yet. Ho-ho!

In time, my dear, in time….

Click here to view the entire La Union Flickr set.

Baler, Aurora; April 2008

It was in Baler, Aurora that I learned to surf. I went with my grad school friend PJ and her boyfriend, Gerard. I met Daisy Valdez and Jefferson de la Torre for the first time. It was April of 2008.

Jason, also known as Balat and Jeff’s older brother, was the one who taught me how to surf – in Charlie’s Point. I was out there with them, trying to ride big waves for the first time with PJ’s flowered pink fun board. It was indeed, a lot of fun.

View the entire set on Flickr here.

More story on Multiply here.

Bagasbas Beach, Daet, Camarines Norte; May 2008

It was the first ever Bagasbas Summer Surf. It was my first time in Bagasbas. More importantly, it was my 26th birthday. This trip was a birthday gift to me.

It was also the first time Ryan drove the car all the way to Bicol and the very first time we took our dog, Ewok, with us on a long trip, or more specifically, a trip to Bicol.

View the entire set on Flickr here.

Clich here to view more photos of the Bagasbas Summer Surf event on Multiply.

Click here for [more narcissistic] touristy photos.

And click here to view the old blog.

Bacnotan, La Union; July 2008

In my first ever trip to La Union, I did not get to surf in San Juan. We were at Bacnotan for two days instead. First time in La Union, first time in Bacnotan.

We did stay at Hacienda Peter’s Resort in San Juan so I managed to take a few snapshots of the surf in front as well as the beautiful sunset.

Click here to view the entire set on Flickr.

Click here to view the story and photos on Multiply.

That surf trip would be the last one in one long year, as I learned I was three weeks pregnant in August of 2008, as I prayed and hoped I would be.

Urbiztondo, San Juan, La Union; July 2009

For this trip, the firsts were…

… first time for Ryan to go to L.U.
… first time to drive the car to L.U.
… Lia’s first time in L.U.
… first time surfing in San Juan

If it weren’t for this post, I would not have realized that I have not managed to upload the photos on Flickr. I did make a blog post of this trip here on this site and made a photo album through Smilebox.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Click here to go to old post.

I will work on posting the entire set for this trip to Flickr once I am done with this past weekend’s photos.

2008 was a great year for surfing. I went surfing thrice in three different locations.

2009 was dedicated to my daughter. We were literally inseparable for months.

Who knows what 2010 holds?

In addition to this past weekend’s being the first surfing trip for this year, there were also many other firsts.

First time…
…to be away from Lia for more than half a day. Prior to this trip, the longest I have been away from Lia in the nine and a half months since she was born, was only a few hours. Half a day at most.

…to try on my short board that my friend PJ sold to me

…to surf at the point in Urbiztondo, San Juan, La Union

…to try on new swim suits.. test for sturdiness against crashing waves and all that

…to get wiped out, to think that I am close to drowning, to panic, to swallow sea water, to get out of water due to over-fatigue.

Yeah, hahahaha.
Lots of firsts on this weekend. Photos to follow. More story later. I am still tired. And my body all achy-breaky…

These photos were posted by Jefferson Carillo Ganuelas on his Facebook. I hope he does not mind my lifting them off. Here is a link to the entire album, if it is viewable by the public.

I am not sure whether these photos were taken after the storm (or typhoon) that was Ondoy or the storm that was Pepeng. I only got to see these photos because Jefferson de la Torre is in it. Met and became friends with Jeff and his brothers and Daisy Valdez when I first went surfing with PJ (Valenciano) and Gerard (de Sagun) in April 2008 in Baler. In fact, it was Jason, also known as Balat, who taught me the basics of surfing out there at Charlie’s Point.

I hope everything is well with the guys in Baler and San Juan after the ravages of these two typhoons, most notably Pepeng. I could text and ask, except that I lost my phone and every little phone number of almost every person I know.

I am sure though if I ever get to see waves like these in LU, I would just sit back and watch. I would still be very much afraid I suppose since this is basically what I can muster my confidence for…

July 18, 2009

And on a long board at that. I wonder how I would fare in that fish….

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Pictures are clickable to view bigger image. Too bad we forgot to bring the telephoto lens. So funny to be taking surfing photos with a wide-angle lens. Well, there is always next time. And hopefully, next time I do the walling thing, I am facing the wave so I can hold out my hand.. More importantly, I don’t get surprised (that I am so cool hahahaha!) so I can take it as far as the wave takes me.

Anyway, it was rainy all Saturday so we didn’t get to take any photos. Sunday was sunny though. I should’ve worn my long-sleeved rash guard Sunday instead of Saturday.

It’s my new Roxy boardshorts first time out on the beach by the way. Ryan got it for my birthday. It holds out just fine. Though it’s longer than my Liz Hurley ones and I’m not sure if that’s better. Will find out next time.