La,la, la, la, la, la, la LA UNION… I love you!

It is known as the gateway to Ilocos province and the surfing capital of the north, LA UNION.  This province is around 5-6 hours away from Manila and one of the favorite destination of beach lovers, specially surfers.

La Union beaches, though not the usually white sand most people are running after to, offers fine silvery to grey sand that is best for making sand castles and a good venue to play outdoor games such as frisbee, volleyball, or just simply runnning around. 

slippers, flip flops and crocs

surf boards and life guards

frisbee

beach volleyball

the fine silver to greyish sand

San Juan La Union beach is well-known with its waves that locals and foreigners come back to play with it.

early morning 

wave with the waves

surfing with locals and foreigners

Another good thing about this beach are the rock formation along the shoreline, sunset shows a spectacular view as the day turns into night.

rock formation with urbiztondo surf like signage

on top of another rock formation

Sunset by the beach

sunset with the sexy ladies back

When it comes to food and drinks, San Juan, La Union offers a lot of restaurant and bars along the beach, and the night is always awake.

Kahuna Beach Resort (www.kahunaresort.com / 0917-8856566) - the top of the line
among the resorts in san juan, la union.  

Hacienda Peter Beach Resort (0920-4334221) 

The Fatwave Surf Resort (0917-8855764)

Sebay Surf Resort (0910-7395698)

Sea Nymph 

At Kahuna Beach Resort, my kids enjoyed the facilities and amenities it offers… here are some of the captured moments.

billiards

the lobby

We also visited old church, plaza and their municipal hall.

San Juan Municipal Hall

Park in front of the Church

St JOhn the Baptist Church, San Juan, La Union

we end our weekend trip here before heading back to manila

Revisiting Patar Beach of Bolinao Pangasinan\

 The first time we visited Patar Beach of Bolinao was just a "side-trip" since we were really there to check in at Rock Garden Resort that I just saw in an internet site.  It was already a bit late in the afternoon, so we just took some snapshots of the area, but we promised to ourselves that we need to come back and take a dip in the clear water of its beach and play in its soft, powdery, beige-to-pinkish sand under the heat of the sun.

Patar Beach seemed to be (as I look at it) the end beach of the Philippine in its west side. Travel from Manila to Bolinao is around 5 and a half to 7 hours depending on traffic and/or if your taking a private car or a bus.  ( If taking Bus from Cubao-Victory Liner going Bolinao, then ask the friendly natives there on how to reach Patar Beach).  You can find a lot of resorts and beach houses along the way going this Patar Beach but we prefer to stay in the end where we only rented open nipa hut since we are there for a day trip only, but there are also some developed resorts in the area, aside from nipa huts that can be rented if you want to say for overnight or few days. One of them are a row of "kubos" of Kuya Benjie's… You can bring your own packed food, marinated for grilling barbeques and the like or you can also choose to buy newly cooked dishes (as per order) in the nearby eatery/carinderia/store (kuya benjie's kubo also have their paluto). You can play beach volleyball, boomerang or simply play in the sand (making sand castle/sand sculpture or just bury yourself/your companion in the fine sand) but bonfire/camp fire are not allowed as per tourism authority of Bolinao.

This beach is very good for family bonding/ get together, relaxation, self meditation but if your a night person who loves to party, there's no night life in this part of the beach (not so sure for those other developed resort in the area).  During the time we went here, cellphone signal for smart is much stronger than globe, with also a weak signal for 3g, LTE or other data plan service that telecommunication networks are offering, but I think it helps so family, friends, lovers or honeymooners can really have time for one another minus the disturbance from internet and other online activities.

We reached Patar Beach, early enough that we can buy fresh from the ocean fishes that were caught by small boat fishermen.

I don't really know, what type of fishes are these but I tell you it tasted good after
we grilled it with only salt, pepper and a bit of kalamansi juice as seasoning.

The beauty of the beach was so inviting that even under the scorching heat of the sun, you'd love to run into the water withour even thinking of getting sun-burned.

The shoreline of Patar Beach, Bolinao, Pangasinan

area where small fishermen pull their fishing net

Kids will really love to hide their legs or even their body under the sand and according to them it is cold  even the sun is very warm.

love letter in the sand

sun bathing while half of his body is buried in the sand

this view shows how fine the sand of this beach

crystal clear water and the temperature is cold on a warm day

got a photo bomber behind us… hehehe

closer shot of my kids enjoying the beach

the view where you can see some of the developed resorts in the area

this is a lighthouse near the beach

family picture with the scenic view of Bolinao Beach

By the way, Patar Beach as I said earlier is the farthest part of Bolinao Shoreline, but before reaching this beautiful public beach there are also quite a number of developed resorts that offers facilities and amenities for those staying longer and wanting more comfortable place to sleep in.  Some are listed below: 

Puerto del Sol -

Villa Soledad

Treasures of Bolinao

Punta Riviera

Cocos Beach Resort

Kuya Benjie's Kubo

Bing's Beach Resort

Taralets mga Bagets sa Baler!

We've been wanting to visit Baler, Aurora since summer of last 2013 but due to full schedule and the shifting work schedule of my husband, we did not have the chance to visit it last 2013.

We did this to celebrate my hubby's birthday last Nov 28, we left Manila around 1130 in the morning and it took us around 7 hours in the raod to reach our destination.

We were welcome with heavy rain in Aurora since it's November, and it's still rainy season in the Philippine.  By the way, just for the information of others, Baler is one of the first provinces where typhoon usually enter as it passes Philippine area of responsibility. 

But we still manage to enjoy our trip and here's my documentation of our trip…

Welcome Arc Entering Baler, Aurora

In the Center of Baler

hungry?!? no worries….

This restaurant is part of Bay's Inn hotel in Baler, it cater variety of food
affordable yet so tasty and it is located in front of the Sabang beach

Baler is known as the surfing capital of central Luzon and Sabang Beach is one of the famous beach found here where my daughter had fun learning how to surf…

step 1

step 2

stand up and get your balance

first trial in the water

finally she made it… was able to surf for few minutes

the waves are so inviting

that was a sure hit for my daughter and she exclaimed " i wanna do it again…
maybe in La Union naman Mommy?!?"

We also visited this so called "century-old balete tree" and mind you, it so huge that according to the tourist guide it can accomodate more or less 30 people inside.  We manage to go inside the tree and true to what the tour guide said, it really can accomodate people inside...

under the Balete Tree

the century old balete tree… see the signage?!? it offers free wifi… 

in the entrance of one of the passage going in side the tree

We also visited some other nearby beaches, park and waterfalls within the area….

a small water fall that we passed by

another unnamed waterfall along the way

they say this water fall originated from the mother falls of Mt. Ditumabo

Amco Beach Resort

pebble type shoreline of Amco Beach

at the center of two huge rock formation ( forgot the name of this rock formation)

clear water and picture perfect view

this is  swimming pool in front of the beach shoreline itself and the
rock formation behind is where we went which was shown in the picture
above

nature's work of art

Another place we passed by during our visit is the highest peak in Baler, and according to history, it is where the seven families went for them to survive the tsunami during 1735… you can see the scenic view of Baler from afar in this hill… 

The Ermita Hill

Tsunami Safe Area

View from Ermita Hill

We also tried to go to Mt Ditumabo to see the "Mother Falls" but unfortunately due to heavy rain the other night, baranggay officials advised us not to push through of our plan for our safety but we manage to reach until the hydroplant…

the entrace of the hydroplant after crossing a ranging river and passing some bamboo bridges before further
going up to mother falls

one of the bamboo bridges we passed by

managed to pose in this bamboo bridge even we failed in climbing
up to the mother falls

Although we wasn't able to get a booking in Costa Pacifica, we manage to take photos inside the resort and its facilities…

Costa Pacifica Resort Behind us

by the pool side of Costa Pacifica

looking for a bite

the lobby at Costa Pacifica

cozy chair 

Other beauty of Baler caught in our camera…

Bay's Inn Entrance

still part of Costa Pacifica

Sabang Beach and its famous waves

just like a family picture with the former president Elpidio Quirino

the Museum

Baler Church, infront of Donya Aurora's House

Since we missed the chance on going to the mother falls, I know we'll be back to see you again, Baler… Like what they always say, it's not goodbye but till we meet again…

A relaxing and fun filled family centered way of how we celebrated my hubby's birthday.