Encountering Eastern Samar
October 7 to 10, 2005
The breakfast view.
The Philippine Surf Federation's third stop in a year-long surf circuit saw us in Eastern Samar. We were billeted in the town Guiuan while the comp went on somewhere else. (I realize I am being super vague but in the interest of keeping surf spots a secret... well, if you want to figure out where we were, there are enough clues in this blog already).
Surfers from La Union, Baler, Siargao, Leyte and Samar came together for four days in the spirit of stoke.
And once again, I find myself at a loss for words. How about we do highlights instead?
- Converging with most of the Siargao Crew again. (Yes Lui, we missed you)
- Meeting 10-year old Jangy Boy who had never in his life been on a board until we rolled into town. By the second day he was paddling out on his own and catching white water by himself. By the third day, it took all we could to keep him on dry land.
- Seeing the stoke shared all around in the form of surf clinics, crazy dance-off antics, shared inside jokes... even walking into the competitors tent and seeing Zaldy with Osot, their arms thrown around each others' shoulders as they companionably watched the ongoing heats.
- Partaking in karaoke at a dodgy little carinderia at the edge of the town plaza. I had managed to escape karaoke bars in numerous provinces around the Philippines. But this one had a special allure. I think it was the fact that they were the only place still open and serving warm food. A little boy was wailing on these Celine Dion ballads while we ate... adding to the special randomness of the experience. For the record: that tiny boy was good at them Celine Dion love songs! But he was no match for three Oz Boys filled with Red Horse rockin' out to Teeth's classic drinking song "Laklak."
- Fresh seafood lunches eaten with a view of the break then followed by either a really cold San Mig Light or some ice cream. Speaking of ice cream, I think Jaron bought ice cream for the entire population of Sulangon. That coupled with his dance antics and moving speech solidifies his status as the new Guiuan Town Mascot.
- Paddling into the line-up... having Paquito tell me "go, go, go Ate Kage!" ... hearing Luke's frantic "Kage huwaaaaaaaaag!" ... and coming up for lunch with Al-Al (who gave me a friendly push into a last-minute wave). I loved everything about that... even the reef cuts on my big toes which "Doctor Bez" had to electric tape.
- Watching Kathy fire spin with the snakes. And then having a go with the fists. AND not burning myself! Haha.
- The Big Brother Guiuan House. Watching Pat and the boys pull the best revenge prank on Dondi. I cant explain, it was one of those 'you had to be there' moments. Let's just say it involved a sleeping Dondi, a large metal pan, a beer bottle and being unceremoniously woken up.
- Rocking out with everyone on our last night in Guiuan...the Baler Boys, Pat Mateo and Ian Saguan jamming while we all danced in the plaza... dodging the fizzy beer fountains... singing in spite of the power outtage... walking home in the dark with "the Pension House Peeps."
Props go out to the following people for rockin' this weekend in one way or another: Zeny, Mhay, Olin, Makoko, Mac, Pat, Mark, Nod, Kathy, Chip, Daphne, Scott, Jaron, Bez, Barry, 540 Surf Co, and every single Pinoy surfer that made it to Guiuan.
And once again, I find myself at a loss for words. How about we do highlights instead?
- Converging with most of the Siargao Crew again. (Yes Lui, we missed you)
- Meeting 10-year old Jangy Boy who had never in his life been on a board until we rolled into town. By the second day he was paddling out on his own and catching white water by himself. By the third day, it took all we could to keep him on dry land.
- Seeing the stoke shared all around in the form of surf clinics, crazy dance-off antics, shared inside jokes... even walking into the competitors tent and seeing Zaldy with Osot, their arms thrown around each others' shoulders as they companionably watched the ongoing heats.
- Partaking in karaoke at a dodgy little carinderia at the edge of the town plaza. I had managed to escape karaoke bars in numerous provinces around the Philippines. But this one had a special allure. I think it was the fact that they were the only place still open and serving warm food. A little boy was wailing on these Celine Dion ballads while we ate... adding to the special randomness of the experience. For the record: that tiny boy was good at them Celine Dion love songs! But he was no match for three Oz Boys filled with Red Horse rockin' out to Teeth's classic drinking song "Laklak."
- Fresh seafood lunches eaten with a view of the break then followed by either a really cold San Mig Light or some ice cream. Speaking of ice cream, I think Jaron bought ice cream for the entire population of Sulangon. That coupled with his dance antics and moving speech solidifies his status as the new Guiuan Town Mascot.
- Paddling into the line-up... having Paquito tell me "go, go, go Ate Kage!" ... hearing Luke's frantic "Kage huwaaaaaaaaag!" ... and coming up for lunch with Al-Al (who gave me a friendly push into a last-minute wave). I loved everything about that... even the reef cuts on my big toes which "Doctor Bez" had to electric tape.
- Watching Kathy fire spin with the snakes. And then having a go with the fists. AND not burning myself! Haha.
- The Big Brother Guiuan House. Watching Pat and the boys pull the best revenge prank on Dondi. I cant explain, it was one of those 'you had to be there' moments. Let's just say it involved a sleeping Dondi, a large metal pan, a beer bottle and being unceremoniously woken up.
- Rocking out with everyone on our last night in Guiuan...the Baler Boys, Pat Mateo and Ian Saguan jamming while we all danced in the plaza... dodging the fizzy beer fountains... singing in spite of the power outtage... walking home in the dark with "the Pension House Peeps."
Props go out to the following people for rockin' this weekend in one way or another: Zeny, Mhay, Olin, Makoko, Mac, Pat, Mark, Nod, Kathy, Chip, Daphne, Scott, Jaron, Bez, Barry, 540 Surf Co, and every single Pinoy surfer that made it to Guiuan.
The breakfast view.
My photos from the trip are HERE
posted by travelkage at Wednesday, October 12, 2005
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