Long Weekend in Baler: End of August 2011

Started the long weekend with quiz at Pivo where we once again dominated the rounds. :) Good job to our very own Rainman - Vincenzo Giorgo Armommy Tagle. Then went to Senator's house to wait for everyone to trickle in so we could be on our way to Baler for the next two and a half days.

Baler was... amazing. In sunshine, in rain, in glassy conditions and horrifying close-outs... for some reason, Baler always finds a way to be good to me. And I would like to think that Baler was good to first-timers Jako and Will as well.

We surfed mostly at the beachie and once in Lobbot with waves varying from head high close outs to waist high peelers. The weather went from overcast to sunny to sunny but drizzling. Scored my personal best rides during the Sunday afternoon session -- clean drops on waist high left-handers with green walls just peeling down the line. Gill was able to stand on Pandora, Will and Jako were able to get waves and Senator was dominating on his 9'6. :) Stoke for everyone.

Hidden in between surf sessions (and sometimes during) were moments, hirits, conversations and jokes that I'm not likely to forget and I pray I never take for granted.

Ended the weekend with Casa Nami sing-along night -- sunkissed, stoked, kinda tired but ready to rock it out in celebration of Gill's last hosting night.

Baler Summer Longboard Jam

Congratulations to ASRAI for the success of their very first longboard competition! Most of my photos are already up on my multiply site. The shortlist will be uploaded to my pbase galleries. (Mahdam and Kidlat - use whatever you want for your blogs.)

We all went up for a weekend of surfing, good vibes and magical Baler aura. On a personal note, I actually joined this comp because I figured it was a zero pressure situation -- first, it was a longboard comp and everyone knows I dont really know how to use longboard and second, I had zero expectations for myself. All I knew was that I wanted to get at least one wave during my heat. I cant help it, the competitive side of me just doesn't go to sleep I think.

I had a full day to get used to using a longboard and paddling for the super baby waves. First I used Aya's 540 Surf Buffalo board but come Sunday, it was decided that I was better off using Philip's 9'1 Southpoint.














My heat had Daisy, Elaine, and Jovin in it. And true enough, it was super fun and super zero stress. In fact, I was so stoked from that heat that I decided after this trip to seriously consider getting a longboard to widen my "quiver." (Addendum: I did buy a longboard a few weeks later. A 9'1 Southpoint we're currently calling Dagat because it seems like a suitable name for him)

The one thing wrong with this trip? We didnt get to eat at Gerry Shan's. :( Haaay. No mapo tofu, no sweet & sour fish, no buttered chicken. Sadness. BUT! We had Bay's Inn Onion Rings so I guess that makes it a little bit better.

Anyway, the results from the comp are as follows:

Men's Invitational:
Champion: Ian Saguan
1st Runner Up: Moro Gandawali
2nd runner up: Chris Par

3rd runner-up: Ronnie " Poks" Esquivel

Men's Open:
Champion: Okoy Rojo

1st Runner-up: Jefferson dela torre (AU)

2nd runner up: Allen De Vera (AU)

3rd runner up: Edmund mendoza (AU)

Wahine:













Champion: Daisy Valdez (LU)
1st Runner-up: Menchie Espenilla ( LU)
2nd runner-up: Marie Aquino (LU)
3rd Runner-up: Aubrey Namoro (AU)

Grommet:
Champion: Marvin Abat (LU)
1st Runner-up : Jefferey Esquivel ( LU)
2nd runner-up: Robin Dela Torre ( AU)
3rd Runner-up: Wilson Faraon ( AU)

Back in Baler for a weekend of pure stoke

March 10-11. Back in, you guessed it, Baler for another weekend of stoke. The waves may not have been epic but the stoke sure was. Saturday was a bit windy come 10am so we surfed til about then (got super fun rides) and then everybody crashed 'til just past lunch. (Surfers, today we will dine at Gerry Shan's!).

In the afternoon at Cemento was hella low tide so Dom, Aya and I strung up the hammock and enjoyed watching the tide pools for reef fish, octopus and herons. Woot, woot. The boys, by the way, had a good sesh.

Sunday morning and it was all sunshine, waist to head high glassy waves at the beach break. Moro surfed with the big boys down near the lifeguard tower. The girls had our own patch of ocean that we to ourselves (after Okoy left, that is) in between Bay's Inn and Surfer's Inn. The band of brothers and Del staked out their own portion a little bit away. But not too far that we couldnt clearly see the fun waves they were getting.

Speaking of fun, Aya and I party waved once and it was so long we were able to actually have a conversation while we rode it. Haha. Love it. But that was only one of many super fun waves that morning. I kept waiting to the wind to pick up, as it normally does come mid-morning. But it didn't appear until nearly 11am. Good deal.

We all finally came out only when it was obvious that we had to come up for food and water. Lunch at Bay's Inn.

Packed up and loaded the cars afterwards. A scenic ride back down past the two mountains. Three stops for snacks, pre-dinner and actual dinner. We were back home by 9pm. Good weekend.

There are almost no photos of waves or people one them because we were in the water like... all the time. But if you'd still like to see what we got up to you can click this link .