Beetles and Backyards

Checking the swell forecast throughout the week, everybody was just waiting for the weekend to come. By Friday, Jux and I passed by my uncles place to check if the beetle was done, and there it was, the beetle, finally finished. We took the beetle for a test drive and headed to Carl's place. We hung out for a while, grabbed lunch and watched Dukes of Hazzard (that reminds me, I need to browse for pictures of the General Lee's rims).








We later met up with Danette for coffee where we teased and tempted her to skip class to go surfing with us, but she didn't. Talk about control. After coffee, Jux decided to buy a new TV. So, we went with him checking out the choices until he finally decided on one which we carried home. After carrying the TV to Brookside, Jux hitched a ride back to work, I headed home.

At around 6am, we rang each other up and met up at the usual place. By 730am, we had two vans heading to San Juan in anticipation of a great session at The Backyard.

The Pier

The Backyard

9am and we'd picked up Benjie and Jose along the way and were at The Pier checking out the swell. There already was a big group gearing up. We spotted Jong on the beach, waved, and headed off. By 930am, we were under a bamboo shed, with dried corals under out feet, the morning sun behind us and glassy 3-4 foot waves in front of us. Without a word spoken, everybody rushed back to the house to grab the boards and paddle out.

Gearing up

Aldrix, first man out

Can you say splash?

Lan

Benj

Jose

Jose

In no time we were at the line up catching the rare Backyard swells. A single look at the peeling long left hander and it made the trip all worth while. After two good hours we took a break for lunch then rested on the beach after eating. Lan had to leave for his intership duty.

Siesta

Siesta

Undecided

While we lay on the bamboo shed, sets of good waves rolled in one after the other. 30 minutes passed and the waves were just too tempting. We grabbed our boards and paddled out for the afternoon session. Tons of rides and a couple of video clips later, we headed for the beach and were all surfed out. We just watched as more waves rolled in.

Heading out

Pumping

Aldrix

Dropping in

Chucky calling it a day

Carl. It must've been something he ate

After rinsing the boards and getting showered, we dropped Benj and Jose off at San Juan and drove up to Baguio.

One day, two vans, eight friends, dozens of good memorable rides...

Oh yeah, my mustang has the same rims as the General Lee :)

The General Lee

My Mustang Grande

Beachbreak Sessions

It was a rainy Saturday morning and we'd decided to head to San Juan to catch some waves. We met up at Petron Naguillan-Ferguson at around 7am and drove down to La Union (Thanks for the ride Ed). By 9am we'd checked out several spots and decided to play at the San Juan beach break. The Beachbreak was relatively uncrowded today. There were a few students out, some locals praciticing for next weeks competition, and a couple of foreigners. So we paddled out to the line up to catch some waves ourselves.

Locals practicing

Locals practicing

By around noon time, only the four of us were left at the line up, every one had left for lunch. We welcomed the vacant beach knowing how friggin crowded this spot can become. After a few more rides, wipe outs and Jux losing his lenses we decided to grab lunch. Lan had to leave, so only Aldrix, Jux and I headed to Aling Norma's.



After lunch, we hoped to get better waves at The Monalisa Point. As we left Waveriderz (we left our boards here), a "surfer" called Aldrix and asked if the waves were ok at The Pier. He didn't want to play at The Beachbreak because there were too many beginners here. Aldrix, Jux and I shared a who-the-f^&k-is-this-guy look, and just mentioned that The Pier was dead today. Wannabe. With that we headed to Monalisa, passing by Doc Marc's aspartment on the way. Benj was at Doc's apartment, so we invited him to join us at The Point.

Lemon at The Point

There were already a handful of people playing at The Point, we settled down in a shed where the Baguio skaters were hanging out. Jones shared his story of getting wiped out by an 8 footer at The Point and how long he'd been under water. So we sat down a while and decided if were really wanted to head out. Aldrix was ready, I was still reluctant, this was the first time I was playing at The Point. After watching a couple of sets, I was convinced the waves weren't that unfriendly. They still had a good slope with the white water peeling even as they jacked up. So, okay, we grabbed our boards and paddled out. Benj later joined us at the line up. After a few attempts I paddled back to shore, there was a sudden pain from my fracture, weird. My right foot was a bit swollen and the fracture was throbbing, hmm, this should be fully healed by now. Oh well, it must be a sign, so we packed our boards and left.

We had to packup early since were commuting back to Aldrix's place and intervals between rides were quite long. By 6pm we'd finished washing up and were waiting for a ride to Baguio, Jux had to work tonight (loser). I got a call from my dad saying he was at San Fernando and was going up to Baguio. So the three of us got a bus to San Fernando, had dinner there and met up with my dad. We were at Baguio by around 9pm, Jux headed home while Aldrix and I had coffee before ending our day. Another weekend, another session.

Summary of Events

Whats been happening lately?

Hmmm, we had a few trips to Bacnotan and played in crowded line ups, the beetle is getting its final coat of paint then will finally be rubbed and buffed, started playing Taekwondo again, I got a new repair kit for the mustangs transmission (I hope I get to drive it out by next week), and other not so important day to day activities.

Almost done...

My scheds been pretty busy lately and things'll only get worse as December comes in. Ah, I have to start browsing for gifts, hmmm, this is going to be tough. The final leg of the "Philippine Surf Cup" in La Union is slated two weeks from now. I wonder who we'll get to pull to represent Baguio.

Crowded lineup

Other things on my To-Do list:
-Browse for good body and paint shops for the mustang
-Re-upholster mustang seats
-Finish up the beetle
-Re-wire guitar
-Wire the lamps in my room
-Paint the kitchen
-Update this blog