Doray Manlalakbay: Catch the Last Weekend of the Last Week: San Fernando, La Union

March 27-28, 2010: Acapulco Beach, San Fernando, La Union

As a treat to ourselves for surviving yet another semester, we chose to spend the last weekend of March in the beautiful shores of Acapulco Beach, San Fernando, La Union.

It was foreseen as an awesome adventure as none of us have been to La Union for a beach outing and we're all tight on budget to afford getting lost. We even brought our own supplies of canned goods and rice just to have something to munch on.

Supposed meet-up time was 6:00am at Partas Bus Terminal along Gov. Pack Road, and yes, I was late since I'm checking on the cheapest possible resorts online. It was lucky that one of my housemates was from La Union and referred me to her aunt who knows the budget-friendly resorts around.

RR and Kuya Yow

Nathan and me

Jyx and Raffy

Student fare's 75 bucks at Partas. We left the terminal at 10 am and traveled for an hour and a half to San Fernando, La Union. If you'll be traveling from Baguio like we did, tell the bus conductor to drop you off at the plaza. From there, there's a bunch of tricycles waiting to take you to Acapulco Beach. Fee's 10 bucks each, maximum of 3 person per trike so that'll be 30 bucks when you're flying solo.

The trike dropped us off directly at the beach, just behind the rented cottages. A mumbling man, as Raffy love to call him, approached us and offered us a cottage fit for like 10-15 people and our own bathroom (minus the toilet) for 300 bucks, 500 if we're gonna spend overnight. Not bad since there's the six of us paying and the beach's free.

the awesome cottage with Coke advertising paraphernalia

One thing awesome about the cottage was the electricity supply. Yes, they have one which made anime marathons and Facebook updates possible.

By afternoon, we've realized that the food we've brought - several cans of tuna and sardines, a casserole of rice, and two loaves of bread - won't be enough to last us overnight with 3 additional people coming. Since we still have enough cash, we decided to hit the public market.

Again, we took the trike without any idea where on earth is the public market. We were like, "okay, Mr. Trike driver, take us to the market wherever that is." It seems like the standard price for the trike is 10 bucks each since the market seems quite farther than the terminal we were dropped off that morning.

Sorry, no pics except for Uno's photo-op with eggs but San Fernando's Public Market is probably the most awesome market around. The place is unbelievably clean, even the fish stalls, and everyone's friendly and accommodating. I guess it helped a lot that Jyx and Raffy are fluent in Ilocano, they were able to get us discounts and make us look less-tourists. :P

We got ourselves some additional rice, a couple of red eggs, and 2 milkfish for grilling. We also bought woods and marshmallows for a bonfire night, and of course, some liquor to spice things up.

We got back just in time to catch some awesome sunset, though not as awesome as those in Manila Bay since some clouds got in the way. But hey, it still looks great.

We were so envious of these guys: surfing and jetskiing in the summer afternoon sun.

Except for a bunch of middle-aged men casually drinking on the next cottage who left early, we practically owned the whole beach by nighttime. It was great as the whole stretch of beach was dark saved for little pinpricks of light from neighboring resort and the light of the full moon above.

From left to right: Krizzia, Aemir, Raffy, Paeng, Jyx, and me doing the Paeng pose.

Being on a beach escapade doesn't mean we have escaped our responsibility to Mother Earth. If you'll remember, it was Earth Hour at that time and yes, we did our part. When Paeng's phone alarm rang to mark the start of Earth Hour, the light was turned off and laptops were unplugged. Those in charge of cooking depended heavily on candles and the grill for light, while we were at the shore, having the time of our lives with the strong waves and sand.

After a delicious dinner of grilled milkfish, red eggs, and canned sardines, we set out to start our bonfire. It took us quite a while since I think none of us have done it before. Then came the mallows, the roasted mallows that melt in your mouth, and some gin and beer.

L-R: Paeng, me, Nathan, Aemir, Krizzia, and RR all enjoying our proudly made bonfire

By morning, we were woken up by the mumbling man, telling us that we should be ready to leave by 8 in the morning so everyone started packing things up, ready for another adventure on the way back. We took an ordinary bus back to Baguio for some thrill and cost-cutting. Student fare's 60 bucks, no aircon, cramped seats but awesome view.