La Union Soul Surf Festival 2013

When I saw the poster of this event a month ago, I told myself I would definitely go. In fact, I invited a lot of my friends to go with me. But as the the event gets closer, I was starting to feel it's just a waste of money, most especially because the packages were quite expensive for a quick weekend getaway. So, I decided not to go anymore.

On October 25 (Friday), I saw on Facebook and Instagram that a lot of my friends were already in San Juan, La Union for the event. And luckily, I found out that some of my friends were about to leave Manila early morning of October 26 (Saturday), which I thought was the best time to go because I still had a birthday party to attend on Friday night, plus the Soul Surf main event was Saturday night. So straight from my friend's party, we're off to La Union! We left Marikina at 3am and we arrived in San Juan at around 10am.  I was just asleep in the car during the entire trip. What took us so long to arrive was the traffic due to the roads that were under repair.

We had brunch at the restaurant of Kahuna Resort. I actually didn't like it there because the food was quite expensive and the service was poor; not really worth the price we paid for. After brunch, we headed to Oasis Hotel, which was a 10-minute drive from the beach area. All of the hotels by the beach were fully booked because of the event; and since we're just walk-ins, it's hard for us to find a vacant room. Luckily, one of our friends helped us book a room at Oasis, where she's staying.

A standard room (with two single beds) cost us around Php 4,000, plus an extra Php 550 for extra bed since there were 7 of us to share the room. After resting for 3 hours, we headed out to the beach. We started our drinking session at around 3:30 pm and it's amazing how cheap the beers were: Php 35 for Red Horse and Php 45 for SanMig Light. At around 5pm, the girls and I went around to check out different product/brand booths by the shore. We visited some friends at the Paktor app booth, we had our group photo taken at the Smart Live More booth, and we played beer pong at the Rayban booth. Thanks for the free drinks we got from all of those booths.:))

the Soul Surf vibe

sunset sesh with the girls

lovin' this sunset photo

walking by the shore

Girl Friends Forever (GFFs)

Smart Live More! :)

Beer Pong at the Rayban booth

Team 1 (Me, Farah, and Mikki)

Team 2 (Thina, Grace, Reg)

beer pong champs!

After sunset, we headed to the party grounds. Thanks to Team Paktor PH for giving me a media VIP pass. I've been all over the place trying to join my different groups of friends. Despite having too much alcohol, I managed to survive because of the Monster energy drink my friends gave me. I even forgot to have dinner because we're having too much fun with RAC playing in the background. We grabbed some past midnight meals at Kuyang food cart where I had sisig rice bowl for Php 150. After eating, we headed back to the party for a bit then we went back to the hotel at around 1:30am.

at the concert grounds

and we're drinking straight from the large bottles :))

Team Paktor PH and the birthday girl, Janice

my wingmen gone cray cray

the party scene

Hosts: Raymond G., Nicole A.

sunrise at SCTEX on our way home

When we left the event, there were still a lot of people so I didn't know what time the party ended. Anyway, as I got back to the hotel, I woke everyone up 'cause we had to head back to Manila.

It's one helluvah Saturday! (yeah not weekend 'coz I was there for just 24 hrs haha) Imagine, I only spent a total of Php 700 (gas/transpo, hotel, food, drinks) during the entire trip because everything else was FREE! haha thanks to connections! Anyway, I really should go back next year and stay longer. I super loved the Soul Surf vibe!:)

Why you shouldn't miss Spotlight Saturdays...

Every Saturday, DQ Acoustic performs at Archipelago 7107, Il Terrazzo in Tomas Morato, Quezon City. They play good music and interacts well with the crowd. The band starts to play at around 10pm, while the guests enjoy "Buy 1 Take 1" cocktails and "Free Salpicao" for every bottle of hard liquor. Plus there's a pretty bartender every Saturday who's ready to serve you!:)

The band performs in 3 sets. But before the band plays, pieces of paper are distributed so people can put on their requests. Guests may opt to jam with the band starting on their 2nd set through the 3rd. Everyone is welcome to join the fun!

The band usually ends playing at around 3am but some people stay 'til 4am, most especially when they're celebrating special occasions, just like last Saturday (June 23) when we were celebrating a friend's birthday. Let me share some photos from last Saturday...

DQ Acoustic

Me, Michhael, Farah, and Japoy

 the KSP Gang and some guests

 Mark and his guests including Steph Ongkiko of Solar

 with the birthday girl, Ruth Angelique

 Duet: Barbie and Mark

 My favorite song again...Crazy for You! haha

 Farah's attempt! lol

KC (the bartender) and Japoy

Take a break from your usual Saturday night party. Sometimes, it is also nice to just sit back and relax with your friends with some acoustic music at the background. Or if you're too tired dancing at the club, you may choose to sing the night away.

We got you a perfect "chillax" spot. Come and join us in Spotlight Saturdays!:)

For table reservations, you may call/text Farah Ramos: 09152954947

Boracay November 2011 (Day 3)

Day 3 (Nov. 26, 2011) - It's the Wedding Day!

Wedding was supposed to start by 8am, however, due to a rainy weather, it was delayed. We woke up late, and got dressed kinda slow so even if the wedding was moved to 9am, we were still late! haha! Not much though 'coz we arrived around 9:15.:)) The wedding was at Asya Premiere Suites. When we got there, all of the guests were wearing hats! Too bad we're late, so we're not able to get the beach hats.

the fans contained the program

 what a perfect couple!

 "you may kiss the bride!"

 our group: "college friends" haha

Vicky and Haroun

 cocktails after the wedding ceremony

the girls :)

Anyway, the wedding ceremony was done quickly because of the threat of rain. After photo ops, there were cocktails by the beach. Then for the reception, we all proceeded to the restaurant. As we entered, we were given giveaways (woven bags) and starfishes which contained names of guests and their table numbers. The program opened with song performances by some of the couple's churchmates. Then the bride and groom entered riding a golf car, and did their first dance. Videos about the bride and groom were also presented. After that, we all lined up for the lunch buffet. Gosh, there were lots of food. One long table was for salad, seafood, dessert, while another long table was for 10 different courses! And everything was just so yummy!

 souvenirs and seat assignments

 starfishes containing the names of guests

 cute souvenirs :)

 menu

 our table number!

 i finished all of these :))

After the sumptuous lunch, the couple's parents and aunts/uncles also danced. The ceremonial slicing of the cake was done next. Then came the time to throw the bouquet and the garter. But this time, there's a twist! To choose the guy to get the garter, all single guys were asked to line up in front. they were given balloons which they blew up themselves. Then they lined up from the biggest balloon to the smallest one. The bride was then asked to pick a number and she chose 8. Luckily, it was our friend who was on that spot! haha! When it's time to find out the girl who should receive the bouquet and the garter, the single girls were blind-folded. They were tasked to find one safety pin each from the top/polo of the guy. The one who wasn't able to find a safety pin was the girl to whom the guy shall put the garter on. They were so shy about what they were doing haha!

 the boys

 the girls (oh btw, its our friend Almeric who was the chosen guy)

 and there's a new pair!

just trying it out haha

It was at 2pm when we went back to our rooms to rest. We originally planned to take a nap and swim during sunset then buy "pasalubong" after. However, we all woke up late! The sun has already set when we woke up so we went straight to D Talipapa to go shopping. I bought a lot of pearls for my girl friends. Then we decided to go for a night swim at Astoria Hotel, where some of our friends have checked in. We took a lot of photos and crazy underwater videos!:))

after shopping

 new hotel

cute modern hammock

 underwater with flash

 i like the auto light adjustment setting of my cam

After taking a shower, we're supposed to attend the post-wedding dinner of our friends but we were already late so we just had dinner at Bite Club. I super loved their burgers! For our last night in Boracay, we chilled at Epic. Their drinks were kinda pricey but it was so entertaining outside, as we were moving to the beat of hiphop. while we're seated haha!


We went home at 3am, and it was a big pressure on me 'coz I was the one who has the earliest flight! Plane will leave at 9:30 so I had to leave Boracay by 6:30am to make it on time in Kalibo International Airport. But wanna know what happened? Check out my next entry.:)))))))

Day 4 (Nov. 27, 2011) - Back to reality...

The next morning, we're off to Manila. I will surely miss Boracay! Can't wait for Summer 2012!!!