Baler

Baler was never in my plan. When I started drafting a one-month backpacking itinerary covering mostly Mindanao provinces, I was initially invited  to visit a friend living in Tuguegarao. I haven’t been to that part of the north and I have always wanted to go to Palaui Island so I included it in my itinerary despite going against the very nature of the trip which is to go “south”.

Everything was arranged and prepared, until few days before the trip, my friend told me she will be in Manila during my planned visit. I threw Tuguegarao plan out of the window but I still had to go somewhere for those days or else I stay in Manila and wait for my flight to Cebu (which sucks). You know what happened next.

It was a battle between Sagada and Baler. Sagada has always been my home and I’m pretty much comfortable going in and out of the place alone. But Baler is attractive; going there means I’d get to try surfing (finally!) and the laid back ambiance of the province will surely be relaxing.

I planned to go alone but opted to open the invitation to some friends. In the end, I was accompanied by three beautiful souls who are always “on the go” whenever I drag them to my all-of-a-sudden-maybe-she-needs-company-because-she-is-sad trip. While it’s true that some of the trips were arranged in a short time, my intention to travel was the exact opposite of what people (mostly my friends) usually think (what that is, I let you imagine. wink).

We traveled to Baler on a (long) weekend. With no reservation and no more bus seats left, we had no choice but to travel from Manila to Cabanatuan and Cabanatuan to Baler. I could only imagine the density of people in Baler for the weekend, where most Manilenos may probably be (or they could also be in La Union). After 10 grueling hours of traveling by bus and van, we arrived at the hostel. We were welcomed by Mowgli, an old, chunky dog, whose looks remind me of a bored grandpa.

The hostel was, in fact, a home. It’s a home just before the bridge going to Sabang Beach where a community of surfers usually stay. It was nice and at the same time intimidating to see that the people know one another pretty well; we felt like an outsider gate crashing a homecoming celebration. But of course, we were outsiders. I let it be.

There’s no plan for the next few days. I just know there’s boodle fight with all hostel guests on a Saturday night and the hostel’s anniversary acoustic open mic on Sunday that’s open to all the people in Baler. Except for that, the remaining days were quite unclear.

The boys decided to go on “tito-mode” and declined my invitation to go on a short trek going to the falls; they chose to stay in the hostel to (a) watch Netflix and (b) read a book. It became a funny realization then: We’re getting old. If before, we’d go right away to the next available adventure, now, we’d rather stay and chill and read a book or watch a nice Netflix series. They could have done that in the comforts of their condos in Makati, but they chose to accompany me 10-hours away from Manila and that alone is an extremely sweet and “tatak ng tunay na kaibigan” (sign of a true friend) gesture. I let them in their Netflix and book caves as I went to the falls with April (who had her laptop during the trip and worked until 2am but still decided to join me for the trekking – another sign of a true friend). The next story could have been nice if not for my accidental attempt to “kill” her by inviting her to swim to the falls only to watch her almost drown.

“Girl, laging tinetest ang friendship natin” (Girl, our friendship is always being tested). She told me as we went back to the hostel after she was pulled out of the water by a local guy. It was in 2014 when our friendship was initially tested because of my recklessness. But alas, here we are still.

I wonder hanggang saan aabutin ang test na ito. Siguro sa korte. Haha! Ikaw magdedefend sakin pag hinabla ako ng Gobyerno. (I wonder until where this test will bring us. Maybe inside the court. Haha ! You will be my defendant by the time the Government files a case against me.) I told her as I amusingly crafted scenarios probably 15-20 years from now where I’d be needing a lawyer to defend me because of aggressively attacking the government or something. You know, the “makibaka – wag matakot” thing. It’s still in my blood.

The whole trip revolved around a nice rhythm; chilling, chatting, eating and Netflix watching. I remember as we wait for our dinner to be served one night, all four of us were glued on Bri’s phone screen watching a Japanese anime series (which later on, I found incredibly funny to think that our bonding time was somehow defined by that series. lol)

I guess it’s also the tiredness brought about by the “Manila fast life”. We were all exhausted when we arrived in Baler not only because of the intensity of the travel time but also because it’s just after a 5-day work ritual. That tiredness was best explained by how easily we slept beneath a tree trunk by the beach on a scorching hot afternoon only to be woken up by the high tide waves on our feet.

Welcome to Go Surfari !! ZzZz

Photo before the tragedy, that is, sleeping.

And the surfing begins…

The next day, I tried surfing for the first time. It’s crazy weird how I made April say yes to accompany me again to surf (since, again, the boys opted to watch us instead by the shore while reading a book or something). When April said yes, I panicked and in my head I was thinking. “Sh’t it better be a nice experience with nice little waves or else she’ll either drown or definitely kill me this time if the water is too rough to handle”.

 I was thinking more of her than of myself. I was more conscious if she’s having a good time or silently cursing the difficulty of surfing. Thankfully, the afternoon tide was sweet; with the setting sun on the horizon, we smoothly glided across the waves and the water was shallow. She was having a good time. So did I. I mostly enjoyed the long rides and the golden sun, the laughter of my young instructor and co-newbie surfers struggling to find their balance. “Why are you doing this? It’s difficult to teach surfing at your age”, I asked him as he taught me how to catch a wave. “I need money”, he replied with a big smile on his face.

After more than an hour of surfing, we headed back to the shore and was greeted by the boys. “Damn girl you look like a pro from here!”, Bri told me as I approached him. “Oo nga sabi rin nung instructor ko ang galing daw ng balance at posture mo”, April said as she glowed with a different kind of energy – it must be what surfers call “stoked”. I was just happy that she clearly enjoyed the sesh; our friendship must be intact again ! yey !

That afternoon gave me a different ache in the gut. I wanted to stay longer. I wanted to take surfing seriously and Bri saw it on my face.  “Mag-eextend na yan… tapos next month babalik yan sa Baler… tapos bibili na yan ng surfboard… Next thing we know nag-move na yan sa Siargao for a couple of months”. He was teasing me as if reading exactly what’s in my head. He sure knows me well.

I seriously considered staying longer. We were supposed to leave Monday morning so the rest can go back to work on Tuesday. But  I have no work to consider for the moment. My flight to Cebu is on Wednesday. I can definitely stay until Tuesday at least.

The next day I tried it again.

After a nice Sabang Sunrise with April (as usual), I was determined to try surfing again but this time, on a high tide. I saw the gloomy sky and treacherous sea; it sure did not look good. But I was as if in a trance to try surfing again.

Bri finally decided to accompany me. He’s a good swimmer. For sure this will be easy for him. I was introduced to Adams, a surfing instructor who owns a surfing shop and manages other instructors. What board do you use? Soft board or Fiberglass? I had no idea what he was talking about so I told him I only tried surfing once.

After picking the board, he asked me to show him how I pop up. I told him I was taught yesterday to do the most basic one; right feet positioned near my left knee, both hands spread below the chest, bring myself up by pushing my weight through my right foot then position my left foot in front, that whole she-bang. “It seems like you have a strong upper body, you can do this instead”. And then he showed me how to pop up in a second: Push up and jump with the left foot and right foot in their place all at the same time.

We then went to the line up (which was definitely not how I had it yesterday) and all the time I was reminding myself to do the pop up he just taught me. Good thing I had some exercise done before the trip, if not, my core and upper body won’t allow me to lift myself on a push up.

The next few moments became a disaster.

Adams kept on shouting “paddle!” but I could feel that I was not moving an inch. The board felt wobbly beneath my body and  the waves were being so bitchy and the water’s rough. But my instructor definitely had faith in me that I can do this and so he chose to be very far and watch me struggle with my life. There were waves after another which pinned me below and I knew I was going to die if I didn’t push myself to swim harder.

Then he told me to catch a wave. As I popped up, I felt more strongly the force of the water beneath my board and I could feel it shaking as I try to balance my weight. And then splash. I wiped out. I realized how deep we were on the water when I tried puling my board.

It was an intense phase. For someone who does not know how to swim well, how to paddle efficiently or at least go through the waves, I found myself being challenged more and more. Unlike my usual workout, surfing is quite pushy. It’s the first time I realized the literal meaning of “do or die”. It means, no matter how exhausted I am, I need to keep my head above the water… Or else I die. On my workout sessions, I could stop anytime or when I feel exhausted or out of breath. But in surfing, I couldn’t say no. If I stop paddling, I die. If I don’t go down below the waves or flip my board to shield myself from a strong wave, I die. If I start crying, surely, I will die.

I managed to go out of the waves with a trembling body; I didn’t expect the actual waves to be hard and I mostly didn’t expect it’s going to test my endurance and breathing skills. With nicotine in my lungs, it was definitely difficult to hold my breath for a long time underwater.

Adams finally swam towards me and asked if I was okay. I looked for Bri and apparently he had the same concern. “The waves are bitches” he told me after our session.  It was after 30 minutes or so of wiping out, struggling, and (sometimes) riding a wave (and that’s definitely something !) that I told Adams I was running out of breath and I needed to go back to the shore for some rest.

It was then during my break time that I saw one stray surf board. It was being eaten alive by the waves and such scene can be extremely dangerous to other surfers. Just a while ago, I also experienced having my rope let loose from my ankle but was able to hold it before the waves caught my board. This time, the board was free as a bird and its surfer was nowhere to be seen. Some surfers tried to get the board to no avail and that’s when I saw Adams running towards the sea and swimming straight to the waves. Next thing I know, he’s already riding the board and breezily surfing through the waves as if showing me how it should be done.

The surfer was taken by another surfer, she was safe in the end.

I just realized how dangerous surfing is, but all the more exciting.

Adams told me to contact him if in case I’d take surfing seriously. His family lives in Baler anyway and I can contact him anytime for surfing / swimming lessons.

But the question is, should I stay longer?

xx

PS.

Some interesting facts about Baler:

1. Don’t go to Baler on a long weekend, or else you will experience this:
2. Still part of Baler Mystery :
3. Music is everything in Baler :
4. And food, too !

NEXT : OSLOB