eskapo's pangasinan series

not even the unpredictable weather forecast stopped us from a trip to one of Pangasinan's best beach destination. in this series eskapo features the beach of Tondol and the nearby town of Bolinao.

club manila east surfing

standing in a board over a breaking wave was something i've been so excited for quite some time now. until i learned about the program of the Philippine Surfing Academy program being conducted just few kilometers away from the metro.
many thought that one can only learn the basics of surfing through the waves of Siargao, Catanduanes, La Union, Quezon and Samar. not until Club Manila East in Taytay Rizal partnered with the Philippine Surfing Academy to establish basic surfing sessions just minutes away from the city.i visited this resort twice this summer and with all the good facilities a trip there will be great. it has giant pools, lazy river, pools artificial waves, slides and even kayaking.a wide parking lot, a foodcourt and some cottages are also available in the resort's big area. villas are also avilable for those who wanted to stay there for an overnight.but what's new is the establishment of the surfing lessons conducted here by some of the surfing experts. through the big waves created by the beach waves pool and the ocean waves pool, one can learn the basics of surfing.surfing today is becoming one of the growing water activity in the Philippines. through the influence of the foreign surfers visiting the country, more locals learned and even mastered what it is to get stoked by the waves.one of the best way to learn it is through the artificial waves of Club Manila East. i had my chance and took the basic lesson last summer. we were five in that batch and we had with us coach Ejay. he gave us a brief background of what surfing is about and what it requires. he also explained the advantage of taking lessons in an artificial pool which includes the use of a special board made for training, the danger of hitting rocks and corals in the shoreline, the lesser chance of getting drowned because of the pool's limited depth and the waves that comes every 2seconds. among the first lessons were how to carry the board, how to stand on it, where to hold, and how to balance.after the brief lesson, we were immediately brought to the pools waves to get the mood of being on top of the board with the waves. he guided us by pushing us with the board which exerts force to the board along with the waves. this gives us enough speed and force to stay on top and gain balance. it was'nt that easy but with the determination to do it and with the waves coming consistently, one can really grab the feel of being on top of the board.my purpose of doing it here was just to experience of riding with the waves. i enjoyed it and what more when i get to try it over the waves of the Philippines renowned surfing sites. you can also try the several basic lessons conducted in La Union. the blog Let's Go Sago offers a basic training on August 15-16.

when one shares the experience

the experience of roaming will always be memorable even without the magnificent mountain views or the luxurious and cozy rooms. many enjoy going out as a bunch of noisy excited barkada while others prefer the solo backpack style. just a week ago, you shared your most memorable road trips and ROAM team has decided! here comes the three winning entries."with my travel buddies, i had one of the best road trip. we roam the whole laguna for 3 days. considering we dont have a car. as in commute galore. we started at the rizal side of laguna using the zigzag road of rizal. we went down to siniloan then pakil which i can say is the most rustic places of laguna. had an stopover at paete, the most beautiful community ive ever seen in terms of heritage sites. had over night at pagsanjan. then to liliw and majayjay, where we had an overnight. the chill of majayjay was so awesome. then off to heritage site of laguna the famy and victoria then to LB where we savor the hot spring of the places then go home... too bad we miss the san pablo lakes." - bryz25

"My most memorable road trip was in Quezon province. It was an extreme adventure since the road was rough and rocky for a jeepney topload ride. I can just imagine now how adventurous I was in my younger years, unmindful of any danger in our trip. Some folks warned us also that some bandits were hiding in a nearby mountain. But we dared because our mind were set to see the beach and we proceeded then to Cagsiay. And what a breathtaking moment when we finally reached the destination. It was all worthy to have faced the challenges in getting there, to have witnessed such wonderful island, untouched and unexploited." - nuts

"mahapdi na ang mga mata ko habang nakasakay sa bangka kasama ang apat pang kaibigan. galing kami sa isla ng anawangin. nakatitig ako sa papalubog na araw, sa nagkalat na ulap na kulay dugo, at ang pagtalsik ng tubig ang pawang nagpapalamig sa katawan ko. gandang ganda ako sa haring araw na nais ng matulog, at bigla bigla ay may tumalon na isang dolphin.
kung pumikit ako ng oras na iyon, siguro magsisisi ako buong buhay ko." - ax

congratulations to the three of you and please email me at i.dongho@gmail.com for your copy of ROAM Magazine second issue. thank you to all those who shared which are for sure as memorable. thank you to the staff of ROAM magazine and October Eighty Productions.ROAM Magazine is now available on all leading bookstores and magazine shops.