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Ego Deflation
January 15, 2007Intro:
So we drive off to La Union over the weekend to grab some surf as it has been quite a while since we last communed with the sea. We bring our spanking new board dubbed "Didi" because of her color. (Dilaw = yellow in the vernacular) Didi is a custom shaped 9 foot, generation 4 epoxy board, the first of her kind in the country. She is incredibly light, like most higher end fiberglass boards. She is, however, a lot more sturdy. Fiberglass boards are prone to breaking in strong pounding surf, which is exactly what we found when we got to our regular surf spot, The San Juan Surf Resort in San Juan La Union.
We left Quezon City at around 2:00AM Saturday with yours truly, as always, at the wheel. Fuelled by nothing more than 3 hours of sleep, a commuter mug filled with freshly brewed coffee, and a liter of water mixed with 6 packets of powdered energy drink (Extra Joss! Boosts energy and supposedly increases your chances of getting cancer! Yeah, I like living on the edge. Hoozah!), I drove Jen, Mac, Peachie, Mer, Vina and her new bf Francis and myself for 5 hours till we got to our destination. We had breakfast, waited to get checked in and then they hit the beach. I say they because at this point in time, all the caffeine, ginseng, taurine and wonderful wonderful aspartame I ingested has been completely metabolized and it was a veritable wonder how I was still actually walking around good naturedly. I go to the room and fall face first on the nearest bed and sleep for 3 glorious hours.
Ego Deflation Moment 1:
At around 1:00pm I get to the beach, Mer and Jen have already gotten in a good deal of surfing while Peach was in the water with our good friend and surfing instructor, Echo. Mac was sitting on the sand getting a breat buzz going courtesy of some gin and orange soda. (Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it.) I go in for a short swim and then I take advantage of the gently sloping sand and did a bit of skimming. I was quite surprised to have actually improved. I was getting pretty consistent rides on the blasted thing. That really rocked! I was having so much fun and perhaps I grew a tad over confident and tried to get a longer, faster ride. Next thing I know, the skimboard's nose dug into the sand and I'm sent hurtling through the air. I land my unsightly 205 pounds squarely on my right shoulder. I swear I heard it pop. TWICE!
So far, so good.
Uh oh. This is gonna hurt.
With more shame than actual force of will, I pick myself up and ignore the pain in my shoulder. I grab the skimboard and go for a few more runs, all of them a lot slower than my joint popping ride. After I had sufficiently convinced myself that I have redeemed myself from looking like a tool, I bring back the skimboard to our spot on the beach. My shoulder was aching like a motherfucker so I go take another dip into the ocean, where no one would notice my saltwater tears.
Ego Deflation Moment 2:
After some time I finally get my turn to play with Didi. I paddle out against some heavy surf and admire how easily the new board glides over the water. I got to the line up and got myself ready to catch a good ride. A beauty comes and I take it! I pop myself up and as soon as get to my feet, the board starts to flip! I fight for balance, trying to right the board, but I over-fucking-compensate! The board flips in the other direction! And so, my first ride on my brand new board resulted in a face plant! And it was no ordinary face plant. My face slapped the surface of the water so hard that my lower lip split from the impact! What's worse is that I felt my already painful right shoulder give a bit more. (This time though, I did not hear it pop as it was probably drowned out by the sound of my face hitting the water.) I walk back to shore with board in tow, welcomed by the horrified faces of strangers. (Some of whom were fairly hot chicks! GROAN!) I keep my head down in shame. I plopped down on the sand for a breather, thinking if I should go again. After a few minutes, I venture out once more and I do manage to get in a few good rides. Paddling was a bitch because of the busted shoulder though. As expected, Jen got better sets than I did. She is the better surfer after all.
struggling to get up
must. not. fall. on. face. AGAIN!
she's a natural!
The rest of the afternoon was fairly just fun. I was swimming most of the time when I wasn't surfing, trying hard to get the kink out of my shoulder. I really wanted to surf more the next day. That evening, we went to our favorite food place in La Union, Halo-Halo de Iloko in San Fernando, just a few minutes away from San Juan. I tried not to but I ended up pigging out anyway. Kinda hard not to when the food is just awesome. After dinner we go to the "pagoda", a look out point on top of a hill which had great views of the city and the sea. When we got back to the resort, we decided to hang out near the beach for a while. Jen had brought along her TravelSound speakers and her Ipod. She then started dancing with Mer. I was suggesting dance moves but instead of showing them I actually had to resort to just describing them. While that speaks volumes about my incredible ability to give directions, It also tells how much my body betrayed me that day. I could only watch because my body was already aching and all the rice I ate ended up crashing my energy levels.
Don't get me wrong though, inspite of the pain and humiliation, I still had a totally righteous day. I was in the company of friends and of course my lovely wife. I thought to myself, Tomorrow would be a better day.
Ego Deflation Moment 3:
The next morning, I wake up with the pain in my shoulder even more pronounced. I get up and watch my wife emerge naked and wet from the bathroom, always, always a great way to start the day. I brush off the the soreness and give her a nice warm hug. I then take a quick shower, get into my boardshorts and help Jen put on her top. This takes longer than you might think because I can't not cop a feel. In fact, I copped several. (Hey, can you blame me?) Anyway, cutting to the chase, what I'm saying is that I had an AMAZING morning. After a light breakfast, we hit the beach.
The surf was even heavier that day and were mostly closed out near the shore. The line up was pretty far and you had to cross some viciously pounding surf. That meant no surfing for grommets like us. Echo however decides to use the opportunity to develop Jen's paddling technique. They go out against some hard hitting waves, definitely the hardest that Jen's ever had to paddle through. Echo does a great job telling her what to do and Jen does even better at executing them. Next thing you know, she's already far off in the distance. After some time they paddle back in, not catching any waves but Jen learned quite a lot I believe.
Having battled some really heavy surf the last time we were in Zambales, I decide to work on my paddling as well. I strap on the leash and carry Didi back to the water. I was fairly certain I could handle it without an instructor. I was wrong. I get about halfway to where Jen got, then I realized that the waves were stronger than I had anticipated. My bum arm was no help either. I got chowdered several times, rolling like a rag doll in the water. But I am persistent. I keep going at it. Until at some point, I get chowdered so bad, the leash actually wraps itself tight around my legs, and I had to really fight to get myself to the surface.
Chowdered!
After that I admit defeat and start going back to shore. Jen is running towards me, half worried and I think half angry as she did warn me not to go at it alone.Then she tells me the local surfers and long time surfers were laughing their asses off watching me get pummeled by the waves. Yes. I totally rock. NOT!!!
Ego Deflation Moment 4:
When the surf decided to be a bit gentler, I managed to squeeze in a few sweet runs. We were however getting ready to go home so we take it easy. We lounged on the beach and took lots of photos. We decided to take pictures of us jumping. Corny, but hella fun. However, I still manage to humiliate myself doing something as simple as jumping. For some reason, I lose my balance in mid air and I fall flat on my ass. Un-fucking-believable eh?

Previous Comments
dont worry, next time there wont be any Ego Deflation Moment No. 5… hope so… hehe
the last pic is cool!
i miss surfing already and i’m peeling na!!! =(
Posted by Cheska at January 19, 2007, 4:25 amYou crashed shoulder-first on the sand? Ouch!
I hope the new surfboard is ok.
Sounds like you still had great week end.
Sorry for your shoulder, though. When it popped, I know it hurts a lot. I had popped mine too years ago. I might suggest You should learn to roll out of your fall. Like what they teach in Aikido.. However, I don’t think it wont work once your in deep waters.
Posted by john at January 20, 2007, 11:32 amThat last pic, makes me want to leave sooo right now in front of my puter, and head on to the nearest beach!
it reminds me too of.. TGIS??? nyahahaha..
Posted by Devilicious at January 21, 2007, 4:18 pmHi! You seem to have had a nice time surfing! I also went to that part the other weekend, actually in Ilocos, but saw the beaches of La Union on our way. Beautiful! I think La Union has one of the most beautiful beaches in the country.
Posted by rhodora at January 30, 2007, 8:48 amego deflated 4x over, but good, there’s no stopping you. no pain, no gain. go walrus!
Posted by sexy mom at February 2, 2007, 11:52 amJust want to thank you for inspiring me to try surfing. Your very first post about surfing early last year boosted my interest in surfing. I even posted a question regarding contact lenses and surfing. Finally got the chance to try it last October. I was stoked… Thanks! Hope to see you there one of these days
Posted by Lsmurf at February 2, 2007, 11:25 pmThat they are Rhodora, and somewhat underrated at that. And yes…surfing is always, always fun. I’m actually thinking of going this weekend.
And yes Dine, in spite of the pain and humiliation, I just keep on keeping on.
Lsmurf, I am glad I inspired you somehow. And if you do see me around in La Union or Zambales, do say hi. Just look for a bright yellow board with a red lizard. I’ll be nearby.
Posted by Adam Mordo at February 6, 2007, 10:06 amNice shots.
Posted by Euri at February 9, 2007, 5:28 pmHi great pics and experiences! Just wondering if there are any closer beaches for surfing 2hr max?. . .maxium 2 feet waves with strong white water breaks. Also close board rental shop. thank You! please email
Also pahabol–if you’ve been to krstal beach resort in zambles and is that any good?
Just dropping by and checking out the Pinoy blogoshpere!
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Posted by Ivan About Town at February 19, 2007, 4:16 amhey nice shots!
Sana ako din makapag surrrrrrf~
euhmm what are you doing?
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whoa good for you! my family is really from la union and its like an hour’s drive from baguio and believe it or not its been almost 2 years since i last visited my folks down there! and the only reason i could give them is… WORK, how pathetic is that…but because of your pix, im seriouly planning a weekend getaway by next month!
Posted by sarah at January 18, 2007, 4:21 pm