Another birthday has passed and by tradition, I spend it anywhere but home. 😅 Not sure why but I got used to going somewhere during this time of the year. And for 2020, the destination of choice was La Union. 🌊
It was like a no-brainer. When I thought of a place, La Union instantly came to mind. One, I haven’t been there yet. Two, I haven’t been to a beach in a while. Three, it’s reasonably near. Four, there seems to be a lot of good food choices there. Five, my friends can go with me since it’s only for the weekend.🤗
After almost 300 KM, in sunny Saturday, we’re in San Juan, La Union. Btw, thanks Mau and Arnie for driving! 💪
Where to stay?
San Juan Surf Resort
Beachfront, good service, free breakfast. They have all those in this resort. Since we’re a party of 5, they offered us a condo-type room for 4 (P6500) plus an extra person (P1250). It came with 2 double beds,extra matress, aircon, wifi, tv, toiletries, and a kitchenette. Though the resort itself is beachfront, our room is at the roadside where it can get noisy especially an night. It was the only downside. Will I stay here again? Yes but I will make sure to get one of the rooms at the main resort. 🤗 Reservation is done via email and contrary to reviews, it was actually swift and I did not encounter anything inconvenient.
The waves were really strong during our stay due to the north swell and we’re not surfers so we enjoyed our time swimming and lounging at the shore. Mostly them swimming and me lounging. Haha Aside from that, we basically ate our way through my birthday weekend and it was just all gooood things! 💯
Tagpuan
Cheap but good eats. Tagpuan is one the must-tries in El Yu and it’s just right at the heart of Urbiztondo in San Juan, the main beach area. They serve a variety of silog meals in bowls for less than P100 each. I had bagnet with a side of kimchi; tasty and crunchy! So good! 😋
Makai Bowls
Been eyeing this since we started to plan this trip. It’s reminiscent of Siargao’s Shaka Cafe where they serve smoothie bowls. However, to be honest, I like the one from Siargao better. Still worth a try though. I had the Surfer’s Bowl for P200 something. You can find their shack at the 2nd floor of the Great Northwest Phillipine Travel Shop and Viewing Deck (just a few meters walk from Tagpuan). Since that’s a mouthful of a location, let’s just call it TGNWPTSAVD. 😅
Ol’ Pub Restobar
We were walking around the main road looking for a place to have dinner at when we saw this decent looking restaurant grilling some chicken and liempo at the front. And just by the look of it, we’re sold! 😁 We had grilled liempo (good for sharing), sinigang na hipon (refillable yung soup!!!), 5 sticks of barbecue and I also had grilled liempo express (bicol express na hindi ko napicturan since gutom na ako). Everything is good, sobrang solb kami and I have to rave about the liempo bicol express!! It was so creamy and lightly spicy, ansarap! It was a really good decision to have dinner here. And everything we ate was only P900 something. Now that’s value for money! 🤩
Flotsam and Jetsam
We initially planned to spend the rest of the night at Flotsam and Jetsam but once we got there, we had to leave immediately. 😅 It’s too crowded and loud; the demographic is too “young” haha. Now if you’re 20 something and enjoy loud music, having to shout just so you can talk to your friends, rubbing elbows with people you don’t know because personal space is unimportant.. then by all means enjoy your stay at F&J! 🤣Don’t get me wrong, I get the vibe and all but it’s just not for us. 😬
Tavern By The Sea
If your definition of a good night is food and booze while sitting on a banig by the beach, listening to the sound of waves, with music just enough to keep a lively mood and still able to have actual conversation with your friends then Tavern By The Sea is the place to be. Food and beer are cheaper here too and service is good. This is right beside TGNWPTSAVD.
Coast Call Kitchen & Bar
The resort we stayed at houses its own restaurant where they serve free breakfast for guests. Apart from it, they also have a regular lunch and dinner menu. For breakfast, you can choose a plated silog meal and a choice of drink. I opted for what they call Kuya Jun’s Favorite: garlic rice, egg, grilled talong, chicharon bits, tuyo flakes, crispy dilis. Basically, comfort food. 🤗 We also had a side order of Mixed Berries Pancake (P195 i think) and it was also super good!! 10/10 would eat again!! 😋
Olas Banditos
After checking out, we agreed to go Mexican for lunch. We went all in and tried almost everything from pizza, fish and beef tacos, flauta to quesadilla and burrito. And yet again.. everything was on point! Even the spicy, green dip was good! And the watermelon juice! Aaaah 😋 You can find this just a few meters away from the resort, facing the main road.
Being the foodies that we are, I can say that we are satisfied with everything that we tried during our 2-day stay. There are other restos and food items that we were not able to try which just gives us enough reason to go back, summer maybe? 😅
Happy birthday to me!! 🎉🍰🎈🤗
