This was the weekend na 1) Closeup Forever Summer and 2) Porac "Sandbox" Pampanga getaway.
In short, nafrustrate ako nyan ng slight na bat LAHAT sinet na nila ng April 5! And then nanalo pa ako bigla ng trip for 3 to Zambales for the Summer Siren beach music festival (inclusive of passes + hotel)! I can't miss this, ang tagal ko nang gusto mag beach uli! I can't invite blogger friends here kasi lahat mag Forever Summer, so I decided to go with my 2 closest childhood / high school friends (The Bullies!) na kailangang kailangan nadin naman ng catch-up. We had a phase na halos araw-araw na kami magkakasama, and then work came along so bihira na kami magkita since, maliban nalang kung Christmas party or may balikbayan.
We met up afternoon na since Friday, and Ana and Meh both came from half-day of work pa. Ana (yup ka-name ko sya, thus naging Anagon ako nung high school, haha) brought her car, while Meh printed a map to Zambales. Naging running joke namin to kasi sabi nga naman ni Ana may Waze naman na, hahaha. Pero iba parin ang old school map!
Road triiiip! The driver, the navigator, habang ako asa likod--taga bantay ng bag? Taga entertain sa inaantok? Nagsosolong mag SNS? Lol.
Narealize namin na kahit 5 hours lang naman daw ang drive to Zambales, nagtatagal talaga kami sa aming stop-overs. 7-ish hours till we reached Zambales? Haha! As in take your sweet time level! Our first stop was in gas station to buy our junk stash (essential in every trip! ;))
Eto din ang start ng Potato Corner craze namin for the whoooole trip. Grabe talaga ang appeal ng Potato Corner! Ang taas ng cravings level! ;p
Our second stop was in Subic, for dinner na. Meh suggested Xtremely Xpresso which she read na ang daming online raves, and willing naman lahat na ma-derail just to try this recommended place! (Sabi ko sa inyo hindi kami nag mamadali, haha)
Okay naman ang food, super dami ng serving and ang bigat. :p We had to takeout pa the pizza, na perfect din when we woke up the next day (instant left-over breakfast na sya! ;))
Benta naman ang mga mugs!
Saw this in Xtremely Xpresso's restroom and thought of reproducing this and print it for my room (haha)
When we reached our free hotel from the contest (Punta de Uian), it was nighttime na so we did not attempt narin to go to the festival (mga tamad! ;p). Up Dharma was playing na daw that night according to Meh's friend na asa Crystal Beach din. We decided to just rest and eat (the junk stash, haha), and watch TV (na astig 3 channels lang--ABS, Star Movies, HBO), and then sleep.
When we woke up, sumilip ako from our room's veranda and saw the beach just outside lang! Di na namin to napansin the night before, ang ganda!
Ang tagaaaal namin before kumilos at bumangon, haha! We had pre-breakfast chips and TV (lol)
And then went to our resort's resto for breakfast. Guess whose drink preference etong mga to, lol.
Actually, lunch nadin ata to, haha! 2pm-ish na when we finished our talkies and food...
Before we finally went to Crystal Beach, the venue of Summer Siren! It was suuuuper far pa pala from Punta de Uian, so we took a tric pa. Na ang haaabang byahe parin pala. We each paid P100 each, fixed rate na yun and mababa na compared to Kuya driver's initial singil na P450.
Guess kung sinong nag backride!??
Nakatulog ako sa byahe (ganun katagal!), and finally, hello Summer Siren!
Mga bagong gising? Haha, obligado sila to pose by the pink flowers, Me: "Cute kaya!" ;p
The sched and activities were posted by the entrance, where we also waited for Ayos Dito's Kumi for our free tickets! Aside from the concert, meron ding CROSSFIT, ZIPS, and YOGA activities, and I think even surfing!
Our passes! Summer Siren pala is organized by the Travel Factor group. They've done this several times nadin, and their goal for Summer Siren is to signal the start of the summer (thus the siren sa name, parang tinatawag na ang hudyat ng simula ng ligaya't bakasyon! ;))
My yellow strap pass for the whole Summer Siren weekend... And my Love is Patient bracelet. In Tagalog, tiis-tiis lang. In Boys Night Out / Ramon Bautista's language: Abangers. Lol sabaw! ;p
Inside the Crystal Beach:
Nasira kaagad Havaianas ni Meh, wala pang nangyayari! Hahaha!
Saw this "open cage" of Chiquita and Bugoy--na may onting panakot sa mga may binabalak:
And then we also passed by the Kampsite where guests can actually set-up their tents para makatipid este to fully experience the beach-bum life! I wonder if kaya ko din to, hehe, maybe at least maexperience man lang once! Stargazing + Beach at night? :) Tempting!
Panay foreigners ang umavail:
Reminders all over the venue:
This brave girl for an Insta-G worthy photo! ;)
Not the yoga that I know, haha! So nanuod nalang ako:
Zipping looks fun:
My favorite team Fuji (Instax) was also there!
So we just lounged around (what we do best, haha best in tambay!) wondering where pwede bumili ng fruit shakes or beer:
Madam Ana look, haha:
The view. :)
We also visited Ayos Dito's booth na may mga fun games and photo booth for all the festival goers!
And of course, na-tipan nadin ako na andun si idol Ramon!
After nung first shot, sabi ni idol, "O dito naman tayo" sabay lapit sa boat.
Me: "Ayan branding!"
Ramon: "O eto pa hawakan natin, branding kung branding! Ibaba pa natin ng ganyan, girlie. Para makita ang...iyong summer-ready na outfit!"
Akala ko kung ano na ang ihihirit, tawang tawa na ako nyan!
Back to our base!
Nagawa nadin ang slippers ni Meh, haha! Wire art yan!
After sunset, start na ng tugtugan! Medyo onti lang ang tao compared to other concerts / music festivals I've been to, but in fairness I actually like the exclusive feel. Indie kung indie, and ang saya lang to relax and enjoy. Sabi nga nila, you want a beach party? Go to the beach! ;p
We stayed outside the concert area lang after purchasing our hindi-overpriced P50 beers (na short lang ang lines, woop!).
Stayed a little while experimenting with the free cups of Nestea Iced Tea and our beer... Before going back to our hotel. Cute lanterns lined the beach venue papuntang exit of Summer Siren:
Back in Punta de Uian, some of our hotel-mates were on their way palang to the Summer Siren! Haha! Kami na talaga ang lolas na uwing uwi na, haha!
We stayed late nalang next to our own quiet beach and with our resort's own food... Before calling it a night. :)
The next day, aka our last day! I alarmed na talaga ng 7am to maximize the trip!
Ang ganda ng outside of our room... Perfect place to hangout:
We walked to the resort's beach, na very quiet and onti pa ang tao. Tapos most of the groups pa na andun nga, were headed naman to an island hopping. Kaya pala aalis pa sila e may beach naman, kasi ang LAKAS ng waves sa part namin. Ang hirap mag swim, challenge na kahit tampisaw, haha!
But we still opted na solohin this:
After our attempts na "mabasa" (haha), spent hours just lying down sa sarong+sand, with Meh's music. Nakakamiss din! I have a thing for #TravelThrowbacks sa IG ko lately, and most of those trips na pinopost ko....sila ang kasama ko! :)
"We can do this all niiiight!"
Few hours of sun soaking, we went back na to the resort resto for breakfast. We weren't able to avail of the pool, but ang ganda nya:
After pagbabad sa initan, we craved for mango shake:
Meh: "Skittles?!" Haha! Part of our junk stash na naging inside sabaw joke nadin for the whole trip.
Then, we (medyo loudly) we finally said good bye na to our beautiful resort and its sobrang nice and friendly people, tapos ready na for another hours of drive back to Manila. Matagalan nanaman to, but also actually my favorite part. :)
Thank you Ayos Dito for this Ayos Na Summer escape! Visit:
 Closeup Forever Summer and 2) Porac "Sandbox" Pampanga getaway . In short, nafrustrate ako nya...){kind=link}
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