Night Bus to La Union + Kahuna Makati Bistro

When I left the house for La Union last September 18, everything was sunny and bright. I have no kabarkada in this trip, but I have a backpack and small luggage filled with beach essentials to last me for seven days, and an open mind and heart to whatever is in stored for me for this trip. All is set for me.

I spent the day in the mall for last minute errands (have my nails done, buy a few stuff, etc), and when nighttime fell, Grabbed my way to our meet-up place in Kahuna Makati Bistro. They wanted us to have dinner and try their dishes in Makati before our travel to their La Union resort.

Kahuna Makati Bistro is located along Jupiter Street, serving great cuisine and drinks in a laid back atmosphere - much like in a beach resort in the city. The restaurant includes satellite TV with international sports, a pool table, live entertainment, and a whiskey lounge / smoking room. Aside from a great lunch-out / after-work dinner place, I think Kahuna Makati Bistro is also the perfect location for events and product launches in Makati.

But above all, it was our ice breaker to this one-week trip!




When I got there, 1/3 of the group were already entertained by Kahuna Makati Bistro's Food and Beverage Manager Sir Christian Isip. I regret eating dinner before heading here as they kept on serving really great food non-stop!


SO. MUCH. FOOD. Hi Dan, it was my first time to meet him:


Kahuna Makati Bistro serves both local and international cuisines, adding their own interesting twist. Chef Ian came up with dishes that are familiar, but unique. I'd say, Kahuna Makati Bistro's menu is very well thought out, and bonus nalang that everything's also very affordable for such huge serving size!

HUGE serving size! Haha! 

When they placed this cheese and crackers platter on the table, I can't help but ask for a glass of red wine! Ahhh.. my weakness!

Kahuna Makati Bistro's chicken wings come in different sauce - from super spicy, mild, to sweet.

GIANT burger and burrito to share for the whole barkada:

They also serve lunch meals for only Php 75! People who work nearby (Jupiter St. or Makati Ave) are so lucky to have Kahuna!


Fun cocktails served in fish bowls:

Cute pink drink that reminded me of spring in Japan:

Thanks for the fine dinner / pre-travel send-off!

Of course, there's always room for dessert!

Check out Kahuna's BenefEat for A Cause fund raising dinner for cancer patients on October 16 and 23. They created special drinks and dishes just for this event.

More on Kahuna Makati Bistro HERE, or like them on FACEBOOK!

With no reservations, the group spontaneously searched online for buses heading to La Union that night. When everything's settled, we said our thanks and good byes to the Kahuna Makati Bistro group, and rode two separate cabs to meet the rest at the Partas Cubao bus terminal.

We reached the terminal roughly a few minutes before the 12am departure. Buzzer Beater!! The ticket booths were deserted, and in no time, we were all boarding the half filled bus. We paid the Cubao to La Union fare at Php 422 each.

Can't remember why the sad face, Rhea! Hehehe. I think we were too tired and just ready to sleep!

Like true adventure organizers, McPol of http://www.weekendsidetrip.com and Cha Ocampo of http://www.chaocampo.com went in front of (well) half of the bus. Thank you for making this trip happen!

We were just fooling around in this photo though, there were no formal itineraries and program for this trip! They were even joking that we need to include #RideWithPartas on our Instagram hashtags, lol!

The rest of the group: Hi beshies!!! Spot Michael nursing a hangover, hehehe:

We were also with Mike, Kat, and Chino:

Most of us took our spots and solo-occupied a whole seat so we can stretch and sleep during the 4.5 hours travel time. I have a long kimono with me that I just bought that day, which I used as blanket. I was so tired that it didn't take long till I dozed off.

It was already past 6 in the morning when I woke up to a thump of someone sitting next to me, a different rendition of Huling El Bimbo playing loudly on the bus speakers. A bit annoyed, I took a peep from my makeshift blanket and realized that sun has already risen, and the public vehicle was already occupied to the back with people going to either work or school! I timidly searched for my shoes (syempre naka taas pa paa ko, haha!), fixed my hair, and kept all my valuables in my backpack.

At around what felt like an hour or so, we were already asked by the conductor to alight from the bus as we finally reached our destination: San Juan, La Union.