We spent two nights over at Baler for Beng’s birthday (she turned 25, we old), and it was pretty nice. Baler’s a municipality in Aurora, which is a province in the NE area of the Philippines. It’s “accessible via a mountain pass” and the drive takes about five hours.

Noah was pretty behaved on this trip. He shuffles between wanting to snuggle by our feet, wedging himself between me and Beng, or perching on my brother’s lap to look outside the window.

I don’t know about you, but car drives up north are my favorite, because it’s so beautiful. Up until recently, we very rarely drove up, opting for the convenience of Tagaytay, Batangas, etc., but I’ve got to say that I really, really enjoy going up north—even with the long drives.

I’d never been and prior to the surge in interest in surfing (Baler’s a good spot for that), I’d only heard about it from that movie with Jericho Rosales. Which I’ve never even seen. Basically, I knew nothing about Baler. Anyway, it was my first time there. I can’t say I learned much from my trip—sorry—but I did enjoy myself.

All I did was eat fries, read—on the bed, on a hammock, in the tub, reclined by the pool—drink silly cocktails, and swim. Which is the perfect vacation. In my mind, anyway. I didn’t try to surf, because I kind of feel like it won’t really be my thing.

I did float on in the ocean, though—somehow the water seemed saltier than usual—like a starfish, adrift. I watched the clouds change, sun bright at first and then completely enshrouded with a sky filled with clouds, and my mind shuffled around with The Kinks and One Direction and my own steady breathing.

Anyway, I thought I looked like a starfish. My sister’s surfing instructor said I looked like a dead body, haha.

If you were wondering, we stayed at Costa Pacifica, with like, adjoining rooms + a bigger suite. I don’t really know, but it was very nice and roomy. Certainly a lot of space for all five of us and Noey. I love the bathroom of the bigger room, and that when you go out and sit on the balcony to be by yourself (me), you’re overlooking the expanse of the ocean.

She wanted this photo…

My last meal was the pako asian herb salad, which was mainly comprised of cucumber (yech!), watermelon, and delicious pako, which is kind of an indigenous seaweed or something. LOL, it’s a fern. Here, I’ve got a piña colada, but I really much prefer the frozen margarita.

On this trip, I figured out that tequila makes me really, really sleepy.

The drive back took us a bit longer, but it’s probably also because we left way later than when we left Manila (7:30 am vs. 1:30 pm), but the view was still nice.

Noah was sleepy and cute. :)

Anyway, thank you for reading! I hope you’re having an excellent long weekend.