Seventeenth’s Sem-Starter in Samara

The PIC 17th batch opened the second semester at a beach resort in Aringay, La Union. An ultimate bonding experience for two days. This outing has long been planned but we just didn't have enough budget and common time. But then Milton, a batchmate who's now based in Australia has the kindest heart and sent money for our batch outing to be pursued. Indeed, he is generous! Imagine sparing money for an outing even if you wouldn't be part of it. :D

So we had the money. Next thing was looking for the perfect place where we could spend a weekend together. When you are in Baguio where everything's slopy, more often you'll prefer a weekend getaway in the lowlands. Amidst the cold season, a trip to the beach where we could still enjoy the nature and breath fresh air while bonding is what we unanimously decided.

La Union is the place to be. Being the nearest water trip destination to the City of Pines, well, aside from Asin, we've decided to go beaching in the province just below the Cordillera mountains. I've been there twice and having enjoyed my past vacations there, I highly recommended the place and so with my other batchmates who've been there.

We first thought of going to San Fernando, the province's capital. It was where my other organization spent the sem-ender last time and the cottages are cheap. But then we settled with Aringay since one of my batchmates knows someone who owns a resort in the place and we could bargain for the cottage.

There's a budget. The place was settled. Next was to find a common time when most of us could go. This was actually the hardest part since being college students, we have different schedules. Some of us have classes and exams even on weekends. We just decided to get a certain weekend when most of us are available. Unfortunately, due to academic and other matters, I first decided not to go to the outing. Instead, I volunteered to help prepare their food. But while we were cooking, I decided not to go. I'm not gonna miss this one! It's only for the night anyway. My other businesses could wait.

Camwhoring before leaving

After preparing eveything, we're headed to the Gov. Pack Road terminal. We wanted to ride a van for faster travel but it couldn't take us all in so some of us had to ride Victory Liner bus. Bus fare was around P50-P60 while in the van, they charged P70-P90 each. I was one of those prima donas who reserved a seat at the van. Since we occupied most of the seats (yap, there are other passengers aside for our group), we filled the one-hour trip with chats and laughters.

We ask the driver to just dropped us off in the central business district of Agoo where we would wait for the others. Since we had indefinite time of waiting, we went roaming around the first and took bunch of photos.

Stopover at Agoo

On our background is Jollibee Restaurant where we had a snack. The restaurant's architecture is a combination of modern and classic designs. The building is concrete but it has windows made of Capiz. By the way, Agoo displays a bit of old the Philippines. There are still lots of houses in Agoo that were built during the Spanish era. We also went camwhoring around Agoo Magic, this part is like the center of the town since most of the people go to this place on weekends.

When the other group arrived, we took a thirty minute jeepney  ride going to Aringay. We hired a jeep for Php1500 for the two way trip.

Samara Finally

This is it! Welcome to Samara! Fresh air from the sea! In this beach village, every household owns cottages that are for rent. We rented a two-room cottage from the resort our batchmate's friend's family owns. I didn't know if there is a place to camp out since our neighboring places are also private.

Sunset is lovely. We were so excited we already took a dip while the sun was setting.

Night time. The tide is high and the water is kinda harsh. We wanted to swim but the place is too dark. There are no lights at the shore although we still went on dipping at the cool water while holding each other's hands and constantly calling each other's name to be sure no one will be lost. :D

After having enough of the water, we set a bonfire from the shore. But it was too windy everything we put in the fire blazed up and dies instantly. We tried burning this huge wood buried in the sand but the owner of the neighboring resort stopped us. He was worried it might cause fire in the nearby huts, fences and trees. We just had that easy-dying bonfire of coconut leaves. While we were drinking, it drizzled so we had to pack-up and resumed drinking in our hut.

Dinner,  Night Swimming & Drinking Session

And then we tried digging in the sand for this massive wood I wanted to burn for our bonfire. Yes, totally my idea. Mukhang tanga lang. Eventually, a local saw us and prevented us from lighting up the wood as it is too huge and might cause fire in the nearby huts. When it started drizzling, we went back to our cottage and resumed the drinking session.

Some resorts have videoke machines that customers can rent, however, we opted not to thinking it will be too noisy. We just spent the night away drinking, grilling some seafood we bought at the market and sharing stories.

Early morning, you can take a walk at the shore or a dip at the sea. Everything is perfect at this time. Fresh air, cool water, tamed waves, healthy rays of sunshine, few people. Tranquility at its best. After some skinny dipping in the morning, everyone was so hungry we munched up on leftovers from last night's drinking/bull session.

Some of us though, had to leave earlier back to the city to attend to other matters. I decided to leave early. Anyway I had a lot of fun and never regretted that I set aside some other things just to be with these people I love.

What happens in Samara never stays in Samara! Some we had to take home. Memories, stories, lessons, secrets revealed and some more love. Definitely there is a next time for this place.

we chase the boredom away by roaming around the place and at the same time purchasing other things we need like drinking water and some food.