More on the Surfing Life

19th Siargao International Surfing Cup

 
Truth to be told, I missed almost everything on the recently held 19th International Siargao Cup.  I had booked my flight to Siargao one day too late, so I only caught the Women's final.  It was my first time watching a surfing competition and I was just amazed at how the ladies showed all of us how it was done. And Cloud 9 did not disappoint, it was just awesome that day and I was mesmerized at the rumbling of the waves as it barreled down the reefs and gave hard-core surfers the time of their lives.  Also, I discovered that I actually was scared of the waves. No kidding, as I was readying myself to catch waves on my own, the sight of the wave barreling next to me was daunting and I kept falling off my board.

This was the match I was hoping to catch, but missed it entirely.  Osot, the only Filipino left in the semis against three Indonesian professional surfers, placed in second.  We were still very proud of him (Well, me in particular.  He was my instructor during my very first trip to Siargao).

A parade of colors at the Boardwalk.

When you are as good as Nildie Rietenbach, your caddies include great surfers like Piso Alcala and Mamara Tokong.

Heading out to surf Cloud 9.

The Blancada sisters competed against each other in the finals round of the women's cup.

I still hung out at Kermit out of habit (and for the good food) but did not stay there.  Which was a total shame, because of all the [gorgeous, sexy, Italian] boys that were staying in the resort. 

It's raining (Italian) men, hallelujiah!

I know, right? These boys are literally littered all over the place.

Meet my cute (and half-naked!) lunch buddies.

Including tattoo artist, Inigo (who will do my tattoo the next time I get back to the island).

An Italian film crew was in Siargao to see what the island had to offer.  They crew included Italian pro surfer Elena Bertolini.

I was super thankful resident yogi Lili Infinity let me hang out with her for the weekend, taking me to catch waves with Timoy at Pisangan, which was an other-worldy experience.  I could totally feel the difference in the ride, compared to Cloud 9 and Quicksilver - it was just amazing.  (No photos, unfortunately.  I realized when I was hanging out with hard core surfers that they more interested in catching the waves rather than documenting the entire thing.)

Lone long-boarder (literally, I was the only one with an instructor and a long board out there).

Morning line-up at Cemetery beach.

Our boat ride to Pisangan (which thankfully saved me 1 kilometer's worth of paddling).

Boards on a boat.

Tim is stoked post-surf even if he had to share the waves with everybody else at the line-up (including me hehe).

Yoga teacher and surfer, Lili Infinity.

My surf guy for the weekend, Timoy (thanks for helping me get stoked!).

However, I'm glad that there were no photos of us getting drunk out our minds (hello Tanduay Rhum, Red Horse, Gold Eagle beer, and only god knows what else were handed out that night) and dancing on top of tables at one in the morning.  Of course, it led to me flying again back to Cebu with a really massive hang-over, but it also included one of the best times of my life.  Salamat karajaw, Siargao and I'll see you again soon!

The awesomeness that is Cloud 9 never gets old, it only gets better.