Wise Words To Live By At The Circle Hostel La Union, Philippines

A few months back, I spent a great weekend at The Circle Hostel La Union and loved its cool, creative, laidback vibe. It's a great place to visit if you want to quickly escape from the city and to meet fellow travelers and new friends.

At The Circle Hostel, guests are free to paint and write on almost every surface available within the hostel. I took photos of the ones I liked, and you'll find them below (one of them I even wrote myself! Guess which one it is).

Do you ever feel compelled to leave a piece of yourself behind in the places you travel to? 

A Weekend Well Spent at The Circle Hostel La Union

Summer was ending, it was the first weekend of June and I was starting to get busy with my new job when I found myself spending a weekend with strangers-turned-friends at The Circle Hostel in La Union for a much needed break from the city. I had been meaning to check out their first hostel in Zambales but hadn't found the time to do so, so I was more than thrilled to be part of the blogger event they organized for their new branch in La Union.

It was a swell weekend to say the least (pun intended, though there were actually no waves and we weren't able to surf when we were there). My corporate sellout self badly needed the break - the fresh air, the afternoon spent hanging out in the common area talking about random things while listening to Jason Mraz and eating green mangoes freshly plucked from a nearby tree, the random drinking games, the night spent by the beach lying down on the sand looking out for shooting stars, and the chance at meeting new and interesting people. I had been to La Union more than a couple of times prior, but it felt like a new place all over again mostly because of the people I got to hang out with that weekend. The coolest thing was realizing how small Manila is - at The Circle Hostel I spent time with people I had either met before (I was even in a meeting with one of the guys once! Hello Jake! How random is that?) or had random common friends with.  

There's just something about The Circle Hostel that makes it conducive to making new friends. I'm not usually the chatty-chatty type (really, I'm not!) with strangers but during our weekend  in La Union, apart from the bloggers I went with, we also met the guys from GoodLifeCrewPH, and all it took was a few questions about their GoPro gadgets (and they sure had a lot of them gadgets!) and an offer of green mango slices. Two of them, after leaving their jobs in Singapore, are setting out on a journey across the Philippines and documenting their trip with their GoPro cameras. How cool is that? Theirs was just one of the many inspiring stories I heard that weekend about stepping out of ordinary routines and stepping into extraordinary, exciting lives.   

If you're looking for a quick weekend getaway and can't find any friends to take with you, book a bed in The Circle Hostel Zambales or La Union - you would've set out on your own but you'll definitely come back with at least a few friends!

San Juan Bloggers' Weekend at The Circle Hostel!

 

It's only the middle of the week but already I'm looking forward to the weekend, because I’ll be spending it at The Circle Hostel La Union with a group of amazing travel bloggers. I’m so excited! I’ll be posting about it soon, watch out for it! Anybody else hoping to catch some waves/sun/sand/good vibes in LU this weekend? See you there! :)

Snapshots: Forgotten Surfboards, Baler

Emil and I found them while exploring the resort we stayed in. He was looking for hot girls, I was looking for cute guys, this is what we found.

Snapshots: The Little Red Tricycle, San Juan, La Union

I'm gonna miss spending weekends in San Juan, La Union - the surf season is over, and waves will be hard to come by in La Union in the coming months, so we won't be back there for a while. We will check out Baler later in the month, though. Wish us luck!

Snapshots: En Route to La Union

On account of the sort-of long weekend, the bus station was overflowing with people who had been waiting for six hours and had yet to get a ticket for their destination. So we decided to take Mark's car to La Union! We're here now, chilling for now, but hoping to catch some waves in the afternoon. Here's to a happy weekend!

Summer in the City: A Weekender's Guide

I had dinner with a bunch of college friends Friday and they gave me the low-down on a bunch of upcoming summer activities in the city and (just a little bit) beyond. And seeing as it's Monday and all, I thought it'd be nice to post this to get us through the work week - just some things to look forward to in the coming weekends. Time to start planning your summer folks!

March 24-25: Surfista Travels, La Union

Learn to surf and meet a bunch of new people in La Union with Surfista Travels! I took my first surfing lesson late last year and we've been back in La Union twice since then. The sun, the sand, the surfing - formula to an epic weekend. And the team at Surfista Travels will arrange everything for your weekend surf trip so you don't have to worry about anything. If you need more convincing, check out the video below:

Surfista Travels Facebook Page
Surfista Travels Official Site


March 31: Bactidol 12-Hour Sing-A-Thon, Redbox Eastwood

Gather a team of ten and put your throats to the test for Bactidol's 12-hour sing-a-thon! We already have a team in the office, and we are registered and ready to go sing up a storm on the 31st. See you there! You can check out the registration instructions and full mechanics here.

Facebook Page


April 13-15: Billabong All-Girls Surf Camp, La Union



One more trip for all the lady surfistas out there by Billabong and Surfista Travels.

Official Site

April 14: Outbreak Manila 5k Run, Nuvali

The phrase "run for your life" has never been as appropriate for a 5k marathon as it is for this one. In Outbreak Manila, not only must you race against time and exhaustion, you must also outrun hungry zombies! I'm not a runner at all, but this is very very tempting. The site is all sorts of witty fun too!

Official Site

April 28-30: FLOW Surf Yoga Samba, Baler

I learned how to surf thanks to FLOW! We went to their November leg in La Union last year which was amazing fun - we did yoga and samba, and also learned about eating healthy with their raw food workshop. Plus, I met some lovely people on the trip. It was a great weekend to relax, get refreshed and rejuvenated. I'll probably write a whole other post just about my FLOW experience soon, but for now, sign up for their April leg in Baler before slots run out!

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Snapshots: Life's a Beach in San Juan, La Union, Philippines

I still can't get over our awesome weekend spent in San Juan, La Union. There were hardly any waves on the first day but we were able to surf on Sunday, which was so much fun and made the overnight bus ride from Manila worth it! When we weren't surfing or frolicking in the water, we were playing Monopoly Deal and Cluedo, eating (a lot!), and just hanging out at the resort. On Saturday night we stayed out late by the beach, laid out on the sand and spent the night looking up at the sky waiting for shooting stars, engrossed in conversation. There couldn't have been a better way to spend a weekend away from the city after a long week at work.

Snapshots: La Union, Philippines

Five days to the first long weekend of the year! Have you made any plans yet? Why don't you give surfing a try in La Union? It's only a few hours away from Manila, perfect for a long weekend roadtrip with friends.

I'm writing up a guide to this year's long weekends, with trip suggestions and loads of pictures, wait for it in the coming days!