San Juan, Surfing, and Bicol Express

We left Vigan on Monday morning and got right on a bus – throughout the trip, we never waited long for transportation. About three hours later, we were in San Juan, the surf capital of the Philippines, at the beach. We found a hotel – utilitarian compared to the beautiful B&B, but right on the beach – and walked to the other end, where there was a building that said “resort – restaurant.” There we ate lunch and met Lemon, the head surf instructor in San Juan. He said it was too windy to surf that afternoon, so we made an appointment for the next morning.

That left us with a free afternoon on the beach. Bill wanted to send a work email; there were three guys at the bar using wi-fi on their own computer; I asked if Bill could send a quick email and while he did that I pulled out my mystery book and sat in a lounge chair by the water. Some time later, I was still reading, and Bill was having beers with the three guys. I then took a walk, and later Bill joined me, holding the bag while I collected trash. There really wasn’t much trash though – I later learned that the surf instructors formed an NGO called Green Zinc and they do beach cleanups every Friday. They started the beach cleanup and realized there was no place to put the trash, so they lobbied for trash pickup. And then they lobbied for trash cans along the beach. Good for them!

We watched a beautiful sunset that night, and I had Bicol Express for dinner. Both Drew and Julie had raved about this dish – one of the spicier ones here. Yum! I liked it too, so I looked up a recipe, which I’ve copied below. Note, the recipe I found called for pork – I used creative license and changed it to chicken. I didn’t change “Baguio beans,” which are what green beans are called here. What I ate was tilapia, so you can really use the sauce with anything! Did I have Bicol Express in Bicol this past weekend? Find out soon!

The next morning, we woke up early for our surf lesson. Two hours board rental at 200 pesos an hour (about $4). Two hours lesson at 200 pesos an hour. And an additional 100 for shared transport to the beginners’ break, and 100 pesos tip – so a morning of surfing for $20! Just a little less expensive than my lesson in Waikiki (or what it costs in Southampton – I considered taking lessons there but it was too expensive!). I had thought we’d surf Monday afternoon and leave for Baguio on Tuesday, so I was thinking about when the lesson would end and that we’d then order lunch and shower and eat and – all of a sudden I realized I was NOT living in the moment! Here I was surfing, something I really wanted to do, and I was looking past it! Luckily I realized this early, and after that, I just enjoyed. As I did in Hawaii (I do promise to write that up in my other blog…but realistically, it may wait until this one is finished), I got right up and rode many a wave. Sometimes the waves petered out and sometimes I lost my balance, but I did pretty well (a good instructor and easy beginner waves helped) and I had a great time. Every time I looked over at Bill, I saw him falling down, but I was just pleased that he was game to try it. Surfing here in the Philippines was really Julie’s idea (I had seen it in Lonely Planet but until she brought it up I hadn’t planned on it) and I said I would go back with her on another trip – we’re going to go this coming weekend!

BICOL EXPRESS recipe
Estimated preparation time: 30 minutes
Estimated cooking time: 30 minutes
1/4 kilo chicken, thinly sliced
1 cup Baguio beans
3 cups long chili or jalapeno peppers
1 onion, minced
1 head of garlic, minced
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup coconut cream
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
Salt to taste

In a bowl of water with salt, soak chili peppers for 30 minutes then rinse and strain.
In a cooking pan, heat cooking oil and cook sliced chicken for a few minutes.
In another pan, sauté minced garlic and onion.
Add to the sauté the cooked chicken.
Then add the coconut milk, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the chili peppers, Baguio beans and cook until dish gets a little dry.
Add the coconut cream and simmer until the sauce thickens.
Salt to taste.