Search

Fun Activities, Great Restaurants and Places to Stay at in San Juan, La Union

Elli
Oct 4, 2017
4 min read

Pwede (pu·wede) is a Tagalog (A language widely spoken in the Philippines) term which means OKAY or possible. In this article, we will use the word Pwede and other Tagalog terms to express our level of appreciation for activities, food and places in San Juan, La Union.

Day 1: Our trip to San Juan, La Union

One of the best ways to spend a vacation is by going to the beach. Trust me when I say, the Philippines has a lot of them! There are beaches where you can enjoy water activities and there are some where you can be mesmerized by its beauty. If you are lucky, some beaches offer both and so much more.

We wanted to hit the road early so we can get out of Manila right away and beat the traffic. Our meeting place was McDonald’s in Eton Centris.

Eton Centris would be a good place to meet up if you are driving Northbound along EDSA.

We got to the first toll of NLEX at approximately 7:45 am and agreed to make a stopover at the Petron Gas Station had we not missed it because the signs were not easily discernible. Instead, we made a stopover at the Shell gas Station near Tabang, Guiguinto, Bulacan.

Travelling early gave us the benefit of driving smoothly along SCTEX and TPLEX. The time spent on travel from NLEX to San Juan, La Union was approximately 4 hours. We interviewed other people who traveled from Manila to San Juan at a later time and it took them 8 hours. That’s twice our travel time!

Sebay Surf Central

Our first stop was Sebay Surf Central. One of my travel buddies, KD always stayed there every time she visited San Juan. The rates at Sebay were affordable and the staff were friendly. The rooms… well, during the couple times we stayed there, we had a few complaints.

Wi-Fi was not that reliable and it was difficult to get consistent, decent data services from both Smart and Globe. If you are planning to stay there, be prepared to be disconnected from social media. If you are inseparable, look for a location with better signal. I must say though that when we transferred to a room closer to the reception area, we got better Wi-Fi signal somehow.

If you are not the type of person who fusses too much about quality, this would be an okay place to stay, or shall I say it’s a Pwede place to stay.

Here is our rating for Sebay:

Customer service

Ambiance/ Rooms

Hindi Masyado (So-so)

Internet (Wi-Fi or data services)

Sariling Sikap (DIY)

Something remarkable: Affordability

Here is the link to their room rates. http://sebaysurfcentral.com/rates/

By the way, Sebay is constructing new rooms and we are looking forward to the completion. We will probably be checking in at Sebay when we come back so we can write another review.

Choka Restaurant

After we checked in at Sebay, we looked for a place to eat because we were famished. Unfortunately, one of our favorite restaurants, Angel and Marie, was being renovated.

Across Angel and Marie was Choka Restaurant. We ordered Salpicao for P290 and Cream Dory Fillet for P250. What got our attention was that their serving size was generous and had lots of greens. It was a little pricy compared to nearby restaurants and the taste could use a little enhancement.

Here is our rating for Choka Restaurant:

Customer service

Taste

Hindi Masyado (So-so)

Something remarkable: Serving size

ICE TO BEAT THE HEAT!

We bought some ice from one of the sari-sari stores (neighborhood variety store) located in Urbiztondo Road. The ice costs P5.00 per bag. I don’t think they used purified water so I don’t recommend this for human consumption. We bought 10 pieces and it was very effective in keeping our drinks in the cooler cold. They lasted almost the entire duration of our stay. I’d say 3 days since we ran out of drinks to cool on the 4th day.

You can also buy 6 liter bottle of water and other things you might need from this sari-sari store.

Sandbar

Sandbar was recommended by one of the locals so we had our dinner there. It had a nice view of the beach and it was spacious or probably felt spacious because there were only a few customers at the time. Since it was a Friday and a long weekend, we were expecting more vacationists to arrive the following day.

The attendant at Sandbar was good at multitasking. He was the cashier, the cook and the one who buses the tables. I asked him if he was the only attendant at the restaurant. He said, yes. He added though that he sent the other staff home early in preparation for tomorrow as they were expecting more customers to arrive.

KD ordered Surfstar Beef Steak and I took a chance of ordering Sizzling Squid even if it was not on the menu. Fortunately, it was available and it exceeded my expectations! It had cheese and it was spicy (two among my favorite ingredients to enhance taste). I felt delighted while I was eating it. We also got 2 cups of rice and the total bill was P300. Both meals we ordered were delicious and very affordable.

Our rating for Sandbar:

Customer service (Great!)

Something remarkable: Taste

Something remarkable: Affordability

Fun Activities at Sandbar

Sandbar is a great place to chill and chat with friends while listening to the music and waves. They allowed us to bring beer (beer that they don’t have) without charging us a corkage fee.

The attendant also mentioned that they had a videoke machine but it was borrowed by someone. If it was available, it would be another good reason to hang out at Sandbar.

After chilling at Sandbar, we went back to Sebay and it’s time to call it a night!

Here are the places we visited in Urbiztondo, San Juan, La Union

1. Sebay Surf Central

2. Choka Restaurant

3. Sandbar

Watch out for the next couple blogs. Day 2 and Day 3 in San Juan, La Union!