Even though I’m a certifiable (yes, certifiable) beach bunny, I know there’s so much more to do and discover. There are mountains to be climbed, trails to be biked, waves to be surfed and oceans to swim… I just haven’t been able to get off my butt and do these things. But a girl can always dream, right?

(Photo from R.O.X. website)

I found myself at R.O.X. (Recreational Outdoor eXchange) at Bonifacio High Street three times this week. First it was under the pretense of looking at bikinis; I had the mistaken notion I should rock a Roxy or a Billabong next time I went surfing. (I ended up buying a hot pink bikini at Pink Belter.) While I was there, I got sucked into the bike section where I drooled over a Giant mountain bicycle designed for women that was small enough for me and had sexy paint details. This, despite the fact I do not bike up mountains and don’t even know how to shift smoothly between bike gears.

 I liked the bike so much I took photos.

The second time, I was looking at rash guards and found a nice local brand, Fluidsurf, selling both rash guards and board shorts. But while I was browsing the aisles I found myself getting excited over fanny packs and wash bags, of all things.

(Photo from R.O.X. website)

I found myself lost in a daydream about hiking and needing a fanny pack at my hip so I could have freedom of movement, and using a wash bag to contain all my toiletries as I roughed it in the wild. Then I realized the wash bag couldn’t hold my makeup kit.

Well, today I gave in to one of my R.O.X. fantasies and got myself a Fluidsurf rash guard. Before I hied off to the checkout counter, I caught myself casting a longing gaze at the DC skate gear in the corner.

I’m in retail therapy trouble, aren’t I?

I was feeling every bit of the rainy weather when out of the blue I got a text message from my friend Al. “Hey do u have plan [sic] today? We’re doing surf lesson in Pasig for Weekend Warriors. U wanna join us?”

Never mind that I had a VTR scheduled that afternoon (it was for support cast anyway). Never mind that I still had a 400-word article to finish for Action & Fitness Magazine (done in one hour, yo!). Never mind that it was rainy (I’d get wet anyway). I jumped on the chance to try out surfing at Club Manila East, which I’d already heard about from my friends.

  “Weekend Warriors” is an upcoming web show on Flippish.com with Ton Gatmaitan, Chris Tan, Jinno Rufino, and Al Galang. They’re a group of buddies in search of the ultimate adrenaline rush and great things to do on a weekend getaway. Naturally, they need guest Girlfriends of the Week to round out the cast. Jinno was knocked out by illness, and I was the only girl they could get to show up that day. Chris said, “If you hadn’t shown up, we’d have canceled the shoot. It would have been too much of a sausage-fest.” Yeah, but the problem with having a girl on an extreme sports show is she just might show you up.

The other girl was Lorraine Lapus, one of the coaches from the Philippine Surfing Academy, which runs the lessons at CME. She explained the parts of a board, basic safety procedures, and how to get up on the board. I’d already been through some instruction as part of the surfing lesson I had during a LAC trip to Zambales, but it was still great getting a refresher. After all, my first and last surf session was back then in 2007.

The boys were all avid wakeboarders so they already knew which was their back foot, but it came as a surprise to me that Al was surfing for the first time. “There was a lot of surfing back where I grew up,” he admitted (he grew up in LA), but he’d never had interest in anything else aside from balls. The bouncy kind. The sporty kind. Aw heck, sorry Al…

We took our boards into the pool and waited for the wave machine, which started sending out 3- to 5-foot swells. As soon as my turn came up, my muscles went and did their thing. What do you know? Surfing is just like riding a bicycle. You never forget how.

Let’s get it up, boys!

Soon enough, the boys were riding their own waves, with Chris getting the longest rides to shore. Ton had some trouble with his board, but got the money shot. And Al? I bet he regretted not starting younger.

After about two hours of this (mostly in the middle of a torrential downpour that had water drops bouncing from the waves into our eyes), we were wet, dog-tired, but happy. And I missed my VTR. But I wouldn’t have spent my afternoon any other way.

Hang loose!

Half the year, Boracay’s a fun summer getaway with calm waters and warm sun perfect for swimming and sunbathing. But what do you do the other half of the year when it turns into a literal wet blanket, with huge waves and frequent rainshowers?

My friends and I were lucky or unlucky to be in Boracay right at the turn of the season from dry to wet. We landed under a clear sky, but incoming rains washed out our second day’s plans at the beach. So, we turned to other pursuits… like riding a Zorb.

Er, wait a minute… what’s a Zorb? It’s a very large transparent plastic sphere with a hollow core. People get into that core and then roll downhill. I’d seen a small feature on TV about this extreme sport when it started in New Zealand, so I was definitely excited about trying it for myself.

Zorbing had just started on the island the previous week, so even the tricycle drivers didn’t know exactly how to get there. Our trike had to go past Alta Vista de Boracay resort, then take a turn to the left and climb a steep hill. Since the trikes don’t have very powerful engines, each trike was limited to carrying 4 people (excluding the driver) and the drivers charged each of us P50 per way (P100/person for the round trip).

We had two ride options: the harness ride where two people are strapped into the core opposite each other, and the water ride where one to three people can climb inside the Zorb, have it partially filled with water, and then have the hole plugged so they could roll downhill on a cushion of water. We all opted for the harness ride (P350/person).

Ideally both riders should weigh the same give or take five kilos, but the Zorb is safe to ride for people with up to a 20kg weight difference. None of the riders should weigh above 80kg though.

So my friend and I were strapped in, and once we started rolling down that hill, I couldn’t stop screaming! Part of it was I got freaked by a leg strap coming off, although I should have known I was completely safe because the chest straps and centrifugal force would hold me against the inside of that Zorb.

It was a thrilling ride and gave us something to be busy about that rainy afternoon. The gloomy weather actually helped, as we realized during the summer it might get stifling hot inside those Zorbs.

Next time I might try the water ride, but only if I were wearing the right gear, like a rash guard and a one-piece swimsuit. We were told a Korean tourist had gotten disrobed the other day during her Zorb ride — yikes!