YES! Waves, white sand and islands are my windmills. I've come and gone to Siargao Island (the surfing capital of the country) -- thrice, for work. But this time, I went there in search for something.

Even as it is a six hours travel by land and two and half hours travel by boat from Cagayan de Oro, I keep coming back to this island. There is something that enthralls me and this time I knew what is it-the island has captivated my heart.

On this trip, I went alone and never bothered to tell friends where I am heading to. Why, I am on a journey with my self and I wanna be alone.

Though it's the 11th Siargao International Surfing Cup (Quicksilver Open Cloud 9), still I was never bothered about the event. The reporter instinct in me is still there; I have to cover the event but I'm not obliged to be at the boardwalk 24/7. Indeed, I made sure I have enough time for my self this time.

Leaving Cagayan de Oro at the crack of dawn is a holy hour to reach Siargao Island at daytime. Taking a "roll-on-roll-off" or "roro" for the first time is another experience (I have tried fast craft and an outrigger boat). It took us almost four hours to reach the island. You might thought it's boring but not. You will be amazed upon seeing islets inhabited and not, with a long stretch of pristine white shores, naturally-curved rock formations, the whirlpool of Surigao Strait and the horizon at its best.

It's a sight that will somehow refresh the withering soul of an urbanized individual like me.

Reaching the island thru the town of Dapa -- the entry point of the island feels like home to me. A home that I have long been searching for. Huh! Here I am again, Siargao!

As I reached my destination, the town of General Luna, I saw my local friends and getting acquainted with new friends.

As the event starts in Cloud 9-the surfing site, I did my job and was on my own the day that followed. I went around town walking with sand on my feet, walking barefooted on the shores of Cabuntog Lodge and Cottages (an LGU run resort), swimming and basking in the heat of the biting sun, seating in a hut listening to the refreshing murmur of the Pacific Ocean waves as they touch the shorelines, and reading Leo Buscaglia's "Living, Loving and Learning," simply allowing the day to unfold.

Those were the best days in my life when I just simply threw my cares away, losing track of the hour and the day and forgetting the pressures in my urban dwelling.

Some of the time, I talked with people whose lives are worth writing about, strolled in nearby towns like Pilar and Dapa together with foreign media and did something crazy, drank wine `til I've reached oblivion point, ate sting ray forgetting for a moment that it is endangered and simply did nothing.

I never worried about time and the food I will eat, meal after meal during surfing season. Why would I worry anyway, when all food in Cabuntog is free! You need to do is to register your name and eat to your heart's delight. My thanks to the provincial government of Surigao del Norte, local government of General Luna, the Department of Tourism-13 and to the Philippine Surfing Federation.

I bet I have the time of my life. I did things which I didn't do while in the city. No one bothers you if you walk alone under the heat of the Siargao sun, if you wear skimpy shorts, eat plentiful of `pan surf' in the street, jam with my new found friends from a tribal band and wait for hours till a day turns into another day.

I met so many people, both locals and foreign, made friends with them, exchanged views and ideas and shared experiences until the wee hours of the day. For me Siargao specifically General Luna is a place where you can really commune with nature. No hassle, no bustle and no qualms about life. Living there is so simple. People only worry about what to eat for the next meal yet in this corner of the country, dreams and ideals are never so distant. For in here, children especially the boys dream to have their own surfboards and be champions.

Siargao has become a destination for famous people who don't want to be bothered by paparazzis, foreign surfers who want to enjoy the tropical sun and locals who are naive of surfing though it has the best resorts, bountiful of sumptuous seafoods and enjoys a low cost of living. It's simply the best place to be.

I know then what I have been looking for and I found in the island, is a life that is so simple allowing you to just be you. This is where my heart rests.

After a month of wandering around looking for something missing in my life, I know that I have found my place in Siargao. As long as the waves of Cloud 9 keeps rolling, the sands are white, the islets are there and the horizon can be seen from a distance, I'll keep coming back. (RBY) 

source: Sun Star

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/cag/2006/10/12/life/siargao.island.where.my.heart.belongs.html