July 22, 2006

By DYAN CASTILLEJO-GARCIA
with JACKIE CASTILLEJO

Sports Unlimited zipped up to Zambales to catch the waves. We caught a storm, too. But that did not stop us. Check out our trip’s special guests— the All-Stars, the international world hip-hop champions. We had a swell time surfing.

It was raining cats and dogs and pouring down hard. But what we didn't know was that the All-Stars are hardcore outgoers, rain or shine. They rated high on the fun meter. The World Cup fever was obviously still rubbing off on the All-Stars. One of their members, Jong, brought a soccer ball. Well, this group really does not dilly-dally when it comes to having fun. Upon arriving at Crystal Beach Resort, they immediately dropped their bags, took the ball out, went straight up to the beach front and split up in two teams. The football game was officially on.

Sometimes Marc Nelson and I go the extra mile to pump up our guests so they let loose, get hyped and get excited. But it was totally different with the All-Stars. There was no need for all the pumping-up. Fun from the All-Stars comes oh-so-naturally. Maybe it's that in-born-hip-hop nature of theirs that gives them their natural high.

From football to dodgeball, they played it all without even taking a breather. The group was tireless. We brought the dodge balls this time. But before we could even explain all the rules of the game, the All-Stars were off running, throwing and dodging.

It felt like we were all back in school playing under the rain during recess. But that time, there was more of a desire to eliminate each other from the game and win. I guess the Sports Unlimited's competitive energy rubbed off on the All-Stars.

When it was time for surfing, our instructors, Marc and Zaldo, began teaching the All-Stars Surfing 101 on the sand.

Honestly, we did not think the All-Stars would have any difficulty with the basics of surfing, which is really all about learning how to keep your balance while standing on the board. Look, these guys stand on their hands and even up on their heads so I guess balancing on their feet while on the board wouldn’t be a problem.

Coach Marc said the waves at Crystal Beach were too big for the beginners. The storm in the Pacific side caused the waves to be too wild. So we had no choice but to travel to Iba, Zambales, which was an hour drive to the farther north of San Narciso.

Once in Iba, we went straight to the Playa del Norte Resort since we got tipped that it was the perfect venue for first-timers like the All-Stars. However, it was still raining hard when we got there.

Despite the inclement weather, the All-Stars were all raring to go surfing. In fact, some of the members, like Kenneth and Kicks, did not anymore wait for coach Marc and coach Zaldo. They ventured out on their own. They stayed out the whole time. We were all stoked.

Even the girls were all “gung-ho.” The girls of All-Stars were all go-getters.

If there was a word to describe the All-Stars, it was persistence. They were all eager to do whatever they set their minds into. I guess that made them what they are—international world champions. As surfers, they were champions, too. Although the waves did not go easy on them, the All-Stars never gave up on surfing.

True to form, the All-Stars always found ways to have fun and goof around with each other when not surfing. It was so much fun just being around them. Their silliness was contagious and they were always out for a good laugh. They never failed to plot a practical joke.

We also had our own time with the waves. That time we were not completely new to surfing since we've surfed a few times before. But I have to say that every place for us was different. That made our surfing exciting every time.

Coach Marc and coach Zaldo gave us a brief picker-upper lesson on the sand before we took on the waves.

It was tough heading out to the water and going against the waves at first. It took us a few washouts before we started toget into our grooves. But trust us on this one, once you get to ride a complete wave, you can’t stop heading back into the water.

For the last activity, we played a game. With such a big group on the beach, we could not resist playing tug-of-war.

Marc's team was determined to beat our team. What they didn’t know was that, we had an experienced tug-of-war strategist on our team—Jong. Jong had a full-proof strategy that he said would guarantee us winning the challenge hands down.

We sure did win. We didn’t know where Jong got his full-proof strategy. But the next time we find ourselves in a tug-of-war challenge, we sure will do it the Jong way.