Set along San Juan Beach, Flotsam & Jetsam is actually a laid-back artist beach hostel with a colorful complex of buildings featuring bamboo, thatched roofs and whole trees.

Hipsters would surely love this artsy-fartsy place. Every nook & cranny is a photographer’s delight so make sure you bring your hi-def cameras. <3 Looking as fit & fab as this model helps in making the photo look great too! 😉

This hostel is all about low key & self-service. Don’t expect pampering & service de luxe from the very limited staff. Even the water for drinking you have to get for yourself.

Pay as you order at the counter & dine al fresco. I’m pretty sure this place comes alive at night.

You can’t eat at Flotsam & Jetsam and not try their signature drink. Got the Flotjet Jeff Ortega signature drink STAY 270 php which is rum & coconut based. It cooled me off, but the rum warmed the pit of my belly at the same time. Wrong choice if you want to cool off. Get a shake instead, lol. Btw, Jeff Ortega is a popular surf entrepreneurs in the north, currently making great waves in the surf ‘biz in La Union.

The girls loved the food at Flotsam & Jetsam because high fiber red rice was served with every meal in lieu of the standard white rice. Feeling healthy kuno even with the fatty bagnet, lol. As you can see, cats (& dogs) are welcome in & around the dining area. Something that foreigners actually welcome, but a no-no in our Philippine culture. This cat, the owners’ pet actually, kept jumping up on our table, sniffing our food, and we had to shoo him off periodically. This is SO not FDA approved hmp. Napaka-unhygienic please. @_@

Overall, we liked the food. Especially the presentation –hindi mukhang pang-probinsya. Price is a bit high though for a hostel, but since they use red rice which costs more, pwede na rin siguro. What we ate: Seared tuna 320, Holy crab wendelle 320, Crisp pork belly 260, Fried chicken padang 270, Sally’s burger steak 250, Hangover noodles 190, Pulled pork nachos with cassava 230.

Halo Halo de Iloko sits in an old house-turned-restaurant. The place is eclectic & interesting, I’m really glad Ate googled places to eat in advance so we were able to schedule the ones we wanted to visit accordingly. Minsan may silbi rin ang pagka-OC nya haha. 😉

At 4 pm, the place was still so very busy. We had to wait 30 minutes to be seated. Would have preferred the air-conditioned area, but beggars can’t be choosers right? Kung saan may available, just be thankful for the table.

Not to be missed, this Buco Halo Halo 185 php. All the standard ingredients like tapioca, nata de coco, coconut strips, red beans, ube halaya (candied purple yam), yema, bits of cheese & ice cream among many things is there, but what sets it apart from other halo-halo is the mountain rice that tastes like “pulvoron” with hints of chewy pinipig that they add to the mix. I super loved it! Each serving costs PHP 70.00 to 185.00 depending on the size.

Also must try since you’re already there, this Pritong Halo-Halo 150 php (turon with other stuff mixed in) for variety.

Even at night, Olas Banditos is hard to miss. A Mexican skull in a sombrero behind a cross of surfboards is painted on its outer wall, under a huge sign board bearing the restaurant’s name. It’s just a few minutes away from our resort & we just walked going there, armed with umbrellas borrowed from the front desk as it rained the whole day.

The open-air resto is decorated with street-style art and sends off a relaxed vibe that’s meant to have guests eat, sit back, drink, and stay a while.

The menu covers everything Mexican, from breakfast burritos to deep-fried flautas. The burritos are heavyweight and do not scrimp on ingredients, I’m happy to note. The tortillas and nachos are all made in-house, including sauces and condiments.

Busog lusog. Great choice kiddos! \m/ And ya know when the kids are full & happy, they break into a dance like this hahaha..