Rural Is The New Urban

- Cecile Jusi-Baltasar

“First two years ko rito, ang damit na dala ko lang, dalawang T-shirt, isang polo, dalawang shorts,” Adoro says. This was 17 years ago, two years before the Eraserheads (where Adoro was the lead guitarist) broke up. Back then, only locals and hardcore surfers knew about San Juan’s tall waves. Today, however, a steady stream of weary city dwellers—more coffee chuggers than surfers—keeps San Juan’s roadside cafes and restaurants full. It seems this part of La Union (or Elyu, as La Union has come to be known) has become the place to be at for people fed up with noisy, complicated Manila. Do they know something we don’t? Uprooted “Nung 1997 pa lang, may nagsabi na sa’kin na may surfing community sa La Union,” says Adoro. But the Eraserheads were at their peak then; Adoro had no time to surf. “Three years later—