My first time to visit LU was early in 2013 for the first Soul Surf. Ever since then I’ve been making several trips back, and I still continue to fall in love with it every time. There’s always comfort in knowing we’ll be going because I love just being in the beach, surfing once in a while, being surrounded by the people from there, eating my heart out, and basically just chilling all day and forgetting about time.

I’ve stayed in The Circle, Urbiz Garden and Flotsam and Jetsam before. All very good places to stay in but for this trip, we were luckily able to get last minute reservations at Flotsam.

Much has changed from our last visit: two new structures are now being built to hold additional rooms and a private area for the Sebastian sisters, there are two additional kubos, making it four kubos that can accommodate eight people each; the lot beside now belongs to Flotsam and can accommodate more cars for parking; and a beach front bar is in the works to expand the party area of the hostel.

It’s really great seeing how Flotsam has changed in a span of two years. The unique space and culture they’ve built are things people from Manila are eager to see and experience, and I’m glad that it continues to grow and evolve. They’re even working on making their own organic garden!

Of course, I couldn’t help but take a few shots for Common Ware. Mik and Megan are wearing one of our new prints coming out this year.

Elunion, one of LU’s most famous coffee shops, is now three times its size and is a two minute walk from Flotsam.

The interior of the coffee shop was carefully designed by my friend Carla (whose sister owns Flotsam). It’s just as pretty as the hostel and is Instagram-able from every corner.

Another quick getaway before ending 2015. Even though we were only able to surf once and the waves were a bit more rough than I could take, it still was an enjoyable trip and a good way to end the year. Though it might require a four to six hour drive and the city traffic could be a little ridiculous, the trip to LU is always worth the drive.

To read a bit more on LU and Flotsam, you can go back to a previous post I shared here. A little food sharing from LU in my #danielaeats post coming up soon.