ISLAND BREAK: BORACAY PART I

No. Not yet. Wait. Yes.

At first I was very uncertain, but the captivating name Boracay sounded to me as a great escape from the routinely pressures of work and the toxic Manila atmosphere.

I stumbled upon Air Asia’s seat promos online and successfully booked one-way flights to Kalibo. Instead of using a credit card, I tried using this online payment facility called Dragonpay, preferably for Air Asia flights since transaction fees were waived.

We waited for other seat sales and reserved our return flights via Cebu Pacific Air and Tiger Airways (operated by Philippines’ SEAir). It was the last week of July, the time when seasonal typhoons had stopovers on our country. I was kind of worried whether our Boracay getaway would turn out great.

The day of escape has come and I felt excited. We resolved to meet by 8:00 a.m. at the Victory Liner Bus Terminal in Cubao to catch-up for the 9:00 a.m. departure to Marquee Mall in Angeles City.

It took less than an hour and half trip to Marquee, even though it was a Friday morning rush. While waiting for Air Asia’s free shuttle bus to Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, we decided to roam around the mall and look for some place where we can eat and arrange our luggage. I noticed that there were a lot of shops already and you can feel that Ayala Mall vibe. The landscape outside the mall was great and one could have a nice view of Mt. Arayat.

 

When everyone started ordering their food at Tokyo Tokyo, Luther and Christian accompanied me to the grocery to buy some chips and cookies for our trip. When we returned, I ordered the new Shogun Burger paired with my all-time favorite red iced tea and potato balls dipped in Japanese mayonnaise.

Then, we started setting aside the things we can hand-carry and the prohibited hand-carry items such as umbrellas and liquids into our check-in baggage. In fact, we only have a 15-kilogram allowance for all of us. We went back to the bus stop and boarded the free shuttle bus to the airport.

On the way to the airport, I sent a message to our contact, Kuya Hazel Joi, for the van and boat transfer service recommended by Mam Grace, a former boss who went to Boracay a week ahead of us. If you would like to avail their van-boat transfer services, you can contact Kuya Hazel Joi's through this number: +63 910 667 74 96 .

 

We checked-in our luggage at the counter and paid for the terminal fee. We waited until boarding the aircraft. Our excitement was exchanged by the warm welcome by their flight attendants. We were watching the beautiful stewardess who had the in-flight safety and emergency demo a few seats away from us. I was uncertain if our stewardess was the one you can see in the advertisements and billboards of Air Asia.

View of Aklan from the plane

It was our first Air Asia flight and we were happy and satisfied that we arrived safe at our destination. After getting our luggage, we went outside to meet Kuya Hazel Joi. Later, we agreed upon the van-boat transfer fees.

Roughly two hours of trip from the airport, we arrived at the Tabon Jetty Port. After paying for the environmental and port terminal fee, we boarded the boat bound to the island. I thought the boat was large enough to transport 25 to 35 persons to and fro Boracay Island at once.

Our first step on Boracay soil or should I say, sand, was at Tambisaan Jetty Port. We rode in a multicab from there to Station 2 near d*mall area.

We walked until we got to Tan’s Guest House where we have made a reservation. Four of our friends, who took the morning flight, also with Air Asia, had an early check-in at the accommodation. We were welcomed by Ms. Ailyn at the reception and asked their helper to accompany us to our respective rooms.

 
Our rooms were located at the Annex of TGH, a minute-walk from the reception area. As I entered the room, I can say it had nice, relaxing ambience. It was air-conditioned, had a mini-ref and cable television, and a clean comfort room. There is also a kitchen and an outdoor shower area. (Note: Here's Tan's Guest House' email addre)

Semi-native rooms of Tan's Guesthouse

We secured our things inside the rooms and went out to explore the place. Outside, Kuya Hazel Joi was waiting and recommended to us to try out a paluto restaurant named Boracay Fiesta Seafood Restaurant.
 

On the way to the restaurant, we dropped by a wet market near d*talipapa. There were many seafoods to choose from including the very expensive lobster. Since none of us could afford the one thousand seven hundred-peso lobster, we just decided to purchase crabs, prawns, squids, and fish.

The lobster

While waiting for the dishes to be served, we talked about how we were going to spend this Boracay escapade and how excited we were. We could already smell the aroma of the food being cooked in the kitchen. We had adobong pusit, chili crabs, ginataang isda, garlic and buttered crabs, and sinigang na sugpo on our menu.

After that sumptuous dinner, we wandered the beach strip.  We watched a live band in front of Boracay Regency while some of our friends have decided for a henna tattoo.

Boracay white sand at night

Henna tattoo

The night was vibrant and captivating. There were also a lot of fire dancers showcasing their skills to tourists, both locals and foreigners.

Fire dancer

I noticed that most restaurants in Metro Manila, from fast food to fine dining, had already a share of space on the island. Later, we decided to return to the guest house.

While waiting for my turn to use the shower, I got my iPod Touch and tried to connect to the guest house’ Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, I cannot connect even if there is coverage on our area. My disappointment on the Wi-Fi coverage was compensated by the hot shower.

Afterwards, it was a good night of sleep. I knew that we need to recharge for tomorrow's adventure!

To be continued...