Travelogue XXXV: A Stormy Weekend in Boracay (DAY 3:Sept. 22, 2008)

 

  

 
    

 

 

 

  

Travelogue XXXV: A Stormy Weekend in Boracay (DAY 2:Sept. 21, 2008)

 It was another stormy but beautiful day in paradise… pretty much like yesterday.  Peter and I woke up so early that September 21, Sunday morning and just enjoyed another not-so-ordinary day in Boracay…

 It may be overcast but we didn’t care…

 See our moments in the surf…

     Have I told you we attempted to document the experience via video? What a disaster that was!  But fun!!! Come see… PG-21 please.

 Did I say “bitch” instead of beach?! Bwahahaha! What a fail.

I didn’t realize the first time my nips were showing so…

Final take na talaga, promise!

Well, so much for attempting to host a video… we just enjoyed the waves instead.

Are you seriously attempting to seduce me, Baboo? Srsly.

My boobies definitely helped me stay afloat. LOLz.

 The sand storm attack while we were on the way to get some breakfast.

 Good thing we found this place nearby… Real Coffee and Tea.

They really crushed real ginger for my ginger tea. Add a little honey and voila! Yummy hot drink perfect for the cold beach weather!

 Breakfast!!!!!

 TunaMelt sandwhich (Php 125) and pancakes with egg (Php125)

 and calamansi muffin (Php40)

Pssst… their food didn’t really taste that good. But coffee and tea were great!

After brunch, the storm stopped for a moment so we hit the beach again for some much needed UV rays.

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Travelogue XXXV: A Stormy Weekend in Boracay (DAY 1:Sept. 20, 2008)

 Peter and I were practically doing our count down 1 week prior to this trip. It’s been six long months since we last visited Boracay for  a  Holy Week rendezvous.  And with the bleak weather not helping at all, which has been going on for so long now (blame it to global warming… let’s go green, people!)  and  forcing us to stay in the city, a trip to the beach is indeed a must for beach bums like ourselves. Come to think of it,  after Holy week, we only had quite a handful of out of town trips. Let’s see, please indulge my being O.C. (obsessive-compulsive) at this point. It’s one of my quirks, if you don’t mind:

April 1-2 - Trip to Nasugbu & Tagaytay

Part I, Part II, Part III

April 19-20 -Trip to Crystal Beach & Subic in Zambales

Part I, Part II, Part III 

May 11 - Trip to Manila Ocean Park

 June27-28 - Trip to Evercrest Resort in Tagaytay

Jul 19-21 - Trip to Cebu

…and NONE in August! Ack! So I guess, we deserved to go to the beach despite the stormy weather. And  with my heart pounding that September 20 morning (due to fear of riding planes …[yeah, go figure] and excitement of seeing Boracay at this time of the year ), I anxiously logged off from work and headed straight to the airport. On the way out of our subdivision, Peter forgot his wallet so we needed to go back. That made me think that it’s probably a sign not to go. Then when we were near the airport (Manila Domestic), we totally forgot that Cebu Pacific now uses Terminal 3 of NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) so we had to ask how to go there and went all the way to the opposite direction. At this point I was already panicking… Then I  remembered our flight schedule got changed but I forgot to which time. So you can just imagine all these horrible thoughts in my head, like maybe this trip was not meant, or maybe the universe was telling me not to go, plus and a million other stupid reasons swimming in my head at that point. Just imagine me lacking sleep, having tons of caffeine in my system and panicking about all sorts of things. That was the Jen I was that morning. Luckily, I remembered the things I learned about  The Secret. It’s all a matter of shifting one’s paradigm and emotions. So that’s what I did. And…voila! Guess what?!  We found Terminal 3 just in time and with the nearest parking spot waiting for us. Plus the sun was shining and for once that day, things started falling into place. We were one hour early and we checked in on time. There was an announcement that our flight was delayed. Well, with Cebu Pacific, that’s always expected. But as it turned out, the flight was on time and by 12 noon, we were already in Caticlan. Yay!

 Terminal 3 does not look bad at all. It’s actually very similar to Hong Kong International Airport. Wow! 

   The chairs were very comfortable I wouldn’t mind waiting there for a few more hours if need be.

 Yay! Our flight was not delayed at all like they said it would.

 This plane we were about to board looked very  different from previous air buses we’ve boarded before…

Unfortunately, we were not early enough to book seats beside each other. And I got stuck with a Caucasian guy (I dunno if he was German or what, I couldn’t understand his language) who was cute, yes, but with a terrible, terrible body odor! My God, don’t you white people know how to take a bath?!!!

 So I plastered myself near the window (wishing then it would open) and just busied myself by taking pictures. Ater which, I tried to just sleep it off. He was really so mabaho…. even worse than how some Indians smell. Ugh!

 Bye bye Manila! Hello Boracay!

 Oh, pose muna!

  It was already cloudy and windy by the time we got to our boat that will bring us to CagbanPort.

 Nevertheless, Boracay was still breathtaking… We’re here! We’re here! At long last! 

 For only Php2,500 per night, we got premium beach view room with balcony in Blue Lilly. Weeee!!!!

 It looks so cozy… It actually felt like an additional guest room in our house (if we had one more, it will definitely look like this). And they offer wi-fi service for php150/5 hours. We didn’t avail of it coz we planned to enjoy the beach as much as we can. Plus, we caught free wi-fi from True Homes beside us. But it didn’t last long though. 

 Time to enjoy the view…

 Then we went down and walked all the way to Willy’s rock to have some pictures taken.

 On the way back, I saw a guy baby-sitting three yorshire terriers! And he really is a baby sitter. The owner of those cute yorkies is a lesbian couple who was staying at True Homes at that time. I think they were the ones we stole free wi-fi from. Hehehe. Peace! Peter inttoduced himself and asked about the yorkies. Apparently, they were from a champion breed and costs Php100,000.00 each. But we can get one of the non-champion breed for only Php35k. *Woot!* It’s actually already in my Christmas list. If not a yorkie, then a tea cup yorkie. Then maybe, we’ll get Sam back from my folks. She’s our basset hound who is so KSP. So with a sister or a brother, Sam won’t be so lonesome anymore. Yay! 

 Since we haven’t had real lunch yet, we walked all the way to D’Mall. Kids were already preparing their sand castles by the beach. They are really so talented! By the time we got to D’Mall, we must have lost 5 pounds already. We needed to rest for a bit. It was quite far from where Blue Lilly is (which is way beyond Station One near Willy’s Rock). Most people would prefer to ride tricycles for only Php10/person (yes, it’s no longer Php7/pax). But we wanted to shed off calories from that sandwhich we ate earlier at the airport.

 We discovered Big Mouth, a resto formerly known as Isla Bayle and owned by Eric Padilla, the same guy who owns Marilao Grill in Bulacan. Peter and Eric got into a bit of a chat seeing that they were both from Bulacan. Small World! 

 In fairness, their food was fantastic!

 Peter ordered chicken pesto while I got sizzling bangus  belly which was a real winner!

 Now, back to he beach to get the most out of the UV rays left that cloudy and windy afternoon.

 Beautiful beautiful Bora….

 The sun has set and soon night hawkers will come out and play (*wink*).

 Peter and I got invited to watch a presentation of Crown Regency’s Club Ultima, with no obligation to buy, and with a prize of a 4days/3nights stay in any of their branches in Cebu and Davao. Yay!

 So even if it was so windy and cold that night, wanting to just stay in the room and sleep, Peter and I managed to go out and attend the presentation.

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Party All The Way ‘Til Morning…

I had the best gimmick ever last Saturday!!!! It all started during one of my gimmicks with my  beautiful gfs  when we would hang out at Embasssy Cafeteria and see all these kids and yuppies dressed as if it was their prom night, lining up to go inside Embassy itself. Prior to last Saturday, we’ve never really been there before. We’d always go clubbing at Embassy Cuisine (which is just beside Embassy Cafeteria) where there is no entrance fee and where there are more “mature” and beautiful people hanging out (read: celebrities & good looking foreign guys). Plus, at that time, we didn’t wanna shell out Php800 just to be with kids (read: teenagers) having the time of their life. But times have changed and so did we. Ninette and I finally made plans to not just go inside the said infamous club, but to check out other happening places as well. The whole goal was: prepare to party and spend! Originally, we wanted to hop from Embassy to Ascend, to Jaipur, then Fiama in Makati and finally to Alchemy in Ortigas. But you know how women can be. And being the fun-loving gorgeous  creatures that we are, we were open to anything that particular night! Including picking up gorgeous men (with Peter’s permission, of course). Hehehe.

My New Do!

So as it turned out, I forced myself to finish work at 9am (as compared to my usual log off time of 12 noon) last Saturday. I was supposed to do all my errands  and not sleep anymore.  But  tired as I was, I ended up sleeping until 2pm. Ack! I still had so much to do! Anyway, I got the most important errand (new hairdo)  finished just in time  to get the ball rolling that evening.

At Il Pirata Restaurant in Eastwood

We were playing with Helga’s make up while waiting for the food…

Want some?

 Peter looking healthy that evening…

Il Pirata has cool designs!

We had dinner first at Il Pirata in Eastwood. It’s been ages since we last visited the place and this big boat caught our attention. Peter and I checked it out. It had such a unique lay out and the food wasn’t so bad (It’s not as tasty as we wanted it to be but it will have to do). We met with Helga and Cecille at that restaurant before finally heading to the Fort where we picked up Ninette from home, changed  wardrobe inside the car then finally went inside Embassy. Thank God Peter brought my  two other flat boots. I was wearing high heeled ones earlier that evening before I changed into my flats. That gave me extra comfort for more dancing hours! Woohoo!!!

 What if these creatures were real? Would you still kiss them? Ack!

It was then that I realized that the long line outside Embassy were meant for “guests”, meaning, they’re either friends of the owners or friends of the owners’ friends who get to go in for free. Hmmmm… What free loaders. As if they couldn’t afford the entrance fee with all their fashionable get ups. But the truth is, they kinda look “kawawa” being checked by the bouncer one by one, and ever so slowly just because they are free loading. As for us, we just went inside without a fuss, paid our Php500 ticket (bumaba na from Php700-800 before) that already inlcuded 2 complimentary drinks. Yay!

 After my wardrobe malfunction here, we just had to take a moment to relax and have this photo…

 Cheers!!!

I had no expectations whatsoever. I just pretty much enjoyed the house music played by the dj. There was a long line going to the hip hop section but we didn’t check it out anymore. Maybe next time. With the very long line, how else can we enjoy the music? We wouldn’t be able to dance at all with that kind of suffocating crowd. So we stayed where we were, drank our summer breezes (apple juice spiked with vodka) and danced to the beat of house music. We need not pick up guys coz we were already being picked up instead by these American dudes from L.A.! I wanted to be polite so I played with him for a while before I finally said “I’m gonna go dance with my friends now.” He looked ok, your typical American blonde dude. He’s even cute but just not my type. Too bad. Plus his hands were all over my back and my side the whole time. If I weren’t married I’d probably enjoy it. Hehehe. 

     My good old friends from way back our time in Etelecare… L-R: Cecille, Andie, Maricar, Maricar’s sister and me

Anyway, the best part about Embassy was the fact that we bumped into our two old good friends! Andie and Maricar! Wow!!! The last time I saw them was year 2003! It’s been 5 years but when I saw them, it seemed like only yesterday! God is really good. Just last week I was crying coz I was missing my bestfriends and old friends. And look who I was with that night? That really made the early part of my evening. That’s the power of the law of attraction.

Checking out Fiama…

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Attention:19th Philippine Travel Mart is Here!

 Good news to all nature lovers & travel monkeys! The 19th Philippine Travel Mart is here! Be sure to mark your calendar folks and see y’all there! Read the following article I resposted from Fritz’s blog for more information.

ATTENTION: Travel junkies and nature-scape Paparazzis!

 

Please block off the dates September 12 to 14 on your calendars. This one’s for YOU.

 

Get ready to experience a different side to the Philippines when the 19th annual Philippine Travel Mart opens on September 12 to 14 at SM Megamall’s Mega Trade Hall. Organized by the Philippine Tour Operations Association (PHILTOA) in cooperation with the Department of Tourism, the yearly three-day event is the country’s largest travel fair and features showcase pavilions of the regional tourism offices, tour operators, hotels, airlines and transport services, plus other usual stakeholders of the local travel industry.

 

With the theme “Triple X: Xtreme Adventure, Xtreme Wellness and Xtreme Leisure in the Philippines“, this year’s travel mart will feature on sale a wide spectrum of adventure packages, ranging from low-impact activities to high-intensity tours, at discounted rates exclusive to the three-day fair.

 

On its 19th year, the Philippine Travel Mart continues to help boost the tourism sector by drawing international traffic to our shores and continually revitalizing domestic travel.

 

For more information on the 19th Philippine Travel Mart, please call the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) at 812-4513 and Global Visions at 635-0350