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

September 26, 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.

 

 Afterwards, we checked out the happening places and just enjoyed the evening together.

 

 

 

  

 

         Then we went back to our room, watched the view from our balcony for a while  before finally retiring early that night.

 

To be continued….