Sam Travels 2015: Boracay Island, Philippines (updated)

Wooh, Bora! <3 

Boracay is such an unexpected trip for someone like me. Lol, why? 

Firstly, I have this phobia for deep water; Secondly, I despise heat. Thirdly and lastly, bathing suits aren't my thing. Not like it's supposed to be a thing when going to Beaches, but it's still worth wearing when going, right?

However, as unexpected as this trip was, I had the most pleasant time in the island!

Aside from the fun and new activities I've tried, I've actually come to love the sun.

That's thanks to my 100 SPF Sunblock (only because of that);

I've come to plan going back with a bathing suit in my suitcase;

And I've mildly faced my phobia with deep water. 

That is, with a lifevest.

Trust me, that's already great progress.

This is a photo-heavy post, guys! :)

But that was a bloody hell of an idea. Seriously.

The flight was for an hour.

Unfortunately/ Fortunately, it wasn't. After about 20-30 minutes in the air, the attendant announced that we were descending! And by then, my order had just arrived.

So my small order of rice, topped with Roast Chicken was still untouched.

Sure, I could eat it in the bus afterwards, but I was so hungry by then.

Luckily, I was able to finish it before landing. And I didn't got sick with the descent and all, yay.

Added to my "lesson learned" list. Lol

Here's my dad being "cool" and all at one of the Airport's displays. :)

and here's our group at the airport!

Outside the Airport, a bus waited for us. Lots of buses, as well as Vans were outside.

It's probably part of a promo or package.

The bus ride took about 1 1/2 hours or more to get to the port.

We had to ride a boat to get to Boracay Island, since we were at Kaligo.

As far as I've heard, there are also flights from Manila that can take you directly to Bora.

It can shorten your travel time ALOT.

Although, it'll cost more, since it's a one way trip.

When we got to the port, we had to wait a few minutes before we were allowed to get on the boat.

Then as soon as they were letting us get on our boats, it started to rain.

It was such a hassle getting in while worrying the SLR's going to get wet. I had to wrap it with plastic.

It took us about an hour or so to get to Aklan (a.k.a. where Boracay is). 

It was a smooth ride, and thankfully, the rain eventually stopped.

When we got off the boat, we transferred to these Jeeps that took us to a "secret" entrance that's nearest our hotel.

The roads looked like a usual Philippine-province's. Smaller, though.

And most of their jeeps and trikes looked different from the City's.

We were dropped off near a small market that had small stores in front. We followed our guide inside the narrow path between the stores that eventually led to the beach.

...Here's Bora!!

I loved how the beach was just there. 

There were so many stores and hotels by the shore, and I thought it was ironic for the beach to just be there.

Lol, that's coming from someone with few experience going to beaches. 

Oh, and the water had great color too!

❋ They provide a mini fridge.

Guess what time we arrived in Bora, by the way? 3:00PM.

I think you can guess how hungry we all were by then.

Our group separated ways that time, because some stayed in different hotels. Such as the Crown Regency, and etc. They were far from Mito's.

The group who stayed at Mito's ate in Lemon Cafe, which became the group's favorite eating place there. Some of them ate there for two or three days; but for only one meal, of course.

The Lemon Cafe's located inside the D-mall.

No, the D-mall is no real mall. It's like a slightly hidden area with lots of stores and restaurants.

The Cafe has a long menu. They offer a variety of food.

They also offer set meals (what we ordered).

The main meal that you order will come with a bowl of soup, salad, and another dish that you can choose.

The food was amazing. You have got to try eating here atleast once. 

Here's what it's like in D-mall. :)

The day went on without much activities. Just walking around d-mall and shopping in the mini grocery for stocks.

Boracay is like an unending sand path with various stores on the side, and outdoor chairs and tables on the other. I didn't had the chance (and company) to walk Boracay from one end to the other or from Station 1 to 3.

Our hotel is located between Station 1 and 2. 

Yet another perk of the hotel. You walk out the hotel, and Gerry's Grill (because technically, its entrance is under it), and you're in Station 2. 

Then, a few minutes walk to the right side, and you're in marvelous Station 1.

Pretty convenient if you ask me. ;)

We stayed in the apartment until about 5:30PM, since we had dinner with our group at Pamana at around 7:00PM.

Since it was still early, we walked around the place. We browsed vendors and stores, and we admired the place, while the crowd of people thickened as the island's nightlife started.

There was this time while we were walking that the island lost electricity. I loved it. HAHA. Imagine it going on full blackout.

That would be so awesome!

Anyway, the electricity went back after 5 minutes or so, and the music from where ever started to play again.

It's not bad or anything, but expect a lot of Koreans.

No kidding. Everywhere you go, you'll get to see them.

Which isn't bad, really. They actually made things livelier.

And they also gave Boracay a more Boracay-feeling. :)

I don't know if this always happens, but Astoria, Boracay offered free dinner to people for 4 consecutive days. It's a buffet, actually, and they also provide bands that perform at their balcony.

We were also invited numerous times. We didn't go there, though.

Aside from wanting to try other restaurants, we'll probably still be in showers when all the seats are starting to get occupied already.

Pamana has a thing for Pandan Leaves.

They serve water with it, and they serve their rice with it as well.

It's actually good. Similar to how Lemon mildly affects the flavor of things.

I think this was the Crispy Pata or the Lechon Kawali?

Really good with the sauce, and it was really easy to chew.

This one's the Tuna Gising Gising.

This one's the Tinuktok.

It's my favorite among all our orders.

It's like steamed fish wrapped in leaves with Coconut Milk.

Gata love Coconut Milk.

See what I did there?

No?

K. :((

We ordered Pancit or Noodles too, because one of the teens loved Noodles, like, a lot.

Like the first one, I'm not sure if this one's a Lechon Kawali or a Crispy Pata.

And those are the dishes that circulated our table. The other tables of our friends had different orders. Ones we weren't able to taste, and I wasn't able to document. :(

After chillaxing on our table, we walked around the beach again.

The nightlife amazes me so much.

I love how pretty the lights get as a whole; and I love how you can hear different music while strolling around.

There are jazzy music, live music, and party music; but everything blended together so well. They didn't overlap each other too much, they end up in a murmur-like sound.

There are bars there that provide Hookas on the seats in front.

There are also people who stand by and just hang out on the sand.

By nighttime, the water line gets really far due to low tide, and people start to play around the temporarily dry areas.

Some play with those things that are like lighted, feathered, boomerangs; and those lighted balls that are spun around. 

Also, that night, I ate Ice Monster.

And it's been years since I've eaten one again, so I thank Bora for the beautiful reunification.

It was so touching that it gave me a massive brain freeze.

And there were also fire dancers that perform at a certain time of the night.

People gather around the area whether seated on chairs, on the sand, or even standing up just to watch them showcase their talent.

That pretty much ended my first day at Bora.

There weren't much activities that day, but the feeling of seeing Bora and its nightlife for the first time can never be compared to.

It was exhilarating.

It was pretty peaceful.





This was my order. It's an Omelette (if it isn't very obvious yet); and it's great with all its contents, but a piece of advice would be not to use the Butter. I ended up not finishing the Omelette when I've spread the Butter all around it.


This was Mom's. It's Bangus with Omelette. From what I've heard from her, she enjoyed it so much.


This was my Dad's order. He matched it up with the free, refillable Bread.



A view from our seat- a part of D-mall that's filled with restaurants.



Afterwards, it was "Water Exploration" time!
This was mine and my mom's supposed get-up; but when we went down to meet the rest...
they were all in Rashguards, Bathing Suits, and they had snorkel equipment with them.
As surprised as we were, the others were too. LOL
We've never went snorkeling, so we had completely no idea when it came to the activities.

So yes, we went back up and wore our packed Rashguards and Shorts that were meant to get wet; and we brought along our snorkel equipment (which we borrowed).


Here's a fab picture of mamita in her get-up!



We had to get on our Bangka (mini boat) like this, walking towards it on waist-high ocean water.
I know, right? The "exploration" hasn't even started and we were already wet.


Our group's pic in the Bangka.


Our first destination or activity was Snorkeling!
Our boat went somewhere in the middle of the Ocean where other Bangkas were too;
and just like that, we were allowed to get off and snorkel.








The water wasn't too deep, but it was deep enough for us not to reach the ground.

I was scared to death. No kidding!
I couldn't swim away from the ladder even when I was wearing a life vest already.
I had to ask for another vest to grab on.
However, despite having 2 vests already, I wasn't able to appreciate snorkeling. :((
I mean, I saw the fishes and the coral reefs and all, but I wasn't able to see them long enough, because just dunking my face in the water terrified me.

Well, off with that, our guide caught a Blowfish for us!


And then he released it on the other side of the boat... where it could still circle around and go to us.

Oh, and there was a roaming coconut and ice cream vendor!





Near the cave were these small shelters that serve as standbys or waiting areas.


Here's our group, while waiting for our guide's signal to proceed to the cave. Lol at our faces



Here's how it looked like in the cave.
The side where the reflection of light is, is where the opening of the cave is.
The other side is just pure cave; a dead end.

Here, I was able to swim comfortably. Much more, compared to the snorkeling.
It felt safer even though we still couldn't touch the ground.
As fun as swimming in a small area is, we were eager to swim to the farther side.
We were advised not to, though; because there were Jellyfishes there.

Anyway, the hard part here isn't swimming and getting comfortable on the water.
 It's getting into the cave.
The stairs are steep, and it's in a spiral-form; and it's both where people go down and go up:
causing human traffic.
Plus, it could get really crowded down there. We decided to leave when a large group of Koreans started going down.



Magic Island was our next destination.
I think a more famous place like this is Ariel's Point.
It's an island to cliff dive from different heights.




I managed to jump from 5-8 feet! Once.
Be proud of me even for a bit, please. :((


And here's one of the young adults who went with our group, Rafi.
The spotlight was on her that time, because she was about to dive from the highest height.
That's the biscuit. She was about to dive.
It took her minutes, not sure if it's reached an hour before she was able to. Lol, can't blame her!
Everyone cheered for her and this one, Korean girl who couldn't jump from 5 feet.
Not sure if anyone got a video of it and posted it on Facebook...


Here's a picture of mi parents, near the cliff diving area.



Next up, we went to this island where we ate lunch.
I couldn't remember the name of the island, sorry. :(
Anyway, the lunch offered there is in Buffet-form. The provincial kind with the usual Pinoy dishes like steamed Shrimp, marinated Milkfish or Bangus, and more. For our drinks, they offered cold, bottled water and Coke bottles.
It was pretty satisfying, actually. There were even these 2 ladies who sing for every table.
When they went to our table, they sang a Chinese song (the ever-famous "Wo Ai Ni"), because we were actually a group of Chinoy families.
On the other table was a Korean group, and the 2 even sang in Korean!
And get this, no copies of lyrics.
4 thumbs up for them, and the island's service!







That time, our boat parked by the shore of an island.
And since it was already mid-afternoon by then, the tide was starting to rise.
So even though we were just by the shore, touching the ground means being underwater already.


Our next destination was the dock for water sports.



That one's the dock.



5 of us (mainly those who are under 18) rode the Banana Boat.


We wanted to ride too, but it was at the same time of the flying fish, so we had to choose between. The 5 also wanted to ride the flying fish, but they were underage. :(

So... I rode the Flying Fish, and I Parasailed too.
It was loads of fun!
Flying Fish was intense though. We didn't reach the point where it literally flew, but it was still intense.









I'm just happy I didn't lose my grip and fell. Otherwise, I'd be left in the middle of the ocean, overthinking that a random Shark might pull me down; or that my lifevest might malfunction, and my only chance for survival would be hanging on to it.

The Parasail was also loads of fun, with a stunning view.











My only concern were the safety belts. There were belts for the bottom, so we'd be in a sitting position.
Mine felt more on the knees than the thighs. The position tired my butt so much, and it made me feel like pooing  I was falling off.
When it came to the view though, it was amaaazing.
Amazingly terrifying lol kidding; but you'll get to see how truly vast the waters were; your fellow parasailing mates; and you'll also get to see the length of Boracay.
All in all, a stunning view.

We were brought back to the island via Jet Boat.


Our driver was so cool because he managed to make our trip intense. He made the boat go extra fast.
We overtook lots of jet boats; turning to different directions made one side of the boat almost dip on the water, making ocean water splash on all of us.


Here's us when we were dropped on the shore.


For dinner, our group went separate ways.
That night, one bar/ hotel had set up this disco ball and a DJ on its front.
The lights and music made everything magical. I loved it so much that I wished I could just drink Coffee (cause I don't drink) and sit there all night.



The dim lights made everything perfect.
The cool air, especially.


The first order that arrived was the Pumpkin Soup.
It wasn't called "Pumpkin Soup" in their menu, it was named something Italian that I can't remember.
Even most of the items in the menu were in Italian.


We also ordered Salad. I think this was the Caesar's Salad.


Our last order was the Marinara Pasta.
I loved this, because it was filled with flavor; and it didn't save up on seafood, because there were loads of it inside.
Despite the price, our orders were totally worth it.
If only 2 people shared our orders, they'll surely be bloated rather than full.

The night ended with another stroll around the lively island, and with a Starbuck's before bed.
An additional knowledge for you is that Mito's Place (our hotel) is located right beside Starbuck's.



Day 3 started pretty much the same, but with a little twist.
Waking up early to walk around the beach, swimming with my parents on the beach, then eating Breakfast.








The view from our seat.
We were seated in the indoor portion of the Cafe.


The usual Coffee order.


The Hot Mocha order.


This was Dad's order.
Yes, he ordered 2 eggs again LOL


My order. Aside from eggs, I had Bacon.


And mom's Bangus order.
I'm guessing as of now, you can read my parents's preferences when it comes to Breakfast. Hahaha!


Later on, I was able to wear my main get-up for Boracay (what I was supposed to wear on day 2).
Day 3 didn't hold any activities, except eating. It was our free day.




For Lunch, our group ate in Dos Mestizos.
It's located in Station 3 (thus, explains the tricycle ride), but not exactly in the Beach area.
It was pretty hidden, and we had difficulty finding it.
So my look on the photo up there? It was totally ruined. Lol
I was drenched in sweat, that tying my hair up wasn't any struggle.
My sweat flatted off my baby hair that normally stood up, making me look like I've just had a bath.




The place gave so much Mexican vibes.
The only thing missing were the big hats that are usually seen on TV when the setting's Mexican.
It was pretty dim there, and the daylight contributed to the place's Mexican feel.


Our group's orders consisted of Paella, Paella, and more Paella. HAHA for real!
Apparently though, I was only able to photograph one of the Paellas.
By the time we got there and the group's ordered already, I was super stressed out.
I didn't have the energy and mood to shoot photographs.
Teehee.


Now, obviously, this was Chicken.
I can't remember eating the Chicken, but I do remember eating the Potatoes...
and they were awesome.
I think I was the one who ate all of it.

Sadly, I didn't enjoy the meal due to stress.
Since I was super tired being under the sun while looking for the restaurant, the first thing I did as we got there was drink glasses of water; and that bloated me.
Lesson learned #2.



In my opinion, the hotel looked... pretty much the same as most high end hotels.
The slide, and the artificial wave (a small place for surfing) were the only unique parts.
Positive points are all over it, yes. The disadvantage, however, is that it's a bit distant from the beach. You have to take a tricycle first, if you don't want to walk for minutes.
Unlike our hotel, the beach's already outside.



Our tricycle ride dropped us off at the mini market of D-mall.
So before heading back to our hotels, we strolled around the area first.
Like this, my dad took a round of shooting, since there was this stall that offered that activity.
Not for free, of course; but certainly not expensive.




After the stroll, I had my very first Henna Tattoo.
I didn't know a thing or two with the designs, so I had the very simple and very usual Swirly Sun on my leg.
One of the teens had this cool Skeleton tattoo on her hand.
But then, that was from those special tattoo shops around D-mall.
Mine was from those on the side of the shore, where the application takes place outside; and the designs offered are much simpler.
After the application, we bought ourselves fruit shakes. Not Jonah's. Huhu




After a nap in our hotel, we went out to Station 1.
The pictures are of Boracay's Station 1.
Its huge sand space is what makes it distinct from the other stations.



In station 1, there are people who offer creating sand art for 100 php. One of the families asked to make our group one for picture purposes.
"Forevermore" is a title of a Teleserye that people have been staying tuned to.
By the time we were there, the final episode aired.
Thus, the decision of having it on our group's sand art.


A glimpse of the sun setting.



Our group pic. :)


Here's a picture of Boracay's famous Groto while the sun was setting.
We weren't able to get up there. :(