charmed
Let’s backtrack a bit…to more than a month ago…
Got to Boracay in one piece. It was my first time to get there alone. And since I got a Cebu Pacific ticket (2,800 lang! woohoo!) I would be landing in Kalibo. Good thing I decided to talk to my "seatmate"! Turns out she works for Fil-Estate and when she found out that I was staying at Fairways (courtesy of Paolo) she took me under her wing!
Too bad she didn’t know that there was a coaster that was picking up clients in Kalibo so we joined other travelers and got a van (200 bucks each). It seemed like a looong drive, around 2 hours. And we didn’t go to the Caticlan Jetty Port, forgot the name of this port. Basta. It was because of the habagat, so along the white beach of boracay were huge waves. So all boats were redirected to the other side of the island at Tambisaan.
Since Shiela works for Fil-Estate we were able to ride the Fairways boat straight to the resort! And I was able to check in and go to the room. Super excited to see Pao and Ivan in a different setting! Got a call from Anne, she couldn’t make the trip! Boo! Coz of work…the usual! Oh well! It was time to join the rest of civilization and hit the beach.
Pao was there for work…shooting a movie. I was so happy for him! Finally getting back to practicing the craft. So I met him at Pearl and we had lunch or at least ordered lunch together. While I ate and he had to work, I stood watch over his food. Haha
It must have been a while coz Ivan decided to go to Pearl to meet me, he had been waiting at d’mall. After saying hi and being intro’d to everyone I pulled him toward the beach to take a walk.
WHAT A SHOCK!!! Boracay looked totally different, at least the beach did. Because of the habagat there were huge waves instead of the placid shore of summer. And because of the wind and waves, the resorts had to put up wind guards. In Station 1 there is no beachfront, Cocomangas, Pier 1, or Club Paraw. And there was this weird bunch of trees on the sand near the grotto…
Eventful walk that was…because while walking between station 1 and 2 on our way to the English Tea Room, there was a gust of wind and a wind guard that came flying towards us. Imagine this: a sheet of thick clear plastic board edged with bamboo. Yup that was moving towards us. One though on my mind – it’s coming straight to my face! Ack!
Luckily both Ivan and I had the presence of mind to put up our hands and block it. Got a tiny wound on my thumb because of that. But nothing more thank goodness!
Hmm what else? Of course both Friday and Saturday night was out to enjoy the nightlife. During the summer, Boracay nightlife can be described as Greenbelt with less clothes on. This time not so much…but just as fun. Even more so I think! Got a lot of free drinks from people and from the bartenders of Summerplace! Fun, fun, fun.
But I didn’t get plastered coz Ivan intro’d me to Jenny, a dive master. So I made plans with her to go diving on Saturday morning. That didn’t push through, but I was able to go on Sunday morning! I really made it a point to get back to the room by 3am and get some sleep.
Oh it was so much fun! As usual I felt jittery about diving. It would be the first time since I learned last April. But I got over it and was able to enjoy the two dives. I really liked the second dive! We did the usual entry and swam on our backs to the marker. And then after some last minute instructions there was the go ahead signal. So when I turned around and looked down I already saw fish! A let out shriek! In the past I only saw fish after going down a couple of meters. The whole time going down to the ocean floor I could see fish. And the coral was great too.
I know I said I wouldn’t go to Boracay again this year. Luckily this trip to Boracay was different because I was able to go diving. And Ivan was there. He had been there for more than a week by the time I got there and had made friends with a lot of the locals. Even though it was stormy and all…the sand was still as beautiful.
And the food - yum! On Saturday Ivan and I met up with Dode, RJ and Kit at the new talipapa (now called d’talipapa). They had bought liempo, prawns, and CRABS! And had it cooked at one of the restos around the wet market. Sinigang na hipon, prawns sautÈed in garlic and butter, grilled liempo and spicy-sweet-garlicky crabs. Wow. It was so good! And I love eating crabs, I don’t mind picking the sweet meat from the shell at all. That was another first for me to do in Boracay.
I’m glad I went! I didn’t spend too much during this trip, I was able to go diving, relax before going to Cebu, strengthen my friendship with Pao and Ivan, plus I was able to make new friends.
For me Boracay is a place that is so easy to go back to and visit, unlike other places where you go to and once is enough. I guess that’s the charm of the island…
Got to Boracay in one piece. It was my first time to get there alone. And since I got a Cebu Pacific ticket (2,800 lang! woohoo!) I would be landing in Kalibo. Good thing I decided to talk to my "seatmate"! Turns out she works for Fil-Estate and when she found out that I was staying at Fairways (courtesy of Paolo) she took me under her wing!
Too bad she didn’t know that there was a coaster that was picking up clients in Kalibo so we joined other travelers and got a van (200 bucks each). It seemed like a looong drive, around 2 hours. And we didn’t go to the Caticlan Jetty Port, forgot the name of this port. Basta. It was because of the habagat, so along the white beach of boracay were huge waves. So all boats were redirected to the other side of the island at Tambisaan.
Since Shiela works for Fil-Estate we were able to ride the Fairways boat straight to the resort! And I was able to check in and go to the room. Super excited to see Pao and Ivan in a different setting! Got a call from Anne, she couldn’t make the trip! Boo! Coz of work…the usual! Oh well! It was time to join the rest of civilization and hit the beach.
Pao was there for work…shooting a movie. I was so happy for him! Finally getting back to practicing the craft. So I met him at Pearl and we had lunch or at least ordered lunch together. While I ate and he had to work, I stood watch over his food. Haha
It must have been a while coz Ivan decided to go to Pearl to meet me, he had been waiting at d’mall. After saying hi and being intro’d to everyone I pulled him toward the beach to take a walk.
WHAT A SHOCK!!! Boracay looked totally different, at least the beach did. Because of the habagat there were huge waves instead of the placid shore of summer. And because of the wind and waves, the resorts had to put up wind guards. In Station 1 there is no beachfront, Cocomangas, Pier 1, or Club Paraw. And there was this weird bunch of trees on the sand near the grotto…
Eventful walk that was…because while walking between station 1 and 2 on our way to the English Tea Room, there was a gust of wind and a wind guard that came flying towards us. Imagine this: a sheet of thick clear plastic board edged with bamboo. Yup that was moving towards us. One though on my mind – it’s coming straight to my face! Ack!
Luckily both Ivan and I had the presence of mind to put up our hands and block it. Got a tiny wound on my thumb because of that. But nothing more thank goodness!
Hmm what else? Of course both Friday and Saturday night was out to enjoy the nightlife. During the summer, Boracay nightlife can be described as Greenbelt with less clothes on. This time not so much…but just as fun. Even more so I think! Got a lot of free drinks from people and from the bartenders of Summerplace! Fun, fun, fun.
But I didn’t get plastered coz Ivan intro’d me to Jenny, a dive master. So I made plans with her to go diving on Saturday morning. That didn’t push through, but I was able to go on Sunday morning! I really made it a point to get back to the room by 3am and get some sleep.
Oh it was so much fun! As usual I felt jittery about diving. It would be the first time since I learned last April. But I got over it and was able to enjoy the two dives. I really liked the second dive! We did the usual entry and swam on our backs to the marker. And then after some last minute instructions there was the go ahead signal. So when I turned around and looked down I already saw fish! A let out shriek! In the past I only saw fish after going down a couple of meters. The whole time going down to the ocean floor I could see fish. And the coral was great too.
I know I said I wouldn’t go to Boracay again this year. Luckily this trip to Boracay was different because I was able to go diving. And Ivan was there. He had been there for more than a week by the time I got there and had made friends with a lot of the locals. Even though it was stormy and all…the sand was still as beautiful.
And the food - yum! On Saturday Ivan and I met up with Dode, RJ and Kit at the new talipapa (now called d’talipapa). They had bought liempo, prawns, and CRABS! And had it cooked at one of the restos around the wet market. Sinigang na hipon, prawns sautÈed in garlic and butter, grilled liempo and spicy-sweet-garlicky crabs. Wow. It was so good! And I love eating crabs, I don’t mind picking the sweet meat from the shell at all. That was another first for me to do in Boracay.
I’m glad I went! I didn’t spend too much during this trip, I was able to go diving, relax before going to Cebu, strengthen my friendship with Pao and Ivan, plus I was able to make new friends.
For me Boracay is a place that is so easy to go back to and visit, unlike other places where you go to and once is enough. I guess that’s the charm of the island…
posted by bernadette @ 6:14 PM
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