After you have stayed in Makati for awhile, exhausted all the shopping centers and tired of flying back to home country only to fly back again in 48 hours, sometimes we fly to other areas. Pack a small back and just head on to the islands over the weekends is our quick time away from the city.
However my planned trip to Boracay less than unexciting. For one, this was a second attempt to fly to Boracay. My first trip was plagued by 1) Typhoon 2) Outbreak of hives. I think my outbreak of hives was due to excessive ChaTime drinking. I could be allergic to it! However, i can't resist the 80PHP drink which is soooo much cheaper than Starbucks. However, after the breakout, i had to go back to coffee - but upped the level by going to the Korean Cafe Tiamo ... ( poorer than before .... -_-") But back to Boracay story tellling
Good travel times: ( Peak Period )
* Between April - July - but watch out for typhoon. Philippines is famous for typhoons and can really ruin your plans.
* Check PAGASA or GMA to find out the expected weather.
* For the guys - Early June - plenny of Korean (Feel like i was in Busan only) /Taiwanese tourists. July, the Russians appear ;)
How to get there
Of course get yourself to Manila first, ( there is no direct flight ) and you can take either:
* Cebu Pacific Air
* Zest Air
* Air Philippines
Note: The Arrival and Departure prices are slightly different and check the airports. Best to land in Caticalan and fly off from Caticalan because Kalibo is 2 hours away from Caticalan. But that's not all, upon arriving at Caticalan, you need to take an equivalent of a "tuk-tuk" car to the jetty and a boat to Boracay. Really after all that transportation by the time i arrived in Boracay i was pooped. Oh, if you are squeamish about walking the plank be forwarned. Alot of plank walking on the jetty. So don't pack heavy bags simple knapsack will do.
Accommodation: Go via Agoda - prices are the cheapest there. I stayed in the funny 2 SEASONS. Funny because 4 seasons is famous 2 seasons sound like a rip off ( But it is not!)
Anyway boracay is famous for their white sands. To be honest, this place makes Bali pale in comparison ( beach wise ).The place is a small island bustling with people all out to have a good time. If you are looking for historical things to see in this place like Bali forget it. But if you are looking for a place to unwind, this is the place. Made up of 3 famous "beach stations" of 1,2,3 they make a difference which one you pick to say in. Station 1 has the most hotels and the more pricey hotels. 2 is the happening place, the food and entertainment are mostly here... to be honest i never walked to 3 though. I was staying in Station 1 and walking to 2 for most of my makan needs and not to mention coffee needs :P
I have to say, i love this island. While i am not such a big fan of Makati, i feel i could stay in Boracay forever. Probably because it is such a lovely and blue place. People are relaxed here, walking around in surf clothes and swimsuit, good food... it was my heaven on earth. And i finally lost my pale "Edward Cullen" look within the day i got there!
Before we go to any food photos, where is the good place to stay in Boracay? If you have the moolah's i recommend Station 1. You can stay in station 2 as that is the hub of the activities, but i find it noisy and if you want to get a good night's sleep, that ain' the place. The whole reason i was there in Boracay was also to Tan, Surf and sleep ( not to mention eat ) so i picked 2 seasons in Station 1. It's not too bad i would say, the hotel people were extremely friendly and accomodating ( they allowed me to shift my room booking because of my hives earlier with a small fee otherwise i would have to pay the whole charges! ) Rooms are clean, has free wifi ( to download series from hehehe ) and aircon (albeit quite freezing aircon ) i was quite happy with this place. Only that ... did you notice the bed is so low? Easier to roll out of i guess. Be forewarned. In Boracay, if you look outside your hotel room - don't expect to see nice surroundings, despite the price you pay, you will see slums. Breakfast wise this place was meh - but i actually didn't really mind as i was scouting around D'mall for food.
Because i reached Boracay around 6pm, i was actually kinda hungry. Kinda hungry was mildly putting it, and i was starving actually. So i decided to grab some early eats. Note that Seafood is abundant here! My housemate who came some time back say, there is a "danpa" ( Seafood hut ) further down but i decided to just try my luck with the shops in D'Mall station 2 ( was sleepy as well and lazy to walk too far ) One thing is about Boracay, i felt pretty safe here as compared to Makati. People are very trusting and seriously... er if you kinda did anything weird on the island, everyone knows, so it is safe to walk along the island with very little fear except the drunken tourists!
The beach were full of people surfing and paddle boarding. These guys were trying to catch some skids nearer to the beach...
For me i headed straight to the makan areas. Very clear on what my focus is. "Heal the tummy"
I selected this guy who was busy setting up at 6pm and had this humungous lobsters. He was busy trying to convince a few local pinoys to try his seafood, they left unconvinced. For some reasons, in philippines, Chinese and Koreans get mixed up a lot, so he immediately started thinking i was a korean and offered me kind of a high price for the lobster, in fact this dude was pretty smart to pick up a smattering of korean like "it's this price" etc.. After some dubious stares, he realized i wasn't and the price was lowered. I got this baby for 1000php ( RM70 ) and 3 biggish prawns thrown in. The style of Danpar is that order your seafood and get the cook to cook it the way you want. I wanted mine butter garlic grilled. It was pretty awesome, the smokey flavor of the grill with garlic and butter was simply a divine combination. I just ate mine with rice and downed it with a pina colada. The size of the lobster was as big as my arm and everyone was looking @ this tiny girl with a big lobster. Still i managed to finish it and had to walk around the beach for a good 1/2 hour before sleeping :P. If youare unconvinced of the seafood here, there is a host of international and local food found here at D'mall. You can't go hungry here. And i am also convinced that the cooks in Makati all migrated to Boracay. The food is so good here, i swear anything i ate in Makati paled in comparison.
Will continue in the next post....... too stuffed to move...
However my planned trip to Boracay less than unexciting. For one, this was a second attempt to fly to Boracay. My first trip was plagued by 1) Typhoon 2) Outbreak of hives. I think my outbreak of hives was due to excessive ChaTime drinking. I could be allergic to it! However, i can't resist the 80PHP drink which is soooo much cheaper than Starbucks. However, after the breakout, i had to go back to coffee - but upped the level by going to the Korean Cafe Tiamo ... ( poorer than before .... -_-") But back to Boracay story tellling
Good travel times: ( Peak Period )
* Between April - July - but watch out for typhoon. Philippines is famous for typhoons and can really ruin your plans.
* Check PAGASA or GMA to find out the expected weather.
* For the guys - Early June - plenny of Korean (Feel like i was in Busan only) /Taiwanese tourists. July, the Russians appear ;)
How to get there
Of course get yourself to Manila first, ( there is no direct flight ) and you can take either:
* Cebu Pacific Air
* Zest Air
* Air Philippines
Note: The Arrival and Departure prices are slightly different and check the airports. Best to land in Caticalan and fly off from Caticalan because Kalibo is 2 hours away from Caticalan. But that's not all, upon arriving at Caticalan, you need to take an equivalent of a "tuk-tuk" car to the jetty and a boat to Boracay. Really after all that transportation by the time i arrived in Boracay i was pooped. Oh, if you are squeamish about walking the plank be forwarned. Alot of plank walking on the jetty. So don't pack heavy bags simple knapsack will do.
Accommodation: Go via Agoda - prices are the cheapest there. I stayed in the funny 2 SEASONS. Funny because 4 seasons is famous 2 seasons sound like a rip off ( But it is not!)
 |
| Walking the plank - see the Ahjeossi in blue pretending to be kakkoii... |
Anyway boracay is famous for their white sands. To be honest, this place makes Bali pale in comparison ( beach wise ).The place is a small island bustling with people all out to have a good time. If you are looking for historical things to see in this place like Bali forget it. But if you are looking for a place to unwind, this is the place. Made up of 3 famous "beach stations" of 1,2,3 they make a difference which one you pick to say in. Station 1 has the most hotels and the more pricey hotels. 2 is the happening place, the food and entertainment are mostly here... to be honest i never walked to 3 though. I was staying in Station 1 and walking to 2 for most of my makan needs and not to mention coffee needs :P
I have to say, i love this island. While i am not such a big fan of Makati, i feel i could stay in Boracay forever. Probably because it is such a lovely and blue place. People are relaxed here, walking around in surf clothes and swimsuit, good food... it was my heaven on earth. And i finally lost my pale "Edward Cullen" look within the day i got there!
Before we go to any food photos, where is the good place to stay in Boracay? If you have the moolah's i recommend Station 1. You can stay in station 2 as that is the hub of the activities, but i find it noisy and if you want to get a good night's sleep, that ain' the place. The whole reason i was there in Boracay was also to Tan, Surf and sleep ( not to mention eat ) so i picked 2 seasons in Station 1. It's not too bad i would say, the hotel people were extremely friendly and accomodating ( they allowed me to shift my room booking because of my hives earlier with a small fee otherwise i would have to pay the whole charges! ) Rooms are clean, has free wifi ( to download series from hehehe ) and aircon (albeit quite freezing aircon ) i was quite happy with this place. Only that ... did you notice the bed is so low? Easier to roll out of i guess. Be forewarned. In Boracay, if you look outside your hotel room - don't expect to see nice surroundings, despite the price you pay, you will see slums. Breakfast wise this place was meh - but i actually didn't really mind as i was scouting around D'mall for food.
Because i reached Boracay around 6pm, i was actually kinda hungry. Kinda hungry was mildly putting it, and i was starving actually. So i decided to grab some early eats. Note that Seafood is abundant here! My housemate who came some time back say, there is a "danpa" ( Seafood hut ) further down but i decided to just try my luck with the shops in D'Mall station 2 ( was sleepy as well and lazy to walk too far ) One thing is about Boracay, i felt pretty safe here as compared to Makati. People are very trusting and seriously... er if you kinda did anything weird on the island, everyone knows, so it is safe to walk along the island with very little fear except the drunken tourists!
The beach were full of people surfing and paddle boarding. These guys were trying to catch some skids nearer to the beach...
For me i headed straight to the makan areas. Very clear on what my focus is. "Heal the tummy"
 |
| MY LOBSTER- HAHAHAHAHAHA. |
I selected this guy who was busy setting up at 6pm and had this humungous lobsters. He was busy trying to convince a few local pinoys to try his seafood, they left unconvinced. For some reasons, in philippines, Chinese and Koreans get mixed up a lot, so he immediately started thinking i was a korean and offered me kind of a high price for the lobster, in fact this dude was pretty smart to pick up a smattering of korean like "it's this price" etc.. After some dubious stares, he realized i wasn't and the price was lowered. I got this baby for 1000php ( RM70 ) and 3 biggish prawns thrown in. The style of Danpar is that order your seafood and get the cook to cook it the way you want. I wanted mine butter garlic grilled. It was pretty awesome, the smokey flavor of the grill with garlic and butter was simply a divine combination. I just ate mine with rice and downed it with a pina colada. The size of the lobster was as big as my arm and everyone was looking @ this tiny girl with a big lobster. Still i managed to finish it and had to walk around the beach for a good 1/2 hour before sleeping :P. If youare unconvinced of the seafood here, there is a host of international and local food found here at D'mall. You can't go hungry here. And i am also convinced that the cooks in Makati all migrated to Boracay. The food is so good here, i swear anything i ate in Makati paled in comparison.
Will continue in the next post....... too stuffed to move...
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