Winter Getaway in Boracay

January 16-22, 2017

So if you guys have been following up on my current events, you're well aware that me and Caoliang have been dating for a few months now. And if you know me, you know I really like to travel. So about three months ago, the two of us actually planned a winter trip to a beach paradise in the Philippines, Boracay. The trip came in such a perfect time because Japan was starting to get really cold! In fact, the weekend before we flew out, it was snowing for two days in Nagoya. I was so surprised to see everything covered in a layer of white. This vacation was not only going to be special because holidays are ALWAYS special, but because it was going to be our first trip away together. I know it's cheesy but hey, I'm a romantic and a bit sappy at heart so oh well! Anyways, I was so happy that vacation had finally come and now being back from holiday, also happy that everything went well...actually better than expected.

Day 1

So we started our holiday by flying out of Nagoya Monday night. It's not really possible to get a direct flight to Caticlan (Boracay) from Nagoya so we had to make a stop in Manila first. We landed late in the evening and our flight was the next morning. So we just spent the few hours in Manila airport waiting for our early flight. I had no idea that many other people do the same thing. Manila's airport actually has an in-house lounge where you can get a bed, shower and other amenities for a price. We had planned to try to get a room in the lounge for the few hours but upon arrival we found out it was completely booked. So, like many other passengers, we just picked a spot on the wall and killed some time together.

A few hours later, we were on the plan to fly into Caticlan. I was super shocked that our flight was only delayed about twenty minutes! I remember flying Philippine Airline last August and having a delayed flight of a few hours. So being able to get on the flight shortly after scheduled was really surprising. The flight was a short forty minutes but a super sleepy one. If you've traveled, you know travel days are pretty much exhausting. The hassle of airports, luggage and finding your way in a new place really takes a lot out of you. This trip was no different. From the airport to the actual place we stayed was a mission. We had gotten off the plane, taken a shuttle to the actual airport, get our things and take another shuttle to the port, take a boat in which our luggage was thrown on top of the boat to Boracay, then took a passenger truck to our apartment. We had booked an apartment with AirBnB so it made it a bit difficult for us and the driver to find. Once we found it, it was a mission to get our luggage there. We had read previously that the apartment was on an incline and thought it would be fine. When we actually got to the property, the incline was definitely more work than we had imagine.

The first day was a long day. After we had actually settled into the place, we both took a couple hours to sleep. The weather was super windy but luckily it made the view from our apartment really nice. Our apartment had a view of Bulabog Beach and all the kite surfers in it. Apparently this beach is used for international competitions for wind/kite surfing. The sails and kites looked really pretty in the sky with the windy weather. After some rest, we decided to walk and get some lunch.

Before this trip, I had done some research on the island and things to do. I mainly relied on this website boracaycompass.com for help. It had everything I was curious about such as a beach guide, night life suggestions and food place recommendations. So for lunch, I decided we should try out one of the food suggestions, Smoke Resto in D'Mall of Station 2. The island is not so big so it was easy to walk to where we wanted to go. The only downside of walking was dodging traffic and yucky road water splashes on your feet and legs. Once we found the place, it was very crowded and getting a seat looked to be a challenge. Luckily, when we got there, a table had just opened up. Both of us are really unfamiliar with Filipino food so we kind of just looked at pictures and chose randomly. I wish I could tell you exactly what we got but I honestly don't remember. Anyways, the food was good. The only thing about this place that was off putting was that it was located near many open meat market stores. The shops had just raw meat out for sale and the smell kept coming in waves as we had lunch. I tried hard not to let it bother me but it was pretty strong.

After lunch, we walked to White Sand Beach, the most popular and liveliest beach on Boracay. It was right next to D'Mall so only took us a second to get there. We had checked the weather before arriving and were sad to see it was going to be raining. But to our surprise, the weather was cloudy with a bit of sun on the first day. It wasn't perfect but it was way better than rain. Sitting on the beach was nice to people watch, have our toes in the sand, watch the swimmers and paddle boarders and just enjoy the time off. Coming into this trip, I had researched activities some but didn't really make any solid plans. With a few days on the island, we wanted to do some activities as well as relaxed but just wasn't sure what. So we walked along the beach shops to check out what tours were available.

Now there are like a million people trying to hustle on the beach and work, advertising all sorts of tours and deals which makes it really hard to trust. We actually came up to a poster with interesting photos and then soon was approached by a man who called himself Parekoy. Listening to him talk a bit I was a little skeptical. But after sitting down in his "office," which was just a few plastic chairs in between the coconut trees, Caoliang and I figured why not give an activity a shot. I had done island hoping in Coron last summer, so was hoping for something along the same lines. Parekoy had this Island Hopping Tour on his list of activities for only 800 pesos a person (about $16 USD). In the tour there would be three different locations, snorkeling and buffet lunch included. I had the image of my previous tour in Coron in my mind, so was hoping it was going to be just as great. With those hopes and the cheap price, we figured why not give it a try. So we booked the half day tour for the following day.

After getting our activity settled and resting back at the apartment a bit, we hoped on a tricycle to go to Diniwad Beach to catch sunset. The ride was about twenty minutes from Bulobog Beach and costed 150 pesos. I didn't mind the ride too much because it gave us a chance to see other parts of the island. Once we arrived, we laid out some towels and set up the GoPro to catch the sunset. A was a little cloudy but getting to see the sky change colors is always beautiful. It's even more beautiful on a beach with white sand, blue water, and a handsome guy next to you!

We closed our first day in Boracay with a walk down to Station 1 from Diniwad and an easy dinner at a restaurant we found along the beach, Gerry's. The food was good and service was nice too. Only complain was probably the little critter that was crawling around the wall as I ate. *cringe* Being in places like this though, you kind of have to expect that because there is no such thing as a food inspector for restaurants, places probably won't be as clean as you would hope. In cases like this, I just eat the food and hope I don't get sick!

Day 2


Waking up on a beautiful island next to your sweet boyfriend is always more preferred than waking up in a cold room having to go to work. We started our morning with lovely views from the balcony, mangos we bought the night before, and a nice hand pressed coffee. This was the morning of our island hoping tour so we had to be out the door and ready to be picked up by 10am. When we had booked the tour the day before, it had included pick up service so we waited by the street to make it easier to be seen. We were expecting maybe a shuttle or a van but Parekoy ended coming to pick us up on his motorbike! I really had to ask him if he was serious. He was! So the three of us packed on his bike and headed to his office. The downhill part was actually pretty terrifying. Flying off and hurting myself from a motorbike injury was the last thing I wanted to happen! After getting to the beach, we met up with lots of other people joining in the same tour. Honestly the morning was a bunch of waiting around. I think me hoping this tour would be like my tour in Coron was hoping too high. Once we finally got on the boat, there was many other people with us. To give you a head count, it was at least twenty people on this tour. And on top of the high head count, Parekoy had told us that we actually wouldn't be going where he had told us the tour would go, but other locations because of the weather. We didn't have much of a say since it was already paid for. Also being a visitor, you kind of just end up trusting the people who work here thinking they would know the weather and water conditions better than you. But even with the changes, we tried to stay positive and continued with the group anyways.

The first place they took us was only a short ride away. It was Balanghai Beach which was only a bit north of Diniwad. The beach was nice and small but very crowded. We were told we only had thirty minutes here so to swim or take photos. That's not alot of time so Caoliang and I dipped into the water a bit, soaked up some sun that was peaking through, and snapped a few photos. I wanted to wander around this beach more but with the short time given and how unorganized the group and captain was, I didn't want to chance getting left behind.

The second place was located on the main island, Caticlan. It would be where we were going to have lunch. Again, with my Coron tour in mind, I thought the lunch would be on one of the nice beaches of Boracay. I was wrong. The boat took us to a dock that wasn't even a beach. We then waited for a few trucks to pick us all up and drive through a village to get to a picnic area. There we filed in line, grabbed some plates and got a serving of each dish. The dishes ranged from fish, shrimp, chicken skewers, rice and bananas. Honestly the food wasn't half bad but the experience was pretty crappy to be honest. I think Caoliang and I felt the same but still tried to make the best of it. I mean the tour was only 800 pesos a person, so we should of guessed the quality.

The last place was promised to be a snorkeling place. The boat drove away from the main island where we had lunch and stopped in the middle of the open water. The captain said we would be snorkeling here and was immediately met with opposition from one of the passengers. She was very vocal with her opinion saying that the location was no good and that she had been there the day before. She had said that nothing was there and that the captain should take us else where. No one argued against her, neither did the captain. So he drove the boat a bit more and showed us a different spot. Honestly, I didn't have high hopes for this new spot either but still gave it a try. Caoliang and I picked up a pair of snorkels that was included in the tour and jumped in the water. Right away, I noticed the chill of the water as well as the low quality of my snorkel. As soon as I stuck my face in the water, my goggles slowly started to fill with sea water. How was I suppose to see anything now?! With a bit of frustration, I just yanked the whole thing off and decided to take the time to float around a bit. The water wasn't too deep so I could see below didn't have much marine life anyways. So it wasn't like I was missing much.

We arrived back at Station 1 in Boracay about 3 pm. I was glad the tour was over and that we could do other things on our own now. I really hoped it would be better but I guess the saying is true, you get what you pay for. Once we made it back to the beach, we took a break at Tom n Toms Coffee Shop. This place was clean and had great bathrooms that we used. Sounds silly but it was tricky finding clean toilets that the establishments let you use without purchasing something. Anyways, we ended up getting a few drinks here just to recharge and think what to do next. A good thing about going out on the tour was that we were able to see other activities people were partaking in. A few of those that looked interesting to us were parasailing and banana boating. So even though the island hoping tour was a bust, we went back to Parekoy in hopes that the other single activities would be better. At the end of this visit to him, we booked a parasail ride for the next morning along with a helmet dive for the next afternoon and "fly fish" activity for our last day.

5 pm was soon approaching which met sunset was going to happen soon. We really liked our sunset spot on Diniwad the day before so we headed that way to catch sunset again. Unfortunately on this evening, we made so many stops before getting to Diniwad that we missed the sunset.

After the attempt to catch sunset, we took a tricycle back to rest a bit at the apartment. Being outside and in the water all day really makes you tired. So after a shower and washing all the salt water off ourselves, we decided on a dinner spot and got dressed to go out. Again, I referred to the website above on where to go eat. Lemoni Cafe looked interesting and promising so we headed to D'Mall to check it out. I have to say, the salad there was so yummy. I love it when salads use real fruits and this one had large chunks of grape fruit. Yummy! Caoliang had ordered a coconut risotto which was interesting and I had a seared tuna that was cooked a bit too much. Anyways, dinner was good but a little pricey for an island (about 2700 pesos). It was about 11 pm when we finished dinner so we thought it would be a nice chance to check out the night life. Since I had spend almost a year in Bali before, which had a crazy island night life, I was thinking Boracay would be lively too.  Turns out, I was wrong. Boracay is much more relaxed. All clubs and bars are mainly located on White Sand Beach and are relatively small. We walked past a few of them but decided to go into a club called Waves because of their "tourist special," drinks for only 6 pesos! What a deal right? So why not try it. We got in and each got a beer and watched the dance floor a bit. The music was ok but predictable and got old to dance to. After we finished our drinks, we decided it was time to go. We didn't want to call it a night just yet so continued walking along the beach in hopes of finding something better. We ended up at a place called Aplaya Beach Bar. They had many bean bags on the beach which made for a nice sitting area. Drinks weren't too expensive so we got a margarita each and enjoyed the scenery.

Day 3

Parasailing here we come! I never thought I would be able to do this and even though it was a little pricey (about $50 USD a person), it seemed like something to experience. So even though on the activities card we looked at when booking said the activity would only take 15 minutes, it actually took up much more time. In order to parasail, you need to be taken out to a boat area which you transfer to another boat that has the parasail. All this boat transferring actually took up more time than we thought. When we finally got to the speed boat that would actually drive us around, it had to of been at least 11:30 or so (we got picked up at 10am).

The process of parasailing was pretty easy though. You basically put a life jacket on, then one of the crew members straps you in another holster, then you sit on the back platform of the boat while you get strapped onto the shoot itself then up, up and away the wind takes you! We got pretty high pretty fast. It was cool to see all the water and other parasailers as well as the island. It was also nice having the crew take lots of photos from the boat for us. They even included some silly pictures.

The time we were up there was probably only 15 minutes but after a few minutes I was ready to come down. I don't think I'm so sensitive to sea sickness but for some reason just being up there and looking down at the water below made my head hurt. We were suppose to do another activity a few hours later but after the long ordeal of just getting out there to do a short activity, I wasn't so amped about continuing with our original schedule so much. Along with all the transport time, the head ache was not helping me either. So after landing back at Station 1, we visited Parekoy again to change our schedule around. After we got that done with, we found a beach bed on White Sand Beach to soak up some sun. We got really lucky this day as the sun was bright and the sky was blue. It felt great to be on a sunny beach again! After a dip in the water and taking a few silly photos, we headed to D'Mall for lunch. The night before, Caoliang kept seeing a picture of paella in the neighboring restaurant so was keen to give it a try. The lunch at Ole was pretty good and very filling.

Once we finished lunch, we quickly headed over to Diniwad to be sure not to miss the sunset on this beautiful day. Luckily we made it just in time. Again, we laid out our towels and set up the GoPro to catch sunset. This sunset was actually really beautiful. There were less clouds this day so the orange sun was really easy to see.

Being in a wet bikini covered in salt water and sun block can be a bit gross. So after sunset, we went back to the apartment to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. It felt really nice to have a hot shower after a long day. Thankfully, our apartment's water temperature actually got hot and had good water pressure. This night we didn't know where we wanted to go eat but as we walked along the beach we saw a place that had outdoor seating and live music. The singer was pretty good so we decided to get a seat. Unfortunately for us though, it had rained every night for at least twenty minutes since we had been there. This night was no different. We got seated, ordered, the man finished singing and the fire dancers were just going to get set up when it started to rain. We had to move our table inside and finish dinner without a show.  Again, our food was just ok. I'm not sure if it's the places we are picking or the dishes, but Filipino food is not really having much of an impact on my taste buds. Anyways, after dinner we walked our dinner off a bit and enjoyed catching random fire dancers scattered at different venues along the beach. They are really mesmerizing to watch and also incredibly good! It made for awesome free entertainment.

Day 4

Oh no the last full day of the trip has come! This morning the skies were actually a bit cloudy but we were still hopeful the day would brighten up as it had before. We had a helmet dive scheduled for 9 am and the fly fish activity right after so we had to be up a bit early for the last day. Even though the helmet dive was for 9 am, we really didn't get in the water until at least 10:30 am. But when we did finally get situated the experience was pretty awesome! So if you don't know what it is, it's exactly what you would think it is. You basically climb down a ladder while the crew members put this heavy helmet over your head. The helmet has an air tube so you head always stays dry under the water even though your whole body is submerged in. You also just breath normally. The water was really cold though but luckily there was fish swimming all around. We also got these bread balls to crumble under the water to feed the fish. It made for some pretty cool pictures as well as complimentary
video!

After the helmet dive, we had to wait a bit on the deck to then be transferred to another waiting deck for the fly fishing. It's a bit difficult to explain what fly fishing is but if you know what a banana boat is then that'll help. It's like a big floating disk that six passengers sit on as it gets pulled and jostled around by a speed boat. It seemed like a fun activity and actually Caoliang was the one who wanted to do it. I didn't want to potentially fall off the thing and have to waddle around in open water as the boat turns back around for me, but I was a good sport and agreed to it anyways. Luckily the activity turned out pretty fun. We had a full group of six including me and Caoliang, two Filipinas and two Russian men. The weight distribution was nice and even which made the ride bumpy but fun. I luckily was sitting in the safest spot, center at the top! Half the people on the float fell off during the ride but I think they enjoyed it.

Once we made it back to dry land, we headed off to the wet market, D'Talipana to check out the fresh catch. I had been to a fish market in Seoul before and loved that experience so was hoping for the same good experience here.

When we arrived, it was smaller than both of us had imagined and the selection was not so big either. We ended up haggling the price for a fish, scallop, and some shrimp. Honestly, I think everything was pretty pricey for what it was and where we were but who knows maybe my haggling skills just need more fine tuning. Once we made our purchase, we went to a restaurant next door to have the items cooked. I was more hopeful in this experience than I should of been too. The only good thing was the fish and how it was simply steamed. I though our scallop was way over cooked making nearly half the batch dry and the shrimp was just ok. It was good to see the wet market and to experience it but I wouldn't recommend it.

Soon sunset time would be rolling around and we were debating to go to Diniwad or not. Judging from the sky, we both felt that it was too grey and cloudy for anything good to be seen so we went to the apartment to watch kite surfers and enjoy some fresh fruit we bought. One great thing about being in Boracay was the fresh fruit! It had been a while since I had mangosteen and mango so it was really nice to grab a bundle for cheap. On our side of the apartment was Bulabog Beach which had sunrise so unfortunately we didn't catch whatever sunset there was this day.

Trying to decide what we wanted to eat for the last night in Boracay was a bit difficult. To be honest, we weren't super keen on any of the food we had thus far. It was really unfortunate though because I don't have much experience with Filipino food and had much higher hopes for it than this. But out of the places we had been and seen, we enjoyed Lemoni the best so decided to go there. Their salads were perfect every time, including large chunks of fresh fruit and their service very welcoming. We thoroughly enjoyed dinner and the easy stroll on the beach after. I do think Boracay is a nice place to chill and meet other travelers but when traveling with a partner, I think the experience is a bit different. It was nice to be out and enjoy a drink on the beach but in my case I didn't really care for the fancy drink or seat at the bar. Honestly just sitting on the beach looking at clouds go by with Caoliang was great enough. But for the sake of "the last night," we made an effort by getting a beer at a live music bar that had this Filipino dude with long dreads singing Bob Marley covers. He was actually really good! But why am I not surprised. Most my Filipino friends back home can sing so of course Filipinos here could sing too! Anyways, it was nice to head some nostalgic tunes before heading back to the apartment for the early next morning.

After leaving Boracay, we spent a day in Manila before returning to Japan. I would have to say the trip turned out better than I expected. Not because I thought it was going to be disastrous but because I was actually a bit stressed because of factors I couldn't control, such as the weather. But the weather turned out to be really nice and thankfully we even got a shade darker! I was also thankful that Caoliang and I got to have this first holiday together and not hate each other by the end of it. So thank God for the safety, happy memories and chance to have this holiday. Also massive thank you to my lovely boyfriend for putting up with my difficult self. Love you both.

I know this was a long post but thank you guys for sticking with it through the end! I hope you enjoyed the pictures and my rant about my couples get a way. HAH! I know I can be such a sap. Well, life for me is going to change pretty fast in the next few months so I hope you stay tuned for it!! Until then...


xx
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