Trip Lang #13 - Boracay - A Trip for the Graduate Day 2

So this is my post about our Day 2 in Boracay. If you haven't seen our Day 1 post, you may view it here: A Trip for the Graduate Day 1

As mentioned on my Day 1 post, we got a packaged tour amounting Php2500 per person. We decided to split the activities for two days so we can enjoy each of them and not be pressed for time. Day 2 had been scheduled for all the water activities in the packaged.

We started our day with a sumptuous breakfast at the Orchids Resort's dining area. All of us stuffed or tummies with heavy meal so we have enough energy for the this days activities.
 
Our guide was scheduled to pick us up around 7AM. When breakfast was finished, we stayed and waited for him at the resort's entrance where we busied ourselves preparing our underwater gadgets for the photo ops. Our first stop, Crocodile Island where we snorkeled. A 15-20 minutes boat ride from station 3.

Gallons of salt water intake and an hour after, we felt weary of diving and swimming. We climb aboard our banka and head to Puka Beach. Along the way our boat man showed us Manny Paquiao's rest house.

Puka Beach is another gorgeous beach to visit in Malay, Aklan. The water is as clear as the main Boracay stretch although here, you'd find that the sand is more composed of Puka shells fragments than sands. Nevertheless, this beach has an orgasmic view.

About an hour more of swimming and beach bumming before we head back to station 3. That's the end of our island hopping activity. I know, it's not really island hopping because there were only two beaches that we were able to visit. Unfortunately, due to the rough situation of the sea on the other side of the island, we were not able to go cliff diving that day. Bummer!

Next on this list was helmet diving. We waited about 15 minutes after we're back in station three. What were we waiting for you'd asked? Our guide. He was missing. Hahaha. After several minutes, he was rushing towards us. Our speed boat has arrived. It'll bring us to where the helmet diving platform is located.

A few minutes later and we reached the helmet diving platform. Have tried this before so I wasn't so ecstatic about it. A quick briefing and down the 12 feet deep water we went. As expected, the pressure we felt going down was very unpleasant. As instructed, swallowing and holding your breath can equalize the air pressure in your ears so that's what we've done.

Here's a video of us feeding a school of colorful fish.

We didn't head back to the shore right away. Our speed boat needed to catch a banka where one helmet diving personnel was aboard. The term speed boat spoke for itself. The hell was really freakin' fast!!! After the unpleasant feeling of dipping in the water, I wasn't ready for an adrenaline rush! Just see how my face looks like on the video.

See.. Ain't that crazy? So upon reaching the shore, my knees were trembling. But... I camouflage it with a smile. A stop over at Shingley's office to get our CD then we hunted for a place to eat lunch. On our way to back to station 3, we passed by Akira Resto Bar where a few foreigners were eating and drinking. We decided to eat our lunch here.

The food we ordered were tasty and very budget friendly. The resto bar is recommended for all backpackers.

It was around 1:30PM when we head back to the resort to rinse up and rest. We took a nap and woke up around 3:30PM so we can still catch the Chatime promo. Our plan was to simply relax on the beach and wait for the sun to set.

We were not disappointed. The sunset that we were waiting for didn't take long to unfold before us.

We were supposed to go to station two to find something to eat for dinner. However, just behind where we were hanging out was a local store grilling different kinds of meat and fish. I had the boys checked it out and it was just perfect! Grilled liempo, catch of the day, hotdogs, chickens, etc... Food that are great to eat by the beach. They also sell local beers and the prices were for locals. Beat that for a budget meal! We found a place to eat for the remaining days in Boracay without stressing our pockets.

After eating, a few cocktails and bottles of beer, we decided to star gaze on the shore. The sky was clear and there were lots of stars that night so our timing was perfect.

This is how we do it! Star gazing in Boracay. lol!

It was around 11 at night when we decided to wrap our second day up. Tired. Soar. Exhausted. These words described how we felt with all the activities we have all through out the day. Nevertheless, the fun and sunburns mixed together were awesome. We went to bed with happy faces.

Trip Lang #13 - Boracay - A Trip for the Graduate Day 1

My brother Ron has been one of those kids who repels academic stuff. He's more of a street-smart-person and had problems finishing high school due to his different outlook in life. My mother would always talk and try to make sense out of him, lure him back to school but to her frustration, my brother never did until something happened that forced us to send him back to Sultan Kudarat, our home town. There he stayed with our cousins and had no choice but to go back to school.

To cut the long story short, he was able to survive his remaining year in high school and finally become one of the graduates for the year 2014. To pay off his effort and for finally making our mother happy, I decided to treat him and my partner Alvin for a holiday in Boracay. I’ve been to this place before and have put up a post about that trip I had on 2012.

I combed the internet for the lowest fare I could get for his almost a month vacation here in Manila. Then I grabbed the Boracay package I was offered by one of my colleague, Khyle. Few weeks before our original trip schedule, we found out that there was a problem with our reservations. Khyle had to refund our money because the agency that was supposed to book our trip was “awesome” enough to NOT book it. Grrrrr… I know. What a pain. We felt it hardcore especially for Khyle who’s been in constant communication with the agency. I usually do my own reservations and create my own itinerary for my previous travels. It’s a first for me to trust a travel agency to handle and arrange my booking and the outcome was “great” and when I say great it means the opposite, not a good first impression.

So after the mishap, I scanned the net, made phone calls, send emails and text messages looking for the best price I can get for flight and accommodation. The plan was to stay in Boracay for four days and three nights.

May 4 – 7 was the selected date of travel. I filed for a few days of vacation leave from work and had to work half day on the day of our departure. After checking in online and printing our boarding pass, we headed to the airport for our 7AM flight.

We arrived ten minutes earlier than our ETA in Kalibo airport. A land transfer with Southwest has been booked prior so I just had to get our stickers for guest identification and we were off to Jetty Port in Caticlan. Due to lack of sleep, we all dozed off for the entire 2 hours of the trip. Upon arriving at Jetty Port, we paid for the terminal and environmental fee.

A nearly ten minute ride and we reached Boracay Island. Multicabs, (these are small vehicles that have the same purpose as tricycle mostly found in Visayas and Mindanao area) were waiting when we disembarked the Southwest vessel. Another ten minute ride for us to reach Boracay Station 3 where we started walking towards the direction of The Orchids Resort where we will stay.

We were too early for Orchid's check in time but they let us in the room anyway. It was almost lunch time and we were already starving to death so we quickly changed and head to station 2 to eat.

A few minutes of walk under the scorching heat of the sun (+ awesome view) and we were all exhausted before even reaching our destination. The plan was to eat at I Love Backyard BBQ but when we get there the line was never ending. We looked around and saw 888 Seafood Restaurant. Eating here was a bad idea I thought. The food we ordered was not delicious at all. I'm not sure if that's how they roll but what they served was not equivalent to its price, let just put it that way.

After lunch we started beach bumming. We walked on the beach towards the island's famous grotto and got some refreshing drinks along the way. Good thing we had brought a Nalgene container filled with ice and water. Saves us from dehydration and heat stroke.

I'll never get enough of this captivating view of Boracay beach. The fine sand, crystal clear water, the breeze... Lucky are those people who lived and see this view everyday. Though it would be more majestic with less people littering like ants along the shore. Hehehe... I wonder how this place looks like before it became very famous. It must have been very beautiful and serene.

The grotto was equally majestic. Swimming here felt like swimming in a pool because of its clear water that reflected the sky. This was something I never experienced the first time because it was the rainy season when I first had my vacation here.

When we were satisfied with all the walking, we decided to go back to the hotel and rest for a few hours to prepare for dinner and a night of drinking. I was ecstatic to find out that Chatime, my favorite cool drink, was having a buy 1 take 1 opening promo. We had a quick stop over to buy a few and grab some snacks along the way.

Another stop over was talking to one of the locals for available tours. We got one package worth 2500 per person. This package includes island hopping, snorkeling, helmet diving, zorb, ATV ride, skycycling and a tour within the Red Coral.

Of course, who would want to miss posing on the famous sand castle with "Boracay" sculpted on it? 

Not us.. 

Due to exhaustion, we decided to sleep the rest of the afternoon to recharge for the night. It was twilight when we woke up and prepared for dinner. We ended up drinking beer at Red Pirates.

After a few bottles, we walked to station two to eat a proper dinner. Our target, I Love Backyard BBQ. We ordered one of their set meals good for four plus an additional grilled longanisa.

About an hour after eating, with full tummy and rest-deprived body, we called it a day. This conclude our first day in Boracay.

I have to break our Boracay trip in to parts because we've done so much during our stay and putting it in one post is too ridiculous. So... Day 2 post, to come soon...
 

Trip Lang #12 - Canines and Felines - Philippine Animal Rescue

Dogs, cats, rats, birds and anything animal in nature, I am very close and very much fond of them. I have a dog and I’ve mentioned her on my previous posts. It’s been a long time since I become familiar with organizations that care for animals like PAWs and the likes.

I was browsing the net a few weeks ago and something caught my attention, a before and after picture of a dog. One picture of the dog was very skinny and kinda look like its dying. However, the other picture shows a healthy and happy one. I read the description of the picture and that’s when I first found out about Philippine Animal Rescue Team or PART.

PART has been helping Philippine canine (Aspin) and felines (Puspin) that have been long forgotten by their humans. I got interested in helping and signed up for their upcoming Adoption Drives.

First event was held at La Mesa Eco Park in Fairview. We met and bonded with the dogs and cat from the shelter. That day I look after Gelie and Hershey. These dogs were abused, abandoned and left to die by their heartless owners. PART with its big-hearted-animal-loving members started something that made the life of these poor animals better.

Here are some of my pictures from the first event in Eco Park.

Nutmeg

Shelter Dogs

Gelie - One of the Ambassadogs

These pictures were taken from The Doggie Day Fair in Fort Bonifacio.

Princess

 Dog Fashion Show

Chillin' after a very hot day.

My Aspin Shirt

For any interested volunteers or if you want to donate to complete the new found home of our dear Aspin and Puspin, you may visit/follow their websites below:

http://www.philanimalrescue.org/
https://www.facebook.com/PhilAnimalRescueTeam

Trip Lang #11 - Valkyrie In Magalawa Island

January 4-5, 2014

It seems too early for a summer outing this first week of January, too early for swimming because the breeze is still too cold from the holiday season’s aftermath. This didn't stop my team from pursuing the much awaited team building intended for the last quarter of 2013.

Call time was 2:30AM at Starbucks, Eastwood Citywalk. There were 9 of us traveling. Incomplete because Uno was still in Cebu, Phet had a prior church commitment and John’s parents were scheduled to fly back to Zamboanga on January 5. There was Sugar, JM, Umel, Nick, Claire, Jeiko, Nosie, Jarrel and Me.

Our bus was leaving Victory Terminal in Calookan at 4AM so we have to be there by 3AM, at least. Good thing when we arrived, the counter was still close. I had to wait in line to make sure we get our tickets for the 4AM bus. Lady luck must be on our side because we were the last passengers to be allowed on board. The vacant seats were good enough for the 9 of us. We were seated at the rear part of the bus where it felt like high school field trip for everyone all over again.

The bus left the terminal at exactly 4AM. The estimated time of the entire trip to Veritas Road is 6 hours but we arrived an hour earlier at the Veritas waiting shed. We took a 30 min tricycle ride to Oslet Fish Dealer Compound. The team waited for almost 20mins for the boat to pick us up at Luan Port. After 10-15mins boat ride, we were at Magalawa Island at around 10:30AM. We were greeted by Ate Angie who takes care of all the visitors from registration, food reservation, etc. She showed us to our room and informs us about the don’ts of the Armada Resort. We were told that lunch will be served at the dining area and she’ll call us whenever food is ready.

The rest of the team changed in to their swimming attire to enjoy the water while waiting. I myself decided to take a nap because I haven’t had any decent sleep since the day before the trip. Around 12noon when I was awaken and advise to proceed to the dining hall for our lunch.

And yes, it was indeed a sumptuous lunch for everyone. The servings were awesome that some of us were not able to finish our food. It was also the moment when I found out that Nosie and Nick are not fond of eating vegetables so the rest of us feasted on their portion of veggies. We were served calamari, grilled fish (caught of the day) and sauteed vegetable with peanuts, a Choco Mucho and soda for dessert.

 I was supposed to sleep after lunch to regain my strength but I thought that's boring, we were here to enjoy. Sleep can wait until tonight. So I changed in to a more comfortable shirt for swimming, put my sunblock on and stayed outside under the tree with the rest of the team. And yes, what's the best way to kill time than to have a drink while singing along to the tune of whatever song our guitarist thought of playing. 

One bottle of The Bar Vodka and we're off to exploring the island. Like children, we played on the sand. Some were horsing around and throwing sands to each other and some were just soaking up the peacefulness and tranquility of the place. Cam-whoring was indeed great on the beach.

One side of the Island where you can find mangrove trees.

No swimming allowed in this part of the island due to strong current under water.

Some of the starfishes you'll find in the island.

Temptation Island - Valkyrie Version

The coolest team ever!

Most of the coolest members from the left, Nosie, Nick, JM, Jarrel, Sugar, Umel and Jeiko.

Jarrel and Nosie

Team Magnum - The Broke Back Edition

The rest of the day were spent swimming and exchanging stories. Just simply getting to know each member of the team. Our team outing was very relaxed and I believe most of us enjoyed it that way. A great way to free our body and soul from the busy and stressful city living.

When dusk came, most of us have rinsed and changed in to our dry clothes for the evening. We grilled hotdogs and made s'mores. Our dinner was equally delicious, sweet and sour fish, steamed crabs, chapsuey and soda. Afterwards, we continue drinking and finish the three remaining bottles of alcohol.

Moon so bright, night so fine.

Of course, after several shots of vodka, you'll here people say "Boss, matulog ka na. Lasing ka na." and someone also tried to tune the guitar and said "Anu to?" while twisting the tuner. Everyone reacted almost violently so, that person attempted to fix it right away by twisting it again and saying "ayan ok na. balik na sa dati" like it was just that simple. And no, I'm not talking about the same exact person here, not at all. Hahaha! Peace whoever that person is! 

The next morning, some of us were up early but majority got up when breakfast was served around 8AM. Awaits us were daing na isda, steamed hotdog, friend eggs and coffee. Enough to supply us with lots of energy for our second day activity, snorkeling and bamboo rafting.

Nine of us were on the bamboo raft by 10AM. The Armada Resort boat pull the bamboo raft to the snorkeling area on the other side of the island. The water was about 12-15 feet deep. There are a lot of corals and shy fishes. We brought bread to encourage them to surface but they're too shy, they'll eat the bread and swim back to the corals. So, we suit ourselves swimming and watching the different forms of corals.

An hour later, with gallons on salt water intake and soar muscles from swimming, we went back to our room to rinse and change. We had one more bountiful lunch before we hit the road back to Manila.

It was a 2days-1night trip and definitely a short one but the relaxation, enjoyment and intimate bonding of the team was totally priceless. For some of us, this is the last outing we have as a team before the new roster takes effect. As short as the time we spent together, we will have this experience in our heart forever. Until the next shift bidding guys!

To the best and coolest team ever, cheers!!!

Here's our expenses: