After months of working our butts off at work, the friends and I were excited for a long overdue vacation. Boracay, here we come!

We all met up at Terminal 4. Our flight was scheduled at 12:25 pm and we arrived an hour later at the Kalibo International Airport.

It was the first time I had a flight not scheduled in the wee hours of the morning. It feels great to arrive at your destination not feeling like a vegetable.

We were expecting someone with a placard with my name on it or at least someone from the travel agency but we didn't find any. After calling a number of people from Shadow Travel and Tours, someone finally answered and told us that Island Star Express was to be our transport provider. When we approached the Island Star Express booth, we finally found my name.

There.it.is.

None within our group were aware that we would be riding with Island Star Express. Why oh why were we not informed??

Island Star Express

One unpleasant 2-hour bus ride later, we arrived at the Caticlan Jetty Port terminal. Paid php100 for the terminal fee and php75 for the environmental fee.

Be mindful of your fees

On our way to a jetty ride

There is enough blindingly orange life jackets for everyone

The jetty ride is just about 15 minutes. When we arrived at the island, an L300 van was waiting for us. They drove us to La Carmela De Boracay and we arrived some time around 3 or 4pm.

La Carmela De Boracay

All dead tired from the travelling

I showed our voucher to the front desk and paid the deposit fee of php2000. We got a pair of connecting rooms.

One for the guys

and one for the goddesses :))

The room is in very good condition. Clean linens, clean toilets, a safe that is free to use, cable, air-conditioned.

soaps and shampoos

Clean and spacious toilets

A safe for your valuables

After settling down and resting a bit, we head out for a very late lunch. We were too hungry to stray too far from the hotel so we decided to eat at the nearest familiar food joint, Reyes' Barbecue.

Look at those tired and hungry faces

When the tummies were satisfied, we went to D-mall because some of the guys needed to buy a pair of board shorts for swimming. Why they didn't bring one, I don't know.

D-Mall

D-mall

It seems like they have everything here

They've got souvenirs,of course . Money changers? All over the place

Left your sunnies? D-mall's got you. Gotta pay your phone bills? No problemo!

Lost your luggage at the airport? Get a whole new wardrobe at D-mall

Forgot to put your GoPro in your bag? No worries! They've got the latest release for ya!

These hand-painted shirts are wow