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

Finally, I was able to spend a vacation at the beautiful island of Boracay! Thanks to one of the friend who found a cheap package online. Awyiss!

We were able to avail a package from Shadow Travel and Tours. You can check it out here. We got a package that includes air fare and hotel accommodation for 3 days and 2 nights for only php4k+. Not a bad deal, I believe. After a couple of e-mail exchanges later, and paying up via bank deposit, the booking confirmation was made. Boracay, here we come!



One of my friends and I tried to make an itinerary for the trip but we were having a hard time because of reasons. These reasons include not knowing what kind of activities the whole group wants (there were so many to choose from), how much does the activity cost, how long will it take, etc. Usually Google always has an answer for us (which was the case for our Puerto Princesa trip) but this time, nay. So we gave up on creating an itinerary and just hoped that everything would work out on it's own. 



And it did. We had a really great time! Although there are some things we were not able to do. All the more reason to come back when we get the chance :)

Day 1
Arrival
Pub crawl	php990/pax; php790/690 if online registration	5+ hours
Day 2
Island Hopping	php2300/6pax	3+ hours
Cliff Diving	php100/pax	15+ mins? Depends on how much bruises you want on your legs after a crappy jump how much of an adrenaline junkie you are
Parasailing	php1500/pax	15 mins
Helmet Diving	php500/pax	15 mins
Talipapa
Day 3
Beach Bumming	freeee	until you achieve an impressive tan line
Shopping	so many pesoses	until your wallet runs dry
Departure

We were able to haggle with the prices of some of the activities - One of the advantages of not reserving activities beforehand. There are also other expenses to take note of.

• Rental of snorkeling gear, php100
• Snorkeling fee during island hopping, php20
• Bread for fish feeding (optional), php10
• Terminal Fee at Jetty Port, php100 x 2 (Going there and coming back)
• Environmental Fee, php75
• Airport Terminal Fee, php100 (departure only)

Also, the hotel check-out time is 11am and our flight was set at 12 hours later. So we asked La Carmela if we could extend our stay. They said that we can check out by 12nn (still free) and then leave our luggage in their care so that we can go do whatever we want until the shuttle service arrives for us. It sounded good at first but we thought if we were to check out by 12nn, we'd have to be back in the hotel by 11 to pack up. That means we'd only be able to enjoy the beach an hour or two (because we wanted to swim near the grotto area which is quite a long walk from La Carmela). So we decided to stay until 3pm, which costs half the rate of the room. You can stay after 3pm but that will cost you the full price for the room.



And that sums up our itinerary and expenses of our short Boracay trip. I made separate blog posts about our activities in detail. You can check it out here:

Day 1: Pub Crawl
Day 2: Island hopping, cliff diving, parasailing, helmet diving, Talipapa
Day 3: Beach bumming, shopping


Photo credits: Rem Calumba, Wendy Fraginal

Hi there! I'd like to share with you a list of things I have to absolutely have with me during a casual day hike. This does not include the important things that you're really supposed to bring. These are more like things that you can or cannot bring depending on your preference.

Arm & Leg warmers

I'm not really sure if this is a supposed-to-bring thing but I know people who don't use these so I'm adding this to the list. Since the Philippines is a tropical country, I don't really need extra clothing to keep me warm during a day hike. The purpose of these is to protect your extremities from getting cut from sharp weeds and from being a blood-sucking critter's next meal.

The horror

Gloves
I am the only person I know who always have a pair of gloves when going for a day hike. I have a tendency to grab on rocks and weeds because my knees are not as strong as I would like them to be. There was a time that I didn't wear my gloves and I got cut from some grass I grabbed on while getting down to lower ground. I took that as a sign and swore never to expose my bare hands to the wilderness ever again. 

They always do

Extra footwear

I don't use these during a hike. I wear them after. The sandals I wear for day hikes are terrible. There are parts that rub against the skin until it bleeds. I know I should buy a new pair and I will, but for now, I'll always bring a pair of extra footwear for the sake of my feet's comfort.

so that's why

Camera



I used to always bring my mirrorless camera, but now I only bring may camera phone with me. Besides the fact that it is less bulky, the photosphere feature on my Nexus is great. I can fool people into thinking that I have a camera capable of wide-angles. Ha ha!

No matter what your camera is or no matter how many times you've been to the same mountain, I think you should bring one just in case. You never know what you'd find.

photosphere users would understand

Walking pole

I don't actually have my own walking poles because I hear those things are pricey. The walking poles I use are from the mountain itself. Sometimes, a tour guide would cut a branch and turn it into a pole for me (I kind of feel bad for the plants though). Sometimes, I just stumble upon poles used by other hikers. I actually like it better than the kind that you can buy. It makes me feel more explore-y and more like a mage or wizard.

I wish I had the guts to really do this

And that's it, my list of essentials. I hope you learned something new from me today. Have a good day!

Ahhh... Calatagan. You always find a way to creep into my yearly getaways. This year, I got to experience Calatagan once again through Aquaria Beach Resort.


One of the friends found a promo deal online cutting the entrance rate to almost half so we went for it.

Reception

The friend coordinating with the staff

Us, while waiting to be admitted

The resort is impressive! There were a lot of pools to choose from.

Pools

Pools, everywhere.

One for them kids

All were clean. And the condition of the pools are excellent. No broken tiles or whatever.

There is access to the beach, of course.



If you're familiar with beaches in Calatagan, then you know you aren't suppose to expect a lot :) Their beach is cleaner than the others though. No seaweeds in sight.
Their restaurant is located by the beachfront so it felt really good to just eat, talk with the friends, and just relax while enjoying the view.

or update your social media accounts

The food BTW, is way better than I expected. Usually, in my experience, resort restaurants always offered overpriced food that would fill a belly of a kitten. Not Aquaria. Their food is reasonably priced. The portion is enough for a human being. And it even tastes good!

Our binalot makes us happy!

Mais con hielo for dessert

Pancit bihon for meryenda

Here's their menu

The cottage is not exactly a cottage at all. It looks more a like a lounge.

It was very open too

There are yellow cushions in the bench and there is a small cabinet that you could put your things in while you're away. There is no lock but considering how there was an abundant supply of security guards all around, it was no big deal. Also, the cottages were by the poolside so you don't have to walk so far to enjoy swimming right away.

But what impressed me the most about Aquaria are the toilets and shower rooms.

Upon entering

Feast your eyes on the beauty that is Aquaria's bath house

My photos don't do it justice. Their bathhouse is very spacey and very clean! I never would have thought that I'd be able to experience a resort's shower room as beautiful as this. The cubicles are spacey too and I didn't have to figure out where to put or hang my stuff because they have the small benches in it to put your things on!

Yes, it is a big deal for me. Or for anyone who had to deal with crappy shower rooms for years

One thing that bothered me though is the fact that you can't stay overnight considering how far this resort is. The three hours of travelling to the resort would be worth it if we could spend more time in it. We got there around 11:30am and had to leave by 6pm. 6pm is too just too early of a time to leave in my standards.

The verdict

Good: Resort is beautiful. Bathhouse is excellent. Restaurant is very good.
Bad: Location is not so good considering you can't stay overnight.

Will I go back? Yes. When the heavens decide to bestow upon me a private vehicle. Or when one of my friends finally buy one. :))

How to get there w/o private vehicle:

1. From Pala-pala, ride a van to Calatagan (php130/pax). The ride took us three hours! It should have been two but our driver seemed to be taking his own sweet time. My bladder almost died. He also dropped us by the municipal office (i think?) which baffled us because last year, our driver dropped us at the public market. If you got down at the municipal office, you'll have to ride a tricycle to the public market (php12/pax).
2. From public market, ride a tricyle to Aquaria or Playa, Calatagan (php150/trike). You'll arrive after 15 minutes.

How to get back 

Talk with your van and tricycle driver about arrangements. My getting-home from Calatagan always varied from trip to trip.