Boracay Chronicles: First Day

**all about our Boracay experience: from plane tickets, to accommodation, to food, activities, and expenses.**


Five months before my birthday I already had my mind set on celebrating it in Boracay. I don't know why. I just want to! And I'm stubborn like that. :p


Come July, I got an email from Mabuhay Miles announcing that they'll have a Great Miles Getaway meaning they're slashing mileage for redemption by 70%! So I thought of taking advantage of this opportunity only to get my bubble burst. Details here.


Anyway, so I just did some mock bookings with Cebu Pacific and PAL. I originally intended to book October 13-16 but BF said he has to attend an event on the 16th (which got postponed a month after I bought the tickets by the way!) so I had to shorten the trip to just three days. As it turns out, Cebu Pacific's rates for both Kalibo and Caticlan were higher than PAL's for the dates I selected so I just booked with the latter instead.  Anyway, I got us Fiesta Deal seats for MNL-KLO-MNL for Php2,593.00/pax. It's still expensive, I know, but Caticlan prices were way higher even though it was just August and I'm booking two months in advance.


With that done, the next logical thing to do was to find accommodations. Now I'm not really keen with getting beachfront accommodations since they're much more expensive but I did look at the more popular ones like Boracay Regency, Le Soleil, and La Carmela. I also considered 7 Stones but the downside of this place is that it's on the other side of the island (Bulabog Beach, Balabag). I also read that Tan's guesthouse is highly recommended but I just wanted to try something else. Yeah, sometimes I'm a risk-taker like that. So I placed my 'impeccable' research skills to use and found Seabird International Resort. It has over 20 reviews from TripAdvisor and 96% of them recommended it.  


I emailed them to inquire and I was able to haggle the rate from Php1,600 per night for 2 pax to Php1,500 per night. I didn't also want to bother arranging for our transfers from Kalibo, so I also availed it from them at Php900/pax inclusive of the environmental and miscellaneous fees collected at the port. By the way, the accommodation also includes free breakfast for 2 and welcome drink. Their place is also WiFi equipped. I then deposited a 50% downpayment more than a week before our trip.


OFF TO BORACAY


Our flight was at 9:00 am and we left my BF's house (Marikina) at about 7:00 am. Since it was a weekday, we somehow got stuck in traffic and I was worried that we won't be able to make it at the check-in counter. Luckily we got there by around 8:15 am *whew*. We boarded 30 minutes earlier than scheduled so naturally we arrived in Kalibo earlier too. 

When we got to the airport, we saw a guy holding a small white board with my name on it. Apparently he's from Southwest Tours - the bus company that would take us from Kalibo to Caticlan Jetty Port. While there was already a bus waiting for us, they said they had to change buses since the aircon's not working properly on the first one so we waited for 15 minutes, I think, for the new bus to arrive. 


The bus ride was about 1.5 - 2 hours. We got off at Southwest's office and waited for another 20 minutes. The other passengers were still asked to pay for environmental fees even if they said that they availed of packaged transfers. Good thing for us, it's already included in the price Seabird quoted us. The other passengers were picked up by their respective hotels' boats while we had to share a boat with a group of three women. I thought the boat ride would take 30 minutes to an hour but I was wrong. I didn't know that Boracay was just 10-15 minutes away from the jetty. When we got to Cagban Jetty Port, we were picked up by a Seabird personnel and took a 10-minute tricycle ride to the hotel.

Pa-art shot inside the tricycle :p

Sec. Ace Durano ♥ Boracay

We were dropped off across Brgy. Bolabog and walked for a minute or two down a small alley to Seabird. We were given welcome drinks, and then we settled our balance right away so we don't have anything to worry about during our stay. 

Here's some pics of the place:

Yup, it's not as fancy as the other accommodations out there but the price is pretty reasonable for their amenities and location

We were assigned to the first room on the second floor which has a balcony. It was also closer to the WiFi router. :p

We got the Double Deluxe room with queen bed. The bed was pretty comfortable and I loved the comforter.

The room has A/C, cabinet, dresser, mini fridge, cabled TV, 

and spacious bathroom with toiletries and hot & cold shower. 

Another thing I liked about the place is that it's less than a minute walk to the beach. It's just behind Red Coconut but far enough from the island party noise.

Anyway, after checking in we were already famished since it was almost 3:00 pm when we got there. BF and I are both Boracay virgins so we're not really familiar where the good restos are located, so we ended up walking to Station 3 and back! My legs were already killing me by this time. 


By the way, as soon as you step on the beach, be ready for locals trying to sell you all sorts of products and services. At one point, I also felt like a Filipino on a Korean island since there were really lots of Korean groups.


BEWARE: By the way, beware of Astoria Boracay's staff giving away stubs for free lunch/dinner buffet. I wouldn't call it a scam but it's somehow a tourist trap. I only remembered about their tactic after BF already signed up for it. Anyway, we decided not to go but the staff kept on texting him until the following day. From what I read in forums, what they'll do is offer free food or accommodations but once there, they'll force you to listen to some sort of 'product launch' and will urge you to get timeshare.  

Out of hunger, we decided to have late lunch in one of the stalls offering 'authentic' Thai dishes called Siam Chili. So much for authentic. The food was just blah and pretty expensive. We paid for about Php500+ for two rice toppings, lemon grass chicken, and two glasses of iced tea.

My rice topping. It was forgettable so I didn't remember the name. I think it was sweet pork belly or something.

His rice topping: seafood

Lemon Grass Chicken

Since it was already late, we just decided to save our energy and meet up with a guide recommended by our friend who went to Boracay earlier this year. His name is Randy and he gave us a bundle of Php3,500 for 2 pax (he was originally giving it at Php3,600, I haggled for Php3,200 but lost haha). Anyway, that already includes island hopping with snorkeling gear, ATV ride, helmet diving/reef walking, and Zorb. We gave him a downpayment of Php500 and we agreed to just meet up the following morning.

No Boracay trip would be complete without trying out Jonah's Fruitshakes. We found out that they're no longer located in the beach and that they transferred on the main road. No biggie as it was not that hard to find. I had Banana Choco while BF had Banana Choco Vanilla and a Chori Burger. Now I understand why their shakes are so famous. You can really taste the concoction down to the last drop. It was so smooth and creamy. I love it!

Banana Choco to-go

Chori Burger

We went back to the hotel and had a nap. We got up past 8:00 pm and went to D'Mall for dinner hahaha I know, all we did was eat on our first day *glee*. We turned D'Mall upside down to find a place to eat and ended up at I Luv Backyard BBQ. This is Hawaiian BBQ's sister resto by the way owned by Happy Concept Group of Happy Ongpauco (Heart Evangelista's cousin). Since there were lots of people eating and we had to wait for a table, we thought that the food must be good. 

BF ordered for Ribs with Worcestershire Sauce. He said this was blah.

Mine was Aligue Pasta with Shrimp Aoili (sorry can't remember the complete name) which was actually pretty good. The pasta was not too oily or too dry.

AND the binge eating did not stop there. While I was already full, BF still had room for dessert. :p

I forgot the exact name, but I know it has wine in it.

After eating so much, we walked around in hopes of burning some calories before we retire hehe. 

Part 1 of 3