Boracay, Philippines (October to November 2001)

Before I got hold of a my very own camera, there was a place called Boracay.

It was one of the most talked about destinations in the Philippines. Everybody fuzzed over the white sand beaches, the island's natural beauty, the good food, and the very welcoming locals. After years of dreaming about it, I finally got to go. It was our semestral break for my final year in HS, and it was a break to look forward to.

We arrived in Katiklan at around noon, nothing too special. A small airport, very country-like, simple and nothing extra-ordinary. We took a 30-minute jeepney ride to the pier, and hopped onto a 2-hour boat ride to our final destination.

We stayed at the Red Coconut Beach Hotel. It has a very soothing nature-look in it. At that time I wondered why my mom had not picked a fancy hotel. Now that I think about it, it was a very good choice, because it matched the beauty of the island.

We went snorkling and had fresh coconut right after. This reminds me of the smile in my grandmother's face as she ate her coconut. I took a banana boat ride with my brother and my cousins. Oh what fun to have salt water splashing into your eyes! We also went island hopping. One of our stops was the Puka Beach. Aside from sand, the ground was covered with puka shells. In the island were several ladies making necklaces from the shells. We were also served lunch as a part of the trip. Grilled Fish always makes my water experience complete.

At the end of each night my brother and I found ourselves either in the hotel pool or in the middle of a party. Probably our most worthy find for an after sunset activity was a reggae bar, BomBom. One of its best features was the wooden lounge between it and the ocean. I sat in the swing and relaxed as my brother introduced me to rum and coke, and reggae.

Another good find is desert, crepe. France has found its way east, and the beach is the place to be! Unfortunately, I can not remember the name of the place. And after a tedious search, I will conclude that there is now more than one crepe place in the island. I will leave you this, it is located a few feet north of the Red Coconut, along the beach. It's a quaint crepe bar, good crepe and very chill.

We always considered Boracay our Hawaii. If you like a good, fun Filipino crowd as you get away from it all, Boracay is the place of choice.

note: I would like to apologize for the lack of details and pictures. This is a recall from eight years ago, and back then I did not have a camera. I hope you find this and my future blogs helpful in choosing your next destination.