Saturday, July 19, 2014

Boracay Island, Philipines : 2014 Birthday Trip (Day 1 & 2)

Hey, I'm back from my awesome trip! Can't wait to share my awesome trip experience at Boracay Island. *So my Boracay trip basically is cutting the queue of other expired blogposts. Haha*  



Well, I couldn't say this year is the best but it's definitely a very happening year. I flew to Thailand and Philipines and also travel to a few states in Malaysia. More to go and I wish it won't stop as I love this wonderful hobby *and of cause have to work hard to spend on the trips*

I heard about Boracay island from friends and social medias. But never come across how beautiful it is until I did some researches of it. Boracay is a small beautiful island in the Philipines. It's also known as one of the world's top destination for relaxation. I found no words to describe how beautiful this island could be until you see by your own eyes. Please visit there before it being polluted.

Me and my man planned to celebrate our birthday at Boracay island. We booked the hotel through Agoda.com on April and we were so struggling on the transportation because there is no direct flight to Kalibo until  AirAsia Zest announced new route to the paradise island, from Kuala Lumpur to Kalibo, Philipines. 4 times per week! *Thumb up* It's just in time! 


This is our 2nd oversea gateway together. It's also our 7th monthsary and birthday. But i bet he forgot about the monthsary part lah, guy mah! Never remember all these "nonsenses" XD

So here you go, we had a morning flight at 11am. But we tend to take a town bus to KL Sentral and get Skybus to KLIA2 instead of troubling friends to send us there *because it's a weekday*. It's quite convenient to get all the transplantation we need just maybe you need to sacrifice some sleep. *means you need to wake up early to spend your whole morning to get yourself to the airport*. We packed our luggage a day before the flight as a few days before we were busy moving house. It's quite difficult for us to pack our luggage because we haven't unpack the boxes yet >.<" *lazy me*

We woke up at 5am and get our selves ready and manage to get the earliest bus to KL Sentral. 

 Selfie with the sleeping guy and the awake guy. =)


And definitely we need to chew something in the 4 hours flight. 

 Landed at Kalibo International Airport after the 4 hours flight from Kuala Lumpur. It's like about 3 or 4 pm *cracking the bones after a long sit*. And then we got to queue up approximately an hour or more just to get us checked-in at the airport because there were basically only 2 counters for us to check-in on that day and there were 3 planes landed at the same time. That part is something quite disappointing larh ='( . 
  
After that, we need to take an hour van ride to Caticlan Jetty to get the 15 minutes boat ride to Boracay Island. We get to know 2 new friends on the same flight, so it's better to share the van together as you can share the cost of the van because the driver charged us 1500 Peso for the whole van including the ferry ticket. We manage to accumulate enough people and there were total of 10 people on the van, so it's like 250 Peso for each of us. We wasted about 20 minutes just to wait for the others to share the van with us. But it's okay. Haha!

 Epic of the day. I wonder is it a free ride.

 I love this place because they have many church here which make here feel so peaceful and holly. *okay, I know it's my own perception larh, but don't you think so meh?* >.<"

 Got our first Philippine beer treated by our new friends.

 I know smoking is bad for health, but allow me to say so, cigarettes are fxcking cheap here! 50% cheaper.

 The Filipino students on their way home after school. Okay wait, why slippers?

 Their houses are mostly made of bamboos and white bricks and I realize they don't use to cement and paint their houses.

Big paddy field along the road.

And finally we arrived Caticlan Jetty. We need to pay for the "Environmental Fee" as the ferry ticket doesn't include "Environmental Fee". 75 Peso each and you have to pay one more time when you come back from Cagban Jetty *Don't ask me why, just pay. lol*

A picture of me in the ferry and it's raining heavily. It feels like I'm one of the natural disaster victims which are on the way being allocated to the nearby school to settle down temporary. Hahaha! The boat/ferry ride took about 10-15 minutes but not sure why we were all stuck in boat/ferry for like 20 -25 minutes and were not allowed to leave the boat/ferry. *I mention boat/ferry because they called it as ferry, but I personally think it looks like a boat more than a ferry* >.<" 

After arrived Cagban Jetty, we quickly took an "E-ride" which we known it as "Tuk-tuk" to our hotel because it's getting dark soon. We bumped up with another couple (Malaysian) who were staying just beside our hotel. So again we shared the E-ride together. The ride costed 100 Peso, 25 Peso for each of us.


(Picture taken from Google)

I always wanted to try up Spider House Resort which located at Diniwid Beach. What makes it so special to me? Maybe because of the authentic design of the resort gua... It's a bamboo tree house which you can jump down directly from your room into the sea! And yes, it's open air which mean no aircond provided. I was quite worried at first after reading the reviews from others towards Spider House Resort. Mostly mention about the mosquitoes. But surprisingly we didn't encounter any mosquito bites during our stays. Mosquitoes there are friendly I guess. Moreover it's quite cooling at night and day time was windy! So you no longer need aircond. But fans are provided in cases you feel there's no air flow in the room.

Checked-in our room at 8pm and headed for our dinner at the Spider House Bar after left our baggage in the room. 


At the lounge, thanking the God for baggage-free finally. *He has been carrying the heavy baggage all the way* Love you my dear! *Kisses*

A sneak peek of our room. (We stayed at room 1). There are total of 15 rooms only at Spider House Resort. We picked the sea view room.


The resting area in the room.

As this is a very authentic hotel,  so you can't avoid from little friends - Erk ehm... I mean little harmless creatures. 
That's why they have the mossie net around the bed to avoid flying bugs drop into your mouth when you are snoring during the night. Haha! But the mossie net makes the air flow in the bedding area quite stuffy when you cover up the whole area, so we did on the fan and faces toward the bed to let it be more drafty. Or else just sleep without the mossie net. But it's really chilling lah the weather, it's better to cover your body with blanket. You won't wish to get cold on your vacation too right.

I'm enjoying my pineapple sling at the private balcony in our room. 

The spectacular sunrise and sunset view can be seem from our balcony. But you see nothing during the night, only the sound of the waves and the music from the lounge as our room is just above the lounge.


 A small snooker table can be found at the lounge.


We went to the bar to redeem our welcome drinks and had our late dinner.




The starving man on the left and the hungry ghost on the right. 
(Grilled Cutter fish with rice and beef teriyaki with rice.) We have a great talk with the bar tender. His name is Weed, a nice and friendly guy. He shared a few incidents happened at Spider House Resort when I question him about the sea level. No worries, nothing about ghost, it's just some tourist over excited after some alcohol drinks and jumped into the sea and almost drawn but was rescued by the staffs there. But indeed, the sea level at night and day time is huge different. 

And of cause you have me and i have you.

The first night was exhausting but I hardly fall asleep maybe because I don't use to the bed yet. My man knocked-off after a few sips of Black Spider, the welcome drinks served by the hotel, it contains high alcohol volume as I can barely smell the strong alcohol *He ordered that drinks just simply because it sounds cool.* haha. So he went to the bed earlier. 


So I just stay up late unpack some of the clothes for the next day *But first, let me take a selfie!* lol


I bathed and changed a bigger size tee and chilling at the private balcony with my Pineapple Sling (welcome drinks). That night was a bit drizzling and windy. I love the feeling. Damn it! I'm already missing it again.

I can't wait to start my day!

 I took few hours of sleep. and I woke up at 6:30am as the warm sunshine ray sneaked in through the open-air balcony. I thought it was 8 or 9am. I walked to the balcony and have a peak.


 Look at the spectacular sea view! I can feel the ocean breeze ruffled my tangled hair. And you can see there are a lot of sailboats bringing the tourists to catch up with the sunrise. *Obviously I have miss out the sunrise moment*



This is another view from the side. Every time I see this, I have the urge of jumping down from our room. 

I couldn't wait to fill the first day at the island already! So I woke my man up early and unfortunately I fell asleep while waiting him to get ready. Haha. So, we leave our room at about 10am for breakfast.


The crystal clear sea water surrounding the whole island. I love this island so much. 


 Took multiple selfie of us along the beach while walking to the main road to get e-ride to Station 2 to grab our first breakfast at Boracay.


 Sorry for my fat tights. I'm happy to donate some of my fats if you need. =)


requested my man to be the photographer for the whole trip. Pity him. Haha!


 My sun-proof cardigan is so matching with the sailboat. Die die must take a photo with it *No, actually I took 2 photos*

There are many e-ride waiting along the main road. So, It's easy to get a ride anytime. I did some research before coming. Station 1 & 2 are much happening and crowded. Station 3 (Where Spider House Resort located) is much more away from the noise. That's why we chosen Station 3 as we wanted this vacation to be a much relaxing one. But we have to use e-ride every time just to go to Station 1 or 2. You can choose to walk if you are not afraid of dark *I mean during the night, and it's quite far*. =)

 Enjoy the moment taking e-ride as the wind blows and the hair flies freely *like shampoo ads*


 
I love this trip as all the while I was make-up free. Zero cosmetic on my face except sun-block larh. *Because I forgot to bring them here*, but is okay as my man says I look pretty without make-up *means I'm ugly with make-up? haha* Okay larh, at least I feels comfortable and fresh without them.


 The traditional air-freshener "Ambi Pur" in the e-ride. lol.

Our first stop : Station 1


 We went to Jonah's Fruit Shake & Snack Bar for the pure mango juice and banana milkshake which were mostly recommended in the blog of others. It's a must try beverage! The taste is definitely not the same as those normal mango juice that can be found in the mart. Theirs are all fresh fruits blended without adding sugar. The shop is located at the main road of Station 1, opposite Obama Grill Bar-Restaurant. The shop is painted in orange, red and green. A very colourful shop and easy to be found.



We had breakfast at Obama Grill Bar-Restaurant after the milkshake. Obama Grill Bar-Restaurant was recommended by the e-ride driver which sent us to Station 1. So we decided to take a try as both of us are starving, no time to do more survey. But it was a pleasant one.


We came early as they actually more focus on lunch & dinner. So they need some time to prepare the dishes. Is okay, we have plenty of time. =)


 Took zillion photos while waiting for the food to be served.


With sun glasses is better. Love overload! *Don't jealous!*




It's just beside the White Beach. Told ya, Station 1 and 2 are much crowded. There are people walking at the shore and there are a lot of Filipino approach and try to sell their local mangoes, sunglasses, beach hat, even selfie stick. lol


My man bought a chili red sunglasses from one of the Filipino. *And I tell him he looks like PSY with that funny looking sunglasses. He was like "wtf"* haha! I couldn't resist to take a walk at the shore too. I just love the ocean breeze!


Finally our combo seafood plate is served. This was taken after we ate some of them. It's actually a very big portion which you can share with your partner. Everything is great especially the cutter fish. They were stuffed with onion bits and their Filipino sauce. Quite recommendable.


 Heavy breakfast. Wait, grilled seafood as our breakfast? Well, it's actually consider brunch for us as it's almost afternoon.

After the heavy brunch, we decided to take a walk at the shore *again* to let the digestion system work smoothly before starting our water sport activities.




Snap snap snap with the over-stunning background.



 I found out a lot of people posing like this. So Imma follow the trend too. Haha!

The weather was not that pleasant starting from June to December as it is the southwest monsoon which known as "Habagat". So it's not really an ideal time to visit here, it's an off-season month. But is okay, the weather will definitely not gonna affect our vacation mood. It did rained on and off but we still manage to have fun on the unpleasant weather. So, when it rains, we went for food hunting and when it stop raining, we continue our water sport activities.  Not sure why I'm so optimistic maybe just because I'm on my vacation mood or it's our birthday month. Lol.

We were on our way to start our water sport activities but then it started to rain when we are on our way to Bulalong Beach. We decided to stop walking and looking for shelter before we are completely wet. And so we went to D'mall, Station 2. And  passed by SMOKE house, (it's also 1 of the top 10 MustTry Food list in Boracay) I was so excited and told my man that this is the restaurant that serve yummy beef bone soup *although I haven't try yet*, just because both of us love beef a lot. So we went in and ordered the Bulalo beef soup and also a mushroom omelet.


 If you are looking for humble pricing and yummy pinoy food, this is the place! It open 24 hours. There are two SMOKE House at Station 2. I visited the one at the street of D'mall. The other one is at the center point of D'mall.



We choose to sit further away from the kitchen as it's kinda stuffy inside because no aircond. Guys enjoy watching the outside "view". "The free bikini fashion show". Haha.


 the yummy Bulalo soup. If you love beef, you gonna love this too.


the mushroom omelet served with toasted bread/ rice.


Eat again. *sweat* We gain so much weight! The food are served in big portion. Order wisely if you are not a good eater like us. I mean we enjoy food, enjoy tasting new food, but our quota very limited. Haha.


Went into D'mall after the rain has stopped.

It's time for water sport! We went for Parasailing and helmet diving. Water sport activities are taken place at the other side of the beach - Bulalong Beach. Bulalong Beach is mainly for all the active sport.


 So, This is the place where all sailboats parked at here. No wander I can't find any boat at White Beach.


 We need to take the speed boat to the station for the specific activities.


 Here we go!


This is the station to wait for your turn to play. (Sorry for the blur photo as it's quite hard to snap picture during rain and during water activities unless I have waterproof smartphone lorh)

We went for helmet diving first as when we arrived the station it started to rain and getting heavy. The weather least affect the helmet diving activities as it took place under the sea. So it's safe to play during the rain. It supposes to have a recording of us under the sea playing with the fishes, feeding them, and discovering beautiful corals. But too bad, they missed out ours. So as the photos. *sad case* They suppose to send the disc and the photos to our resort, but they missed ours. They wanted to send to us on our last day, but was too rushing because we need to leave the hotel early to catch up with the boat and van to the airport. T^T Hope they still keep for us.

After the helmet diving, we proceeded to the parasailing! I love this part the most compared with the helmet diving because the helmet is damn heavy (35kg on the ground, and it reduced to10kg under the water.) It's still heavy for my shoulders to support it.

We were being sent to another area where mainly for parasailing.


 The wind are just great for parasailing.


Thank God for the good weather after the rain. Getting a lot of colourful parachutes in the sky.


We shared the speed boat with another 3 persons.


Photo of us before our turn =)

 Yay! Finally our turn.








Thank you for the great photos.  We enjoyed the wonderful moment. The feeling is superb especially when the taking-off and when the first we got into the air. We manage to enjoy the beautiful view of the island from different angle. 






It was damn exhausted after water sport games. We decided to return to our resort by e-ride.


 drying myself up while waiting my man to clean up.


 We took a short siesta and off to meet up with the new friends for dinner after that.

Will continue that on my next blogpost. I have been photo-booming this post too much. >.<" 

Anyway, I love Boracay!