Hello, it's a boring Thursday afternoon. I found a packet of 2-in-1 instant coffee and mixed it with a 3-in-1 instant coffee. The result? Kopi ga-dai or fucking sweetened coffee. Haha, sucks!
Ok, back to topic. So the 5 of us decided to head to Boracay, one of the most beautiful beach in South East Asia. Trust me, this is not an overstatement & its reputation definitely precedes it. This place toss Kuta of Bali and Phuket of Thailand right to the back! I guess we can skip places like Batam & Bintan, they are un-ranked on my list, hahaha!
A quick summary: we took the Singapore - Manila - Caticlan - Boracay route. In other words, we flew to Manila from Singapore, transit to a domestic flight to Caticlan then boat to Boracay island!
The Departure Situation - Singapore
Here comes the story, our domestic flight from Manila to Caticlan got cancelled on the day of our trip, and we couldn't book another set of tickets because 48 hours is required to process the credit card payment. So we figured that life itself is an adventure, and decided to only purchase our tickets when we reach Manila! We flew with Tiger Air and departed at approximately 2am.
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| Picture with Spongebob before moving out. |
The "Scam" - Manila
Touched down at Terminal 1 of the airport at around 6am in the morning. We were supposed to purchase the transit tickets at Terminal 3 but got "scammed" when we sought assistance from a guy in uniform. Some airport security I think... He told us Terminal 3 doesn't open so early and that we should head to Terminal 4, which offers a wider range of airlines to Caticlan. So we gullibility believed him and boarded a taxi, which I believe belongs to his acquaintance. It cost us 300 Peso (S$8.50) for a 5 minutes ride to this travel agency which again, I believe is somehow affiliated to them. The travel agency tried to sell us air tickets at double the price of what airlines would've offered. If I never remember wrongly, it was around 7,000 Peso (S$200) each. How ridiculous... Fortunately, we managed to reject their offer and took a cab at 150 Peso (I think) to the real Terminal 3.
There are basically 2 airlines, the Philippine Airlines (PAL) & Cebu Pacific, that fly to Caticlan. Cebu Pacific was cheaper, but sold out, so we settled for PAL, which cost around 4,800 Peso (S$140) for the 8:15am flight (earliest available). We bought our Philippines SIM card (by Globe) while waiting. I think it was 400 Peso (S$12) for one with unlimited data (which was almost non-existent) and 700 Peso (S$20) for unlimited data plus 100 minutes talk time? Can't really remember... Anyway all of us bought the 400 Peso plan. I just had to stay connected, don't ask why :D
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| Our domestic flight! Small & cosy plane. |
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| Enjoyed the view to Caticlan! |
It took around 1 to 1.5 hour, not too sure, kind of knocked out half way through, haha!
Caticlan to Boracay Island
There are some fees (inclusive of tricycle ride to ferry terminal) to settle once you reach this place, can't remember how much though... Anyway, the tricycle ride should be fast, like 5 minutes to reach the ferry terminal. You'll then travel by sea for around 15 minutes to the legendary Boracay island! The time should be around 10:15am if everything went smoothly. You can then take another tricycle ride to your hotel from there. Price varies among places. We paid 150 Peso (S$4) each for 2 tricycles to station 3. Anyway, at the end of the trip, I found out we got scammed cause it's actually possible to squeeze 5 people with all the baggage in 1 tricycle for 150 Peso. @#$%! Hahaha!
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| Wah, silky hair floating all over |
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| The beach that I know I must return to some day. |
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| This is real! |
Checked in and went to
D Mall at station 2 for lunch. Had some burger at a restaurant next to
Share Tea. Yes, they have
Share Tea! Hahaha!
D Mall is basically the center of
White Beach. Plenty of shops and restaurants. Food ranges from 150 (S$4) to 350 Peso (S$10) but it really depends.
You will survive if you are a carnivore but don't expect much from the food. If you do not know what to eat, go to the one with the most patrons, should be a safe gauge, hahaha! Will touch on this in another post, this entry is getting too long...
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Dark clouds... No worries, it's always windy
up in the sky, so the clouds move
along pretty quickly |
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| This is called Willy's Rock! |
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Just feel that this photo is upload worthy, cause it's taken by me
:D |
So we basically explored the beach, went to book our Ariel's Point trip at Boracay Beach Club, tried the infamous Jonah's Fruit Shake & Snack Bar (yes, it's good, go for it!) and finally headed back to the beach in front of our hotel to swim under the setting sun. And not forgetting drinking by the beach at night with the company of great friends & music by the live band & the occasional sound of waves clashing the shore... Damn! These are what I call moments that take our breath away! Haha! That's about it for day 1. Stay tuned! Peace.