I call it my happy place. When I am in Boracay, I can forget all my troubles, my friends, family and even Wriggly! Hahaha.
What's not to love about Boracay?
That is ... if you are a beach lover like me ... and mind you... not just any other beach but .... guess where?!?!? I do not know what attracts me to the place. Food of course ... lots and lots of them... but I have there 6 times already in the past 15 months.... so... the "excitement" over food seems to wan.
But the beach???
I do not think I will ever tire of it. Just looking at the mountains... the clear blue skies... the turquoise waters... it is a never ending amazement for me.
It is always a "Thank you, God!" moment. It is communing with God and nature at its highest form.
My food journey started at NAIA Terminal 3 mezzanine. There were several food outlets, much better than the ones near the departure waiting area.
I had the Shoyu Ramen from Raku Hokkaido Ramen House.
I was actually envious of Hermie's Nissin Beef Ramen which she had for her mid morning snack.
My flight was delayed, by the time I got to Caticlan airport, it was already 4:30 in the afternoon. I did not arrange for transfer anymore since I know my way around. The tricycle ride from the airport to the jetty port only took 1 minute! And the banca ride was only 7 minutes.
I checked into Boracay Haven Resort.
It is located at the back of Boracay Regency Resort, just a 1 minute walk to the beach. I was not ecstatic about it but at least I was not miserable. Very small hotel, clean and with a 24 hour standby generator!
My friend, Mona, joined me for this trip but we had different flights. My other schoolmates were also in Boracay. So it was fun to be with them. They were interested in other activities such as island hopping, snorkeling, etc.
Mona and I went "beach hopping"!
Station One Beach
Station Two Beach
Station Three Beach
Diniwid Beach
I imagined myself as a Swimsuit Illustration model when I was posing! Hahahaha!!!
Dream on, Lia!
My favorite beach was at the end of Station Three ... quiet ... clean... not a lot of families with children but still with people around me while swimming.
I am afraid to swim alone. I would love to stay in the area next time but it is just so far from the restaurants and I am not sure if the foot path is well lit at night.
I have always wanted to try the the Paella at Dos Mestizos but I never got chance in my past visits to the island.
I made it my number one food itinerary. I have read some reviews that they have the best paella. I had to try ... only because I wanted to know which paella tastes better, Dos Mestizos' or mine.
The waitress served the paella. It came to our table piping hot. She used two small wooden paddles.
The Paella Valenciana had lots of seafood and little bits of meat. The short grained rice was chewy. The vegetables were crisp, juicy and "sweet"!
It was all right as far as paellas go but then .... there was just one problem, my paella tastes better than Dos mestizos', IMO = in my opinion.
We also ordered a small serving of : Chorizo hecho por dos mestizos.
I think the translation is: homemade chorizo by dos mestizos.
Mona and I loved it! Mona being Mona ... meaning artery clogging Mona dipped her bread in the fat of the chorizo!
Hahaha When then waiter was about to remove the small serving platter, she said: No! I want to drizzle the oil on my paella!
Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!
We had ice cream at Aria Gelato... as usual .. I had the Benadryl flavored ... ahhh ...I mean cherry flavored ice cream! Hehehehe.
Met with my friends after dinner at Cafe del Sol... watched the fire dancers... there were a few "macho" fire dancers! hahaha
Some of them, you will be able to guess their gender immediately
but the others... quite questionable.
There was free breakfast at the hotel but Mona said, it was no big deal so I went to Deco's!
It is my favorite Batchoy place. I have eaten there the first time I was in Boracay and been dreaming about the hot flavorful soup with lots of chicharon bits ever since! They have a branch in Alphaland but I have not tried it yet.
We went to the very end of Station One, there is a foot path
which will lead you the Virgin Mary
and Diniwid beach.
Very quiet also and nice photo op location.
I took Mona to my favorite Japanese restaurant,
Nagisa, at the very end of Station Three. As we were approaching the place, the waiters were already waving at us! They know me very well and also my order, Mixed Tempura Rice set meal.
My view while having my lunch.
Same view in my previous Boracay blog posts but different picture.
We spent the whole afternoon swimming and I was trying so hard to get a tan. I did not use sunblock but used Hawaiian Tropic Tanning oil instead. My dream is to have caramel colored skin. Hahaha!
The last time I had a good tan I forgot to lift my arms! But this time I made sure that my "pits" were also tanned. I knelt on shallow waters and spread out my arms palms side. I think I looked pretty silly but no one looked at me and I did not care.
We met again with my friends, went to the grotto for a sunset photo op and Jonah's fruit shakes.
It is one of those "must try in Boracay". Not that it was heavenly but just something to try because, you haven't been to Boracay if if you haven't tasted Jonah's fruit shakes.
We were watching the sunset while sipping our drinks.
Dinner was just a simple affair for us at Aria. Carbonara with fresh fettucine noodles
and Pizza Margharita...
with stringy cheese!
Dessert at Cafe del Sol... Chocolate Mousse Cake.
Brought Mona to Summer Place for a late evening "clubbing". Towards midnight, the music was getting louder and louder and we called it a night. Hahaha I suppose as we are getting older, we have less tolerance for loud club music.
Early morning the next day, I wanted Mona to try the Calamansi Muffin at Real Coffee but when we got there, the muffins were still in the oven. We went back to my favorite Deco's Batchoy for breakfast!
Mona had to leave at 10:00 am because her flight was at 2:30 pm in Kalibo. You need to leave at least 4 hours before the flight. I thought I was going to get lonely but when I started swimming again... all thoughts of Mona was forgotten! :)
Boracay waters tend to do that to me. It was high tide, the water was up to my neck and I was only about 10 meters from the shore! I did not want to leave yet but had to go and check out of my room.
I was racking brains ... where should I eat for lunch??? I was so tempted to eat chicken at Shakey's or sio mai at Hap Chan! But then... I could eat those in Manila. I ended up having lunch at Manana Mexican Restaurant. I read in some blogs that the Nachos with cheese and beef was good.
I was not disappointed!
The nachos were freshly "fried" as opposed to nachos in plastic bags. Cheddar cheese was used and not "cheez whizzy" kind of sauce. I loved their salsa and sauces, mild, hot and guacamole.
I even asked for a second serving.
Mona texted me that I should not have ordered anything with cheese since I was going to travel soon. Too late!!! The combination of cheese and deep fried nachos was NOT good. My tummy had a revolution! Good thing I still had to get my luggage from the hotel. I had to take Immodium. Would I eat the nachos again??? YES!!! But only if I am not going to travel right after and maybe with Frozen Margarita.
Alas! It was time to go home. I rode a tricycle to the jetty port. I had an interesting "trike mate". Very cute little Maltese!
Her master's gender was not questionable... definitely on the gay spectrum! I was checking out the gender of the dog when it alighted the trike. What if .... the master dressed and had the male dog groomed to look like a female dog!?!?!?! Hahahaha.
Another memorable experience for me. I wish everybody can visit my Boracay so they can understand why I love going back again and again. I can use all the adjectives in the dictionary to describe the island but nothing can compare to a first timer's view of my Happy Place!
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