Our Boracay Adventure: Day 3

After our adventures "island hopping" and, well, eating on our second day in Boracay, we got a good night's sleep. At least we did until our roommates had to wake up early to catch the first flights out that morning. We were booked on the last flight out, so had the luxury of sleeping in and enjoying the beach and more before our flight would leave at four.

I had a good friend in college named Noi, a student from Thailand. He was an extremely nocturnal person and disliked mornings to the extent he set his schedule so that all his classes began after lunch. He would have loved our room at the Boracay Tourist Inn. It seemed much like his dorm room in college after he outfitted it with an opaque shutter system behind the curtains over his window to keep all light from entering the room. Noi may today be one of the owners of the Boracay Tourist Inn, as you can see here:
In questioning others in our party, we found all rooms had the same scenic view! What can you expect from a place who's slogan is: an affordable place to stay?

After breakfast, we set out along the beach to catch some sun and more of the great sea air. The waves were still quite strong, as you can see by this jetty awaiting its group of divers for their excursion.

A bit further down the beach we came upon Mañana Mexican Cuisine.
We didn't eat here, but I have to mention it for two reasons:

1. I question the reason for the name of the place. Is it just because that's a Spanish word and the alliteration with Mexican worked for the owners? Or does it have something to do with how long diners can expect to wait for service or their food?

2. I finally learned how to insert tildes over letters and here have reason to show off this newfound ability.

So where did we eat? I know you must all be terribly interested in that.

Well, even if you aren't, I'm going to mention it.

We had mild chicken pocket sandwiches at a funky little Korean-run restaurant at D'Mall.
They were wrapped in these wrappers with interesting Engrish print:

They were very tasty, er...good taste, as were the mango/pineapple/banana tropical shakes all made from fresh fruits. Ironic, isn't it, that what turned out to be one of the most fun, tasty meals of our trip was so simple, cheap, and just a couple hours before we left to catch our plane!

Before we left the island I thought I should capture some video to share with you. Here's the windy day as we saw it:

When we did make it off the island of Boracay and to the airport and this is what I saw:
I thought I'd include it here for all those in the states, since we haven't seen these in many years. Isn't the Marlboro Man dead? I thought I read that somewhere.

Remember a few bloggings ago I mentioned the problems being encountered with the new Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3? Well, those problems affect all flights on Cebu Pacific, the airline we were ticketed to fly. Many of Edson's officemates were scheduled to fly out at one in the afternoon. When we arrived at the airport at two for our four o'clock flight, they were still there. They had been re-booked for the our flight, and ours was canceled.

We were to spend an extra day.

But not in Boracay.

Oh.

Where then?

Kalibo.

Who-what-o?

Kalibo, a city two hours away (by car/van/bus) that real airplanes (jets, Airbus, etc....a.k.a. not turbo-props) fly out of.

The airline would feed and provide accommodations for us.

I was wondering how much worse the accommodations would be compared to the windowless room we left behind. Plus, there were two of Edson's officemates who were also booked on our flight. Would we all four have to share a room?

We had a two-hour van ride ahead of us before we would find out.

Our accommodations for the night turned out to be the Sampaguita Gardens Resort. It was a truly unexpected place. Firstly, the name is quite ironic, in that we found no sampaguita garden or flowers anywhere on the property; which truth be told, is rather large, so perhaps we missed it. It was also unexpected because at Sampaguita Gardens it is Christmas 365 days a year.

Oh my.

Thankfully there was no Christmas music playing. It's still too early for that, though the decorations will begin going up nationwide in a month.

Here's what greets you upon entering the gates of the resort:
As seen at night:
That's Jo Jo's Christmas Cottage.

A three-story Queen Anne large-as-life dollhouse a "cottage", you and I both ask?

Yep.

But the "best" part is what's inside:

Oh my God.

Yes, this is here in the Philippines.

Precious Moments everywhere (and all, interestingly enough, priced in US dollars!).

Why?

Well, it seems Sampaguita Gardens Resort is owned by the man who made his fortune from those cutesy characters.

Now, for as tacky as the place is, I must give them credit for outstanding food, nice rooms, good service, beautifully tended grounds, and amenities galore. Mercifully, no room's window looks out upon the Christmas Cottage lit up at night. All windows face the ocean instead!

The resort has a convention center, spa, fitness center, art center, pool, restaurant, the SJB Family of Companies corporate office (owns Precious Moments), and the Samuel J. Butcher mansion ('cause the guy's got to live some place when he's visiting, right?).

While the resort boasts circus rides, it seems they haven't operated in some time, as we found them rusted and tattered. Here, a carousel horse looks on at the dilapidated ferris wheel.

That's enough for now. Stay tuned for tomorrow's exciting conclusion to our adventure out of Boracay!

PS: Edson and I had a room to ourselves.

Our Boracay Adventure: Day 2

Day two of our Boracay adventure had us rushing out of our room without breakfast to go island hopping. That's a fancy way to say you'll be taken to one other island. An island that's privately owned, charging admission for you to walk amongst their tacky concrete animals and seek shelter in a few buildings erected there which, no doubt, offer overpriced snacks or souvenirs. Our group (pictured below) nixed that idea as soon as we arrived there.

We then returned to Boracay and went snorkeling. By we I mean everybody but me. While I can swim in our pool at the condo, ocean waves and I don't get along and my interest in snorkeling cannot be measured it's that small. Funny thing is, we had brought a single-use underwater camera with us from Manila, but had left it in the hotel room that morning! It actually never saw any use on the entire trip. Oh well, I guess we can use it at the pool...

Anyway, while others peered into the water below (or just held onto the outriggers for dear life---what I would have been doing) I snapped pictures of/for them. Here's Edson and his officemate Steph.

After the island hopping adventure we stopped at the Paradiso Grill for lunch. This smiley fishy was one salty part of the feast.

Here we are happy after our morning adventure and with full tummies.

After leaving the restaurant we were greeted with some nice weather and a beautiful scene.

But before we spent too much time enjoying it we needed to clean up a bit from our morning adventure. So back to the hotel we went.

Won't you come with us on the trek?

It's just a walk down the beach until you turn right onto this path here:

The path ends just ahead.

Always look both ways before crossing the street. And if you're going to photograph it, don't bother with the less photogenic side. (Yes, this is the photogenic side! No it isn't, but you can see a good deal further down the road in this direction.)

Once clean, refreshed and dressed we were back on the beach!

That day, the wind and waves were quite strong as you can see.


We didn't experience waves like that on our previous trip to Boracay last year in May. At that time the waves are quite placid and very calming. Waves like these are good for the wake boarders, and we saw several.

Others, like us, preferred strolling and sunning.

There were plenty of boats lined up on the beach one could hire.

Here's something I liked: these stamped signs that ornament the sidewalks. Most all are brightly painted like this one here.

As the sun was beginning to set, so were we (for a nap before dinner). So we set back for the hotel once again.

So here I leave you with a final picture snapped just before we arrived at the hotel, located just this side of the street across from the beautiful bougainvilla you can see in it's colorful glory in the distance.

Island Inflation

A continuation of our escapades in Boracay...

I just read a newspaper headline proclaiming the inflation rate in the Philippines is now at 12.2%.

Yikes!!! And just think: most of the money is going to those pumping, refining, and speculating in oil.

Some of it is also going to the place we found to eat/escape the rain once we'd set out from the hotel in Boracay last week. We decided on a 10" Italian sausage and broccoli pizza. It cost Php580! That's over $12US! OK, in the US that might not be totally outrageous, but consider Edson and I eat regularly at Yellow Cab Pizza, a place considered on the higher end of the price scale for pizza places in Manila. Most of their 10" pizzas run a little over half that price!

Yes, we'd expected to pay more in the touristy, tropical paradise of the tiny island, but most establishments there don't go to such an extreme. However, it was goooood. It was also past three and we hadn't eaten since Cinnabon at NAIA before take-off that morning.
Edson and I at the aforementioned pizza place.
A view from the hotel. Not from our room. More on that in a later post.
While wandering around we spied a small, brightly lit ferris wheel. I decided to be creative with the camera. I like the effect!

Much Or Do About Flying

Yes, you read the title correctly. I'm practicing my Filipino! And pretty much the way the English language was massacred in that title is the way aviation has been with the opening of the "new" Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

For far too long the air traveler coming or going through Manila has suffered the dilapidated international and even worse domestic terminal. Those facilities compounded with the squatter settlements just outside are the first impressions for weary travelers to the Philippines.

The new terminal was constructed several years ago but remained vacant and unopened while lawsuits regarding its construction were dealt with. A few weeks ago Cebu Pacific Air was able to open in the new building. Not much else is there. Luggage carousels are still being installed. Food and beverage vendors operate out of makeshift temporary kiosks. And I believe the air conditioning is set to a bone-chilling 60 degrees Fahrenheit, if it's that high. Let's just say I've been warmer strolling the frozen food aisles of US grocery stores...even with the compartment doors open.

Adding to the growing pains is the lack of systems and procedures to operate the new terminal, resulting in incoming flights being delayed on the ground because planes are waiting for gates for disembarkation. Mind you, there are plenty of available gates, just nobody knowing what to do when they see an incoming plane. It is a big headache for Cebu Pacific, as they (and their passengers) are the guinea pig in this trial opening period.

Edson and I were among these last week. We were off to Boracay with his officemates. We were fortunate in our flight being only an hour late for departure.

Of course, what you really want are some pictures:
The new terminal.
Yes, we flew a turbo-prop! The airport off Boracay in Caticlan has a very short runway and cannot accommodate larger aircraft.
After a tricycle ride from the airport, we took the jetty to the island of Boracay.

Shortly after check-in at our hotel we went to eat. It is rainy season in the Philippines; and a bit of rain and wind greeted us as we were searching for a restaurant.

More on our Boracay adventure to come.