Makati and the First Few Days on Boracay Island

On the way, we had a second run-in with the Pinoy police. Alan turned right onto the Skydive (a highway on a long bridge), drove over a white line, and the police were already there. They asked us questions, and in the end, they extorted 200 pesos from us—they’re all corrupt!

What a stress!!! Despite all that, it turned out okay.

We finally arrived in Laguna and are resting up, since the next day, Alan and Marilyn will drive us to Makati, to the Asian Mansion II, where we’ve booked two rooms for two nights (October 23 and 24). Then they’ll head straight back to Modesta.

We arrived there around 6 p.m.

That evening, Marlon and I went to Balikbayan Handicraft, a shop selling traditional Filipino goods. Meanwhile, Laurent managed to set up a date with a girl he met on Facebook, Aisa, and the two of them went out for a drink on their own. Seb stayed at the hotel.

A little later that evening, we met up on the hotel rooftop to chat. Then, the five of us headed out for a drink at the Icebar, a bar recommended by Aisa. A very nice girl, by the way… Around 10 p.m., the two of us went out to eat, while Laurent and Seb stayed with Aisa at the Icebar. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. We found out via a text from Aisa that our friends had also returned.

 

On Sunday, Marlon and I headed out at 9 a.m. to Ayala Park, behind our hotel, for a walk. We waited for the malls to open, hung out for three hours at an internet café, and then went shopping…

Around 4 p.m., we went back to meet up with our friends. They told us that, as it turned out, they hadn’t gone back to the hotel after Aisa; they’d gone to a bar instead. Since they’d just had dinner, we chose a Thai restaurant at Greenbelt, where we enjoyed a delicious soup. We headed back early since we had to get up early the next day to catch our flight.

 

We left at 9 a.m. for Kalibo Airport, which is two hours from Boracay Island—the famous white-sand island. We arrived in Kalibo at 10 a.m. and took a bus to Caticlan (68 km) to catch a boat to Boracay. The journey was interesting. We noticed that rice farming thrives on the island of Panay.

The weather, which had been sunny up until then, turned cloudy. As we approached the mountain range near Nabas, it began to rain quite heavily. In Caticlan, we took a bancas. Unlike nine years ago, the boat transfer now takes place as close to Boracay as possible—at the southeastern tip of the island. It has become a small port nestled among the rocks; it was built in 2005. We take a van to Station 2, at the Red Coconut. The narrow road was built recently. I remember that nine years ago, there was no paved road, and there were no vans or cars. Just tricycles—which look like mini-jeepneys—and a few motorcycles. That year, we’d go straight down to Station 2 on a bancas, ending up with our feet in the water along with our luggage, right in front of the Red Coconut. Today, it’s become a well-oiled and highly regulated industry. As soon as we arrived, we went for a swim, and a little later, the big cloud we’d seen passing over the other island caught up with us. That evening, we went for a walk along the seawall…

On our way back from the walk, we stopped at the Red Coconut bar for a drink. We had fun and met some people, like this guy who looked strangely like Antonio Banderas. He’s a Filipino-American from Chicago.

 

It was a rough wake-up at the Red Coconut—the room smelled musty, and the AC was making a terrible racket. So we decided to start looking for a new hotel as soon as possible, since our package stay at the Red Coconut ends this Wednesday at noon. After visiting four or five hotels, Marlon and I set our sights on the Sea Winds, a charming beach resort with stilt houses nestled in a terraced jungle—it’s gorgeous, with two pools in the garden and one on the beach. It also has a bar and a restaurant. Our friends, for their part, found what they were looking for at Pito Huts—a cozy bahay kubo-style cottage also built on stilts. We met up at the hotel.

Later that day, we all went to check out their chalet and made our reservations. And later on…

It started to rain, and the thunder rumbled nonstop—so loud that it felt like it was right nearby. We had a few scares.

On Wednesday morning, everyone checks into their new hotel. We relax and have dinner…

FYI, we’re half an hour’s walk apart on the beach, which is 4 km long on an island that’s 7 km long and 4 km wide at its widest point. White Beach is divided into three sections; we’re at Section 1 and our friends are at Section 3.

After dinner at the hotel, we met up with them for a drink at Hobbit’s House, where all the waiters look like Hobbits.

On Thursday morning, we boarded a boat to go snorkeling at some beautiful coral sites, and the sun was shining brightly. At 1:00 p.m., we had lunch in a cove with the boatmen. That morning, Marlon had sent one of them to Palenque to do some shopping: fish (blue marlin), meat, talong, and mangoes. It was an unparalleled meal. We also came across an adorable one-armed macaque. We headed out to another dive site and returned around 3 p.m. No sooner had we jumped into the water than it started raining, and we had to swim in the rain. Half an hour later, we split up and headed back to the hotel. That evening, my partner and I went for a walk on the beach; since Laurent had forgotten his cell phone, it was impossible to reach them. We ate at a very good restaurant with incredibly fresh ingredients, and then we headed back.

To be continued…