Christmas @ Boracay Day 3

With still almost the whole morning to spare, Cols, Caitlin, Les and I went to ride the banana boat. Ethan stayed at the hotel beach front with Dad, Nikki and William. At first Caitlin was afraid, but she got over it soon. After the banana boat, Cols and Les went parasailing. Caitlin and I stayed on the motorboat that pulled them.

From Boracay Christmas 2008

After the activities, the hotel shuttle drove us back to Discovery Shores were we played a bit more on the beach. I was advised a few weeks ago by PAL that our flight from Kalibo will be delayed by an hour. But the hotel insisted that we should leave at least 4 hrs before. So we left the hotel around 1pm. The shuttle took us to the ferry port. They arranged for the hotel boat from Boracay to Caticlan and hooked us up with a private van to take us to Kalibo airport. The transfer service was pretty efficient.

From Boracay Christmas 2008

We dozed off on the ride to Kalibo. When we got to the airport, there was nobody there as it was still too early. I checked us in while Cols ordered for food at the restaurant across the airport. We had a late lunch there. The flight took off on time. There were so few passengers. I think there were barely 20 of us in the Airbus back to Manila.

From Boracay Christmas 2008

Christmas @ Boracay Day 2

After a quick breakfast, it was off to the beach for the kids. We took the "island hopping" package from the same agent we got the sea walker yesterday. Mom and Les joined us. Nikki wasn't feeling too well so she stayed on shore with Dad and William.

From Boracay Christmas 2008

The supposed 3-hour bangka ride did not go far because of strong waves. December usually has strong waves and the sky is not as bright. There is always an overcast cloud, which is ok I guess since at least we don't need to put on that much sun tan. We went snorkling a bit in one section of the island beyond the former Station 1. After snorkling for about 10 to 15 mins with Les, we came back on board and were greeted by a marshall of some sorts who charged us for some environmental fee.

Then the bangka headed back towards the other direction (the side of the hotel) and went past Discovery Shores. There are several more resorts being constructed there including one supposedly owned by Manny Pacquiao. Then behind the bend is the soon-to-open Shangri-La Boracay. The beach sand there, in my opinion, is not as good as the main area though.

From Boracay Christmas 2008

After lunch, Ethan went to take his nap while Caitlin went to the children center at Discovery Shores. I called home to check on the maids and the house and we were advised by our helper, Didith, that the ceiling in their room has a big leak. We coordinated with our contractor/architect Juni for have someone come over. But being Dec 24 and all, her workers were all on leave. Cols was eventually able to get hold of Eloy, the electrician/plumber, and had him go over to the house and check.

Around 3:30pm, Cols, Les, Mom and I went over to Sea Wind to be entertained by the owner who is a former neighbor from Iloilo. She toured us her place and we had a hearty snack at their restaurant. We were so full that we had no more appetite for dinner. But we accompanied the kids for dinner at the beachfront of Discovery Shores.

From Boracay Christmas 2008

We took the hotel shuttle to D' Mall after dinner. That's the commercial area of Boracay where all the shops are. There's a small ferris wheel in the center area. The folks joined us in a while but Nikki and Les stayed home to rest. Caitlin was pretty sleepy already so after the folks had dinner at Mang Inasal, we called for the shuttle again for pickup.

From Boracay Christmas 2008

Christmas @ Boracay Day 1

We woke up early to catch our 9am flight to Kalibo. This being Christmas season and all, we wanted to make sure we won't get stuck with a long queue at the airport terminal. But surprisingly when we got there, the lanes were not congested at all. We took PAL from Terminal 2, while Dad and Nikki took PAL Express via Terminal 3. This is because we availed of our PAL miles last summer, but our trip got cancelled due to the typhoon. So we moved it to December to coincide with the whole Chiang family trip to Boracay.

Caitlin has been excited about going to Boracay the past 2 to 3 weeks. She's been counting down the days to Dec 23. So here we are. Our plane touched down on time at Kalibo and we took a chartered bus to Caticlan ferry terminal. From the terminal, we took a bangka to cross over. Then from the Caticlan terminal, we took a multicab for P250 (rip-off!) to get to Discovery Shores. We got there ahead of Dad's party even though we had to travel a longer distance because their plane left Manila much later.

From Boracay Christmas 2008

We arrived at the hotel around 1pm. Our room was not yet ready so they placed us in a temporary room. But we headed to the restaurant to catch a late lunch. The kids weren't complaining of hunger anyway. The folks arrived about 30 mins later and joined us for lunch.

After lunch, the kids went off to the beach. Cols and I contracted with one of the "agents" walking around the beach offering sports/activities. We went for the "Sea Walker". The guy took us via tricyle for P50 (another rip-off!) to get to the station. As it turned out, the station wasn't that far from our beachfront to begin with. One of the Yellow Cab Pizza outlet is behind that station.

From Boracay Christmas 2008

A motorboat took us to the location of the sea walker platform. A heavy piece of round helmet was put on our heads and it pumped in oxygen, which prevented the water from coming in. We got a quick briefing and jumped down. The walking area is about 20 to 30 feet below sea level. Its a very claustrophobic experience. It was already around 4:30pm and the sky was cloudy so the water below was also kinda dark. There were not much corals in that area and not that much fish either. The guide handed us some bread to break in the fishes. Cols and I had some shots taken by the guide using Les' underwater disposable camera. Just for the guide to take your picture, he'll also charge for the service (tourist trap!).

From Boracay Christmas 2008

For dinner, we walked over to Sea Wind Resort. They were having an eat-all-you-can barbecue buffet by the seaside. After a hearty meal, we had fruit shake smoothies at a popular place called Jonah's. Then headed back home to call it a night.

From Boracay Christmas 2008