Have you ever experienced having done nothing or wasn't able to do anything as planned and yet it was the best moment of your life? Being the Doctor of Fun and Adventure was just an idea borne out of the affliction that fell upon me that changed many of my life's plans. It was an endeavor that preoccupied me away from the melancholy and distractions of trying to stay alive in the remaining time I have.
When my better half came to my life, I felt that it would nice for the DocFun to have a companion in my many travels and also share the same attitude towards life's challenges thru thick and thin till death do us part. Hence, the Dr. & Mrs. of Fun & Adventure came into being. Many of the stories are part of a bucket list of things we'd like to do before we leave this Earth. Having to travel with all expenses paid by a sponsor is the last thing we would expect from an avid follower of our blog. This Boracay adventure is in fact a fruit of my blog writing.
When my better half came to my life, I felt that it would nice for the DocFun to have a companion in my many travels and also share the same attitude towards life's challenges thru thick and thin till death do us part. Hence, the Dr. & Mrs. of Fun & Adventure came into being. Many of the stories are part of a bucket list of things we'd like to do before we leave this Earth. Having to travel with all expenses paid by a sponsor is the last thing we would expect from an avid follower of our blog. This Boracay adventure is in fact a fruit of my blog writing.
Whether it has inspired or motivated others who have the same affliction as we do, we can never tell since we rarely receive comments although there are quite some visitors in my blogsite. We hope they still take time to read the story and not just browse the pictures. Probably, they were hoping to see tips and advices on how to travel easy and the cheapest way. Unfortunately, travel advising is not our cup of tea.
We accept the reality that we can never really please everyone with our story, probably because they feel it is lame compared to their experience. But we live the life of just being content with what we have, so we just brush off all the issues of jealousy, envy, bragging and feelings of being ignored by friends, relatives and acquaintances. Our story is just our expression of enjoying the gift of life the Lord has given us allowing us to stay together and spend our lives growing together in love.
Our Boracay escapade is short of a dream which occurred in our minds such that all that transpired during our stay in this dreamland island seemed to have not occurred at all, hence the expression "nothing ever happens in Boracay". In contrast everything that we experienced in this island is awesomely great! We took a plane to Caticlan, Aklan where the jetty port to Boracay is located. We opted for Caticlan because Kalibo is a little bit far and the land travel would cost us precious time.
When we arrived in Caticlan, we stopped by this Canadian Mounty-inspired restaurant hotel and had breakfast before pushing on to the port. Apparently, the owner is a former mounted police married to a Filipina. On the trip back to Manila, we will be stopping for the night here in Caticlan so that we won't be late for the morning flight to Manila. The place really narrates a little history of the owner's life with many quaint memorabilia adorning the walls and mannequins aptly dressed with mounty uniforms.
For a first-time visitor, one would expect a very long travel from the Caticlan Jetty Port up to Boracay. The water of the sea was sparkingly clear. With all the tourism that grew on the island like a disease through several decades, I was expecting a significant amount of environmental degradation of the sea, but surprisingly, the water doesn't reflect any significant amount of damage. Frankly, I disagree with the way the airport was located.
In my opinion, on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis, it would have been better if the small airport was placed on the island itself. Obviously, policy makers put the airport in Caticlan to boost the economy of Caticlan because of the opportunity it brings to tricycle operators that would bring tourists from the airport to the jetty port. Next is the opportunity that it would give the ferry boat operators that would take tourists across the narrow strip of water that separates Caticlan and Boracay. Finally, the tricycles in the island itself would also get their share of crocodile profits from tourists that disembark from their boats en route to their respective hotels. To summarize the picture, you could estimate how much fossil fuel is being burned and carbon being emitted in the atmosphre if you put it all together beginning with the airport tricyle, boat ferry and tricycle. If the airport was in the island, much of these sources of global warming would have been reduced to a minimum. This prevailing system is also the main culprit for the traffic problem in the island. Islanders would like to make every inch of the island profitable so wasting land to widen the road is the last thing that a Boracay businessman would do. So better live with the eternal traffic problem forever. Air pollution in the island will eventually be next on their problem list.
Since this is an exploration expedition and our first time on the island, we did not have any hotel reservations yet because we might end up being holed up in a hotel far from the beach and that's the last thing that I expect to happen. Prior research led us to Station 2 where most of the action is. We're just average people and don't fancy the places that quirky showbiz personalities endorses on tv.
Many celebrities in showbiz are guilty of environmental degradation because I feel that their travel shows encourage more visitors that threaten the carrying capacity of the place and consequently jacks up the prices because of their indelible mark of approval. When we alighted from the tricycle. I was amused by the presence of an inland body of water. Hmm. Is it natural or man-made? It was probably dug up for recreational purposes. That's what Boracay is all about.
We were able to find a quaint little beachfront hotel that fits our needs so as soon as we settled in, we immediately hit the beach. The hotel was very strategic because of its close proximity to d'Mall Palengke and the d'Talipapa. So our food and souvenir hunting are all covered by the distance. But in spite of it all, nothing happened to us in Boracay and these are the 10 reasons why.
1. The Beach. The beach was sort of a disappointment for us. The water of the seashore was obviously teeming with green algae, a sign or organic pollution. Obviously, any logical person can tell where the pollution is coming from. Islanders who are quick to defend their turf will deny the pollution problem to death even though they know it, because confirming it is bad for business. With businesses competing for frontal space, the beach was reduced to a narrow strip of sand with some hotels even putting their sunbathing reclining chairs already in the seawater itself. It was such a pathetic sight to endure. However, having to bathe in the most popular powdery white sand beach of the country despite the green algal bloom of its water is still the most awesome experience we can share with you.
Probably what makes Filipinos flock to Boracay is the expectation of seeing a foreigner skimpily clad with a thin fabric flaunting their glistening ivory skin under the sun while Filipinos are dressed to kill with the latest wet suit that covers the the entire body from the wrist up and a turtle neck collar to protect your nape. Having to be in the company of foreigners jacks up the face value of your vacation in Boracay even if nothing happens here.
2. The Boracay Cocktails. The Boracay heat can really build up a tremendous thirst. Seeing these cocktail drinks on TV really made us eager to try it out. And as soon as we discovered the beach bar that serves this drinks in a tall, funny glass with straw is an experience worth sharing.
Other than this, we spent the remaining time on the island drinking plain water so no other drinking spree happened for us in Boracay. And yet drinking this cocktail drink couldn't be more memorable than drinking it in Boracay only.
3. Willy's Rock. The most iconic structure and most photographed place in Boracay is of course "Willy"s Rock" named after the politically-declared founder Willy M. Gelito in 1968. I find it hard to believe that such a rock cannot be found earlier than that, as if it was not around before 1968 and just came out of nowhere to be discovered by the man who bears its name.
It would have been more credible if the rock has an indigenous name to highlight the true culture of Boracay's original inhabitants. Anyway, the rock was a bit far to take a closer shot with my dlsr camera on a tripod so no rock exploring and posing happened on top of Willy's Rock that day, but despite it all, the iconic picture we got of Willy's Rock is our best picture in Boracay.
4. Boracay Wedding. Getting married in the shores of Boracay is a dream wedding many madly-in-love couples would like to have. Especially when exchanging vows at the very moment a very romantic sun begins to set in the west paints a perfect picture no words could describe. There was no dream wedding for us that happened on the beach of Boracay that day but nevertheless to pose genuinely in love with each other along the shores of Boracay under an arch supposed to be for a wedding that day is an awesome moment for both of us.
5. Boracay Sunset. Among the sunsets that we've seen in many places in the country, the Boracay sunset probably matches the world-famous Manila Bay sunset. Nothing happened here during the sunset but the experience of seeing the mighty sun sign off gracefully in the western horizon as sailboats criss-cross behind its fading light is a reason to return to this island paradise.
6. Firedancers of Boracay. Aside from the prostitutes, masseurs, divers, boatmen, tricycle drivers, tour guides, musicians and bar tenders, perhaps the most prominent workers in Boracay are the fire dancers. These elite group of talented individuals is instrumental in livening the nightlife of Boracay aside complementing with the beach party music.
It was a nice change scenery of seeing this graceful flame whippers instead of merely watching musicians and singer hypnotize you with their music to subconsciously command you to order more drinks for the night. Nothing good will ever happen to these firedancers in Boracay unless they showcase their skills in the many talent shows on TV. Nothing happened to us during the night either except that we saved a lot of money watching their entertaining flame dancing instead of spending money getting drunk and having a coyote ugly face in the morning.
Nothing actually beats the excitement and euophoria of having a sand castle built by yourself and having to protect it from jealous intruders that would not hesitate to kick it the moment you put down your guard and leave it undefended. We did not have that exciting feeling of building a sand castle ourselves but the euphoria of having to pose behind a sand castle is an awesome moment to remember.
8. Water Recreational Activities. Boracay is the Mecca of water recreational activities. They have all kinds of water attractions such as banana boat, parasailing, sailing, flying derigiblea, island hopping, helmet diving, cliff diving and all you can think of that can be done in the water.
We were supposed to be island hopping on the second day but the Aklanon guide we arranged with did not come that day so we just settled on bathing on the beach.
The other activities are way too much costly for us, so we just posed on whatever water equipment left unattended on the beach and just dreamed on riding these like there's no tomorrow. But despite all these not actually happening, bathing in the world's most popular island paradise is the best beach bumming we have ever had.
9. Shopping. Every tourist haven will always have a shopping center and Boracay is not spared from this time-tested practice because tourists will always search for the perfect souvenir and pasalubong to embody the memories and discoveries of their vacation in this island paradise.
The d'Mall and d'Talipapa has the very items you need to bring home with you. The many displays of colorful dresses, bags, eyeglasses, regrigerator magnets, toyd and beach paraphernalia will make you eyes lit and if you are a compulsive buyer, I think by the end of this trip you will regret having visited this shopping areas.
Malen and I were really keen on doing some intense shopping, but both of us, being fanatic Divisoria shoppers would always have the dilemma of declining to purchase because of the thought that since the item can be found in Divisoria, it would be cheaper to buy it there. Second was we realized we only purchased a pair of carry-lite plane tickets, we cannot add more to our already maximum baggage load.
We bought nothing in Boracay throughout the duration of our stay, but having beaten the urge of compulsive buying is an awesome accomplishment. Besides, window shopping in this island paradise in Aklan wearing your favorite beach outfit cannot be done in Divisoria.
The lobster dinner was actually in our itinerary of things to experience here in Boracay. We scouted around where we could actually buy a lobster and have it cooked for an affordable price. We asked around dTalipapa and dMall and was surprised on how the businesses take advantage of tourists who will spend a lot just to eat a crustacean.
So that's it folks! That's the story of how we went to Boracay and and spent a 3 days 2 nights vacation and nothing happened! But the feeling of just being here in this island paradise is priceless and therefore nothing will ever compare all that did not happen here to what really matters to us. To be with the one you love and loves you doesn't really require you to do anything costly because love is best when you do nothing at all.
The rich people may have a different view of our story but just remember, nothing makes us different in Boracay. We step on the same sand, swim on the same beach, breath the same fresh air, see the same people around. What makes rich people different though is that they have to pay more to experience the same things with us.
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