Days 11-14: Tropical Boracay Paradise!

Oh my goodness. Boracay was really a tropical paradise! I loved every minute there! :)

Getting there on the other hand, was slightly a hassle. We woke up early and left around 5:30 am. We got there in time to wait for our flight, but it ended up raining! Of all mornings to rain.. this was one of them. So our flight was delayed for about two hours. The boys (Kuya Jet, Kuya Allan, and Mark) didn't mind because they all had their PSP games to play with. We left and flew to Caticlan, where we caught a ride to the port where we took a boat to the island where Boracay is. It was so much fun just getting there! Mark and I felt like we were on Amazing Race or something. haha! After the boat ride, next was a bicycle ride. We all crammed onto this little motorcycle with a side car, with our luggage. To get to our hotel, you walked down this little alley with houses and other hotels. It was super close to the beach. Just a minute's walk away!

On our first day, we put our stuff in the room and changed into swim clothes, then just walked around. We swam a bit, then explored the shops and food places. Everywhere you go, there are vendors along the beach asking if you want sunglasses, necklaces, pearls (who knows if they're real or not), massages, hair braiding, and all sorts of things! We took a picture of this sand castle that some locals do everyday.. it says Boracay and the date on it. It's really nifty! For dinner we had this HUGE buffet. It cost only P250 each, which is $5 for us. NICE! haha

The second day was a LOT more fun. We ate breakfast, then went jet-skiing! It was fun, and super crazy since it was windy and the water was choppy, so everywhere you went, water would spray in your face. The only bummer about it was you had to follow a path.. I guess this was explained during the beginning of the ride when Mark was driving, but I was hanging on the back, not listening. So when I asked to switch places I started driving wherever I wanted and Mark told me I couldn't do that... whoops! After that, I think we swam some more, waiting for our time to go on the banana boat! That was sooo much fun and scary! The water was still choppy, so the banana boat would bounce around off the waves. All of us managed to stay on, but Mark pushed me off when our turn was up. After showering, we all went and played billiards at one of the bar & restaurant places. We played 9-ball, where you take turns trying to hit the balls 1-9 in the pockets, in order. Something new I learned! haha After, we bought some shakes and got to lay on some of the chairs the restaurant owns. They came over after awhile saying each drink buys ONE chair. We had bought three shakes and each had our own chair.. so we ended up playing in the sand and building a tank. LOL I'll try and get the pictures we took of it. We were going to build a sandcastle, but it turned out a little different. :-P At night, we went to this restaurant where they have kareoke rooms. We ate dinner and sang.. fun! Afterwards, we went to bed.

The third day, after breakfast, the boys and Ate Justine went kayaking. Ate Abby and I sat on some chairs and watched them. We had some sodas and got to relax while the others got tired. haha :) We ended up laying on the beach after lunch for awhile since we were all kind of tired. I think I got a little burned, but not much. It was nice just to lay in the sun for awhile and nap. Later in the afternoon, Ate Justine, Mark, and I did this underwater walking thing where you wear a helmet that pumps oxygen in it. It's not quite like a scuba helmet.. but close enough to that. So, you put on the helmet and walk underwater and feed the fish bread. It was SO COOL! There were all sorts of fishes swimming around, little ones and some bigger ones. Some fish were on the sea bottom and kept swimming around our feet. We had the diver take some pictures of us with Justine's underwater camera.. so maybe I'll be able to see them and get a copy for myself. After getting showered and dressed, we ended up going back to the kareoke place for dinner and singing. Can't go wrong with that! lol

On our last day there, we woke up, ate, and went shopping for souveneirs! There's tons of little stalls in what they call "d'mall", so we ended up walking around there for a couple hours before checking out. While walking around the mall, we walk out to the shore and there was this parade or some sort of festival going on. TONS of people lined the beach! I got a picture, but you can't tell how far down the crowd goes.. I couldn't even see how far they went!! I think it was a festival celebrating the clans on the beach because people were walking around in groups everywhere, playing music and dancing. They all had on t-shirts that said stuff, but I can't be sure.

It was a really nice day, so I was a little sad to leave. It was such a nice place, with palms everywhere you look, white sandy beaches, and cheap food and drinks. :) After another bike ride to the airport, we got more travel hassle. Turns out a plane crashlanded on the landing strip, so our flight was transferred to another airport. We all hopped on a bus and drove for about two hours to Kalibo Airport. It was really nice in the beginning seeing all the green and mountains. But after that long, being squished in a seat with a stranger, and kids beign noisy.. not so fun. We finally got on our flight around 7 pm.. getting home around 8pm and HOME home around 9! I went straight to bed since I was so tired and Mark got sick the last day.. so now today, we're just resting.

I think this week is planned for shopping and (hopefully, maybe) another massage? :):) Who knows.. plus I think we might get a tour of the President's house since Kuya Allan works as one of the official photographers. Nifty!
<3 Erin

P.S. I'm hoping to get pictures from the other cameras.. if there are any more good ones, I'll try and post them!!!