Travel

I love Boracay. Then again, who doesn’t? I’ve been lucky enough to be able to visit the island at least once each year since 2008. Each time though, I went for work. My only non-work trip there was during my first visit with my family back in highschool.  Mr C, on the other hand, had only been able to visit Boracay once, sometime in highschool as well, with his family. So when Mr C and I were deciding where to go for our first anniversary, Boracay became the obvious choice. We were sure to have a relaxing stay with great food, happy hour on the beach at sunset, and a lovely view throughout the day. Best of all, it was a budget-friendly option.

Did somebody say happy hour on the beach at sunset?

We booked an Airphil Express flight to Boracay via Kalibo. I’ve never gone through Kalibo before because I was told that the road trip was really unpleasant. I believe in traveling comfortably, so it was always Caticlan or nothing. But in the interest of being budget-conscious, and since I would be travelling with Mr C anyway, I decided to give Kalibo a chance. I think this was also my first time to fly Airphil Express, since I usually opt to take PAL or Cebu Pacific. It was the first time Mr C and I were flying together, and our first three day, two night getaway, just the two of us. Can you imagine that? And we’ve been together for thirteen years!

We didn’t get the chance to travel for our honeymoon. We instead went on a perfect staycation at Sofitel Hotel, a gift from my in-laws. Honestly, this was my idea of a perfect honeymoon!

Honeymooning at Sofitel, September 2011

DAY 1

I was so excited for our trip that I woke up way before my alarm went off on the morning of our departure. We were all packed, and just had to get ourselves ready and head off to the airport. It was a blessing in disguise that we had an early start that day because the overnight parking lot at the airport was crazy full. It took some time, and a 100 Peso tip to one of the guards (was that too much?) before we were finally able to park in one of the slots that the airport taxis usually use. Thinking about it now, we might have been duped. But honestly, I don’t care. Doesn’t say much about the policies in NAIA though.

Speaking of NAIA policies…

We walked to the airport entrance with tickets and valid ID’s in hand. We passed thru the lower entrance, near the arrival area since it was closest to where we left the car. The guards didn’t ask to see out tickets or ID’s though. I was under the impression that they made sure that only people with business in the airport were allowed inside, but I guess I was wrong. Or maybe it was because we were near the arrivals area? Whatever it is, airport security sure wasn’t strict that morning. At least not as strict as I remember them to be, or hoped they would be. Anyway…

Mr and Mrs P Cuyugan at NAIA3

We checked in and got some coffee and banana bread before settling down at the pre-departure area. While waiting, Mr C started playing Triple Town on his Kindle, as expected. It’s a really addicting game, so don’t click on the link unless you intend to waste some time. Meanwhile, I busied myself people watching and reading. It was a bright sunny day and we were both in lovely moods. Vacation mode was activated in full force!

Mr C Triple Town-ing while waiting

Too bad Airphil Express had to spoil it by announcing that our flight would be delayed due to runway traffic. A friend of mine actually warned me before that Airphil is almost always delayed. Maybe I should have listened. So there we sat for an extra half hour while the Kalibo and Caticlan flights of Cebu Pacific took off. Fortunately, I was extra giddy that morning and that helped stretch my patience. But still, minus one pogi (handsome) point to you, Airphil Express!

In the shuttle going to the plane

Because Mr C loves me, he let me have the window seat. Little did I know that Airphil Express had another unpleasant surprise waiting for me there. Eeew.

Can you see what’s wrong with this picture?

A closer look. And I thought I had the window seat…

View from the top

Flight delays and dead bugs aside, we were happy to be off. It was a quick, smooth flight, and I was glad I had my Kindle with me. I actually finished A Game of Thrones over the weekend. The highlight of the flight was the captain’s announcement when we said, “The weather in Boracay is, well, beach weather.”

About to land!

I was surprised to learn that the airport in Kalibo is an international one. You can actually fly straight to Shanghai, Beijing, HongKong, and other Asian destinations from there.

Welcome to Kalibo!

Thank you, Airphil Express for getting us there safely

While Mr C waited for our luggage, I looked for a representative from the Southwest Tours, the partner travel agency of the hotel we booked. One of the smartest decisions we made on this trip was to book all our transfers thru the hotel. If we had come via Caticlan, I wouldn’t have spent the extra money on transfers. But since we were in for a 2-hour land trip, I figured we were better off with a plan.

We traveled to the Jetty Port via bus. The nice people of Southwest remind you to get water or snacks before leaving since it was going to be a long ride with only one stop over halfway ‘for all your restroom needs’, as the travel agency personnel said. I slept thru most of the ride, while Mr C battled with his motion sickness. I am really so lucky that I don’t get carsick, airsick, or seasick!

Off we go again!

I would say that travelling to Boracay via Kalibo isn’t as bad as most people say it is. I’m pretty sure that this has improved immensely from the earlier days. If you ask me, I’d still rather fly in via Caticlan and get to the beach as quickly as possible. But that’s just me.

What airline/route do you guys usually take when you go to Boracay?

Much love and happiness,

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Mother’s Day Weekend 2012 was spent in Zambales with the family. For this trip, we stayed at the private resort of one of my dad’s colleagues. It’s a really beautiful place with lots to do, and a fabulous strip of light sand. Bookings are done via special arrangement, and they are open to holding weddings, group outings and other functions in the resort. They haven’t yet started marketing the place, but it seems that so far, they get by with word-of-mouth. It’s a little pricey, but the place is clean, quiet and comfortable, and the food is really, really great.

I’ll be sharing more about the food soon. Meanwhile, here’s a little teaser for you.

Crabs anyone?

We stayed in the main house, where the owners stay on their visits. It has three floors, and on the top floor are four bedrooms and two bathrooms. As far as I gathered, these four rooms are the only air-conditioned accommodations on the resort. There are two bedrooms each on either side of the hallway, and in between each pair of bedrooms is a connecting bathroom.

Hallway, and the doors leading out into the sunshine

Mr C, the Kiddo and I took one room, my parents had their own, and my siblings and their special friends took a third room. The fourth room was occupied by the owners, who joined us on our weekend there.

Here’s our room

View from our window

Little boy on what was supposed to be his bed on the floor

Please can I sleep with you on the big bed, mommy?

Parents’ room, with mom standing at the doorway of the adjoining bathroom

Fluffy pillows

Bathroom, which we had to share with everyone else coz we were too shy to share our adjoining bathroom with the resort owners

Rocky, Koko, Mel and Boyong in their room

The second level houses a dining/living area, and a bridge connecting to the reception and dining area. On the ground floor of our house was the male shower/changing area. Below the dining area was another lounging area, a billiard table, and male and female toilets.

Dining tables made from solid wood

Benches overlooking the forest

There are a lot of cute accent pieces lying around, like this nice painted bottle

Pretty light fixture

A wooden boat with Boracay etched onto it’s side, on a bar next to the stairs leading to the third floor

Mr C in his reading nook for the weekend

Smoking is not allowed indoors

Billiard area below the dining room

Bridge connecting to the dining area

View of the dining area from the second floor of our house

The other guest house on the resort is pretty much like the one we stayed in, except the rooms have no air-conditioning. On the ground floor of the other house you will find the female shower/changing area. There is also a honeymoon suite, which is a smaller house further into the property. Everything is really serene and downright beautiful. I imagine a honeymoon here would be fabulous!

I’ll be posting photos of the dining area and the beach front soon. In the meantime, if you haven’t yet, do check out the first two posts in our Zamabales Trip series:

• Brunch stopover at Pampanga’s Best in San Fernando
• Fun in the Zambales sun with our waterproof camera

Our entire family, plus significant others, spent Mother’s Day Weekend at a private resort in Zambales, which is owned by one of my dad’s colleagues, Dr. Fil Felix. I’ve decided to write about our weekend escape in a series of posts, since we must have taken about 500+ photos, and there are just so many things about the trip that I would like to share.  I will definitely be posting about the resort, the accommodations, amenities and facilities, and of course, all the wonderful food we had during our three-day stay there.

This first post is all about how much fun it is to have a waterproof camera. And yes, this has everything to do with our trip to Zambales.

On our way to the resort, we stopped at a Pampanga’s Best outlet in San Fernando for brunch. You can read about that here, in my prologue to the Zambales experience. Since we’d had a late and heavy meal in Pampanga, we weren’t all that hungry when we arrived at Iba, and so we decided to start off our vacation by hitting the beach. The waves were pretty strong and the skies were gloomy, so we ended up heading back indoors early.

On our second day, we were greeted by clear skies and bright sunshine. After a scrumptious mother’s day breakfast, we all headed to the beach to make the most out of the pleasant morning. Everyone, even my mom and dad, headed out for a swim, and it was great to be able to capture the fun with Mr C’s handy-dandy-shockproof-waterproof camera! Of course, the first thing you would think of doing with a waterproof camera is an underwater photo shoot. In our case, we did that, and some jump shots out of the water.

The Kiddo was very excited to show everyone that he could hold his breath  underwater

Another one of the little boy

Boyong and Mel take one

Second attempt

Finally, third time’s the charm

Boyong with Alfalfa hair

Meanwhile, I’m not very good at looking pretty while submerged, and I have a few photos from past swimming trips to prove it. That’s why I didn’t attempt any underwater Kodak moments, and instead, was perfectly happy being the official photographer of the morning.

Self portrait

I noticed that my sister’s boyfriend was tossing her out of the water, and she would spread her arms ala-Titanic while up in the air. I thought it would make a pretty cool photo, Rocky in Little Mermaid mode, rising up above the water. So we tried to get a good shot and ended up with these images.

RoKoko

Up, up and away

This photobomb is brought to you by Mr C

Flying Rocky – our best one

The Flying Rocky photo series inspired my dad to try a few jump shots himself. In other words, he got jealous and wanted a cool photo in the water too. (Hehe, love you dad! Thanks for taking us here!)

Forward

Backwards

Left

Another left

Walking on water

Tristan imitating Lolo

Not to be undone, Koko and Mr C attempted their own jump shots too.

Koko’s Baywatch moment

Mr C’s Couch Potato Dive

Sorry but this is the best I can do. No jump shots or underwater photos for me

If that doesn’t convince you that you want an underwater camera, maybe these last two images will. I’ll be posting more about our trip soon! There are a lot more beach photos coming up, food posts and lots of other exciting stuff.

Incoming

Outgoing

On our road trip last Mother’s Day weekend, we only made one stopover en route to Zambales. I expected we would stop for coffee or breakfast somewhere along NLEX, but since my dad wanted to make good time, and my mom brought a box full of baked goodies from Red Ribbon for us to snack on, we made it all the way to San Fernando, Pampanga without taking a break from driving. That was a first. It was amazing too that no one asked to stop at a gas station for a bathroom break. Yes, we all have small/weak bladders.

Excited travelers – Koko, Rocky, Mel, Boyong and Me

It was a little before 10 in the morning when my dad realized he was hungry and wanted a proper breakfast. The only place I know if in San Fernando is Everybody’s Cafe, thanks to my ex-office mates. I just thought that it was too early to eat anything exotic, so we decided to save that dining experience for another day. Luckily, we chanced upon the Pampanga’s Best Tocino store, which also served meals!

At Pampanga’s Best – Yes we want to eat here!

It was early in the day and the store had just opened so there was a limited selection of food available. Good thing all we really wanted was tocino and longaniza. Tocino is sweet cured pork, and is best eaten with rice, salted egg and tomatoes in my honest opinion. Longaniza is a native sausage, with many different varieties from different provinces.

Our breakfast options (sorry for the ugly photo) We picked Tocino (top shelf), and Skinless longaniza (bottom left)

They also had big freezers with all sorts of Pampanga’s Best products. I would have definitely bought some if we had been on our way home. I was seeing some of the frozen food for the first time, like the Beef Skewers and Premium Corned beef, and I wish I could have taken some home to try.

Mom and Me from behind packs of Chicharon

Meanwhile, the little boy was content just sitting at the table playing video games until the food arrived. Why am I not surprised?

Little Boy playing games on his dad’s phone

Tocino with tomato slices This plus the Longaniza, steamed white rice, salted duck egg and sauteed crab fat made for a really good, albeit high calorie brunch

The drink of choice for the morning, along with 3-in-1 coffee

Here’s the full menu

After our meal, we went back on the road again, eager to reach our beach destination. But of course, before leaving the store, we took a few more photos, this time of each other.

First group photo of the trip

Mel and Boyong

Mr C and Me

Kiddo and Koko

Back in the van

With my siblings

My mom and the Kiddo kept themselves occupied by playing rock-paper-scissors Doesn’t mom look so excited about the game hahaha!

Eventually, as expected, we all fell asleep. Happy tummies = Happy passengers. I think I slept the longest among everyone in the van. And since his grandma snoozed on him, the little guy just went back to playing his video game. This little one is not a sleepyhead at all!

I guess rock-paper-scissors wore Lola out

Zzzzz

Just the beginning of a great weekend getaway

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Pampanga’s Best
Barangay dela Paz Norte
City of San Fernando, Pampanga
+63917 8100530
http://pampangasbest.com.ph
Date of Visit: May 12, 2012