"Boracay is a small island in the Philippines located approximately 315 km (196 mi) south of Manila and 2 km off the northwest tip of Panay Island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Boracay Island and its beaches have received awards from numerous travel publications and agencies. The island comprises the barangays of Manoc-Manoc, Balabag, and Yapak in themunicipality of Malay, in Aklan Province. The island is administered by the Philippine Tourism Authority and the provincial government of Aklan. Apart from its white sand beaches, Boracay is also famous for being one of the world's top destinations for relaxation. It is also emerging among the top destinations for tranquility and nightlife.
In 2012, Boracay was awarded as the best island in the world from the international travel magazine Travel +Leisure. (wikipedia)"
Are you a traveler by heart? Wanna know the difference of loving the idea of traveling from actually traveling?
Being a traveler by heart is not as exciting as it is being a traveler by action. The fun, exhaustion, fatigue, and adventure are all missing if you keep wishing to travel. I’ve always love the idea of traveling but never really got to plan except traveling due to work or some friends planning for the group.
Maan, my very good old friend referred me to work in their company. Fortunately I got the job. So she got a referral fee. Being gracious enough, she paid for my Boracay hotel accommodation. That was our first mother-daughter trip! I just paid for my airfare. I was so excited, since it would be the first time. I decided to take the trip with Chesca.
It was my first time to travel with my toddler, Chesca Marley and a mommy can't be so excited of what to expect. Here are 3 smart ways to help in your planning.
Top 1# How To Spend Less BOOKING FLIGHTS
1. Book a PROMO flight.
A. Subscribe to airline pages either in fb or via email.
B. Usual booking hours is 12 MN. Fastest Fingers first.
C. Open up other browsers to do multiple bookings.
D. When booking for an adult, do it PER head to avoid high tax. When booking minor, book with one adult. Minors can't fly alone. When they do, there's an extra fee almost the same as with adult.
E. For Payment - I like Cebu Pac because you can pay via payment centers which allows you 24 hours for the payment. Some airlines don't accommodate this payment. It even adds fee when you use debit cards that are not affiliate to their payment system. But if you really need to book it asap, why not.
Mom brought us to NAIA Terminal 3 for our departure, Nov 30. We took a taxi around 5 am. She stayed with us until we got in the departure area. While waiting, we talked and Chesca was super lively. I guess she was excited. Chesca and I flew first without Maan and Tere because they booked their flight a bit later than we did. We just waited for them at the Caticlan Airport.
Top #2 How To Spend Less BOOKING HOTEL
1. Watch out promo deals in Metrodeal. Lesser rates though means travel in group usually by 4. But you can definitely save.
2. Contact travel tour agencies. They can customize packages depending on your budget. That also saves the hassle of finding the hotel for you to stay. We got Perfect Travel and Tours.
Our Impressions - Boracay Caticlan Airport:
* The airport was clean.
* Not so wide but spacious enough.
* Trash cans neatly placed beside the way.
* Tarpaulin with the Boracay famous places to go by the door.
* Staff was nice and smiling.
* Inside and outside of the airport was clean.
* Tricycles parked outside were parked accordingly.
* No hassle in getting baggages.
Our route:
* From Caticlan airpot, the four of us took a tricycle.
* Finally, they arrived so off we rode a tricycle to take the sailboat then walked to our Hotel La Carmela. At first Chesca screamed stepping onto the sands. hahaha. She said her feet sunk in the sand. But then, I showed her it wouldn't hurt. We passed by a lot of souvenir stalls. Chesca couldn't resist the little guitar so I bought it for her.
The next day, we woke up early to witness the sunrise. Chesca and I had a relaxing and stress-free walk by the sea shore. It was low tide so it was fun to just walk in the sea. She giggled whenever the waves reached her feet. hahaha ~ precious moments. Maan and Tere woke up late because they partied last night. They met some guys who obviously were not serious about relationship and had a picture with the hunk Fabio Ide (a Brazilian Japanese model/actor).
There was a kid's parade around the island. We saw a lot of foreign kids. They said those were kids of the foreign businessmen who invested in Boracay. Chesca had fun playing with Thea, a brown-skinned girl. I had fun watching them too. Then, she continued swimming in the pool of the hotel.
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| Fabio Ide |
Top #3 HOW TO SPEND LESS when IN Boracay
1. Look for Food Stalls/Kiosks. Station 2 has a lot. Mang Inasal is as yummy as where you came from. Price is a little high than usual but not too much. Some of the food stalls popular and people line-up for are Siomao House, TJ Hotdog, Shawarma, Waffle time, and Takoyaki.
2. Look for Stationary Vendors. There are a lot who are diligently stationed alongside the hotels. Vendors sell like banana Q, hotdogs, grill dried squid, mango, etc.
3. For Souvenirs, look for Roaming Vendors. There a lot of them usually around sunset time. You can haggle prices especially during these times because they are almost about to go home.
4. For Activities, book it by group. The more the LESSER you pay per head. Usual group price is for 6 people. So, travel in group. In the afternoon, she played with her toys on the sand. Affordable food stalls was a blessing. Yes! To make myself busy on a white bench, I waited for the sunset. hahaha. Quite a job huh? At night, Boracay came to life with all the restaurants and night life happening in the clubs. But Chesca and I chose to eat at a more budget friendly resto, Mang Boks. As always ice cream was her thing. We saw a blonde toddler playing on the sand and took a picture of him. I wondered where his parents were. I bought Chesca a rotating and lighting hand toy. Sad to say, she lost it the following day. At night, she woke up sobbing and told me that she dreamt a boogieman amputated my leg. I hugged her tight and we prayed together. I sang the hymn I am a child of God as I hugged her to sleep. Until now 2014, she couldn't forget that nightmare.
Last day came and we had to make sure we bought the souvenirs for our loved-ones. We spent like it's not gonna happen again. hahaha. More beach swimming for Chesca, Maan and Tere. Sad to say, I had my period so I was bummed. It wasn't so bad for me...I made sure I took photos. Making myself happy wasn't a hard thing to do. Besides an extension of myself was having the time of her
life.
BUDGET
1. Flight (promo Air Phil & Cebu Pac) = 3,100
2. La Carmela deposit = 2,000 (refundable)
3. Pocket money = 5,000 (only spent 3,000 /got my 2,000 back so 2,000 was my take home money)
TOTAL : P8,100 (not bad right?)
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| Maan, Tere and Chesca enjoying the shore |
I woke up early in the morning to pack our things and made sure we didn't leave anything behind. Chesca woke up and was ready to leave. We prayed before leaving. Maan and Tere had to leave earlier than us because their flight was different. Chesca and I took the hotel van going to a bus terminal. There we rode a ZestAir bus going to Kalibo Airport.
The sunset afternoons and early-morning sunrises were amazing. I whispered a prayer in my heart just being thankful to my Heavenly Father for all He has given me. Not that i have everything I wanted but I have this very life to be thankful for because I am able to witness and experience the joy of the journey in this mortal life. Spending it with my only daughter was a fantastic date. I have always loved natures especially beaches. That travel connected me to such fondness. It just felt good starting to put back the pieces of my lost self. I pondered, the gift of life and love He has for me. Thus, for 2013, I was looking forward of my trips.
