Boracay

Friday, May 6

The Cebu City airport is NICE. Like, new section of Newark airport nice. We got some lechon and sat at the airport bar to drink some San Miguel light. The beautiful bathrooms here almost make up for the horrid ones at every roadside stop. Carl pointed out that the Typhoon in December 2021 probably wiped out the old airport, bance the brand new digs we were now enjoying. The flight to Caticlan was lightning quick- it felt that as soon as we reached altitude we were starting to descend.

On the ground again we opted for a shared van to take us to the ferry port. The ferry ticket system is ridiculous, but the staff manage as best they can. You have to show one person your QR code (COVID pass) and then pay three separate people for environmental fee, terminal fee, and then the actual ferry. The ferry itself took about 10 minutes. Once on Boracay island we pushed our way through the chaos to find a ‘tricycle’ (motorbike with car attached) to take us to our hotel.

We decided to stay on Bulabog beach which is on the east side of the skinny island, opposite side from White Beach which is the real destination. Bulabog is known for being windy and that’s where the kite surfers hang out. It was also cheaper, and close enough to walk to the other side.

We climbed the steps up to our hotel called Ralph’s Place and were pleasantly surprised. After being in a city hostel for three nights this hotel felt like the quietest place on earth. We chilled out for a few hours before going to explore and find something to eat.

We happened upon a place called Pig Out that looked busy. Luckily they squeezed us into a little two top table on the side. We got craft IPAs that were so good! We missed hops! For dinner we ordered smoked ceviche and slow roasted pork belly. The ceviche came out in cute little spoons on a wooden tree ring platter. And it tasted amazing! It was marinated in some sort of coconut sauce that we gobbled up. The pork was also phenomenal. The portion size was a bit small, but it was quality melt-in-your-mouth meat butter.

It seemed like no one else was staying at our hotel and it was dead quiet. We slept so well.

Saturday, May 7

Our main goal of the day was to chill out hard. We started with breakfast at the resort. I got pancakes which were surprisingly good (American style!) and Carl got the corned pork hash that was a bit funky, but good. Then we walked back up the stairs to the garden area, which we had to ourselves. We lathered ourselves in sunscreen and sat on the lounge chairs for a couple hours.

Somehow, we got terribly sunburned. I think the sunscreen, which we had bought for cheap in Thailand, was a dud. We had put sunscreen on and had only been outside from about 10am to noon and we were already painfully burned. Feeling embarrassed, we put clothes on and wandered to D’Mall, the outdoor mall, to get something to eat.

We couldn’t resist mango ice cream and Korean street snack (dukbeoki) on the way so by the time we got to the restaurants, we weren’t that hungry. Instead we got happy hour drinks.

Then we finally made it to White Beach and understood what all the fuss was about. It is a perfect beach. Apparently in 2017 they’d closed it down because it had become overrun with tourists. Now there are no chairs allowed on the beach so people flocked under the huge palm trees for the much needed shade. And still there were tons of people. There were also tons of ‘influencers’ taking glamor shots and it was kinda fun to watch all the do-it-yourself modeling shoots in such a picture perfect location.

We also took some glamour shots and then found a nice palm to hide under. We occasionally took turns running into the water which is perfectly clear, shallow, warm bath water. It was paradise.

As the sun started to go down we walked north along the beach. We saw a trail that went around the bluffs to the other side and decided to check it out. Still there were lots of people taking glamour shots, so we joined them. We watched all the sail boats ride out toward the sunset and then sail back to shore again.

Walking back, we couldn’t decide what to get for dinner. Could we really get pork again? We decided on sushi, even though this broke our rule of eating a different country’s food (i.e., when in Philippines, stick to Filipino food). We also ordered Takoyaki which was pretty good. The sushi was disappointing, but we should’ve known better.

The restaurant was right on the beach and they were trying to lure tourists in with different offers and live music. The music was mostly awful – an older filipino man and woman that had a keyboard and a computer. They were doing electronic covers of boat rock ballads, badly. But then they played a super synthy song, like the one you’d play when you first played with a keyboard, and it was pretty catchy and fun.

We walked back to the hotel and drank some Red Horse while watching Nat Geo on TV.

Sunday, May 8

Those that play together, stay together. But some occasional time apart is important too. Anni slept in and caught up on Game of Thrones while Carl went to do some kiteboarding …

From Carl:

Staying on the windy side of the island I was mesmerized by the kite surfers every morning, and decided to give it a go. Most of the board shops were still closed while tourism picks back up, but I found a cute family owned place still in business with mom running the register, dad tending the chickens out back, and the eldest son giving kite surfing lessons. I signed up for the 3 hour beginner lesson, being told there was a chance I’d be able to get up on the board after that long.

We started at 8am with an overview of the equipment and safety features. Essentially you are strapped into a harness that is then attached to the kite, with a handlebar that can be used to rotate the parachute and adjust the drag. The first 2 hours were spent in the water playing with the kite. These things are powerful, easily able to pull you out of the water and across a distance of 50 feet, so my instructor tethered himself to me until I got a handle of things.

I have never managed a kite like this before, but after a while it started to click and I had fun dragging myself through the water by kite power. This process also filled every sinus in my face with salt water. Once I could prove I could release myself in an emergency and reset the kite from the water, we were ready to grab a board.

The wind was still intense but the water fairly calm, so my instructor grabbed me what looked just like a wakeboard (apparently in rougher waters one uses more of a surfboard). Wind power trumps whatever drag a boat can make, and with a quick dip of the parachute I was up and on the board. My wakeboarding instincts hurt me a bit though because pulling the handlebar close as one does in wakeboarding increases the drag and causes the kite to crash down into the water.

After working out the kinks though I was up and kite boarding! I still have plenty of work to do on kite control and tacking, but it was really fun to get up and cruise across the bay. My arms were wiped from 3 hours of intense kite steering, so I pulled myself ashore and said goodbye to my kite surfing family, ready to find Anni and lunch.

…

We wandered back to D’Mall in search of something to eat. We ended up at a place called I love BBQ and got some barbecued pork belly and some sweet ice teas. The meat was good and we were impressed with the potato and rice pairings that also came on a hot sizzling platter. Afterward we got some mango soft serve ice cream and did some people watching for a bit.

Still painfully sunburned, we opted to go back to the hotel for quiet time. Later that night we walked down the hill again for dinner. We went to a place called Kolai Mangyan that offered authentic Filipino food. We got sisig, bud bud beef, and a fresh lumpia. We ordered at the counter and grabbed a table number and some canned pineapple juices.

Despite signs saying the place was short staffed, the food came out quick. And it was SO good. Real sisig with crunchy pig snout and spicy peppers. We’d never had fresh lumpia before (only fried) and it was weird but good. Kind of like mushu pork wraps, with different spices. Finally the bud bud beef was sweet marinated beef with sticky rice and it was different, and good. The whole meal cost about $8.

The Philippines are having their elections on Monday, May 9. In elections prior, there have been violent protests and riots. So, in an effort to quell any bad behavior, there was an alcohol sale ban in place starting May 8 at midnight for 24 hours. Perhaps being overly cautious, the restaurants and shops in Boracay were not selling any alcohol all day on May 8. We hadn’t planned to go out, but this ban cemented our plans to watch Nat Geo, pack our bags, and go to sleep early.