My Boracay Vacation

What a glorious day for a holiday!  The day began with cloudless blue skies and sunshine.  My two children and I are headed for a mini-holiday to the island of Boracay in Aklan, Iloilo.  This is our fifth time to the island so we are no strangers to it.  But every time we go back, we still get the excited ‘first-time on the island’ feeling. 

This time we are flying to Caticlan via Philippine Airlines.   Our friend drops us off at the Centennial Airport where all the Philippine Airlines flights take off from.  When we reach the sliding doors where the baggages get scanned, the security guard informs me that we are at the wrong terminal!  Annoyingly, someone forgot to inform us that the smaller aircrafts have been moved to NAIA 3.  Good thing we had plenty time to spare and we managed to cab it to NAIA 3 without a problem since our friend had already taken off.  Check in was a breeze and we had an hour to kill before boarding time.  The girls and I decide to take some refreshments and ‘people’ watch.

The flight was full of tourists- mostly foreigners.  Since it was a beautiful day the girls had a clear view of the different islands we passed en route to Caticlan.  The 45 minute flight passed without a hitch.  Landing was smooth.

The representative from our hotel, Pinjalo, was late.  When he finally arrived, we took a short tricycle ride to the Visitor’s Welcome Center where our private boat was waiting to take us across the Tabon Strait to the Cagban Jetty Port.  My daughter was ‘looking’ for the hotel’s speed boat which picked us up on our last visit to the hotel.  The representative told us that it got damaged during the last typhoon which hit the island.  So instead the three of us rode on our own personal ‘banca’ which is the local boat.

Pinjalo (www.pinjalo.com) is owned by a friend who hails from Switzerland originally.   We always stay at his hotel as it is perfectly situated in Station 2.  The restaurant and dive center is along the walkway next to the beach, a building away from the tourist center, and the hotel itself is tucked away about 5 minutes walk away in one of the quiet side-streets.  Plus, the discount we get of course helps.  For a double room which is quite large with a free buffet breakfast it is USD 60/night.  The hotel has its own private pool and gym which rarely has any guests in it.  They also have their own private spot on the beach.

My children and I love the restaurants in Boracay.  One of our favorite restaurants is called Dos Mestizos which specializes in Spanish cuisine.  This is our favorite place for lunch time because normally we just feel a bit peckish and do not want anything too filling.  So tapas are the perfect choice for luncheon with a pitcher of Sangria for Mama.

Aria is another fun place to have dinner.  It is located right at the edge of D’Mall at the beach.  This restaurant features Italian cuisine.  My girls and I enjoy their pizzas and salads.  They also have a very decent wine list.  Aria is brilliant for dinner because you can people watch while you are having dinner.

True food is a restaurant which my youngest daughter begged to go to.  I think she was fascinated by the giant-sized throw pillows they had on the floor.  Their specialty here is Indian food.  We sampled their vegetarian dishes and it was fantastic.  The ambiance is wonderful after a whole day of lazing in the sun.  Actually, those pillows put you to sleep after the wonderful meal they serve you!

For hamburgers and French fries head over to Jammers.  I actually had a nice chat with the owners of the establishment.  The gentleman is American and his wife is French.  They also own a souvenir shop at D’Mall.  This is great for when you have the cravings for ‘grease food’!

Lemon i Café is a cutesy place to have coffee or tea and desserts.  My children are true Europeans in that a meal is never complete without dessert.  We discovered this café while walking around D’Mall when we spied the cakes they had on display.  This place definitely whets the sweet tooth craving!

The entire 3 days of our stay in Boracay was utterly predictable.  From early morn to sunset we lounged at the beach.  From sunset to late at night we were out sampling all the wonderful, international cuisine in Boracay.  What more can we ask for?  It was the perfect mini-holiday.  We got our sun and surf, sampled superb cuisine, and best of all we spent quality time together.