Obviously, travelling in Bora with a 15-month-old baby is a new and challenging experience, though not nearly as hard as I'd anticipated. And, quite frankly, it actually seems easier to travel with Maia than to be at home alone with her all day. LOL Perhaps that is because she really does fuss less when she is exposed to so many beautiful sights of people, sun, sand and sea plus of course beautiful and smiling faces of people in Bora. Actually I'm quite sure it's a combo of all of these, plus the perks that all travelers glean… no meals to prepare, no dishes to wash, no rooms to clean, no work, etc..etc... And with a baby snuggled cheek-to-cheek, and a huge backpack in tow, I felt exhilarated to experience travel on a whole new dimension. haha nosebleed??! LOL
The weather for the last few days before our Bora trip didn’t seem to look so good. Our personal outlook at that point: bleak. But we were determined to have a good time. Nevertheless, I already psyched myself for this much-needed vacay or our very own Bora trip with a hyperkulit baby in tow so I bought loads of baby sun screen, cover ups, waterproof diapers (was given by her sweet aunt from US), sunglasses for the little sprout, a cute hat and beach toys ..you know the usual pail and shovel for the sand you know (Manny Pacquiao is that you? haha ) :) Anyhoo, I decided to go to Bora not only for us to relax from work but also for my baby girl to experience it too. I want to go to Bora for the food, while my hubby can’t wait to slather on sunblock and dive or plunge into the water. LOL I also like taking pics though my Sony T70 digicam is quite annoying or could be that I’m just such a crap shooter...and I’m a huge food & beach lover (in that exact order!) So off we trotted...
For our Day 1, we just walked by the beach and then let our baby swim in 2 of the 3 big pools of Boracay Regency because she doesn't like the icky feeling of the sand on her feet ( ang arte! hehe) She thought it was dirty... but actually, the fine white powdery sand in Bora didnt scratch my feet even under the scorching heat of the midday sun! Thank God for the beautiful sun and pleasant weather last weekend. We were actually scared of spending Boracay without Mr. Sun! I think that a wee bit of sundance really helps. LOL Eventhough my baby is a bit maarte and choosy like me hihi I am so damn proud of her, a lot of foreigners and locals are saying how cute and biba she is because she keeps on dancing even on any kind of music even on Reggae music, she's always smiling and flying sweet kisses. The Front Desk Officers in Boracay Regency was so adored and amazed with her and after some dancing and flying kisses, we found out that our room was upgraded from Standard to a Deluxe room with a veranda and we also had a free breakfast buffet! Woohoo! We're so lucky to have her.
.
So there, we just took a rest and then jumped in the pool and took lots of pics.
But its main pool with a swim-up bar was our goto option for cooling off and enjoying our cocktails and fresh mango shake for or lil Bora babe Maia.
You could just swim up to the fully stocked bar, sit on an underwater stool, and then sip, savor and repeat after me...ahh this is life! lol After we got tired swimming, we were so exhausted and famished (Nosebleed!) so we had a sumptuous dinner buffet in Regency,walked by the beach, got my henna tattoo of the my beloved Boracay sun and then dozed off to sleep earlier than we expected.
So it was actually one of our Lola nights in Bora! Clubbing on a Saturday night is actually one of the many things you can't do in Bora if you're no longer single with a baby in tow unless you bring the yaya! LOL Also, too bad we weren't able to meet up with other GT Boraddicts in Starbucks because I almost lost my cellphone that night.. blame it to the anesthesia. Amf! But what I really enjoyed that day was our dinner buffet in Sea Breeze Cafe, their food was overflowing, delectable and superb. The dinner buffet costs PHP475 but there are lots of other buffet in the island ranging from PHP250-500.
Day 2. We had our free breakfast buffet in Sea Breeze Cafe and from Boracay Regency, after a few dips in the kiddie pool, we transferred to another boutique hotel called Island Nook which is actually owned and managed by Trondz, one of the nicest people I know in Bora and GT forum (thanks for the BIG discount ^.^ ) though I haven't had the chance to meet him though. Because when he invited us to watch the sunset in the roofdeck of The Tides, we already booked our paraw sailing to watch the sunset for the next day. Review of our stay there is...to follow. :)
We also met one of the gorgeous Girltalkers who also spent weekend in Bora, Madz and her boyfriend who are sooo nice and down-to-earth.. We met at Carlo's Pizza (yes, it's the Carlo's pizza you also see in Tagaytay) besides Starbucks (they also have it now in Bora too) where we had our dinner. So just imagine those girls in skimpy bikini sipping up a hot latte... Hot! Bora is so commercialized already, even Shakey's and Andok's are there too. Needless to say, we both enjoyed parasailing that afternoon after our powernap. Love it but it's not fit for the faint of heart or afraid of heights, mind you! Nuff said.
Day 2. We had our free breakfast buffet in Sea Breeze Cafe from Boracay Regency, and after a few dips in the kiddie pool, we transferred to another boutique hotel called Island Nook which is actually owned and managed by Trondz, one of the nicest people I know in Bora and GT forum (thanks for the BIG discount ^.^ ) though I haven't had the chance to meet him though. Because when he invited us to watch the sunset in the roofdeck of The Tides, we already booked our paraw sailing to watch the sunset. I so love the soft pillows, 32" LCD TV and uber fast wi-fi in our room in Island Nook with its simple yet stylish and elegant design. Review on our stay there is...to follow. :)
We also met one of the gorgeous Girltalkers who also spent weekend in Bora, Madz and her boyfriend who are sooo nice and down-to-earth..
|"So to end the day on a sweet note, we had the best Tropical shake I've ever tasted that day! I just couldn’t get enough of the invigorating beverages in Bora...
On Day 3, the day was too pretty to waste just sitting, beach bumming and unstoppably strolling along the beach so we tried reef walking... we met early morning with Biboy, our very nice and baby-friendly boatman. He said its best to try reef walking or the so-called helmet diving early in the morning around 8 am because the fishies are still hungry and the water is crystal clear.
True enough.. the underwater view was really breathtaking and the fish (like the cutie Nemo) came up to us, swarmed in front of us and feed on pieces of bread tossed by hubby and me. It's actually ticklish when they're biting my fingers. :) The same kind of feeling you get when doctor fishies eat your feet's dead skin cells.. Eew.. LOL We had so much fun! :) The rest of the day with Mr. Sun and our Little Miss Sunshine was spent strolling, eating, swimming and napping. We also had a quick fix at Jonah's shakes that I truly missed so we walked by the beach and climbed up to the Boracay Beach Grotto even if it's already high tide while sipping a bottle of Mocha Rhum! Power Trip Alert!
I ordered my all-time favorite melon mango shake that Maia also learned to love while hubby shared a little of his Mocha Rhum shake with me! It was ummm...refreshing and awakening at the same time!
Maia was also able to conquer her fear of the Bora sand. Just look at that last baby standing! :)Then before Mr Sun sinks into the waters, we went paraw sailing and watched the sunset.
The feeling vaguely reminded me of my first kiss back in high school. As the last trace of day fell , I pulled my hubby by the hand and grabbed our baby in between us for a yummy kiss that would undoubtedly erase any previous records. *mushy* Amf!
We also had fun watching the firedancers in a Luau party by the beach.
At 1 am, I woke up craving for the shawarma that we ate the last 2 afternoons we had in Bora. Talk about midnight hunger pangs!
Sure, the sunset was picture perfect while we were sailing. No frills. No drama. It was really nicer and more relaxing to watch sunset while sailing in a paraw unlike the usual watching it by the beach which is really not that impressive for me and I didn’t find it relaxing, I didn’t understand what the big deal was. I suppose it’s just fashionable and hip to be seen in Boracay. It’s hip to be with the hip crowd, that sort of thing. Really, I felt no excitement at the fact that I had to jostle my way through the crowded beach just to watch the sunset and the endless fashion parade on the beach seemed silly compared to sailing to watch the sunset, reef walking or helmet diving, snorkeling or gazing at the corals underneath the sea and playing among the colored fishies (that's my plural for fishy hihi) and then overfeeding them. LOL So for a change on our last night, we tried paraw sailing to see the sunset. I thought paraw sailing was boring at first but once we got started, I am already more than thrilled and happy that we decided to try it too!
The boatman was even following us for the last 2 days making endless sales talk. He started offering my hubby 1500 for an hour of paraw sailing and then it went down to 600. Not bad! I didn't know my hubby was even good in haggling. Here's more vanity pix LOL
We then brought our seafood bounty to one of the small restaurants in D'talipapa and had our fresh catch cooked for us. We had chili crab, grilled blue marlin, and buttered prawns and then we went haggling again for island souvenirs and pasalubong.
It's better and cheaper to buy pasalubong and stuff in D'Talipapa than in D'MAll having more upscale shops and resto. After that, we signed off...
On Day 4, we woke up pretty late and it was raining... so after packing our bags..we triked our way to the port and we decided to take the FastTrack boat which cost PHP60 which is a bit higher price than the regular boat ride of PHP25 to Caticlan airport. Tricycle ride from port to the airport is PHP100. Then paid the terminal fee of PHP20. Had our breakfast at Sky Cafe in the Caticlan Airport. We saw Ems and Roxy, another fab girltalkers who also went in Bora and took pictures again. LOL There are a lot more photos and stories that are worth posting but not today.
Overall, we enjoyed our trip in Bora with Maia even if it's all le fang and le kwatsa mode all day! 4 days and 3 nights in Bora is so bitin because I haven't tried a lot of things on my list like massage by the beach and island hopping that I really missed...well next time...And as the saying goes, ‘one good turn deserves another,’ so we'll be going back in August and Im sure there's no more pesky seaweeds mucking up the place,(another plus to travelling during the off-season because seaweeds usually make their appearance during summer time, guess they need a vacation too :). I am even more excited because hubby just got a Sony a200 DSLR and we're going to use it on our next trip!
Reality check. Time to eat dinner...at home.. There was much more in Boracay, but I think I've bored you enough. This turned out to be quite a long post, so thanks to those that actually read everything, and if you're still not that bored reading my blog, why don't you check out the things and must-eat foods that I haven't tried but would like to try in Bora this August. I'll try to make my next post shorter, but it's tough getting back into the swing of things after spending a few fun-filled days in Bora... so check 'em out! Go! Now na..
Note: More Bora pix on Facebook, add me up hushbaby22@yahoo.com or click this LINK! Thanks!
