KYRA DOMINGO: April 2014

To clear things out

I was in the Philippines for my first 8 days, I was in Bangkok for the 9th day-13th day, went back to the Philippines for Day 14 to pack for Boracay, Day 15- Day 18 I was in Boracay, Day 19 we got back from Boracay, chilled at home and got our nails done/start to pack our things, Day 20 was my cousins' Andre and Tracy's Birthday Party, Day 21 we went to the airport at 6 am :(

Boracay Day 1: It took forever to get to this island. So we left the house, and we were at the airport 2 hours prior our flight, our flight got delayed, we were in the plane for almost 2 hours?, we got off Caticlan Airport, a van picked us up, we drove for an hour and a half and got to the docking port, we were carrying our luggages with us while trying to get on the small boat, to get on it, you had to step across a block of wood that was just about 7-8 inches wide (at least I only did that once, the staff of the boat helped us unload it and they carried it across to the deck, and we just gave them a tip) it was about 20 min. We got to the island and we rented a van to take us to our hotel which took about 15-20 min. My family and I were really exhausted. We finally got to check-in at our "hotel" which is actually a house that they renovated which was common in Boracay. It was called True Home, which provided free breakfast everyday that we were there, it was rice with either fish, tapa with eggs or tocino, of course it came with water or juice. We finally got to see the beach and all the loading, unloading, riding a boat, riding a van, back to back was all worth it, because the view was so breath taking it is really comparable to Hawaii, however I've never been in Hawaii but I've seen pictures of it. I'm talking about the blue ombre aquamarine water! The beaches in California/ most of the beaches in the U.S. has nothing on Boracay. Our first day we just chilled, we tanned, went swimming, and walked around at night by the beach, there was a really long stretch of entertainment, stores, and restaurants along the beach. I got to taste Jonah's shake which was bomb, I and to a least get one a day. We ate dinner at a Bbq place and it was pretty delicious.

The yellow house is our "hotel"- True Home

http://www.truehomehotel.net

Korean halo-halo for dessert!

Boracay Day 2: We found a tour guide that gave us pretty decent offers for a couple of activities, because it's like Thailand, if you're a foreigner they will take advantage of that because to begin with you will think it's already cheap, but for us Filipinos especially the ones from the Philippines would most likely not take that offer because they know they're getting ripped off. I was fine with the normal prices the guide had, but hey if you can get it cheaper why not? you can save the rest of your money or do something else with it. So our first activity was ATV, my mom just watched my little cousin by the beach, because she didn't want to do it with us. I was kind of scared because I have never been on an ATV, plus we had to go up the mountain on our ATV. I really thought that I was going to be scared but I wasn't and the view of the beach was so beautiful. We took pictures when we reached the top, walk around went sightseeing, and just appreciated everything. We then went back down, and went back to our hotel. The activity was around an hour. ATV was 400 pesos each. After going on the ATV, we went helmet diving! It was really fun, I was really at scared at first because the pressure on my ear won't go away, but I guess I had to really press my nose and blow out air through my ears haha! I saw school of fishes and different kind of fishes. We actually got to feed them bread. The diver took a video and pictures of us. Helmet diving was 700 pesos each. We went on speed boat to get back to our hotel, and it was really fun!

We were feeding them with bread!

We ate lunch at Andok's and we had some Jonah's shake again, I had the mango one again and it was so tasty and creamy that you can really taste mango, and they don't use powder for mango flavor, etc. they use fresh fruits. I think it was 100 each and I at least had one a day, I really liked the cantaloupe as well. After lunch we just sat by the beach, went swimming, and we actually took a little nap, we then woke up and got ready because we were going paraw sailing around 4 pm just in time to be on the boat for a bit and wait for the sun to set. Paraw sailing was 250 pesos each. We ate at Mesa for dinner, and walked around the shore after.

Boracay Day 3: We went island hopping and snorkeling. Island hopping was 375 pesos each, and snorkeling was free, we just had to pay 20-50 pesos each every time we wanted to stop and go snorkeling. I saw a lot of fishes and some coral reef! I just wish I had a waterproof camera and took pictures under the water. We ate lunch after, we ate at Mang Inasal which was pretty delicious and cheap, they have an option for unlimited rice, and their halo-halo was the best that I had! I went crazy on getting henna, I got four done! The henna lasted for around a week, and it started fading after that. We just chilled by the beach, swim, and made sand castles. We rented a paddle boat for an hour I think it was 500 pesos. We then ate at Shakey's for dinner.

This is very hard to do, you have to balance yourself on the paddle with the unstable water plus

the waves that come by every 10 seconds haha!

Boracay Day 4: We woke up earlier to pack and be at the beach for the last time. My aunt and I got a massage I think we paid 250 pesos each for a one hour full body massage, it was really relaxing and affordable! My aunts and I went to the Mango Outlet (clothing store), and we went to buy some souvenirs mostly shirts. We got back and we had Jonah's shake for one last time. After we had Jonah's shake it was time to go. The people were really friendly, you would think it's just all hotels, activities, restaurants, entertainments, stores, and the beach, but behind the hotels by the beach (including ours) there are houses of people that live in the island of Boracay some of them were our masseuses, our tour guide, the guys that were on our boat, the guy that did my henna, the divers etc. Most of them work around the island, and that kept food on their tables. Their lives were simple and they are barely making ends meet but they were always able to smile and be happy. It really amazed me, and it gave me a wake up call to be happy with everything that I have, because I have more than enough comparing to other people. I'm just really thankful for my life and all the blessings that I have. WE (people in the U.S.) are really very fortunate comparing to other people in other countries, and we are bountiful of almost everything, be thankful for the opportunity and don't let it go to waste!

http://www.myboracayguide.com/boracay-activities.html

Every bit of my trip was worth every penny that I saved for this trip. It was really relaxing and I was stress free for almost a month! It was a really good way to unwind, sleeping by the beach was amazing, I fell asleep hearing the waves of the water. Now that I'm back in the States I try not to stress too much and I give myself some time off to unwind. It's really essential to keep you sane, and especially to be happy.

My budget for Boracay: Airfare: 2, 400 pesos

Activities: 3,600 pesos (with the massage, tips, fees etc.)

Food: 2,000 pesos

Hotel: 1,066/day/per person (3,198 pesos for me for 3 nights)

Shopping: 2,600 pesos

Family Gathering

My aunts business: a catering service that sets up tables with candies/ the cupcakes and the cake with themed decorations.

Even though this was our own little party my aunts catered and made the cakes and cupcakes for their niece and nephew.