Vacation

A few shades darker and a few pounds heavier --that's what I came back with from my recent vacation, but definitely worth it. ^_^ Our family trip consisted of a departure of 2am to arrive on time for our 4am flight. Then a 6-hour drive from Iloilo to Boracay. Summertime peak season meant no more flights left from Manila to Caticlan. 1 and a half day stay at Bora, then a 6-hour drive back to Iloilo. 15 minutes of ferry to Guimaras, 1 hour drive in Guimaras, an overnight stay, an hour drive back to the pier, 15 minutes ferry back to Iloilo, and a few hours short of an overnight stay at Iloilo, and back to Manila via the 6am flight. Sounds stressful? It was. In fact I was kinda expecting the same level of disappointment we had with our Sagada trip. Well, that was the pessimist in me. Surprisingly, it wasn't like that. For every mishap we had, I catch myself actually thinking, "Hey, this is still tons better than the Sagada experience, no biggie." Although tiring, I found myself enjoying the time off from work.

Boracay is Boracay is Boracay. Meaning, Boracay will never disappoint. The long stretch of fine sand and clear water never fails to put a smile on my face. This was despite the algae washing up on the beach and the low tide. I'm still really bummed about the condos being built on the small island. It kinda takes the "vacation" feel away. T_T They're ruining it. Anyway, I got to do some shopping and bonding with my brothers, and the seafood albeit expensive was scrumptious.

Guimaras was an altogether different story. It was a good change of scenery; see for yourself:

Unfortunately, the resort we stayed in exhausted whatever patience we had left from the tiring island transfers. We stayed at Villa Igang. We were originally given a shack (look closely at the walls) which I could not fathom to be a legit room. For people. Actual, real, live people. Not a house of pigeons. Or that furnace box where you roast pigs in.

To give the staff (at least 2 of them, the rest were playing cards the whole time) credit, they were accommodating and really kind, but well their umm policies, for lack of a better term, were weird. This was the only place I ever stayed at that charged for service water and ice and everything else! Anyway, after complaining about the shack, which had one puny light bulb, and a tiny air conditioner (that probably has less than 1 horsepower), we got transferred to a better room, where we didn't have to marinate in our own sweat. This, believe it or not, was a cheaper room.

Moving on, we went island hopping and stopped to take pictures with a hundred year old pawikan, bigger-than-me groupers, and tons of colorful fish I can't name. My brother and the turtle:

For pasalubongs, we stopped to buy mangoes to take home. I have yet to taste one so the verdict on them would have to wait.

Going back to Iloilo, we sent the rest of the trip with my brother's girlfriend's relatives --hands down, the coolest family I have ever met.

That's it so far. If you think I've had enough, you're mistaken. I'm still hoping for at least two more summer outings. I guess It's the heat. :D Ciao!

P.S. I'm not ready to go back to work yet. x_x