Island Hop to Boracay

Ice cream sales in the middle of the ocean!

Untouched White Sand Beach

Philippine Sunset

Manny Pacquiao's Resort

Shopping for gifts!

Look closely, someone's picking coconuts.

With all the bad hype that this country gets it sure is nice to be able to show how beautiful this country really is.

I visited my 17^th Philippine island this past weekend and it was jaw dropping!  Boracay Island is probably the most known tourist destination in the country.  And to think, I just got to see it now.  And it didn't disappoint.  We were all really happy to go during the off peak season too because there were far less people around.

The very first thing I noticed about the place was that the drivers of the cars and tricycles actually stopped to let you cross the road. Let me tell you, that doesn’t happen in Manila! You will get your foot run over if you think they’ll let you through. Everyone was so nice too. Everyone says hi or waves at you. Even the people trying to sell you excursion packages were nice if you decided not to get anything. They weren’t all up in your face every second of the day. But there were a lot of them swarming us at first. But it’s their business you know.

The clear aquamarine-colored water was just part of the beauty of this place. There is a four kilometer (don’t ask me what that is in miles) stretch of fine white sand beach that is split into three stations. I think it’s split by boat stations. However, it seemed more like a split in class level. All the upscale aristocratic six star resorts were in Station One. I got lost in one of the resorts cuz it was like it’s own city. They don’t want you to leave. The sand felt all high class too. Maybe it’s because there’s less foot traffic, but the sand there felt like you were walking on baby powder. It was the softest sand I’ve ever felt in my life. Too bad that happened for about a half minute. Our sand felt more like the fake snow we make up in Big Bear (kidding… sorta). We stayed in spitting distance of Station Three. But whatever, that’s where all the nightlife was! There were live bands playing till early morning while everyone’s out mingling and drinking beer. It was pretty cool.

The entire 3 days there were amazing. We were up everyday till way late. I’m surprised we didn’t stay up for the sunrise after seeing the sunset. We had massages every day. My cousin had one at the beach and at the airport gate. Nice! The food was best at Station Three. You buy your meat, fish and vegetables at the wet market and then you find a restaurant that will cook it for you. It’s kinda home-made almost.

AND the best part of this trip… I was snorkeling and heard someone yell “Ice Cream!” while my head was in the water. I thought I heard wrong until I saw a guy in a kayak selling ice cream in the middle of the ocean! WTF! That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. But how cool to be able to buy ice cream from a vendor that pulls up right next to your boat. He did have to compete with the other guy selling buko (baby coconut) juice on another kayak. Now that’s how to think outside the box!