The Happy Place 2

The last time I was in Boracay, three nights and four days didn't seem nearly enough to take everything in (translation: bitin). This time around, we were staying for only three days, so I wanted every moment I was there to count, every minute devoted to absolute rest and relaxation.

To any beach lover, the feel of fine sand beneath one's bare feet is unlike any other in the world. It evokes feelings of serenity and familiarity, of detachment from anything even remotely stress-inducing, even of a promise of better times ahead. (I make it sound too dramatic, but really, that's how it is for me). So a good portion of the whole time I was there, I spent sitting on one of the beach chairs, feet on the sand and either chatting with my friends or listening to my music and just simply staring out into the endless ocean. A couple of times I actually fell asleep right there on the beach.

It being the middle of the summer season, the heat was, at times, unbearable, so I had the good sense to lather on the sunscreen and stay in the shade (you all should, too, especially between the hours of 10 and 2). The first day, as soon as my friends got there, we immediately headed out to our favorite spot on the entire stretch of the front beach, which was right in front of Lea's bar in Station 1. (We got to know Magnum the bartender, who gave us good deals on the drinks, during our last trip. Unfortunately, he wasn't there this time). We stayed there till well past sundown. We would've lounged around longer had we not felt the first pangs of hunger. Ryan thought we should check out the Mexican place we saw along the way, but as soon as we sat down, took a peak at the menu and realized we didn't want to pay P300 to P400 for a burrito (which we weren't even sure was good), we all stood back up, left in a huff and ate at Gesthof's (the German sausage place) instead. I doubt the management of the Mexican place was very happy about our "walk-out," especially after they scrambled to provide chairs for all 12 of us.

After dinner, I excused myself from the group and met up with a correspondent of ours on the island. He was kind enough to invite me for drinks as soon as he found out I was there on vacation. I was hesitant to let him pay for the drinks at first, but you know how persuasive we Pinoys can get, particularly non-city folk. Pretty soon, I was downing two garapons of the famous Jam Jar (that's in addition to the three or four Lights I already had back at Lea's bar), and munching on their exquisite pizzas. But fatigue finally caught up with me, and before 1am I was back in our room and out like a light while all of my friends partied at Pier One till (almost) sun-up.

Breakfast the next day was right in front of the hotel we stayed in. I'm sure I've eaten tastier tapsilogs in my life, but eating it by the beach - can't get any better than that. The rest of the day was spent swimming, having shakes at Jonah's (you gotta have shakes at Jonah's) and eating calamansi muffins at Real Coffee, snoozing and more swimming. (I spent a good hour just sitting on a beach chair and listening to a friend's recommendation, Amos Lee). Later in the afternoon, we indulged in more strenuous physical activities, for a change. First was football. Ryan brought his pigskin with him and we threw that around under the sun for about half an hour. Then the kite. Yep, nothing brings out the inner kid in you better than a bit of kite-flying. Unfortunately, the wind was uncooperative; the longest we had that thing airborne was about thirty seconds. Oh well. Better luck next time.

Sunsets in Boracay…truly spectacular. And I have the photos to prove it.


Boracay sunset

We were all on our own for dinner. Ryan, Tina and I had pasta at Ai Pazzi. (The owner talked me out of having the chicken curry, so I had the spaghetti pesto instead). Afterwards we all met up at the beachfront side of Cocomangas. Over shots of Illusion shaker, I had an interesting chat with one of Tina's friends, whom I just met the day before. It's pretty cool sometimes, to find out things about yourself when an almost complete stranger point them out to you.

The next day I picked up a box of calamansi muffins from Real Coffee that I wanted to take home to my officemates as pasalubong. Like all good things, the end had to come sooner or later, and this time, it felt like it was much, much sooner. (Like I said, 2 nights and three days just isn't enough time to lose yourself in Boracay). We left the island at a little past noon and headed out to Roxas City, where our flight was the next day. After being there twice before, it was good to see all the familiar faces again. That night, our hosts treated us to a sumptuous native chicken dinner at a local "inasal" place. Once again I got kidded around a lot for this "quirk" I have about eating, but overall, it was good fun. We were all up extra early the next day for the flight back home. In the plane, the flight attendants had a hard time convincing the passengers to join in a game of oh-so-fun "Tongue Twister." (I wondered why, considering their ultra-snazzy Cebu Pacific pouch bags was up for grabs).

And just like that, my Boracay vacation was over. Looking at the sticker on the wall in my room, I had to smile. It says: "Boracay, I shall return." Well I guess I did. And again...I will.