19 September 2017, Tuesday
Day 3 in Boracay, and it’s raining again. It’s not called the wet season for nothing. Because of the rain, I decided to have my breakfast at the hostel café. I ordered a full English breakfast set and coffee and it cost PHP 380 (S$10.34), more expensive than the eatery outside. But to be fair, it was quite good.
At 11:30am, the rain stopped and it was time to venture out. Going out is always a hassle because the road directly in front of the hostel is perpetually waterlogged. I have to navigate through the pool of water and walk carefully on the sandbags that are stacked on the side of the road. Today, instead of turning left as I usually do (to go to White Beach), I turned right and walked to Bulabog Beach, less than 10 minutes away.
Bulabog Beach is the springboard for many tour operators and the waterfront is filled with speedboats and paraws, a double outrigger sail boat characteristic of this region. Here, you can engage in water sports like Fly Fish, Banana Boat, Helmet Diving and more. Having done most of these water sports at Bali’s Tanjung Benoa earlier in the year, I wasn’t keen to do it again.
Orientation wise, Bulabog Beach is on the east side of Boracay island while White Beach is on the west side. Apparently, the winds are strong on the east side of the island from October to the end of the year, so this is when it gets really busy at Bulabog Beach. When I was there, I could see a lot of people doing parasailing and kitesurfing in the distance.
One thing you must know about Bulabog Beach is that there is virtually no sandy beach here. Therefore, this is not where you’ll go if you wanna spend time sunbathing or lazing around. As there was nothing for me here, I just observed for a while before making my way back to White Beach (again).
When I reached White Beach at 12pm, the skies had somewhat cleared. It was still quite cloudy but the sun was out for the first time! It was a glorious day to be at the beach, with the clear waters reflecting the colour of the sky above. It looked more like the Boracay that I pictured in my mind before I arrived.
I went to Beach Hut Bar at Station 2 and grabbed a banana smoothie (PHP 140). I then lounged on the chair and faced the sea, enjoyed the breeze and sun on my skin while reading on my Kindle. It was the kind of beach holiday that I envisioned.
After about half an hour, I made my way to D’Talipapa to get some fresh seafood, as recommended by my friend. D’Talipapa is a popular seafood market where you can buy the freshest prawns, fish, crabs and lobsters from the stalls and have them cooked on the spot at the restaurants nearby.
Upon arrival, it was to my great surprise when I saw that the main market was cordoned off and there was a strong burning smell lingering in the air. Through the grapevine, I found out that the market had caught fire just yesterday during the early morning hours, damaging many of the stalls and the nearby properties. Thankfully, no casualties were reported.
Nevertheless, life goes on one day after the fire, as the locals set up makeshift stalls outside the market and continued to sell live seafood such as lobsters, prawns and oysters. However, there was no point buying any because the seafood was all uncooked and the restaurants were all shut due to the fire. I was quite disappointed because I did not get to eat the seafood this time round, but relieved that no one was hurt in the fire.
With my lunch plans scuppered, I headed back to White Beach and ended up at The Sunny Side Café at Station 3. I had done some research beforehand and this was one of the recommended cafes. It had a nice view of the sea and it was comfortable inside with the air-conditioning. I also liked the colour scheme of the decor – yellow, gray and white make a good combination.
I ordered a latte and an apple crumble pancake, amounting to PHP 338 (S$9.20), which was very reasonable. The pancake listed on the menu was actually meant for two persons but they specially did a half-sized portion for me. And they charged me half the price too, which I thought was very considerate.
The pancake was super yummy and it ranks as one of the best I have eaten. The only other pancake I remember being this good was the one I had at café Matsunosuke in Naka-Meguro, Tokyo in March 2013. That was the fluffiest pancake ever. I highly recommend The Sunny Side Café if you visit Boracay and are looking for a nice place to have a meal or a coffee. Best of all, the service is excellent.
Later in the afternoon, I didn’t have much to do so I decided to have a massage at Yasuragi Relaxation Spa at Station 3. The going rate when you walk along the beach is PHP 350 (S$9.52) for an hour-long massage but I went for the pricier option at Yasuragi because they have their own building and proper shower facilities. After walking around in the sand all day, I thought it would be good to have a shower before the massage. Besides, there was a 40% off promotion so the final price was only PHP 600 (S$16.32) for an hour’s massage, which was still quite alright.
After the relaxing massage, I walked along the beach, hoping to get a glimpse of the famed, spectacular Boracay sunset. Alas, it was not meant to be as it was still cloudy and the sun simply disappeared behind the clouds over the horizon.
It was then time for dinner so I went around looking for food. Another friend of mine recommended that I try the Chori Burger, apparently a legendary burger found only in Boracay. It is basically a burger with grilled chorizo fillings, where chorizo is a kind of sausage. I kept my eyes open but didn’t see any stalls selling chori burgers, and I almost gave up looking for it.
It was after much effort that I finally found a stall at Station 1. It was a pushcart stall called Merly’s BBQ Boracay Chori & Longga Burger and I couldn’t believe that this was the legendary burger stall that my friend had been raving about. I was expecting a restaurant or at the very least, a small eatery in a proper building. According to Merly’s Facebook page, they are the original chori/longga burger in Boracay since 1988. Their opening hours are from 5pm to 2am.
I paid PHP 50 (S$1.36) for a Chori Burger. It was like a sausage patty with chilli sauce sandwiched between two bread buns. It was tasty but it wasn’t the knockout that I expected. Maybe all the legendary talk had raised my expectations too high. But for that price, it was certainly cheap.
I was still hungry so I went to Don Churros and bought three pieces of churros for PHP 118. Don Churros claims to be the best churros on the island and I agree, because…it is the only churros shop in Boracay!
The rest of the night was spent listening to live music accompanied by beer. I don’t drink much beer in Singapore but whenever I’m overseas, it just feels nice to have a drink. It doesn’t help that beer is so cheap here. Two bottles of San Miguel Light for only PHP 110 (S$3)!
20 September 2017, Wednesday
After checking out of my hostel at around 10am, I was just outside the building trying to flag a tuk tuk when I stepped into a mulch of mud on the sidewalk. The mud had accumulated in the drain and it was level with the road, thereby masking its appearance. It appeared solid so I was surprised when I stepped on it and my left foot sunk ankle-deep into the mud. Come to think of it, this is probably the reason why the road is always waterlogged – because the drains are full of mud and cannot carry water away effectively.
Anyway, my whole left shoe and jogger pants were soiled with squelchy mud. It was super gross. I quickly headed back to the hostel to wash my shoe and changed out of my pants. Luckily I had shorts and a pair of spare footwear with me.
After the unpleasant episode, I left the hostel again and caught a tuk tuk to the jetty, paying PHP 100 for the ride. I arrived at the jetty at 10:40am and paid PHP 25 for the pump boat ticket and PHP 100 for the Terminal Fee. There was no need to pay the Environmental Fee for departure.
The pump boat departed Cagban jetty port at 10:56am and arrived at Caticlan jetty 10 minutes later. From there, I hopped on to a van (fee: PHP 175) to take me to Kalibo airport. It departed Caticlan at 11:17am and arrived at the airport at 12:45pm.
Upon checking in at the airport, I found out that I had to pay an International Passenger Terminal Fee of PHP 700 (S$19.04) before I could depart. It was a good thing that I didn’t finish spending all my pesos. Therefore, remember to set aside this amount if you’re visiting Boracay and departing from Kalibo airport!
My Scoot flight took off from Kalibo at 3:05pm and touched down at Cebu airport about half an hour later. After a 1-hour transit, I was up in the air again. At 7:50pm, I touched down at Changi Airport Terminal 2. Home sweet home!
Closing thoughts on Boracay
In terms of accessibility, it takes quite a lot of effort to get to Boracay from Singapore, unless you fly in to Caticlan airport directly. Timing wise, it is definitely better to visit during the dry season when the weather is good and the sunsets are stunning. During the wet season, it really rains a lot and the waterlogged roads don’t help.
In terms of cost, how much you spend really depends on how much you want to party and your level of comfort. If you are content with spending most of your time lying on the beach and chilling or reading a book, you can get by quite easily as beer is cheap and there are still cheap eats if you move away further away from the beach. You can get accommodation as low as S$10 for a dorm bed so it is definitely affordable.
After tabulating my expenses, I spent S$480 altogether for this 4D3N Boracay trip. It could have been even lower if I did not spend the S$136 on the Kodak digital camera after I dropped my mobile phone and the cameras malfunctioned.
At the time of writing my journal at the end of the trip, I said that I probably will not visit Boracay again. White Beach is overwhelmed by commercial activities and I cannot imagine visiting during the peak season when the crowds must be crazy. It is not really my idea of fun but I was glad I went to see for myself what the fuss is all about. However, with the recent forced closure and clean-up of the island, Boracay may have just received a new lease of life. I am now curious to see how things have changed (hopefully for the better) and I will not rule out a return in the future.
