It was our last full day on the island before our flight back home the next day.
We were about to make the best out of it. Mum was up really early that morning, so we headed out with her on our usual tricycle trip and headed back to our hotel for breakfast.
After breakfast, we decided to make the best of our remaining day in Boracay. So, we decided to go for ISLAND HOPPING with Jerome!
Did I tell you guys about Jerome? How could I forget Jerome? Haha. One of the nicest guide we had. During our first day in Boracay, fresh on the island, we somehow had that newbie vibe. Our newbie vibe attracted more than 20 sellers / sea activity promoters selling everything and anything they've got to offer. Every step we took there was someone either greeting us, "Sir, Hi SIR. Island hopping? Parasailing? Kayaking? Jet boat. Sir sir!" or some offering ladies stuff "Madam, hat? Sunglasses? Phone casing? Cheap, madam. Best price for Malaysian. Apa khabar Madam?".
We were numb to all the callings but somehow were attracted to this nice looking, slightly tan Phillipino guy waiting for us at the beach leading to our usual breakfast spot. His name was Jerome. He greeted us with a smile and asked us whether we were interested in going for island hopping the next day. He somehow managed to persuade us. Due to his persistence, we were suddenly scheduled for a full day of island hopping. Yay for Jerome. *commisions for Jerome*
We got ready after breakfast and was asked to be at the beach by 930am latest. Typical us, we arrived at the proposed spot slightly later than 930am. The spot was empty. No Jerome. We looked around us and finally noticed another similar looking Jerome calling for us from a boat. From a boat filled with tourists just like us. They must have waited for us awhile now. There were all already strapped in their life jackets waiting for us. Malu gila.
We quickly rushed to the boat, strapped ourselves with the jackets and avoided all eye contact. The others acted like they were not looking but boy, were their eyes on us haha.
Finally, we headed out to the sea and landed at our first stop. In the middle of the sea! It was our 1 hour snorkelling session around the boat. How lovely! I quickly had my life jacket tightened, wore my snorkelling goggles and I was good to go! I was so excited forgetting that snorkelling terrified the life out of Omar. Truth is, Omar's not a swimmer. Well, he can't swim guys. There, I said it. Haha sorry Oms. So imagine how terrified he was to jump off the boat. I managed to calm him down, got his goggles placed properly and insisted that he try floating in the sea at his own pace. As eager as I was, he was finally in the waters with me. The minute his feet reached the water and he could no longer feel the ground, he was frantic. Frantic and gripped onto me like claws of a hawk. I could sense the anxiety, I immediately gripped his life jacket and swam him back to the boat. He was finally at ease. Poor boy!
Without hesitation, I continued snorkelling and spent time with the little fish who came to our boat. We were able to feed them bread and see them swim. There some good shots captured throughout our snorkelling activity. It would have been better captured if we had a GoPro. Maybe on our next island trip!
Then, we were headed to the next few stops which were PUKA island, Magic island for lunch, Cliff diving island and Crystal cove island. I enjoyed PUKA beach for its lovely scenery. We enjoyed the sunny weather and the clear waters. It was lovely. We also managed to taste one of the best Mango blended drink ever on that island! There were massage and hair braiding services on the island too.
We then headed to Magic island for lunch where they served us vegetarian food and fried shrimp. We were served lunch at a small hut (emulating the villagers / islanders of Boracay) and it was a wonderful experience. Done with lunch and we were headed to the Cliff diving and Crystal cove island. The cove was my favourite. There were two coves we could explore. The tides and waves were high and the waters was so fresh. It was jam packed to get down to the cove area but it was sure worth it!
We ended the day after the Cove and headed back to Station 2 (where we were staying) and spent an hour or so on the beach before heading back to our room. We took a quick nap and then got ready for the mum's APOC annual dinner. The dinner was themed a Mermaid's tale and we were all asked to dress in all white for the event that night. Super exciting!
The event started at 6pm that night. We took our usual tricycle to Fairways Beach Resort, near Eco Village and was shuttled to the venue via their free shuttle bus from the entrance of the hotel. We were greeted with drinks in Pineapples when we arrived. Little did we know, the drinks served all contained alcohol / vodka. Luckily before we took the drink, Omar enquired regarding the drink and the ladies serving us happily said "Yes sir, vodka." Pheww, close one! We immediately told them we don't drink and they hurried themselves away from us. Close call!
Entering into the venue, there were hundreds of delegates and participants all dressed in white. All of us were asked to register and was given hats as well as Ratan fans as door gifts. The venue was scenic. There were lights over us, good music, a pool just next to the venue with mermaids in the pool! Yes, mermaids haha. There were mermaids on the grass next to the pool for photo taking. It was so unique and interesting it made the start of the night so lively. The night was accompanied by good music by a group of guys on the drums which lifted the night even more. The night was indeed young.
After the evening party, we were asked to make our way down to the beach area and head to the actual dinner venue. We walked our way down and caught glimpses of the scene as we came closer. As we entered the venue, the open space was dark, with laser lights everywhere, good music and a huge screen on stage facing the audiences (us). There were easily 100 tables accommodating almost 10 participants on each table. There were huge white tents by the sides, holding the buffet spread from salads, main dishes to desserts and drinks. The night was accompanied by good hosts and speeches by the organising committee. Awards were given to researchers, poster participants and postgraduate candidates for all their hard work.
The official ceremony ended and the partying started. The committee invited a very well known singer in the Philippines, Ms. Bituin Escalante. She was the QUEEN of the night. She was singing songs from the 80s with her crazy wide range of vocals. People were on their feet listening to 'I will survive', to most of Madonna's hits. It was so cool seeing people in their 50s grooving to good old music. She entertained us with a total of 10 songs and ended the night with passing it over to the invited DJ.
It was now time for real good millennial music! By now, I've moved from one chair to another, grooved to the music, sat back down, jumped up and cheer and headed to the chairs way infront, closer to the stage. I was on a roll. Mum being the cool sport she usually is, stayed the night with me. We danced to music by Rihanna, Cardi B, Camilla Cabello to Selena Gomez! All music meshed into one good remix. The lights went on like crazy and the night was getting even better.
We enjoyed all the remixes for an hour or so. The night finally ended well and it was time to go home.
We walked our way back to the shuttle pick up area and took the shuttle back to the entrance. We managed to catch a tricycle back to our hotel. The tricycle we waved down could accommodate more than the three of us so we decided to share it with others who were waiting in line. As we got on the tricycle, we realised there were three other people climbing up the tricycle and seated just opposite us. I was busy on my phone when I overheard the person infront of me talking to the person beside her. Her voice sounded so familiar. I looked up. And got the shock of my life.
It was Ms. BITUIN ESCALANTE. RIGHT INFRONT OF ME. She looked at me and immediately put her hands up and said "Hello" with the sweetest voice. I screamed and fangirled for awhile. During that time, two other fans jumped onto the tricycle and were fangirling her too!
We went crazy on that tricycle trip!
We were asking her so many questions, I'm sure it suffocated her haha. We made friends with other fans of hers on that ride. Kim and Rochelle. We got talking and they were fans of Jericho too! We squealed and screamed at our conversations about all the soap operas he was in. Die hard fans haha. We got down at the same area, Station 2 and got ourselves another round of Halo Mango on our last night in Boracay.
They walked us back to our hotel, continue our girly chit chats and finally hugged us goodbye.
We ended the night and slept soundly to the sounds of the waves that night.
The next morning, we had a chilled breakfast before heading out to the airport. Did a little bit of shopping before biding the place goodbye. We were heavy heartedly leaving Boracay but was really happy to experience lovely memories in such a beautiful island.
We waved the island goodbye that afternoon, hoping to be back again one day.
Thank you, Boracay. You were amazing!
Signing out,
Sarah
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