2014年12月26日—12月31日(可是原來是12月30日-__-)
So as we had already established, I spent my winter break and the better part of January with my family in the Philippines. We planned a trip to Boracay「長灘島」from December 26th to December 30th. I was super excited to go because I had heard so much about the powdery white sand, the clear blue waters, and how it's been consistently voted the best beach in the world by Conde Nast like, multiple years in a row.
After spending Christmas in Manila, my family of 16 (Lola Meme's Crew or LMC) and I braced the hell-hole that is NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) to fly to Aklan, a small island province in the Western Visayas Region. From Kalibo Airport in Aklan, we were to take another two hour bus ride to the other side of Aklan, where we could take a short 15 minute boat ride to Boracay. Even though the region of Luzon (where the capital Manila is located) and the Visayas are not that far apart, they speak completely different languages. In Aklan (or Akean,) they speak Akeanon, as opposed to the Tagalog language spoken in Luzon. I had noticed that a few of the signs were different, but I could still make out what they were saying. Many local politicians across the Philippines wish their civilians a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year with billboards across the provinces, so where they speak Tagalog a sign could read "Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon"「聖誕快樂, 恭喜發財」 but in Aklan, they had said the same thing but in Akeanon (I just forgot how to say it lol).
So as we had already established, I spent my winter break and the better part of January with my family in the Philippines. We planned a trip to Boracay「長灘島」from December 26th to December 30th. I was super excited to go because I had heard so much about the powdery white sand, the clear blue waters, and how it's been consistently voted the best beach in the world by Conde Nast like, multiple years in a row.
After spending Christmas in Manila, my family of 16 (Lola Meme's Crew or LMC) and I braced the hell-hole that is NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) to fly to Aklan, a small island province in the Western Visayas Region. From Kalibo Airport in Aklan, we were to take another two hour bus ride to the other side of Aklan, where we could take a short 15 minute boat ride to Boracay. Even though the region of Luzon (where the capital Manila is located) and the Visayas are not that far apart, they speak completely different languages. In Aklan (or Akean,) they speak Akeanon, as opposed to the Tagalog language spoken in Luzon. I had noticed that a few of the signs were different, but I could still make out what they were saying. Many local politicians across the Philippines wish their civilians a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year with billboards across the provinces, so where they speak Tagalog a sign could read "Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon"「聖誕快樂, 恭喜發財」 but in Aklan, they had said the same thing but in Akeanon (I just forgot how to say it lol).
By the time we had reached Boracay, it was already night time, and once we checked into our hotel, it was already kind of past dinner time. We stayed at the Crown Regency Resort and Convention Center, which reportedly held the world's largest pearl (?) in it's, like, aquarium center...thing? idk. We didn't actually go see it, it did have a infinity pool and water slide tho, so that was kinda cool I guess. There was a convenience store adjacent to the hotel so it was nice to grab little snacks and drinks here and there. What I found really interesting upon visiting Boracay (particularly in the hotel we were staying at) was the trilingual accessibility of English, Chinese, and Korean. I wanna say there were more Koreans staying at this hotel than actual Filipinos, which I guess makes sense. There's a lot of Koreans in the Philippines nowadays, and even then, many Koreans from Korea come to the Philippines for a cheaper alternative to the ~*~tropical island vacation~*~ destinations of like Hawaii or Fiji or whatever. So, this was reflected on the island. I believe one of the churches held a Korean mass every Sunday, and most of the signage on the island was in English, Chinese, and Korean. You could purchase many Chinese and Korean things at the convenience store adjacent to our hotel, so I would buy Korean banana milk and stuff like that. It was kinda weird because I hadn't been surrounded by these kinds of things since I was in Taiwan and South Korea, so it was a little disorienting to say the least.
The first night we had dinner at some franchise restaurant, I guess, we meant to go to the fresh seafood place where they grill the seafood fresh in front of you (I think?) but it was already too late so we settled for like liempo (grilled pork belly) with rice and stuff like that. I think my American uncle ordered chop suey and had a stomach virus for the rest of the trip. The rest of us Filipinos were okay though.
The next day we ordered this outdoor adventure package thing which included things like ATV riding, zorbing, ziplining, etc. It was kinda cool. The route for the ATV was set up in such a way that it took us up the highest peak (if you could call it that) of Boracay island called Mt. Luho, which you could then zipline down. I didn't opt in for the ziplining, because I didn't really wanna spend the money, and I was also weary about the weight limit. In the states you can't really zipline if you're over 250 lbs (and I didn't weight myself so I didn't know if I was under that weight or not, but I wasn't bout to go test that on a zipline in the Philippines u feel me) but I did go zorbing tho and that was a blast.
The first night we had dinner at some franchise restaurant, I guess, we meant to go to the fresh seafood place where they grill the seafood fresh in front of you (I think?) but it was already too late so we settled for like liempo (grilled pork belly) with rice and stuff like that. I think my American uncle ordered chop suey and had a stomach virus for the rest of the trip. The rest of us Filipinos were okay though.
The next day we ordered this outdoor adventure package thing which included things like ATV riding, zorbing, ziplining, etc. It was kinda cool. The route for the ATV was set up in such a way that it took us up the highest peak (if you could call it that) of Boracay island called Mt. Luho, which you could then zipline down. I didn't opt in for the ziplining, because I didn't really wanna spend the money, and I was also weary about the weight limit. In the states you can't really zipline if you're over 250 lbs (and I didn't weight myself so I didn't know if I was under that weight or not, but I wasn't bout to go test that on a zipline in the Philippines u feel me) but I did go zorbing tho and that was a blast.
I don't exactly remember the details of the next few days, really. Just going to the beach and eating food, eating food and going to the beach, the usual Christmas Beach Holiday activities.
I had this video I took when a few of my relatives and I went to grab breakfast and walked on the beach during lowtide but for some reason my cloud deleted it (what a surprise). Anyway the water was super clear and the sand was super soft and white, it was like stepping on powdered sugar or clay, it was unreal.
I know one day my cousin got the hookup at this like, day club/lounge/place called The White House and we all went there for dinner. We decided to dress in all white and I honestly had never felt more bougie it was great.
I know one day my cousin got the hookup at this like, day club/lounge/place called The White House and we all went there for dinner. We decided to dress in all white and I honestly had never felt more bougie it was great.
I know one night my cousins and I got together and "went out" to the beach at night, because obviously being such a huge tourist destination, there's bound to be great nightlife. The beach is just as active at night as it is during the day, and we managed to bar hop a couple times down the beach. My cousin even got me to go up and sing at this open mic sorta music club thing? On the beach? It was great but lowkey terrible bc they asked me if there was a song I could sing and I asked them if they knew Ordinary People by John Legend, and they were able to improv it pretty well but they jacked it up 1 or 2 or 5 keys (oh my god why) and I already have difficulty performing this song in public, so by the time it got to the bridge I was cracking all over the place, it was not cute at all.
I remember walking back to the hotel at one point and passing by this Korean family, that was speaking fluent Tagalog with each other, like, the elderly generation of 아줌마s and 아저씨s were speaking Tagalog with each other, which clearly means their family has been in the Philippines for quite some time? idk i've never felt more inadequate lmao like here I am, more comfortable speaking in Mandarin and Korean than I am Tagalog, despite being Filipino American like...okay...
But yeah, I don't remember much actually. So uh, here's food photos I guess haha.
But yeah, I don't remember much actually. So uh, here's food photos I guess haha.
Anyway...at the end of the trip we had spent an extra 36 hours in Aklan in and around Kalibo Airport because yay! The flights are delayed! Do we know for how long? Nope! So we gotta just stick around and hope for the best...
For reference, Kalibo Airport has one landing strip, a leaky roof, no air conditioning, the only food and water they had was for purchase, and I practically subsisted off of filipino instant noodles and water bottles when my family was being generous with the pesos. I was able to snag a chicken salad sandwich and green mango smoothie here and there. It was only after 24 hours did our airline actually try and do anything regarding food, and by that point we had already eaten Jollibee fried chicken and rice for two meals. Guess what our complimentary meal from the airline was? Yaay more fried chicken and rice. I swear my skin was like "Jensen, why"
For reference, Kalibo Airport has one landing strip, a leaky roof, no air conditioning, the only food and water they had was for purchase, and I practically subsisted off of filipino instant noodles and water bottles when my family was being generous with the pesos. I was able to snag a chicken salad sandwich and green mango smoothie here and there. It was only after 24 hours did our airline actually try and do anything regarding food, and by that point we had already eaten Jollibee fried chicken and rice for two meals. Guess what our complimentary meal from the airline was? Yaay more fried chicken and rice. I swear my skin was like "Jensen, why"
My tita was able to find us a "hotel" to stay at over night so we wouldn't have to sleep on cardboard on the floor of the overcrowded and overheated Kalibo Airport, but it wasn't that much better. It was a "historic site" that was pretty cute and quaint, but also lowkey had roaches and mold in the communal bathroom. The only upside was that I had my own room to myself, which consisted of two rickety twin size beds and a small vanity.
But! We managed to catch our flight at about 11 pm on December 31st, so we spent New Year's in the skies. We were kinda hoping they would bust out some complimentary sparkling cider or something, considering the airline practically ruined our New Year's, but it was a miracle that we even got out of that mess in the first place! When we got back to Manila the streets were still smoking from the firecrackers, and when we got back home we had a small late Noche Buena complete with queso de bola and ube halaya.
Anyway, if I find more time I might write up a lil sumn sumn on my trips to Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore? Maybe? Don't hold me accountable you know I don't update regularly lmao.
Suddenly craving queso de bola,
和平/PK
But! We managed to catch our flight at about 11 pm on December 31st, so we spent New Year's in the skies. We were kinda hoping they would bust out some complimentary sparkling cider or something, considering the airline practically ruined our New Year's, but it was a miracle that we even got out of that mess in the first place! When we got back to Manila the streets were still smoking from the firecrackers, and when we got back home we had a small late Noche Buena complete with queso de bola and ube halaya.
Anyway, if I find more time I might write up a lil sumn sumn on my trips to Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore? Maybe? Don't hold me accountable you know I don't update regularly lmao.
Suddenly craving queso de bola,
和平/PK