yola

This is my third time to the Philippines and it yet again, marks another positive and happy experience (we recommend Boracay but not the airline we went for) for my trip to this country with 7,101 beautiful islands. This time we went in a party of 7 (quite a large group) for 5 days 3 nights. We left Hong Kong for Manila late at night last Friday, arrived at midnight, stayed at a local popular restuarant called Aristocrat (highly recommended) in Manila downtown from 1am to 3:30am and then went on our connecting domestic flight from Manila Domestic Airport to Caticlan. We went by Cebu Pacific (a no-frill airlines which had a really slow system, but really had the cheapest airfare). We arrived Caticlan at 6:10am, our porter from our resort (Escondido Resort in Station 1 Boracay, little off the 4km White Beach) greeted us at the airport and took us to the Boracay Island. We recommend this hotel to everyone who's looking for a budget resort with excellent service and an additional Filipino taste to the room decorations. We had two rooms of 4 girls and 3 guys. We left Boracay on Tuesday afternoon.

The island itself was awesome. Although the island attracted many foreign investors and added some kind of commercial influence to the island, the island still somewhat kept it's authenticity and peacefulness. Everyone (according to my personal experience in The Philippines) is nice and cheerful and as their airport banner suggests, they add "an extra smile" to everything and everyone they encounter.

We did several easy dives on the first 2 days in the morning. We recommend Friday's Rock if you want easy diving and lots of fishes and Yapak and Camia Wreck if you want to raise your bar in your diving skills. We recommend our diving operator, Lapu Lapu to all. We did some island hopping on the second last day and took some spectacular pictures of the different beaches. We also recommend taking a Paraw during sunset out from the White Beach to absorb some of the most beautiful views of the island and this is certainly ideal for couples. We then did some island shopping at D'Mall (they have lots of seashell products). If you would like Filipino authentic food, try Smoke in D'Mall. If you would like to have some Western style dining, try "Lemon Cafe" just in the D'Mall center Plaza. For grilled Pinoy food, please try Gastof (fresh grilled seafood but bit more expensive than the other restaurants, this restuarant is at the entrance of D'Mall). The D'Mall Palenke is full of locals buying fresh meat and vegetables off the small stalls alongside the road. If you want some late drinks along the beach at night, try "Bamboo lounge", it's between Station 1 and 2, facing the beach, they even have soft cushion seats and table placed on the sandy beach after 8pm.

I could just go on and on...but we thought it was the best experience we ever had in The Philippines. Despite the flight and ferry transits could be tiring, it's really worth the time and effort.

Would recommend a one-night stay in Manila if you've got time. Could visit some of the largest shopping mall in Asia. Try Asia Mall of SM (Shoe Mart). For regional local food, try "Mangan" (next to Fully Book Bookstore, and opposite to the Shoe Mart Department Store) inside the mall.