5/25/2014 - Going to the extra mile for Boracay

Sometimes you have to want it a little bit more to have a different experience.  In Singapore, we kind of forget how spoiled we are from a beach travel convenience standpoint.  Hail a taxi from your condo and 3-4 hours later you can be sitting on a beach somewhere in Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia.  If you're really lazy, you can just wander down to Sentosa Island and lounge around in the best beach man can make.  This past weekend, however, we went the extra mile.  Sarah and cohort had already made it to Boracay in the Philippines as they had flown on straight from Hong Kong.  After putting in my week in the Pulau, I began to make the journey on my own.

At 8:30 in the morning I got in my taxi heading for Changi Airport, my home away from home.  Needless to say, the excitement levels are a little higher when you are getting ready to relax instead of head out on a work trip.  After a stale Starbucks blueberry muffin (why are they so bad in Singapore?) a slightly delayed flight, followed by a multiple hour nap, I woke up to see a lush, mountainous landscape spread out below.  Off in the distance I could see what looked like a glorified, small town single runway airport and sure enough, we banked up a dry riverbed and came in for a smooth landing in Kalibo "International" airport.  The immigration process was two people sitting behind little more than card tables and then I found what turned out to be the first of the smiling "My Boracay" guides waiting for me.  I was escorted to the thankfully air conditioned bus and we began the winding two hour journey through small towns, more jungle and occasional seaside views to arrive at Caticlan jetty.

A new guide grabbed my arm and whisked me through the mass of people waiting to catch some of the last ferries from Caticlan to Boracay as the sun started to dip below the horizon.  Off to the left was a giant boat that had multiple semi trucks slowly crawling out of its belly.  Thinking this is where I was headed I started to tip toe in that direction when I was stopped and my attention was directed towards what appeared like an over-sized water bug.  It turned out that all the boats we would see had bamboo out-riggers on either side of them.  10 minutes later we had crossed the narrow stretch between Caticlan and Boracay and I was in a golf cart, yet again bouncing my way towards the hotel and friends.  After exiting the golf cart I started following my new guide down a dark, narrow sand alley towards what I hoped was the beach.  Off to my right, I could hear an acoustic guitar drifting down from the tree house bar that was going to be our new home away from home the next few nights. I was quickly reminded that every good cover band seems to be from the Philippines and this was probably the source of all that music.

Finally, I arrived at the Boracay Beach House and the staff called me by name saying everyone was waiting for me.  Not sure how this could be, I poked my head around the corner and it all became clear.  I had left at 8:30 in the morning and it was now pushing 7 PM in the evening, but everyone was scattered around a table on the stone patio right outside our rooms.  We had the bottom 2 rooms of a 4 room beach house, the sliding glass doors opened up right onto the beach and we had it practically all to ourselves!  San Miguel Lite and Golden Eagles (courtesy of San Miguel) raised, everyone caught me up on what I had missed out on the past few days (lots of NBA talk with the locals) and what the plan for the next day was.  Clearly, it was worth going to the extra distance this time.