September 18, 2007
As I mentioned in my not-so-recent update, Andreé and I went on a 3-day, 2-night vacation in Boracay. Here is a selection of photos from the trip, which some of you have already seen and commented on. Took a lot of nice shots, thanks to my new camera! It was both our first trips (in recent memory) to Boracay so we were both very, very excited to visit one of our country's premier tourist destinations.
Day 1, August 12, Sunday. Our flight departed from Manila at around 9 AM. It was Andreé's first airplane trip, and understandably she had some flight jitters. But it was no big deal (it helped that I was there with her) and soon we were on our way. After a 30-minute flight to Aklan airport, a lengthy ride by land to the port, and a boat trip to Boracay island, we were soon at our hotel, the Boracay Tropics. It wasn't a beach-front hotel (around 5 minutes walk to the beach), but the room was absolutely fantastic!
We arrived sometime past noon so we took a walk along the beachfront, looking for a place to eat. We ended up eating at Mang Inasal, which wasn't the most "Boracay-ish" of restaurants, but the food was good. Neither of us expected that there'd be so many shops! Quite sad that Boracay has become so commercialized. There were so many vendors hawking their wares and we got so many offers of "Ser, ayland-haping, parasiling, dyetski." At first it was annoying but after a while we got so many offers it became something to laugh about.
In the afternoon, we dressed up in our beach attire and went for a dip in the ocean. The sand was clean and white, and the water clear and blue, probably better than we imagined! The waves were quite strong at this time of year but nothing that we couldn't handle. In the evening, we went for a dip in the hotel pool, and just had dinner at the hotel, too tired to go looking around for a place to eat.
Day 2, August 13, Monday. August 13 was the day of our second anniversary and it indeed turned out to be a memorable day! In the morning, we had breakfast at the hotel (good enough) and we dressed up, prepared to go island-hopping. Yes, we gave in to the guy who named the lowest price. We didn't go island-hopping just the two of us (that wouldn't be much fun, really); we went with three others: Flor, Malis (Andreé's officemates), and Malis' sister (sorry, forgot her name!), who just so happened to be in Boracay at the same time. There were some dark clouds which worried us a bit but the weather turned out fine.
Our first stop was a location near the boat station where we went snorkeling. I'm proud to say that I was able to overcome my fear and jump in the water! It was the first time for Andreé and I to go snorkeling. The view of the corals underwater was breathtaking and the tiny fish eagerly jumped at the Skyflakes crackers we were feeding them. It was an amazing experience.
After snorkeling, our boat took us to an privately-owned island called "Crystal Cove". As you can guess, there were a bunch of caves where we could go swimming. The island itself had a lot of trails where you could just walk around and take a look at the fantastic scenery; there were also a bunch of weird statues and animals in captivity. The first cave (aptly named Cave 1) was quite disappointing. The water wasn't very good and the "crystal" was actually artificially transplanted in the cave. Cave 2 was much better. The water was nicer and the girls had fun dipping in the water and looking for curious rocks.
We had to pass through a dark and cramped tunnel to get to Cave 2 and I had a tiny accident in the tunnel; watch out for it at 0:24 in the video below:
After Cave 2 we walked around the island some more and then headed back to our boat. Crystal Cove was the last stop and after that we went back "home" and bade farewell to our friends. Back on Boracay island, Andreé and I stuck around at the beach for a brief photo-shoot before heading back to the hotel.
Upon Borgy's suggestion, we went for dinner at Hawaiian BBQ. It was much farther from our hotel than we expected, but it was well worth the walk! We had baby back ribs, pork barbecue, and fresh mango juice. The food was delicious and affordable! Without a doubt it has to be one of the best restaurants in Boracay; you must try it if ever you're in Boracay!
After dinner, we had a photo taken of us showing off our beach figures (this is the only photo with me in it in this blog entry):
Day 3, August 14, Tuesday. Our last day in Boracay was fairly uneventful. We had to check out of the hotel at around noon and we spent the morning shopping for shirts and trinkets to take home. After that, we headed back to the hotel, packed up our bags, and waited for our ride back to the port and the rest of our journey home.
Best. Vacation. Ever.
Day 1, August 12, Sunday. Our flight departed from Manila at around 9 AM. It was Andreé's first airplane trip, and understandably she had some flight jitters. But it was no big deal (it helped that I was there with her) and soon we were on our way. After a 30-minute flight to Aklan airport, a lengthy ride by land to the port, and a boat trip to Boracay island, we were soon at our hotel, the Boracay Tropics. It wasn't a beach-front hotel (around 5 minutes walk to the beach), but the room was absolutely fantastic!
We arrived sometime past noon so we took a walk along the beachfront, looking for a place to eat. We ended up eating at Mang Inasal, which wasn't the most "Boracay-ish" of restaurants, but the food was good. Neither of us expected that there'd be so many shops! Quite sad that Boracay has become so commercialized. There were so many vendors hawking their wares and we got so many offers of "Ser, ayland-haping, parasiling, dyetski." At first it was annoying but after a while we got so many offers it became something to laugh about.
In the afternoon, we dressed up in our beach attire and went for a dip in the ocean. The sand was clean and white, and the water clear and blue, probably better than we imagined! The waves were quite strong at this time of year but nothing that we couldn't handle. In the evening, we went for a dip in the hotel pool, and just had dinner at the hotel, too tired to go looking around for a place to eat.
Day 2, August 13, Monday. August 13 was the day of our second anniversary and it indeed turned out to be a memorable day! In the morning, we had breakfast at the hotel (good enough) and we dressed up, prepared to go island-hopping. Yes, we gave in to the guy who named the lowest price. We didn't go island-hopping just the two of us (that wouldn't be much fun, really); we went with three others: Flor, Malis (Andreé's officemates), and Malis' sister (sorry, forgot her name!), who just so happened to be in Boracay at the same time. There were some dark clouds which worried us a bit but the weather turned out fine.
Our first stop was a location near the boat station where we went snorkeling. I'm proud to say that I was able to overcome my fear and jump in the water! It was the first time for Andreé and I to go snorkeling. The view of the corals underwater was breathtaking and the tiny fish eagerly jumped at the Skyflakes crackers we were feeding them. It was an amazing experience.
After snorkeling, our boat took us to an privately-owned island called "Crystal Cove". As you can guess, there were a bunch of caves where we could go swimming. The island itself had a lot of trails where you could just walk around and take a look at the fantastic scenery; there were also a bunch of weird statues and animals in captivity. The first cave (aptly named Cave 1) was quite disappointing. The water wasn't very good and the "crystal" was actually artificially transplanted in the cave. Cave 2 was much better. The water was nicer and the girls had fun dipping in the water and looking for curious rocks.
We had to pass through a dark and cramped tunnel to get to Cave 2 and I had a tiny accident in the tunnel; watch out for it at 0:24 in the video below:
After Cave 2 we walked around the island some more and then headed back to our boat. Crystal Cove was the last stop and after that we went back "home" and bade farewell to our friends. Back on Boracay island, Andreé and I stuck around at the beach for a brief photo-shoot before heading back to the hotel.
Upon Borgy's suggestion, we went for dinner at Hawaiian BBQ. It was much farther from our hotel than we expected, but it was well worth the walk! We had baby back ribs, pork barbecue, and fresh mango juice. The food was delicious and affordable! Without a doubt it has to be one of the best restaurants in Boracay; you must try it if ever you're in Boracay!
After dinner, we had a photo taken of us showing off our beach figures (this is the only photo with me in it in this blog entry):
Day 3, August 14, Tuesday. Our last day in Boracay was fairly uneventful. We had to check out of the hotel at around noon and we spent the morning shopping for shirts and trinkets to take home. After that, we headed back to the hotel, packed up our bags, and waited for our ride back to the port and the rest of our journey home.
Best. Vacation. Ever.
September 06, 2007
This past month has been the busiest and most eventful one in recent memory (for me). It's rather ironic, therefore, that I have not posted a single meaningful update about my personal life in nearly two months. (With the lone exception of my birthday post, which was even one day overdue!)
Perhaps it's because this past month has been so overwhelming that I've lost the time and energy (but not the interest) to blog. So I'm planning to make up for it since I have quite a bit of free time on my hands now. Here's a brief rundown of what's been going on in my life:
Perhaps it's because this past month has been so overwhelming that I've lost the time and energy (but not the interest) to blog. So I'm planning to make up for it since I have quite a bit of free time on my hands now. Here's a brief rundown of what's been going on in my life:
- I went on a Boracay vacation with Andreé. Just a 3-day, 2-night getaway, which also coincided with our second anniversary last August 13. We both had a blast! Everything was perfect!
- I joined the 2007 Rubik's Cube Philippines Open (RCPO 2007). This was the first-ever official Rubik's Cube competition held in the Philippines, held last August 25, and I felt tremendously honored to be part of history. I did well for myself, I think: 17th (out of 28) in the 3x3x3 category, and 8th (out of 17) in the 2x2x2 category. Not bad at all! And now I have my own personal records page with the World Cube Association. Cool, huh?
- I've resigned from HP. Yes, I'm no longer an HP employee. My last working day was last Friday, August 31. I lasted exactly one year at HP; quite interesting, doncha think? My last few weeks at HP were also very eventful and memorable (and busy).
- I'll be joining Microsoft. Some of you already know this, but for the benefit of those who don't, yes, I'm joining Microsoft. I'll be working at their headquarters in Redmond, WA as a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) starting October 1. I'm very busy with my preparations (with my move and all) and I'll be flying to the U.S. on September 27.
Labels: Andree, Boracay, contests, HP, Microsoft, Philippines, RCPO 2007, Rubik's cube, vacation, work
