boracay blues

The first time I went to Boracay, it rained half the time. We were there on a field trip for our Advertising class, but my batch went there ahead of me. With Easter and Judy Gay for company, I endured the three days, two nights trip (two days and one night of which was spent on traveling) just to get to the island on a field trip budget of P3,500.

Well, as we all know, that ended in disaster. The pictures I took of that century-long walk from Station 1 to 2, and of us with the pristine white beach in the background, never even saw Dumaguete when I left my bag in the godforsaken city of Iloilo. I didn't even get drunk.

The second time I went there was for work, when Cebu Pacific started flying Manila-Caticlan (Boracay). We flew to Kalibo, hired a van to go to Caticlan, and stayed at the airport until around 5pm. I didn't even see the sun set on Boracay. I got there around 6pm, just in time for a light evening rain, a little stroll, dinner with Cebu Pacific people, a cold swim at the pool and a nice sleep at one of the nicer resorts in Station 2.

I left the very next day at 4am, just in time for the maiden flight at 6:30am.

I think third time's the charm.

Boracay became different when I got to spend more than a day there, and when I actually saw the sun on the island.

Now, when I get stressed at work, I think back to mornings spent sleeping, lunch at Jasper's, Frisbee and swimming at the beach in the afternoons, the insane amount of alcohol I consumed at Pat's Creek Bar, that polvoron-like sand, Island Chicken Inasal's one-of-a-kind vegetable dishes, and the warm breeze from the sea just as we leave the room before dinner-time and start walking hand in hand.

Me.Love.Boracay.