I miss Boracay

Philippines shuts tourist island of Boracay to tourist for 6 months!!

hmmm I'm not going to raise any comment about this issue even though I've so many things to say right now. *sigh* .. Not going to pointing fingers. Not going to be one of the bad netizens. Cause I'm nobody. 

Anyhoo this particular entry was supposedly been published looong time ago with a different title on it - "things to do in Boracay". Since it has been stayed quietly as a 'draft' for 2 years, finally I decided to upload with few of the videos and photos when we were in Boracay... 

Enjoy!

Helmet Diving in Boracay!

Makan di Boracay

Knowing Philippines as a Non-Muslim country, when it is dominant by Catholic and only 5% from the total population are Muslim; yes it is very hard to find Halal meals in Philippines. before travelling to Philippines, please make sure that you bring sufficient number of instant noodle or Brahim's from Malaysia. 

but i didn't say that there's no halal restaurant in Boracay at all.. since my husband and I went there just for 4 days only (or less cause most of our time were spent on the travelling part), we only managed to try 3 restaurants including Sunset View Resto at Paradise Garden Resort.

 

there are plenty of restaurants along the Boracay Beach, in every gap and corner, from local Pinoy food to Korean, Italian, Moroccan, Chinese, and many more. besides the Halal buffet dinner at Paradise Garden, we also had our dinner at Tilapia 'N' Chips & Baharat Kabsa Steakhouse at D'Mall (Station 2).

at first, i was thought that D'Mall is a very big shopping mall, but actually D'Mall is just two main aisles full with shops in between of the beach area and the main road. this Tilapia 'N' Chips is located close to the main road, nearby the local wet market. we took the set menus that cost us 330 peso per set. the set comes with soup, main dishes with coleslaw, iced tea and chocolate brownie. i choose to have a Golden Fried Tilapia Set while my husband who doesn't eat freshwater fish had a Beef Charcoal-grilled Burger Set instead. 

we also went to Halal Arabic Baharat Kabsa Steakhouse at D'Mall. our friend recommend us to try a Moroccan cuisine at Station 1 called Kasbah, but it's a bit far from our hotel. at Kabsa, i had my favourite Salmon Fillet and my husband had a Beef Kabsa. we paid 1003 peso for 2 person inclusive with drinks and taxes. hmm the taste is fine, but the service was a bit slow.

other restaurants that recommended by our Non-Muslim friends at D'Mall are Plato D Boracay, Smoke, CYMA, Lemoni Cafe and many more. besides dining, D'Mall also offers other attractive things such as rock climbing, street artists, amazing human living statue etc. while on the beach area, it's more on henna tattoo making, hair braiding, massage, live music, fire dancing etc. 

yeap, live fire dancing! there are a lot of seafood restaurants on the beach, and of course they compete with each other. best restaurant wins! all of the beach front restaurants are only open for dinner a.k.a Beach Party starts from 6pm. at first (before we found the Halal venue), me and my husband wanted to try the local seafood at Paradiso Grill at Station 2, nearby our hotel. the restaurant offers a seafood platter from 500 peso exclusive with drinks.

there are so many Italian Restaurant in Boracay you can try, especially pizza like Sbarro Pizza at Uptown Boracay and Yellow Cab Pizza at Station 1 & 3. my friend suggested Cheese Pizza or Veggie Pizza.

above all, don't forget to try Don Churro! with chocolate dip at Cozina / Zuzuni @ Station 1. 

3 pcs for 118 peso and 188 peso for 6 pcs. seriously, worth buying

food, activities and other stuff in Boracay are really expensive. for example, fresh coconut at Puka Beach can cost us at 250 peso each! drinking water at the jetty is 35 peso while 100 peso each at the airport! seriously? price for a souvenir also different at most seller. one fridge magnet with the same design can be from 50 peso to 80 peso. same goes to the prices of activities, based on how much the commission the 'agent' took. for the same group island hoping, the rate is from 800 peso to 2,000 peso per person with Halal Lunch. last but not least, only few convenience stores available and the prices also varies. we found one 7eleven store nearby Chatime.

Halal Hotel in Boracay

Paradise Garden

Resort Hotel & Convention Center

is the very first hotel in Boracay that has been accredited as a Certified HALAL Hotel on last 25th April 2015; by Islamic Da'wah Council of the Phils (IDCP). the hotel is located at Station 3

I'm not sure how does it 'work' cause i still can see that they are serving PORK in their menu at the Beach Bar Cafe and obviously....

this...???!!!!!

We had our meal at their Sunset View Resto Bar, and avoiding the Non-Halal section for sure. the rate is 585 peso (RM 51.50) per person for the Buffet Dinner. i like the choices of menu cause they are serving Sushi, Spaghetti, Halal Beef, Halal Chicken, Crabs, Halo-Halo (macam Air Batu Campur) etc, and the part is...

baked OYSTER with some cheese!! yummy!!!!

look at him. mkn dah tak tengok kiri kanan.
dinner on the beach

and CREPE

for the Buffet Lunch, the rate is 385 peso per person. and as for the Romantic Candle Light Dinner, ehem ehem the rate is 5,000 peso for 2 person.

while having our dinner that night, we managed to watch some courageous guest who dare to experience the G-Max Reverse Bungee wow!, located right next to the restaurant ~ also within the hotel compartment. 

next to this adrenaline-rush centre, we pampered our foot by having 1hour Foot Spa at the hotel's Beach Front Massage at 450 peso per person.

proper and private place with professional masseur 

Henann Garden Boracay

Don't worry about the accommodation in Boracay cause there are plenty of hotel / resort / inn / guest houses available along the White Beach, from Station 1 to Station 3.

since we were so-called honeymooners, my husband was insisted to stay at a 4 star hotel. hence, we booked for our 3 nights stay at

Henann Garden Resort

such a beautiful modern hotel with nice swimming pools, big room with balcony, pool view etc but unfortunately the free wifi only available at the lobby. 

some rooms with pool access. must be expensive

having the mango juices as the welcome drink at the pool bar

the pool and Garden Cafe view from my balcony

besides the cozy room (especially the mattress), the hotel is also beach access and... the best part is the Henann Groups (Henann Garden, Henann Lagoon & Henann Regency) provides the lounge-chair on the beach ; just represent the room key card to the staff on duty and you can stay as long as you want for FREE!

strategic location of Station 2

oh ya, thanks for the lovely swan towel decoration with flower petals as well as the welcome fruits platter with the delicious local mango ever! if you ever been to Philippines, please don't miss to try their local mango. the taste of the fresh mango is unique, sweet and unforgettable.

 

the journey to Boracay

such a nice weather in Boracay Island. jom terjun laut!

Even though the cost of travelling to Boracay in May seems too much higher than supposed-to-be our honeymoon trip last December; but thankfully we've made it this time. I won't believe on weather forecast anymore. Well, the meteorologists only can observe and predict, right?

The return airfare on Air Asia was increased from RM 525 to RM 710 per person.

While for the very same room also increased from RM 440 to RM 600 per room per night with breakfast. 

Although the currency drop from 9.5 to 8.8; but May is consider as 1 of the peak season months in Boracay.

[1000 peso equal to 88 ringgit]

1 down, 7106 island to go!!

Travelling to this beautiful Boracay Island was quite challenging. the total journey takes about 7hrs at least. as we departed from KL at 1030am, and arrived hotel at 6pm. almost half of the day was spent for the travelling only. same goes on the departure day, as we leaving the hotel at 930am, and arriving KLIA2 at 7pm. 

there's no time different between Malaysia and Philippines.

Boracay & Kalibo in yellow circle

we took Air Asia which flew direct to Kalibo International Airport for 3hrs and 45mins but not daily (only departs on every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday). there's no airport in the tiny island of Boracay, thus the nearest airports are either Kalibo or Caticlan Airport, which both small airports are located on the bigger Panay Island next to Boracay Island. please bare in mind, that the land transfer from Kalibo Airport, Pook to Caticlan Jetty takes about 2hrs journey; via Numancia, Tangalan, Ibajay and Malay villages where you can see the local lifestyle, the different beaches, lagoon, the paddy field and many more. 

yes! i've a special pillow on the plane sitting right next to me

The only way to avoid the 2hrs of land travelling is by taking a flight transit at Manila first and take another domestic flight which will be landed at Caticlan Airport (only 10mins to Caticlan Jetty). since Caticlan is a domestic airport, hence there's no direct flight to Caticlan from Malaysia.

at Caticlan Jetty while waiting for our boat 

Sorry, camera cap ayam. actually we can see tons of parasailing activities in Boracay from this point. it does look like dozen of hot air balloons or some kind of umbrellas fall from the sky.
See that big boat? from this jetty, you may also take a boat to other islands such as Mindoro, Tablas and even Luzon (the biggest island in Philippines - Manila City is in Luzon)

From Caticlan Jetty, we took a speed boat ride to Cagban Port; precisely at Manoc Manoc, Boracay only for 10mins. and another 15mins land transfer to our hotel which located at the Station2 by taking a small vehicle (only can fit for 10pax max). the 'main road' in the island is veeeery small and winding. for the return door-to-door transportation, I've made an advance reservation with Southwest Tours (all staff are wearing orange uniform), cost me @ PHP1,286.25 (RM122) per person inclusive with 5% service tax, government fee 325 peso, all land shared-transfers, boat transfers, terminal fee and environmental fee.

tricycles are also available in the both Boracay and Panay Islands.

 

Please take note that you'll be needed to pay the Philippines Terminal Fee (Airport Tax) 

upon departure @ PHP 700 or USD 17 per person at Kalibo Airport. it's compulsory!

Boracay!! I'm in LOVE