Boracay, Philippines Day 5 - Crafty's Rooftop Bar, Bite Club, Mount Luho, Illig Illigan Beach, Spider House at Diniwid Beach, Wahine, Exit Bar, Kolai Mangyan

This was our last day in Boracay and we wanted to make the most out of it. We started off the day bright and early by making a trip to Southwestern Tours to book our return boat and bus ride to Kalibo Airport the next day. Then we walked over to Crafty's Rooftop Bar which was highly recommended by Stef's dive instructor. It was a lovely bar situated on the rooftop of the Crafty's Department Store (this green building) and offered a fantastic view of both the White Beach on one side and the Bulabog Beach on the other. I ordered the San Miguel apple which tasted a lot like apple cider!

We sat at Crafty's Rooftop Bar for about an hour, writing stuff and drinking our beers. Stef was writing her postcards while I was trying to pen down my thoughts in my travel journal. As much as I love going about exploring new places and experiencing new things, I do enjoy the little moments when we sit down at some nice little place, order a drink, and start writing together in silence. We sip our booze, exchange a few words occasionally, enjoy the light breeze and the perfect scenery. It was therapeutic. 

We left when it was about lunchtime to grab a bite at D'Mall which was within walking distance. We decided to have burgers at Bite Club. The burger was good and the potato wedges were hot and crispy but it was the wrong choice of food for the weather. We felt so hot and heaty after finishing the burgers and the large basket of wedges!

We wanted to go to a couple of places next and wanted to secure a trike that was willing to take us to all these places at a reasonable price. After some bargaining, we decided to hop on a trike which agreed to take us to the post office (to post our postcards), Mount Luho, Illig Illigan Beach, and finally Spider House at Diniwid Beach for P700.

The ride to Mount Luho was interesting. It took us through the non-touristy part of Boracay where the locals lived in small simple houses. The trike took us to the entrance of the Mount Luho View Point where we paid an entrance fee of P120 each and climbed a flight of stone steps to reach the View Point. The view from the top of Mount Luho was amazing. We could see the whole Boracay surrounded by clear blue waters and mountains in the distance. 

It was really hot and sunny at the Mount Luho View Point and we definitely did not last long. After awhile, we returned back to the trike and asked the driver to take us to Illig Illigan Beach. We stopped by a small convenience store along the way to grab snacks and beers for our time on the beach. Illig Illigan Beach is everything White Beach is not. It is quiet, serene, and isolated. We saw no tourists at all and only a couple of locals who came over to chat with us when we were about to leave. There is something just so calming about sitting down on the white powdery sand, drinking beers, eating crisps and talking about nothing at all. After a while, we decided to go for a swim and waded into the clear blue waters and explored the rocks. The water was amazing cold on such a hot day. 

We were at Illig Illigan Beach for almost an hour and when it was almost evening, we hopped on the trike which took us to Spider House along Diniwid Beach. This beach is connected to Station 1 of White Beach and you just have to walk around a bunch of large rocks to reach Punta Rosa (which is the start of Station 1). If you intend to catch the sunset at Spider House, be sure to come here at about 4 pm to 5 pm to grab the tables facing the sunset. We reached around 530 pm and of course the good spots were all taken by then. But lo and behold, we spotted the people we sailed with yesterday sitting right there at the best seat in the house! So we bought our drinks, went over, settled down and had a great chat while watching the splendid sunset. 

If you are feeling adventurous, there is a wooden ladder that leads right into the sea and you can swim out to the floating platform (which you can see in the picture below). We felt adventurous only at night after the sun had set and the energy was seeping out of Spider House. So we climbed down the ladder and swam out to the floating platform. The water was cold and chilly, but laying down on the floating platform in the dark, looking up at a sky full of twinkling stars, feeling cold outside but extremely warm within, I felt happy. Or rather, I should say I felt contended. It was a beautiful moment, just me being there at that point in time. It is an inexplicable feeling but it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

That moment slipped away when I decided to swim back to Spider House and... got stung by a jelly fish. Now this was the very first time I was stung by a jelly fish and I did not even realise I was stung. I just felt a sharp pain on my thigh and an incredible itch. Then my skin started to swell with little lumps forming one straight line on my thigh. Stef promptly diagnosed that it was a potential jelly fish sting and told me to wash it with vinegar. I was a bit disoriented by then because the itch was just so bad and I had to resist the urge to scratch because the wound hurt. I followed Stef to Wahine which was a beach restaurant beside Spider House. We settled down for dinner on bean bags along the beach and I asked for a cup of vinegar immediately. While I fussed around my stupid jellyfish sting, Stef helped to order pad thai and butter prawns. The food was delicious but I was so distracted by the itch that I could not enjoy the food properly :( I do remember that the prawns were really very fresh though. 

After our dinner, we took the relaxing stroll around the rocks back to Station 1 of the White Beach. While the path around the rocks was generally lit with small bulbs along the way, there were parts which were completely dark and Stef had to use the torch light in her phone to lead the way. It was very windy and cooling on the way back and before we know it, we are back at Punta Rosa. 

We took a quick shower before heading over to Exit Bar to meet Sarah and Rob. Exit Bar is popular with foreigners and it was packed when we reached. Thankfully Sarah and Rob secured a table at the front and we joined them for drinks. Drinks were cheap at Exit Bar so if you would like a place where you could meet new friends and have a drink, drop by Exit Bar. We had a nice chat with Sarah and Rob who were such awesome local hosts. As the night went on, Exit Bar became steadily more crowded and it felt like everyone here knew everybody else even though they were all foreigners. 

We left when we were hungry and found Kolai Mangyan along the road. It was a simple local deli filled with only locals and we decided that we just had to try this. We ordered a plate of fried noodles and slurped it up while listening to fantastic songs from the 1990s. 

It was a perfect end to an awesome trip! Boracay was beautiful and incredibly fun. Of course, a large part of the fun came from travelling together with Stef. Thank you for being the brave one, the one with the great sense of direction, the one who knows how to cure a jellyfish sting, the friendly one with strangers, the one who bears with my quirks, and of course, the one who runs along with me, and the one who wishes to see and experience the same things as I do. To many more trips in future!

For my posts on Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4!

Boracay, Philippines Day 4 - Sailing with Red Pirates and Manoc Manoc, Summer Palace, Juice Bar

We took a trike after breakfast to Station 3 and reached the Red Pirates Pub by 11 am. We were going to sail to the Carabao Island and Puka Shell Beach today! We paid P700 each for the day trip (inclusive of a BBQ lunch and booze) and were joined by 8 others for the trip. When the boats were ready, we clambered onto one and soon we were on our way!

Stef and I were on board the Love Song and trust me, there was nothing more amazing than stretching out on the net, feeling the wind in your hair, and enjoying the sunshine on your face.

We reached Carabao Island after sailing for awhile. There were no tourists in sight except us and it felt like a tranquil little place which is accessible only to those who know where to look.

We took a stroll around the island and found another stretch of beach on the other side of Carabao Island. We climbed up a small slope and enjoyed the view from above. A long stretch of sand, tall trees, clear blue waters which stretched out as far as our eyes could see. It was beautiful and peaceful.

That's Captain Joey (the one holding the fish) with the owner of Carabao Island. Life is simple on Carabao Island and the owner had just returned from a fishing trip after catching that huge fish. I was so amazed that the fish was longer than my forearm that I just had to take a picture!

When we were done exploring the island, we returned to find that the food and drinks were unloaded from the boats and the crew had started a fire to prepare our BBQ lunch. We were soon opening beer bottles and drinking ice cold beers while chatting along the shore. The BBQ lunch was fantastic! The meats were incredibly well-marinated and the fish was so fresh. I love the crispy pork and the baby potatoes in butter!

When we were done with lunch, the crew packed up and we were on our way to Puka Shell Beach. Stef and I climbed onto the other sailboat this time (the Red Pirates) and both boats sailed to the Puka Shell Beach. The white powdery sand along Puka Shell Beach was perfect! It felt almost like flour and I was having a lot of fun wriggling my toes into the sand. The waters at Puka Shell Beach were so blue and so clear as well, with hardly any rocks, so I spent a lot of time bobbing up and down in the water with another bottle of beer in hand. This was where I lost track of time. 

Eventually I pulled myself out of the water when someone came over to tell me that the Rum Cocktails were flowing. The crew had settled down under a large rock and were preparing rum cocktails (Boracay Rum with chunks of juicy watermelon). The rum cocktails were amazing! I drank a couple and enjoyed the steady sea breeze along the beach. Stef was way more adventurous and sporty. She went to swim before returning for a cocktail and then disappeared to explore a cave. Amazing. All I did was sit under the large rock drinking cocktails. Ahhhhh well. 

We sailed back to Red Pirates in the late afternoon. Such a pity that it was a cloudy day and there was not much sunset that evening. I can only imagine that it would be so amazing to view a spectacular sunset from a sailboat out in the middle of the sea. It was dark when we finally reached Red Pirates and Stef and I did crazy things like chasing each other along the shore and sitting in a small boat to park the larger sailboats.

We went back to Punta Rosa to shower and change before going back to Red Pirates where we had agreed to meet Jessie for Fiesta. Fiesta was the local party at Manoc Manoc and we wanted to see how the locals partied so we decided to tag along. Fiesta was such an eye opener! The party was held in an indoor basketball court converted to a dance floor and clubbing music was blaring from overhead speakers. There was a DJ at the back of the court and disco lights illuminated the place. Everyone bought booze from a small convenience store outside and came in to join the fun. We sat down on some chairs at the side and enjoyed the music for awhile before joining the rest on the dance floor. This is truly an experience of a lifetime! Thank you Jessie, Sarah, and Rob for taking us there and for being such amazing local hosts!

We left Manoc Manoc when we finished our drinks and returned to Red Pirates Pub. At night, Red Pirates Pub transformed into a comfortable place where locals gathered to chill out and enjoy some acoustic music. It was very different from the hippie vibe of the bars in Station 2 and I like it.

Stef and I took a stroll along the beach from Station 3 to Station 2. We checked out Juice Bar (which was something like a gay bar) and Summer Palace (a club). We reached Exit Bar where we had planned to meet up with the others who sailed together in the day but we were late and the bar was closed. Eventually we decided to take the trike back to Punta Rosa and call it a night.

Read more about Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 5 in Boracay!

Boracay, Philippines, Day 3 - Lemon I Cafe, Bella Isa Spa, Red Pirates Pub, Aria Cucina Italiana, Bom Bom Bar, Epic Club

Stef woke up super early for a dive while I slept in. I woke up in the late morning and dragged myself to the rooftop for breakfast before returning to the room to laze around with Running Man on my Samsung tablet. When I had enough of lazing around, I ventured out to D'mall at Station 2 to meet Stef for lunch at Lemon I Cafe. We read some awesome reviews about the food here so we decided to give it a try. Lemon I Cafe is situated in the heart of D'mall, beside the colourful Ferris wheel. 

We ordered Salmon and Fetta Quiche and Lemon Club Sandwich to share. Both were good and light, fantastic for lunch. 

We also wanted to try the famous Lemon i Cheesecake so we ordered one to share. The cheesecake was lemony and tangy on one side but completely plain on the other. I'm guessing they did not spread the lemon sauce evenly throughout the cake. What a bummer. This had the potential to be a really delicious lemon cheesecake but the one we tried was only delicious on one side.

We took a trike to Station 3 for my massage at Bella Isa Spa. There were numerous spas in Boracay but Bella Isa Spa came highly recommended so I called them in the morning and made a reservation. I chose the 60 minutes full body massage package (P1170) and opted for shiatsu because I did not want any oil on my body. The weather was really hot and I was all sweaty by the time I reached Bella Isa Spa so I asked to use their shower facilities which came with an extra charge. Stef went off to explore Station 3 while my muscles were kneaded and squeezed for 60 relaxing minutes. I had a small private room to myself but ventilation was poor and the room became rather stuffy after awhile. When I told the masseur that it was getting warm in the room, she switched on the cooler and that made the massage experience much better. I have to say that I enjoyed her skills and massage much better than the room I was in. It was daytime when I left Bella Isa Spa but I forgot to take a picture so this is the picture of Bella Isa Spa at night.

Stef was waiting for me at Bella Isa Spa's entrance when I finished and we took a short stroll down Station 3 to Red Pirates Pub. Red Pirates Pub felt... just so comfortable. Like I can imagine living in Boracay and coming down to Red Pirates Pub every night after work to hear live acoustic music, sit in a corner while the night wrapped me in its warm arms, sipping a beer. We sat down on the stone benches along the beach, ordered two bottles of San Miguel, and watched yet another beautiful sunset. Sunsets marked the days in Boracay. I love sunset everywhere but the sunset at Boracay was truly majestic, especially when I am enjoying it with a beer in hand. And of course not forgetting to sail fast live slow. 

When the last ray of sunlight disappeared into the horizon and a heavy darkness fell upon us, we sat there in the darkness and finished our beers. The boss of Red Pirates Pub came over and asked if we would like to sail out to the nearby islands the next day. It would be a day trip with roughly 10 people and included a bbq lunch and booze. This sounded like a good deal to us at P700 so we agreed and told him we would come by tomorrow morning. When we finished our beers, we said goodbye and made our way back to Station 2 for dinner at Aria Cucina Italiana.

We chose to sit outdoors on the beach and picked a table closest to the sea. It was almost therapeutic to feel the sea breeze, hear the crashing waves, but because it was so dark, we could see nothing at all in the distance except darkness. And thankfully, there were no sand flies.

We chose Parma Ham Pasta in White Truffle Sauce and Parmigiana with Baked Potatoes. The white truffle sauce was fragrant but the pasta was a bit heavy and greasy. The Parmigiana was good, the eggplant was soft and mushy, cheese was abundant, and the tomato sauce was delicious! I am starting to believe that you will never go wrong with Parmigiana. 

After a good meal at Aria, we moved on in search of a place with good music and booze. We settled down at Bom Bom Bar where there was live music on the beach and everyone was relaxing on chairs lined up neatly on the beach. Reggae is big in Boracay and Bom Bom Bar is possibly the place to be for reggae music. Unfortunately, neither Stef nor I were fans of reggae music so we left after our first drink. 

We found Sand Bar where a fire-dancing performance was in action. Fire-dancing is also very big in Boracay and Sand Bar probably does it best. We stopped for a while to watch the exciting fire-dancing performance before moving on to Epic Club. We ended our night at Epic (cover charge at P300 with 2 drinks) where they played the usual hip hop, R&B, and clubbing music late into the night. The place was packed with tourists though we also made friends with a Filipino couple from Manila. Filipinos are just so friendly! Epic is definitely the place to go for good clubbing music, dancing, and cheap booze. 

Read about Day 1, Day 2, Day 4 and Day 5 in Boracay. 

Boracay, Philippines Day 2 - D'mall, Jonah's Milkshake, Andoks, Real Coffee and Tea Cafe, Bom Bom Bar, Sunset Paraw Cruise, Zuzuni

Stef woke up bright and early for her dive and I joined her for an early breakfast before retreating back to our room to sleep a while longer. When I was finally well rested, I picked up a beach towel from the reception desk and headed out for a nice stroll along the White Beach to D'mall. The White Beach is so beautiful. It is definitely a beach you should visit if you are a beach bum like I am. The powdery white sand, clear blue waters with clear blue skies, swaying palm trees, and a strong steady sea breeze are just too awesome to put into words. 

The Willy's Rock (picture below) is near the shore and can be reached easily if the tide is low. You would see groups of tourists wading out into the water when the tide recedes and climbing up the rock. The sea is completely dark at night so I would advise against visiting Willy's Rock at night. 

I stumbled into Jonah's Milkshake to grab a cold milkshake. The milkshake at Jonah's was really good and I am especially fond of the avocado milkshake. However, the service was terrible. Service in Boracay was generally impeccable and the locals were just so friendly. But Jonah's just made me feel highly unwanted like they could not wait to toss the milkshake into my arms and shoo me out immediately. I guess the large crowd seeking some cold comfort away from the heat at Jonah's did not help. 

I strolled around D'mall which was not exactly what you would expect a mall to be. It was basically a collection of small little shops and restaurants that formed the heart of touristy Boracay. Met up with Stef and we decided to have lunch at Andoks. Andoks was situated along the road behind the beach front shops and restaurants. It is a fast food chain that serves grilled chicken and pork items. We ordered grilled chicken and what we thought was char siew. Both were yummy! The chicken was super tender and juicy. The char siew was nicely grilled but slightly fatty so you might not enjoy it if you did not fancy fatty pork. We sat in the area which was not air-conditioned and it was really very hot. There were also many flies zooming around our food and we tried our best to shoo them away until we grew tired and decided to just let them be.

After our lunch we headed over to Real Coffee and Tea Cafe for dessert! It might not be easy spotting Real Coffee as it was located on the second level of a large wooden hut above Sea World. We climbed up a steep flight of stairs and found ourselves in a large cafe facing the beach. Real Coffee was famous for their lemon muffin which was what we went for. We also wanted some ice coffee but they ran out of rice and we were not going to gulp down a hot cup of coffee in that heat so we left after finishing our lemon muffin. The lemon muffin was not spectacular so forget about making a trip to Real Coffee just for it.

We promised ourselves that we would not start on drinks too early because... actually I could not remember the reason. But anyway, the reason was no longer important because we broke that promise on the second day and started drinking right after our trip to Real Coffee. It was just too hot (our favourite excuse) and an ice cold beer at Bom Bom Bar was just perfect. The acoustic live music was good too. The locals could sing so well! 

We went for our sunset paraw cruise next. Sunset on a paraw is a must in Boracay. Watching the sunset along White Beach was definitely one of the best memories of Boracay. The sunset was spectacular every evening and I asked a local whether she would ever get bored of it. Her reply? Never, because the sunset is different every single day. Indeed.

There was some difficulty trying to secure our paraw sunset cruise. We did not want to book the entire paraw ourselves because that was just wholly unnecessary. So we had to get someone who was willing to sell us a seat on the paraw without trying to stuff the entire paraw down our throats. There were touts along the beach touting paraw sunset cruises and we basically asked all of them for their rates. Prices fell dramatically closer to sunset when they were desperate to fill their paraws so I would suggest that you wait out. We were offered 800P for 2 pax by one tout, then 700P for 2 pax by another tout, before finally finding a tout who offered us 500P for 2 pax. We were comfortable with that price so we went along with him. Take your time to shop for the best price and be in no hurry to settle for one until you find the right price. 

Riding on the paraw into the sunset with wind in my hair and a San Miguel in my hand was definitely one of the highlights of this trip. The sunset was marvelous, a spectacular ball of gold dipping into the sea. I was just so at peace with myself at that moment. 

The sunset cruise was roughly 30 minutes and we returned to shore shortly after. We laid out a beach towel on the sand, sat down with our beers, and gazed out into the horizon until the sun disappeared and darkness enveloped us. 

We had dinner at Zuzuni (Boat Station 1). We ordered a salad, Salmon Steak, and Squid Ink Paella to share. The salad has crisp lettuce, tomatoes, watermelon and cheese. The watermelon was an interesting addition to the salad. The Salmon Steak was nice but nothing to shout about. The Squid Ink Paella was definitely something I would recommend everyone to try. It was just so delicious. The waiter brought the large pan with our paella to the table and set it on a stand beside us. He scooped our first serving onto plates and returned periodically to serve us more paella. The squid ink was rich and tasty, the seafood fresh and sweet, the rice crispy and perfect. This is definitely a must try dish.

We walked along the White Beach back to Punta Rosa under a star studded sky. We looked up at the same moment and spotted a shooting star streak across the dark sky. You would never see a sky like this in Singapore.

Read about our Day 1, Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5 in Boracay!