Boracay via Bacolod - Iloilo

For our 4th Wedding Anniversary we got seat sale tickets to Bacolod.

Since we got married Nov 7, we make sure we get to celebrate Al Cinco de Noviembre. It's a parade of tanks made by Bamboo is show-case here. The story behind is they only have a few tanks left and they outsmart the Spaniards by making them believe these are tanks. So they got scared that the Negerense's have a lot of weapon when most of them are just bamboo painted in black.

We would stay there for 2 nights then decide whether we will go to Bantayan, Dumaguete or Boracay. I already have a list of hotels, landmarks and information to get to these places.

Slim decided Boracay. A week before news about the biggest storm will hit the Philippines. I am praying that it weakens or dissolve.

We celebrated the festival.
Visited relatives and went to a carnival.

Slim's cousin drop us at Bacolod port for a fast craft to Iloilo. We chose Weesam because of the schedule 350/head. It's approximately an hour trip.

My first Fast Craft Vessel ride

In Iloilo we rode a van to Caticlan. He haggled for 500/head.
The trip took 6 hours. We had 1 stop over at Capiz.

A kubo resto in Capiz

Van selfie

A little overview of our travel.

From Caticlan it's another 15 min ride to Boracay 30/head plus terminal fee of 100/head and environmental fee of 75/head.

Hello Boracay!

I never thought I'd get here because I knew that Boracay is expensive but you can always do a budget trip with research. My target hotel is in Station 1, 5 mins walk from the beach but Slim like it. The hotel is Boracay Breeze Resort. If the storm hit us it's not beach front  and we were in the 3rd floor. Rates at the moment are 1400/night good for two with breakfast.

Our room is okay. Clean, spacious with enough cabinets for your things. They have cable tv, hot and cold shower. We only have 1 back pack since we left our things in Bacolod. And the staffs are friendly. I don't feel any negative attitude towards them.

We checked the night life in Boracay after settling in.
I fell in love even more. The sand is really nice. We walked barefoot and watch fire dancers in Station 2. We had a free dinner at Astoria Boracay.

After dinner we went back, bought Stella Beer and sleep.

Our day 2 is exploring Boracay and swimming at the beach.

He is such a model. haha

We had Jonah's shake. Swim. Checked station 3 rested under the trees in station 2. We had lunch in Smoke Restaurant, 150 each. Tried Calamansi muffin and had a dinner buffet at Bamboo Restaurant 295/head.

Entrance at Real coffee and tea cafe

My lunch at Smoked 

Bfast Selfie at the Hotel

More pictures of Hubby

Day 3, we were supposed to go home but trips to Caticlan were cancelled.
We had to stay another night.
We strolled and swim again in the morning and watch beach front hotels prepare for the storm.

By 10am they are calling us to get off the beach. The sun is still on its glory but the wind is getting stronger. We went back to the hotel, ate lunch at a nearby carinderia. We are saving our cash since we had to stay for another night and second we are not sure how long we are staying here. We may be stranded and the storm just made its landfall in Samar.

By 3pm the wind is getting stronger as the storm hit Boracay.
It was scary; the wind is making screaming sounds and if felt like everything will be damaged.
We are alert because we are near the beach; we have to stay up because a tsunami might occur. I was praying silently and our family texting us to be safe.

By 6pm everything quieted down, we have no power although Boracay Breeze is the only hotel that is solar powered so they have a generator. Per the hotel staff they are also saving their electricity. Food is also limited they have to save what they have because we are not sure how long the power will be out or how big the damage is.

The next morning we packed our bags and went to the port early. The Jetty Port is packed with tourist agitated to go home the line is long we left at 8am at the hotel and got a ride at 10am.

Caticlan is again a challenge, no vans going to Iloilo. They said some roads are severely damages but we waited patiently. By 11: 30, I am worried we couldn't go home. Staying 1 more night means another expense plus our time is not enough because our flight is tomorrow. We made friends with some local tourist who is also waiting decided to rent a van instead. By 1pm,we got a ride. No lunch just had bottled water because we were saving our seat in the van.

This is my haggard selfie at the van, I was so tired. We had a stopover at a gasoline station and got some snacks.

We took the Antique Route since some areas are flooded. We got to Iloilo by 5pm. We didn't risk going to the Fast Craft and road a jeepney going to Dumangas port. We got to Dumangas by 7 just in time, as they are about to depart. Rate is 128/head. I filled up the manifesto and got a seat right away.
It was my first time to ride a roro, with us are trucks and cars. This is such a good project of GMA.

The water is calm and got to Bacolod safely by 9pm. It was such an adventure for us. This is the ultimate road trip in Negros. We did a good choice of heading directly to Dumangas as the tourist we spoke with told us the horror of how long the line is in Iloilo for fast craft vessel. They were in line 12noon but 5pm still no luck so they went to Dumangas. If not seeing the destruction in Antique our anniversary is perfect. We capped off the night by drinking. I was so drained that I knew sleeping is going to be difficult.

Our vacation is nice if not because of the storm. We were lucky that we didn't go to Bantayan in Cebu and that we are safe.

Breakdown of Expenses.

Bacolod to Iloilo 350/head = 700
500/head van to Caticlan = 1000

Day 1 Lunch at Iloilo La paz Batchoy = 300

Jetty to Boracay 30/head = 60
Environmental fee 75/head = 150
Terminal fee 100/head = 200
Boracay Breeze 1400/night (w/Bfast) = 4200
Jonah's Fruit Shake 75
Calamansi Muffin (Real Coffee and Tea) 45

Day 1 Dinner Free
Day 2 Bfast Free
Day 2 Lunch Smoke Restaurant 150/meal = 300
Day 2 Dinner Buffet 295/head = 590

Day 3 Bfast free
Day 3 Lunch 150
Day 3 Dinner at the Hotel 150/head = 300
Day 4 Bfast free


Cagban port to Catical 30/head = 60
Terminal fee 100/head = 200
Van Caticlan to Iloilo 500/head = 1000

Dumangas Port to Bacolod 128/head = 256

Total = 9586

* I forgot the Jeep Fares and Tricycle fares so it may be approximately 10000. 3 nights and 4 days stay in Boracay via Bacolod. If Yolanda dissolved a 2 nights and 3 days trip would probably be 8000. Without airfare from Manila.

This trip allowed me to see the whole Panay Island and lesson learned is while beaches are not crowded and rates are low during this season, you have to be careful because of storms.

Drive to Baler, Our Quick Baler Trip

Baler is becoming a popular destination these past years. It’s becoming popular for surfing and popular for the food. I decided to celebrate my 28th birthday at Baler.

I've been asking around, reading blogs and checking with Slim if it’s okay to travel to Baler. He made a go signal so I'm excited!!!

Our first problem is if Ligaya our sedan car can make the travel. Slim loves Ligaya so much that dents or rough roads make him twitch. Blogs tells us about the road is not 100% paved.

A week before my birthday I ask my mom if we can bring her car. She agreed and I'm tagging her along and my sister with us. We are going to drive to Baler using a Mitsubishi Adventure. YAY!!! So with research and planning we left at around 3am with a note from Aliyah Surf Camp Resort the route to Baler. We were also putting our trust to Google Maps and by 9am we reached Baler.

This is what we followed courtesy of http://aliyasurfcamp.com/gethere.html

BioBreak

Foggy morning along the Sierra Madre Mountain Ranges

The blogs were right the roads are probably 75% paved when we were in Nueva Ecija. Thankful that we are using my Mom's car it was such a winding road. We passed by Pantabangan and the view of Sierra Madre is stunning! It seems that my eyes are satisfied on our way what more when we reach Baler?

It was Sunday so we attended the mass. Check-in time in Aliyah is 12 noon. I made reservations and made down payment a week before, We were able to tour a little, visited Museo and was able to walk around. Baler looks like a historical place. We ate breakfast at Bay's Inn tried the breakfast buffet. I was hearing good reviews and it was good, it’s just the usual corned beef, tapa bread etc. Buffet price was 180/head. Then we checked in at Aliyah. We got the Standard room for 3 for 2100 and added 300 pesos for the extra person. The room is nice, it’s clean and the bathroom is spacious. I like the surf pictures hanging on the wall.

WALANG TAO!!!

I really liked Aliyah, it looks classy the rooms are okay. It's not hotel type but its clean. We rested a bit and had lunch at Rolling stores. We were so exhausted from the long trip and I just got home from work so after lunch I sleep until the next day!

Slim's body aches as well so he also slept after dinner.

We didn't surf.

My mom and sister at least checked the beach.

The room we took has a complimentary breakfast for 2 so we just ordered 2 more for my Mom and sister. We had enough time to lounge at the beachfront and enjoyed the scenery. Baler has a cool breeze and the waves are really strong. We didn't check the falls or the Balete Tree. We were a bit rushing to go home because we were scared to be stuck in traffic.

We left at 10 and tried Gerry Shan's buffet. Buffet is also nice, this part I enjoyed the most. What's nice is its only 185/head after lunch we left.

I know, I know I didn't try the beach but I really love Baler. I love the food and the quiet ambiance. It's summer but it's not crowded despite the booming tourism. I really enjoyed the food here. It's like Baler is a haven for foodies (matatakaw) like me.

Estimated Expenses:

Diesel 3000

Hotel 2400

Bfast Day 1 720

Lunch 500

Dinner 300

Bfast Day 1 300

Lunch 740

TOTAL 7960

THIS IS FOR 4 PEOPLE. Will I go back? YES!!!!!!

Hongkong trip.

I spent approximately 9k for this trip?

How?

Slim got lucky and was transferred as a Help desk for a new project at their company and will be supporting Hongkong based clients.

One of the perks is an all expense paid training for a month!
Free plane ticket, accommodation and allowance!
He gets to travel for free!!!!

He hasn't left yet but I miss him already.
So we kinda cheated for this budget trip.

On his 12th day I booked a ticket for 4006 pesos round trip to HK! So affordable?! Uh-uh!

First step is to get a passport.

I had issues with my birth cert. My gender is male (I know right) so I had struggles with getting a passport, frequent trips to DFA which stressed me out since I have to go there after work.

Traveling from Fairview to Pasay is not easy.
I have to ride a shuttle from the office to MRT at 6am and MRT is being MRT; long lines, delayed trains, crowded coach, sweaty guys, then another ride to DFA.


After the long commute back and forth I finally have my passport. I will post details about that soon I haven't fix my birth cert yet as of today.

I was losing hope with getting a ticket, as my planned date comes; plane ticket is getting more expensive. We would chat everyday to vent my frustrations out with my passport then I thought about the plane ticket. I didn't bought one yet because of my passport issues. While checking the airlines site I came across Clark Airport.

Let me check nga, to my surprise it was only 4k! No seat sale!

They were promoting the airport I guess and because the ticket is so affordable I booked it right away.
After getting my itinerary ticket I googled how to get to Clark. It was really easy!

There are buses directly going to Clark from Trinoma and Megamall.

My plans were to eat breakfast at Mcdo infront of Trinoma, kill time then check the schedules in Trinoma. The lounge is new so I don't have much information online. All I know is the tarp I see during my DFA trips and the bus that departs at 10am.
I wasn't paying attention at that time since the airport I know is in NAIA. I didn't even know we have an airport in Clark.

I get off to work at 6am. I have my backpack. (Backpacker talaga peg ko today.)
My small bag for my tablet, my passport, cell phone, plane ticket, credit card information and listed the hotel, the address, husband's number. I am nervous but so excited. I always wanted to travel alone; I get this adrenaline rush that is so crazy. But I married, so traveling would always be with him. But today I get to check off another item in my bucket list.

• International trip by myself. 

After killing time in Mcdo, I went to Trinoma and it was still closed. I asked the guard and he advised me that the bus is coming from Megamall. I could wait at the lounge but it was too early for me. So I decided to go to Megamall.

With traveling, I always make sure I have option A and B. Option B is Megamall, I called Philtranco the night before and had a seat reservation for 10am. My flight is at 6pm but I don't want to risk missing my flight. The next bus leaves at 2pm, I don't know the traffic situation so I decided to go in early.

I got to Megamall at 8:30. The lounge is at the back of Megamall, near the grocery, in front of St. Francis. There were people waiting and per the Philtranco guy the bus is coming from Pasay. And the bus arrival depends on how many passengers are aboard and the traffic. I was bored to death that I am becoming sleepy. There were 2 foreigners that came and woke me up because of the taxi drivers voices they were harassing them. I am sure other countries do that but it's annoying because if you need help you would ask for it, right?

He keeps on saying cheap only, they were backpacking couples but I didn't talk to them, where they are from or where they were heading. At 10:30 the bus finally came. I was lucky to have made reservations; it is an assurance of seating during the whole travel.

Everyone got seated except for the two.

We passed by Trinoma to get passengers but apparently another bus is on its way so the passengers from Trinoma decided to wait.

The journey was really fast. We got there at 12:30. My flight was at 6pm. The guard at the entrance let me in so I could rest.

They finally allowed checking in at 4pm. So.So I did.

Baggage check-in.

I paid an additional 650 for the terminal fee and lucky that my plane ticket includes the travel tax. I get to sign the immigration form and headed to the immigration area.

I was asked for my purpose of travel and I told him that I'll be visiting my husband who is on training. I showed my return ticket tell him where he is staying. He said he remembers my husband, which is weird because his flight was in NAIA. He even asked me where he works, what building which I almost forgot ; he asked for my company ID and I got my first stamp. I kinda look like a backpacker so everything is cool. The airport is small but the waiting area for flights is nice.


The flight was really fast, 1 hour and 30 minutes; I just got a bad headache, not used to the pressure I guess.

Solo flight selfie

And I arrived safely.

The Hongkong International Airport is huge. We rode a shuttle and a long walk to the immigration area. Again, I was so excited. I felt like this is the first time I realize I can see. At the immigration area, I was nervous but showed my return ticket and was not asked that much, I thought it would be difficult for me since I am traveling alone. Then I got my Visa stamp. Hurray!

Slim is waiting for me at the arrival area and seeing him after 12 days is like falling in love with him for the first time. Teehee.

Welcoming the backpacker.

My first meal is a Big Mac. Cheaper and bigger than what we have. I get to eat because his co-trainee Arlene is also waiting for his boyfriend who also came from Manila but we were on different planes.

What I didn't know is walking is the main transportation. We walk from the airport to MTR. He bought me my own Octopus card and airport express ticket on the way to the airport when I go home.  He had organized everything here which is a first. I usually take care of our travel details. I think he also cheated a bit because his co-trainees are Filipino-Chinese, they know Chinese and one is a Hongkong National who migrated in the Philippines so they know the way here.

The Octopus card is cool since you can use this in Fast Foods, MTR, 7-11, it's just like an ATM card prepaid with money. I hope we have something like this here.

The MTR is big compared to MRT here in the Philippines. It has a Europy feel. And you have to be careful because you might end up to a different place. They have signs but it's confusing.

He is staying in Holiday Inn, Express Causeway Bay. It is near the Time Square and because my visit is almost their New Year there are many sales and bargains. They even have artificial Cherry Blossoms as a display.

First night. Time Square HK.

Time Square HK.

His hotel room is small but nice. They have a free ironing room which I use on my last day. It is near the MTR which is convenient for travel and I like it because its quiet. We discussed how I am going to spend my 3 Nights 2 Days stay here.

Add caption

My first night I went shopping!

The next day, we had breakfast. The hotel offers free breakfast and per Slim; tea is always available.
I had my tea and first breakfast.

Breakfast view from the hotel.

Then we headed to HK Disneyland.
Another walkathon moment to the MTR then Disneyland express. The travel is really smooth. Cool train interiors with Mickey Mouse holders and Mickey Mouse designs. I think our travel time is more than 30 minutes but you can't tell because you don't see traffic and the scenery is nice. I was so impressed with Slim because he knows where to go. Just like a local.

Ride to Disneyland.

The entrance fee is 499 hk dollars per head. I decided Disneyland will be for our kids soon. I don't think I'll be enjoying the rides so we just have our selfie sessions.

Then, we went back to the MTR. Our friend is inviting us to check Oceanpark but I have seen Oceanpark here so I thought I won't enjoy it. It's just fishes. We went to Ngong Ping 360 instead.

The cable car is 245/head and a clear bottom. It was a good experience since we get to see a view of Hongkong, it was really high. And get to experience more of the people. There are a lot of tourists from the mainland and from different countries.

Would you believe people hiking below.

I enjoyed the ride so much.
We had lunch at Citygate Outlet. What I noticed is with one meal you can actually share this with 2 people. I wonder why they don't get fat. Then I realize all the walking that I'm doing.
I just hope that we also have this kind of serving in the Philippines.

We were supposed to visit the Wax museum but my feet are aching so we went back to the hotel.

We got a message from Arlene that her boyfriend is treating us for dinner.
We were waiting for Ali, their co-trainee who was the HK National but was not answering so it was just us 4.

Again it was a walkathon for us.

Second morning, is another shopping day.
Went to the tiangges and bought tops, leg warmers and some pasalubong.

We also get to buy office clothes for Slim. Since Chinese New Year is near all shops are on sale.

Dinner is at their favorite place, Cafe Coral. We had shabu-shabu.

For my last day, Slim has to go to work in the morning. My flight is 8:45 pm so he still has time to send me off.

I am alone in an unknown place. YEHEY!
So I just strolled around, did some shopping, had lunch alone in a Chinese Restaurant.

Then, wifey duties and sleep.

Wifey duties means packing clothes and ironing them.

Selfie

My ride home is via the Airport Express. Again it was nice if we have something like this.
We have a lot of OFW workers and it is convenient if we have a direct ride to the airport. It will boost our tourism too.

There is no airport fee in Hongkong.

I was sad for leaving home alone, and satisfied that I get to do this on my own.
My flight is fast. The tour group I saw on my way is also on the same plane like me.
We got to Clark at 10:30 pm.

I thought based on the website that 11pm is the last ride to Manila but since it was new, I was the only passenger and had to wait.

The bus driver and conductor was nice enough to let me stay at the bus and sleep. The bus departed at 2am.


I got to Sm North at 3am and rode the taxi home.

My favorite picture.

NOTE: I didn't include the other expenses because it was Slim's allowance that we use during my stay. This is how much I spent, now for meals it usually cost 200 php per meal but the serving is huge. Hotels are usually 8000 to 10000.



I spent;

Plane ticket 4006
Terminal fee 650
Bus from Megamall to Clark 450
Clark to Sm North 450
Taxi ride home 150
Pasalubong 2000
Shopping 2000

Total = 9706