Boracay ~ Recap

Over the New Year's holiday we traveled to the island of Boracay in the Philippines with two other couples for some much needed sun.  After gorging myself over the holidays I was in no mood to put on a swimsuit but I was in great eating shape for all the 2-10pm happy hours all over the island!

White sand and turquoise water- yes please!

We spent six days on the island, drinking fresh mango shakes each morning, enjoying water sports like windsurfing and scuba diving, and spending many hours laughing our fool heads off while sipping on San Miguel Lights with our toes in the sand.  Divine!

Beach babes

At sunset on New Year's Eve.

A few other tidbits from the trip:

• Boracay consists of one long main beach, White Beach, with a packed sand "boardwalk" leading the tourists to dive shops, restaurants, hotels, and bars.   
• One afternoon I was reading my book alone in the shade of a palm tree while the other friends were shopping or getting massages.  I heard Andrew shout my name and when I looked out at the ocean, there he was, beckoning to me from a sailboat.  On impulse, he had hired a sailboat to drive up the coast, picking up friends as he went.  Too funny.... at least until the end when we had to walk all the way back.
• Filipino food was tasty although everything was sweet, including the rice and sausages.  We were surprised to not see lumpia (the only filipino food we could name beforehand) on a single menu though! To me it seemed like going to Mexico and not finding nachos..... which happens too I guess.
• Filipinos were so very polite.  Even the sunglasses peddlers that seemed to follow us everywhere always called out to us with "Ma'am/Sir" every time.  And I mean that.  They didn't say only ma'am or sir, always both together.
• After Boracay we spent two days in Manila before returning to Korea.  Manila's not known for many tourist attractions and we were in lazy beach mode so we mostly shopped our way through the city, picking up freshwater pearls and Manny Pacquiao shirts along the way.