Boracay Day 1

Dear Juliet,

Our first day in Bora is EPIC!

We all agreed to wake up early in order to experience as much awesomeness as possible on that day. Since my mom wasn’t with me, I asked my friends not to give up on waking me up. I have to thank Tope for doing a great job of getting me to my toes early in the morning. Good job!

Part of the package we paid for at the Royal Park Hotel were the free meals. [The accommodation was inclusive of 2 meals per day—breakfast and lunch/dinner.] On their bfast menu were longganisa, (1) scrambled eggs, rice; (2) corned beef, scrambled eggs, rice; and (3) bacon, scrambled eggs, toasts. My choice was a no brainer—BACON! The food was great, at least for me. But all of us really raved about the marmalade. It was perfect for our toasts! I’m realizing this just now, but I have to say, our breakfast literally started the awesomeness of this day!

I have to say, I can eat this breakfast every single day of my life!
They served fruits with their meals. The melon was yum!

After loading up our stomachs, we had enough energy and headed off for our first activity: helmet diving [sometimes called reef walking]. Brenda, the lovers [who were celebrating their first anniversary, by the way], and I went to try this underwater adventure.

Before diving.

This is me making faces, still feeling good about the activity.

Helmet diving was one thing I looked forward to for this trip. At first, I was doing so well, until the water level in my helmet rose. I guess there was something wrong with the way I held on to my helmet. During the crash course, we were particularly warned by our instructor not to bend our bodies or tilt the helmet. But being the paranoid that I was, I held on to my helmet tightly at an angle and caused more water to come in. After posing for several pictures, I asked the diver to resurface me when I started to panic.

Water level started to scare me at this point.

And then, I'm gone and it's just the three of them down there.

Though this activity caused me some discomfort, I can’t say it wasn’t worth it. It’s still something to look forward to when visiting Boracay. Note, however, that this activity is not for the soft-hearted and the claustrophobics. Haha! ;p Helmet diving is worth PhP400 per pax and is inclusive of a CD of photos and videos.

Our second activity is the SHIZNIT! All six of us went to check FLYFISH out. This water adventure definitely makes Banana Boat a lame ride. At first, I didn’t know what Flyfish was, but as soon as our speed boat took off, I realized it’s going to be one hell of a ride! 

The rush, the speed, and the excitement—they got me and my friends crazy! So we were holding on to our straps like it’s the end of the world, right? But then with just one turn of the speed boat, our Flyfish rapidly glides to the air, and the next thing we know, some of our friends already fell to the sea.

While we were “recovering” our friends from the water, a thought popped out of my head, “Manong speed boat driver must have expert Physics computations skills: boat speed times weight of six passengers divided by buoyancy times wind velocity divided by the square root of the surface area of the water raised to the maximum level equals an EXHILIRATING RIDE!” Hehe. Talented si Kuya speed boat driver! ;p

I also got to experience being tossed out of the Flyfish. I was holding on to my dear life and screaming like a lunatic when I felt my body falling to the water [I was on the left side of the Flyfish]. I tried to cling on some more but then the water current was just too strong and fighting it off will just cost me my board shorts and panty. I let go of my strap and felt the water slapping my face. It. Was. Such. An. Extreme. RUSH! The first things I checked were my shorts and panty. Akala ko, nahubad na because of the strong pull of the water. Funnily, my friends did the same thing too.

Getting back on the ride was quite difficult. At first, they didn’t notice me falling off. They were still shouting their hearts out and the boat was still in full speed when I fell in the water. So, I waited for the speed boat to stop and go back for me. My guy friends pulled me out of the water and on we went for the final round.

Flyfish in action part 2: OMG! It actually flies! But no, this isn't us. I don't think Boracay authorities will allow such extremeness considering hearsays that certain banana boat mishaps caused the prohibition of too extreme water adventures. Photo credit here.

Our ride turned out to be a survival of the fittest competition. Four of us experienced falling off. Two of our friends just didn’t want to fall off and so, they were the winners. Haha. We have our life vests to thank and manong speed boat driver for giving us an EPIC 15-minute Flyfish ride of our lives! Flyfish is worth PhP500 per pax.

Us, after the ride. One person is missing--nahulog si Hiro sa dagat at di sinama pabalik. Haha!

Then came lunchtime. We badly needed to recharge for the rest of the day. Flyfish sure did drain our energy. We had the same menu for lunch: shrimp in oyster sauce, tempura, ground beef and ampalaya, squid, and steamed fish. I opted for the shrimp in oyster sauce.

I cleaned up after the meal and then off we [Tope, Dang, and Marie] went to try Jonah’s Shakes. The lovebirds chose to stay in the hotel to “rest.”

According to Tope and Brenda who’ve been to Bora before, Jonah’s is a must-try when in Boracay. It is perfect to play off the summer heat. I ordered the melon mango shake while my friends had peanut in their drinks. I thought peanuts combined with fruit flavors is weird, so I stuck with what I think is safe for my taste buds.

Melon Mango Shake [PhP110] and my hat [PhP150].

Then, we shopped for pasalubong at D’mall, went back to the hotel to take a short nap, and finally met with the couple for our final water activity for the day: Paraw Sailing. For this particular activity, I bought Bonamin to fight my motion sickness. [I noticed I became dizzy in the raft while waiting for my friends to finish their helmet diving session, and when the speed boat during Flyfish was not in motion.] Successfully, I didn’t get motion sickness at all during Paraw Sailing.

A "parked" Paraw sailboat. Reminds me of the movie Charlie St. Cloud.

Paraw sailing is generally a “chill” activity. You stay in the “katig” of the Bangka while it sails through the long stretch of beaches in Boracay. You get to enjoy the view, the cool breeze, the serenity of the sea, and the company of your friends in this activity. The boat rent was PhP600, so that was a cheap PhP100 per pax.

When we returned to the hotel, it was already dark and we were ready for dinner. But of course, just like any other trip, we took the chance to take the classic JUMP SHOTS.

We're so glad we were able to achieve FUN, WILD, CHILL, and a whole lot of AWESOMENESS all in one day. Bora day 1 is the bestest!

Hoping, waiting, believing.

★ Happidezz