Labor Day Weekend 2014

It's been a tradition of my multiple groups of friends to go to Boracay during the Labor Day weekend, which usually happens from May 1 through May 5. It's actually where I get to see friends whom I haven't seen for a long time. I think this Labor Day Weekend, which is called Laboracay by many, has already become a beach music festival of some sort.

So what happens during Laboracay? PARTIES! Lots of it! From sunset parties, to multiple brands' gimmicks/promotions to international DJs, name it, Laboracay has got it! The most sought after parties are usually sponsored by the biggest brands of liquor, clothing, shoes, telecoms, mobile apps, etc. In my couple of years of spending Labor Day weekend in Boracay, the brands I have encountered in parties are Vans, Smart, Globe, Marlboro, Nestea, Vaseline, Hennessy, El Hombre, Nivea, Havaianas, Jose Cuervo, etc. This year, more brands came in such as Guess, Viber, AyosDito, BeachHut, Solar, etc.

Anyway, so how did I spend my Labor Day weekend? Here it goes:

May 1 - Arrived in Boracay and had lunch at Jonah's. Of course, we cannot miss the famous Jonah's fruit shakes on our first day. Checked-in at Whitehouse, had dinner with my El Hombre guy friends, had a couple of glasses of Glen in the hotel, had dinner at the Whitehouse resto, dropped by the Smart event in Boracay Uptown, had some pizza and drinks at our friend's room in The District. We weren't in the party mood that's why we didn't attend the sunset party in Whitehouse.

boat to the island with Darlene and Con

and I never get tired of this view

lunch at Jonah's

food trippin'

with my girls

May 2 - Just had lunch in the hotel, went out for a walk at the beach, then came out by sunset for the Guess Beach Hotel party. It's a wet and wild one! And since the sound system got wet, the organizers had no choice but to stop the party, just when everyone's getting pumped up. Instead of going clubbing that night, we just had a house party with our Iloilo friends in Boracay Regency Hotel.

using our Headware as tube tops

nautical theme (thanks Pearly Pop Swimwear)

w/ Thina of Vans (my Rayban flash lens from @poshop_ph)

oh my selfie stick! :))

with my friend, Apple David

sea of people

soaked!

house partying

crispy pata of Boracay Regency is just sooo good!

May 3 - We had lunch at Mamita's, then had some photo ops by the beach. By sunset, we came out for the Vans Summer Block Party. We started at around 5pm and I was already knocked out by 9pm. I was asleep  in our hotel while my friends were partying at Globe's event in epic, the concert of Cedric Gervais. Oh yeah, I missed that Summertime Sadness. Haha sorry! :))

lunch at Mamita's (we had tapsilog and we liked it)

playtime!

with my friend, Wanda

Vans girls :)

gone cray cray :))

all sweaty 'coz of the crazy partyyyy :))

Farah and I with Misa Campo (please excuse the wasted face LOL)

May 4 - We had lunch at Two Seasons. Of course, we couldn't miss Oyster Sisig and probably the best Four Cheese Pizza in the planet! Then by sunset, we headed out for some photo ops, dinner, and again, party! This night's sponsored by our friends from El Hombre, Smart and Ayosdito.ph. We left the party early and had late dinner at Aria and headed back to the hotel. Then I was given a free ticket for Steve Aoki's set in Epic so I headed out again. We're supposed to leave early the next day so we left right after his set. Steve Aoki nailed it! I was impressed with the bouncers and the whole security group of the organizers because they were able to control the crowd outside after the walls were accidentally torn down. And it happened just right behind us by the VIP area. I really thought I would die from stampede but I was glad it didn't actually happen.

my girls :)

catching sunset (Angelia using my coverup. Thanks to Southshore Beach Shop)

some calls it "wefie", while some call it "groufie" haha

don't eat, inhale, and don't breathe for photo ops purposes LOL!

pretty sunset

El Hombre party w/ these girls and the El Hombre boys

so we discussed how we died the previous night haha

with THE Ramon Bautista

my good friend, Bang of AyosDito.Ph

yet another sweaty me :))))

look at that crowd! everyone's having fun!

with DJ Ace Ramos whom I've known for 8 years already (he wasn't as big in the scene back then)

grabbed a friend's flash lens 'cause it matched my outfit LOL

dinner treat of Manny at Aria

THE Steve Aoki

watched it with these girls

view from our table

the commotion

May 5 - We left the island quite late and we got a flight to catch in Iloilo City. Iloilo-bound vans from Caticlan already ran out by 9am and we got no choice but to take the bus which was and hour and a half slower. From the bus station in Iloilo, we took a cab to the airport, and that was already the time of the departure of our plane. Good thing we got a friend working at the Iloilo airport who's there to keep us posted. Apparently, our flight was delayed, thank God. But the bad news was, the only ATM machine in the airport wasn't working and we didn't have cash nor credit cards anymore. We ended up borrowing from our friend, Steph in the airport, just to survive dinner at the Iloilo airport. haha! See, it pays to be friendly!

thanks to my friend, Steph of PAL for saving us haha

So that's how my immune system and my wallet survived Laboracay! Thanks to my friends who sponsored almost everything -- hotel, food, booze, concert tickets, etc.! :)

xoxo,

city girl

Puerto Princesa Weekend (Day 2)

On our 2nd day, we woke up at around 5:30 am. After fixing up, we had breakfast at the hotel, then the van picked us up. Then we  finally met our official tour guide, April. She's so cool and funny.:) On our way to the port, April briefed us on our itinerary while showing us photos on her Samsung Galaxy Tab. High-tech right?!? haha! Anyway, here's a rundown of the things we did on our 2nd day in PPS:

Day 2 (Dec. 1) - Honda Bay Island Hopping

Swimming Gear Rental Center - We stopped by a shop where we rented our snorkeling gears at Php 100 each. I only rented a snorkeling mask. However, other items in the shop include rashguard, fins, aqua shoes, and camera/cellphone waterproof cases.

Then we headed to the Honda Bay Port where we rode our boat. After registration, we boarded our boat, which became our ride for the entire duration of our island hopping.

it's so hot out there

all aboard!

Our first stop was at Pandan Island. We were snorkeling with our life vests on. However, since I was so scared of the water and the fishes (LOL at me!), I asked our boatman to assist me. I was able to appreciate what I've seen underwater because the boatman knew the nicest spots out there and that's where he took me, while I was holding on to the floater. While we were snorkeling, our tour guide was preparing our lunch (yeah, she's a multitasker). So after snorkeling, we feasted on seafood, grilled meat, and some veggies. We  also tried the grilled sea urchin. It tasted better than the raw one that's being served in Japanese restaurants. There were lots of other tourists in the island too.

 

salted eggs with tomatoes and onions

 

grilled sea urchin

jump!

our boat :)

After lunch, we headed to Starfish Island. There were less tourists in this island. There we took a lot of "camera trick" photos, because the props were readily available and the tour guide and the boatman were already photography experts haha! Then we snorkeled again for a bit there. The view underwater was pretty nice too.

LOL at me!:))

like a celeb! haha

Sadako in Starfish Island 

 

like we're playing "Paint Me a Picture" haha

 

i love this!:))

Our last stop for the island hopping was Pambato Reef. It's called as such because they said it's their "pambato" or the most that they're bragging about. It's one of the sites being maintained by ABS-CBN Foundation as a part of their environmental advocacy. This one's in the middle of the sea. Floating walkways and reception areas were near the reef. During the time we were there, the center of the reef was being restored so snorkeling on that part wasn't allowed. However, we were not able to see that much creatures underwater. I can say that the previous snorkeling spots we've been to were a lot better.

that's me!:))

after snorkeling

fun gang :)

That ended our island hopping. We went back to the boat, had refreshments, and headed back to the port. We were already done at around 4pm and we got to the hotel at around 5pm. But of course before that, we returned the snorkeling gears at the shop. Then at the hotel, we just took a shower, rested for a bit, and headed our for dinner.

On Day 1, upon arrival at the hotel, we called Kalui Restaurant for dinner reservation on our 2nd night. So come our second night, we took a tricycle from the hotel to Kalui. Then we realized it was so near our place that we should have just walked haha. Anyway, Kalui was a very interesting place for dining. It had really nice decorations, and most of them were native. It had a nice landscape outside and lots of paintings inside. At the reception, we were requested to remove our slippers, which we stored in their cabinets. The floor of the entire restaurant was so smooth and shiny! When it comes to the menu, there were only a few dishes to choose from, and most of the dishes were very unique. So we ended up ordering almost everything. Then after eating, we were served complimentary desserts. And that's the reason why there's no dessert listed on their menu. It's a surprise treat! The best part of all was, we only paid around Php 250 each for everything. It's one of my best dining experiences ever!:)

at the entrance

 

Palawanderer!

one of the boys

Menu

Four Seasons :)

complimentary dessert

there's a stage

ladies' room

paintings up there

so nice :)

So we just walked our way back to the hotel since it's near. Then I stayed in the room while the others proceeded to the pasalubong center nearby. We slept early because we had to wake up early the next day.

Total spending for the day (per pax):
1. Breakfast - FREE (included in the accommodation)
2. Snorkeling Mask Rental - Php 100
3. Honda Bay Island Hopping Tour - Php 1040 (supposedly Php 1300, but we got 20% discount)
4. Ecotourism Fee - Php 40
5. Lunch - FREE (included in the tour package)
6. Transportation - Php 10 (tricycle)
7. Dinner - Php 250
TOTAL: Php 1,440 per pax

*Note: Tips for the boat men not included.

Just a tip: Wear rashguard and a lot of sunscreen! In my case, I didn't get darker (no tan line) even if I was just wearing a two-piece bikini and board shorts because I kept reapplying sunscreen every 2 hours. I used Beach Hut's Max SPF100 and Southshore's Sunscreen Kiwi SPF60 simultaneously for my body, and Loreal's Facial Sunscreen SPF50 for my face. 

That's a wrap of our 2nd day in PPS. See my next post for our adventure on our 3rd (and last) day there.:)