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Boracay Trip (2012): Airports, Hotels & D*Mall

Been to Boracay before?

This is part one of my Boracay series so keep on reading!


Going to Boracay was never a dream of mine – I have always wanted to go somewhere else.

Now that I’m older and wiser, I have realized that going to Boracay is something that every Filipino should be able to accomplish. It’s definitely more fun in the Philippines!

We were there for three days and two nights (March 24-26, 2012) since my parents are traveling to Qatar today. I think being there for a limited amount of time made us more appreciative of all the surroundings that we were able to be in. I yearned to encapsulate everything when we were there.

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Welcome to Boracay!


We were at the airport at around 5:30 in the morning because our flight was at 7:50. It was a good thing that we packed our things the night before so after a quick breakfast and a cold shower, we were ready to go.

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Here’s my family in the plane. 🙂
The flight took 45 minutes. I took a short nap and we were already there at Kalibo. Afterwards, we had to take a bus to Caticlan. The bus ride was 1 hour and 45 minutes but it was worth it since the scenery was amazing. I also had time to listen to Lead and Daichi Miura during the bus ride, so it was enjoyable.

After the bus ride, we had to take a boat from Caticlan to the actual Boracay. Terminal fee is P50.00/pax and environmental fee is P75.00/pax. The boat ride lasted for 15 minutes. Be sure to have your water-proof carry-on bag since you might be splashed by the waves.

And then after the boat ride, we rode a jeep of some sort to go to our hotel (Microtel Boracay). We were thankful that they gave us welcome drinks when we got there as we were thirsty.

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It was pretty okay here.
They even gave us a necklace. (At first, I ignored the staff because I thought he was going to sell us the necklaces! You know how I am with strangers…)

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Cute souvenir necklace!
I was just a bit irked because the receptionist told us she’d text us (she asked for my number) if ever our room’s already available. I think it was a tactic so that we would eat at their resto. Sorry, I couldn’t help but be a cynic. We were already famished at that time so we had no choice but to eat at their in-house restaurant, Mama’s Fish House.

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Pancit for P230.00+
We asked the server how many servings their pancit can make. She said one. Let me tell you, it was enough to serve two.

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Pan-fried scallops for P340.00+

Their scallops were pretty good but I didn’t feel like I had my money’s worth, considering that seafood is cheap in Boracay. We even saw one resto offering a seafood buffet for only P275.00!

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Chicken satay for P250.00+

This was good! I loved the peanut butter sauce. It really complemented the chicken that was served to us. My dad got buko juice, Mama got a fruit platter and pineapple juice while LJ got his (usual) mango juice. We rested for a bit and went to D*Mall.

After we decided to go to D*Mall, we proceeded to reserve 4 slots for Microtel’s shuttle. It was nice because it was free of charge so we didn’t really worry with the transportation. It took about 15 minutes from the hotel to the vicinity of the mall.

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This is the D*Mall signage.

My first reaction was that I didn’t expect the mall to adapt a style such as in Bonifacio High Street or Serendra. I foolishly thought that it was going to be like a single air-conditioned building! It was a bit crowded when we went there.

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Smile for the camera~!

My brother and I were itching to try on some of the several food establishments there so we settled with Halowich.

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There weren’t many people when we went here.

I think the establishment’s name is a portmanteau of “halo” which means mixed and “wich” from sandwich, so basically their specialty is a sandwich composed of mixed ingredients.

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This was savory.

I liked this one as this beef halowich reminded me of shawarma. I think this one was made of chopped cabbage and chopped beef with a hint of spice. It was priced at P100+ which was pretty decent and worth it. The next thing we ordered was ice cream, specifically lemon ice cream!

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Lemon ice cream. I can do seconds!

My brother didn’t like this very much because he prefers chocolate ice cream, so the rest of us had a blast sharing this. It reminded me of halo-halo and I liked that instead of whipped cream as the top, it made use of ice cream instead!

We walked around the mall for a couple of hours and proceeded to buy take-out food for our dinner. When we went back to the hotel, we took a swim on the beach (it was 8 in the evening!) and we ate our dinner. It felt great!

The next day was then filled with aquatic adventures!


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4 thoughts on “Boracay Trip (2012): Airports, Hotels & D*Mall”

  1. Looking forward for the part 2.. LOL!

    I think the receptionist didn't intend you and your family to wait or to dine in their restuarant.. 😀 Generally check-in time for hotel is at 2pm. And I believe you arrived early hence the room was not ready for occupancy.

    Cheers!

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