Missing the Beach

 
It's been over a year since our last trip to Boracay. This may not seem like a long time for most people but for us, it's been too long. We try to go to Boracay at least once if not twice a year. But with all the other trips we've taken last 2010, Boracay seemed like our last priority. That was until recently.

As luck would have it, F and N recently won free accomodations to Club Panoly, Boracay at a recently concluded golf tournament. We had some free Mabuhay miles left so we decided (even with my enormously growing belly) that it would be a waste to not take this free trip to Boracay. So, with the doctor's consent, off we went to our favorite destination...

Now this trip didn't go by without any problems mind you. Number 1 problem (and definitely the most stressful one)? Club Panoly is currently under a land dispute situation. Meaning, no operations. This they tell us, a week before our scheduled trip. They said they booked us at this particular resort (c/o Panoly of course) but when I did a little research, I found out that the resort is a low end resort that has gotten pretty bad reviews in blogs. Now, I don't think it's fair for us to be booked in a resort that is of lower standards than Panoly right? At the very least, we should be getting something equal or at par with what they claim to be. So, after A LOT of phone calls and arguments (F even got hung up on by a Panoly personnel! BAAAADDDDDD! note to self: never trust Panoly ever again. Service is the absolute worst), we were finally rebooked in another hotel. This was finalized A DAY before our trip. Talk about last minute. Where did we end up staying? Fairways and Bluewaters...

I have to say, I wasn't too excited to learn this was where we would be staying. The resort is secluded and isn't within the main beach of Boracay. Being 7 months pregnant, I wasn't looking forward to having to walk back and forth to the main beach and the resort. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the resort. Yes, the place is secluded. But the good thing is, it has it's own beach (a huge one at that)that pretty much comes up to par with the famous beach front of Boracay. So, beach... Check! They booked us in standard rooms which were huge and could easily fit 4 people, with 2 full sized beds and a huge bathroom. So, rooms... Check! They have 24 hour shuttle within the resort and a shuttle service to and from D' Mall so, convenience... Check! Of course, Fairways and Bluewaters is known for it's golf course so N and F gave it a try. After they played N even said that he doesn't think he can ever go back to Boracay without playing golf there, they had that much fun. The rooms are even strategically placed around the golf course so you have a view of it from your balcony. So, entertainment... Check!

 this is one of 2 swimming pools at Fairways

a view of their private beach (very nice!)

The view from my balcony (that's N and F playing golf)

This place is definitely not a place for someone who wants to go out and party every night. It is a place to relax and be steady. It's definitely a different kind of Boracay experience. But something worth doing every once in a while...

Boracay with the Hs

This post is long overdue. I just had to wait for all the photos to be uploaded in Facebook so I could post some here.

I was lucky to be invited by Ns family, the Hs, to Shangri-la Boracay, and that's where I was two weeks ago. My sister would always tell me that they'd always have beach outings before I was born and before all of them developed a severe case of heliophobia, and so I never got to go to any of those. So technically, this was my first family beach trip.

Shangri-la reminded me so much of Bellarocca. Just replace the Greek houses with huts and both had basically the same layout. It was incredible.

The villas were so nice. We stayed in one of the beach front rooms and N's parents and nephews stayed in the treetop villa. AMAZING.

N chilling with his nephews in the Jacuzzi

I'm already kicking myself in the head for eating so much. I forgot that we had another beach trip coming up. Must go to the gym soon.

My love.

Seafood platter. Oil and Aligue. And Fries. Aray.

Mark Nelson, if you are reading this, I just want to you to know that we are huge fans of Loco Frio! We got N's 10-year old nephew drunk with Your Strawberry Kiwi mix. Accidentally, of course. Huge mix up with the tumblers.

We even found time to reef walk. It was pretty cool. I think this is the first time I went way underwater without crying first.

Me, N, Princess Glutton, Prince Glutton and M, N's 10-year old nephew (slightly intoxicated). 

Just wanted to post this because wala lang. N's other newphew, S. We got him watermelon slippers. Super cute. 

120s

N’s cousin, Mikko, gifted with me 4 rolls of 120s, and I’ve been meaning to refrigerate them. I only go to bring the rolls home the other day since I kept on forgetting to take them out of N’s car.