Life is a journey. An overused cliché. But will forever remain true for all of us who never stop walking. Too often we are so much preoccupied on reaching a destination and we forget the journey.

 Certainly, a journey is more than just sight seeing, picture taking. It is far deeper and more permanent. It is a change. A process. Something in the making. An inevitable risk.  An anticipation of an uncertainty. Once a step is made, it cannot be undone.

 One of the challenges in life is finding out who we are and where we are going.  If all of the inconveniences were known at the start of a journey, most of us would never make the first step. There may be a lot of trails to choose from in climbing a mountain, but only one view.  We may never have gone where we intend to go, eventually we will still end up where we intend to be.

 The journey is the reward.

 We all deserve a happy journey.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

BORACAY FOR ONLY 3,300 PESOS!

You got to believe it! Aboard the latest Zest Air plane, my friends and I flew to Boracay for a 3days/2nights vacation for only 3,300 pesos. Now before I tell you the specifics on how we did it, write down the number of Happy Journeys so you can call us for a Boracay trip right after you read this blog.



I cannot lie to you that there is no catch to this but I hope it will still give you an idea how to plan your vacation not just in Boracay but to other destinations as well.

DISCLAIMER : This was based on our personal experience last August 2009.

Here are the constraints or should I say the catch for the price :

1. Fly ZEST AIR - they offer really really low rates sometimes I think they are unreasonable already. We got our tickets for only 788. Go to www.zestair.com.ph for details.

2. Fly Off Peak - There were 22 of us booked since May and we were scheduled to fly in August. The early bird indeed gets the worm. If you don't find the rates on the net, go to their offices to check if promos are still available.

3. Fly on a weekday or a Sunday - We booked our flights on a Sunday and headed back to Manila on a Tuesday. The best way to plan your yearly vacation is to get the Presidential Proclamation every January wherein Malacanang announces all the National Holidays and Special Non-working holidays.

4. Fly Light - when booking, make sure you tick the go light / fly light and declare that you are not checking in any bags. This automatically deducts 200 pesos from your airfare bills.

So now, you have read all of the preparations we did for our airfares. Once booked, the next thing to do was to find our land arrangements. Since we are booked on an off-peak season, hotels are also offering low rates. Even if we were on a budget, we all agreed that we cannot compromise quality. So we set some non-negotiables in looking for a hotel.

1. Airconditioned rooms - Of course we want to have a good night sleep. A cooling fan would just be unbearable.

2. Beachfront - We did not want to walk much. And we had kids with us.

3. Clean Sheets / Secure / Clean Bathrooms  - No explanation needed.

4. CHEAP HOTEL - real cheap... cheap, cheap, cheap!!!!

Here are the hotels I recommended to the group :

1. RED COCONUT -Beach front, with swimming pool, restaurant,air-conditioned rooms,wifi, Station 2
                                    Breakfast included
TAG PRICE : 2500 per person for 3days 2nights in a villa good for 8 persons.


2. BORACAY REGENCY - everything perfect but pricey... eliminated... but we considered it because
                                                of its breakfast lunch and dinner buffets. It was just tempting.
TAG PRICE : 5200 per person for 3days 2 nights


3. 357 BORACAY - beachfront, breakfast included,big clean rooms, air-conditioned, no frills, Station 3

TAG PRICE :  1500 per person for 3 days and 2 nights


And yes, the winner was 357 BORACAY. I was so hesitant at first because I have never tried this hotel before. But when I searched the web for reviews, I did not see any negative comments about it. So we booked the hotel and found out that there were only 10 rooms in the hotel and we booked 7 of them. The hotel was practically exclusive for our group.

You can visit their website for details at www.357boracay.com

So come August 29, we packed our light bags and flew to Boracay. We did not avail of those roundtrip boat transfers which costs 500 pesos per person. We took the regular commute to and fro boracay. It only cost us 75 pesos one way - 50 pesos for the environmental fee and 25 pesos for the fare.

Once in Boracay island, we took two of those Suzuki Multicabs for 250 each. Each multicab can accommodate 10 persons already. So that was just 25 pesos per person.

Boracay Island is just like any province in the Philippines. What I am saying is that you will find your regular sari sari stores, carinderias, kitchenettes, dampas offering home-cooked meals for the locals. So finding cheap food is not a problem while still enjoying the freshest seafood the island has to offer.

So let us summarize the BORACAY experience :

ZEST AIR                      788 (oneway) x 2 = 1576
357 BORACAY             3days2nights        = 1500
BOAT/TRANSPORT    (75  +  25)  x        =   200

TOTAL                                                       =  3276 PER PERSON  -- not bad.. not bad at all!!!!


FOOD BUDGET GUIDE :

This is just a guide. It can go up or down depending on your food requirements. If you have a richie rich friend, he/she might sponsor a meal.


1st day lunch             - 150 - Andok's Lechon Manok
1st day dinner            - 250 - BUFFET SEAFOOD along station 2
2nd day breakfast      - FREE from hotel
2nd day lunch            - Go on an island hopping with free lunch for only 400 per person
2nd day dinner           - Choose from any of the D' MALL restaurants (budget 200)
3rd day late breakfast - FREE

TOTAL FOOD BUDGET :  1,000 pesos


Do not eat any of the food from the plane. Very pricey. Eat and drink before boarding.

I told you it was possible..

Indeed, it was a HAPPY JOURNEY.
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