Celebrating life in Boracay

I haven’t been to Boracay in a long, long time – for many reasons – mostly mundane and lousy. So much has changed in Boracay, so much has remained the same. As soon as our 18-seater SeaAir aircraft touched the Caticlan runway, some things looked better – like the arrival area and the airconditioned departure room with a TV set. Attached to the set was a white paper hanging like a streamer. On it were names of the people who donated the solitary boob tube. It really caught my eye. The television set looked like a newly-asphalted farm-to-market-road with a huge signage that said, "This is a project of Congressman Magellan and Governor Lapu-Lapu."

As we disembarked and made our way to the arrival area, Nanay grabbed the two pilots for a picture-taking. She ordered me to smile and pose with them while Bettina (Aspillaga) took the photo. We gathered our luggage, got into a van that brought us to the Caticlan Terminal which is presently being completed. Joel, our hotel representative proceeded to a window to buy our tickets for the boat ride that would bring us to the island of Boracay.

In the boat, in the middle of the sea, I started to wonder why it took so long before I could visit this island paradise. I started to feel relaxed. A couple of days back, it was Mother’s Day and this was our gift for Nanay – although we didn’t tell her because she would have advised us cleverly to get her a more practical gift. I figured this was the best time to go to Boracay and I refused to think about my lunatic, imbecilic schedule.

In the past, there was always a meeting, a taping or an appointment that got in the way. It was getting crazy and painfully boring – coffee shops started to look like mangroves. I knew, I had to go to Boracay. Bong (Quintana, my partner) is the easiest to convince. He is a self-proclaimed navigator, mountain climber, hiker, tennis player, singer – his interests are so eclectic, there are days he thinks he is Martin Nievera. If I’m a Nora Aunor die-hard, Bong is a Donna Cruz fanatic – never mind if Donna has relocated to Cebu and is semi-retired. To Bong, she is still the hottest star!

While Nanay may have other greater ideas than Boracay (like saving the money we would spend and consider the stuff she could buy in Divisoria for the apartments she’s building in the province), she is a wanderlust by heart. At 73, she will go where daredevils go. She will go on a 13-hour land travel to Pagudpud like she’s going to Shoemart.

So here we were in Boracay celebrating life and Mother’s Day. We stayed at True Home Hotel which is luxurious and comfortable. It is situated directly on Boracay’s fabulous white beach and our room allowed us a great view of the ocean.

The hotel is built of concrete with terra cotta roof and each room is uniquely designed, furnished with quality traditional Filipino-style pieces, some accented with Mediterranean style tiles. Food was also great. True Home Hotel offers a wide variety of cuisine: from Italian to Indian, from Mexican to Filipino. And the best thing is, it’s very reasonably priced (thank you to Kim Atienza and the good Mayor of Manila Lito Atienza for their hospitality!).

We had so much fun in Boracay. With us were our office staff Liza Matias, Judy Santos and Sandra Santos who had fun in the banana boat ride, jet ski, snorkeling and crazy tube ride. We built sand castles and sand dolphins with the local kids, we watched the amazing Boracay sunset, had dinner under the stars; we enjoyed the sound of our own laughter as we ran and frolicked in the immaculate Boracay sand.

All in all, our stay in Boracay was happy and peaceful. Not even the over a hundred brownouts a day spoiled the fun. Now I know why some people say happiness is a choice. Boracay was lovelier because I was with the people I love most. That made the place truly divine.

(I’d also like to thank Paolo Occhionero and Susane, Fely Atienza and Analei Atienza, Tony Castro, Che-Che Sta. Maria, Joel, Leah, Fred, Jeptha, Archie, Bogs Mario and Sally).

The Retrospect sound

Songs easy to sing make up REtroSPECT’s second album released by Alpha Records’ Harmony Label. The album, titled Luv Bug is a veritable showcase of the band’s talent, not only in dishing out amazing revivals but also in composing fantastic songs. Included in the album are sensational songs like Bakit Nga Ba?, Up In The Sky, Sige . . . Stand Up!, Hello and Kahit Na.

Despite their involvement in a flurry of promotional activities for the album, REtroSPECT still makes it a point to perform in their regular gigs in the country’s hottest bars like Ratsky in Malate and Tomas Morato, Strumm’s and Casslauna Bar. They will also stage a special two-night concert dubbed REtroSPECT The Luv Bug Concert on May 31 and June 1, 9 p.m. at the Music Museum with Randy Santiago as their guest.

REtroSPECT is composed of Gold, Ogie, Em-J and J. Martin.