In our group were Supreme Court Justice Consuelo Santiago (whom we fondly call Tita Elo), her daughter Jenny, my sister Yvonne Romualdez and her daughter Karin, my nieces Alex and Sam Dayrit, and family friends Büm Tenorio, Noah Manarang, Bea Azcuna and Teddy Montelibano. We checked in at Boracay Regency, the largest hotel on the island owned by Henry Chusuey.
For dinner, we trooped to Dos Mestizos situated at the heart of Station 1. We were welcomed by the simpatico owner himself, Binggoy Remedios, who cooked us up a storm of Spanish dishes.
Breakfast in Boracay is always an experience, what with Jonah’s mushroom omelette, beef tapa, garlic rice and scrambled eggs, and his equally famous fruit shakes.
Right after breakfast, we were ushered by a good friend Allen Mojica to a Coppertone event called "Fun Under the Sun" where we joined in the limbo rock, football-in-the-hole, balloon toss challenge, palo sebo, beach volleyball, among other outdoor activities.
At Aria, probably the most authentic Italian restaurant on the island, we had two kinds of pasta with salmon and Amatriciana, pizza Margherita, and Greek salad with piping hot ciabbata, and capped with mango panacotta.
When the sun started to kiss the waters to signal the end of another day, we transferred to SeaWind on Station 1 where we were welcomed by amiable resort owners Joebert and Susan Cocjin. There we feasted on grilled oysters, succulent steaks, chops, prawn, barbeque, pasta, salad and more.
Saturday night in Boracay spells party anywhere, everywhere. Our first stop: Cocomangas. Michelle took the 15 shooters dare and drank all 15 little shot glasses filled with assorted stuff in different colors and textures – rum, whiskey, vodka, gin, Kahlua, coconut milk, among others. The following day, she woke up in a T-shirt with the words: "Still standing at 15!" So did I.
The following morning found us having a sumptuous brunch at Boracay Terraces Resort at the end of Station 1 with very young and very handsome owner Stevie Tajanlangit. Over tender garlic squid, boneless bangus, crab rice, chopsuey, steak ala pobre and fried chicken, we learned about Poka Bora, a huge property being developed in the island by Tajanlangit’s family.
Next, we headed towards Pink Patio where owners Charlie Uy and Kelly Boncan served us mussel soup with seaweeds, king crabs in Szechuan sauce with leeks and steamed tiger prawns were simply fantabulous.
At Friday’s Resort, we enjoyed the succulent lamb kebabs, couscous, pastas, salads, to name some, courtesy of charming manager Philippe Bartholomi. Our last night found us dancing at Henry Chusuey’s unique disco in Boracay Regency, where numerous aquariums decorated the walls.
Indeed, as my sister Michelle attested, Boracay is heaven on earth. So what are you waiting for?