Post-Christmas Budget Beach Trip: Agwawan Beach, Mariveles

“Today is a good day” was what I was thinking on the bus ride back to Cubao. It was a day after Christmas when we took to Cubao terminal stations (because a lot of bus stations going both Northern and Southern Philippines can be found at Quezon City, Cubao) with a random plan: take a bus to somewhere to, ultimately, find a beach and spend the afternoon tanning in the warm December sea breeze.

We took the Bataan Transit bus (found at Five Star Bus Terminal) bound for Mariveles, Bataan. One of my friends says he’s been to Marivelez, at Aguawan Beach, and that, since we’re on a budget, the place will be more than worth our money for a day trip—not to mention the people there are really nice and hospitable. Great then! Aguawan, here we come!

The bus trip cost 280PHP (6-7USD), one way. It’s a 3-4 hour ride from Manila; longer if you take a bus that will have stopovers along the way. We had one stopover but from what I heard, some buses make more, especially tour-centric trips. The bus trip ended at the Mariveles Bus terminal in the mainland and market district. Thereafter, we took a tricycle ride to Aguawan Beach.

We got to Aguawan Beach and stayed at Light Family (I assume this is the name of the resort because of the titular “relief” that greeted us). The beach wasn’t anything “dreamy,” like most other (more) popular beach destinations in the Philippines but it wasn’t shabby, too. It was… down to earth. The people were kind and helpful, to boot. It was like staying with family more than it was a vacation trip. Sure, the sand weren’t as white as Boracay’s or Puerto Princesa, but we had the luxury of quiet time, privacy, and unadulterated waters.

The ocean was clean on this part of the Philippines, very unlike the beaches in and around Subic and Olongapo. The water is clear but if you kick the sand a little too hard, it’ll murk up—which is natural. Any deeper where you no longer could get the sand to block your vision, all your left is just clear water and maybe a fish or two. Even opening your eyes underwater doesn’t hurt. The water is less saline on this beach.

Since it was a day trip, we didn’t bother to ask for how much overnight accommodations cost (sorry), but we did get a quaint cottage that could accommodate at least 6 people. The cottage cost 200PHP (5-6USD) for a full 24 hours. The locals were even so generous as to provide us with cutlery and free use of a grill since we brought raw fish and were asking how much to rent a grill. We invited them over to have lunch with us.

After a hearty lunch while sharing stories with the locals and fooling around at the beach, we got together with two very energetic kids who were offering to provide us with trekking assistance. To our surprise, the two kids were trekkers themselves and they both didn’t look any older than 12!

Halfway through the trek, as we were reaching higher ground, we found that the terrain became much steeper and hard to climb. Funny thing was that, in our “Calvary” suffering, the two kids didn’t seem to be phases at all. I didn’t get the chance to watch closely but they seemed to climb up ahead of us “without breaking a sweat” all too quite literally. OK, so we thought the view from the beach was a little average. Getting on the top of the mountain however was divine. You could see almost the whole of the peninsula and a lot of townships. Lucky for us, we got there just almost before sunset.

After trekking back down to the beach, we took a quick bath and readied to go home, just the same way we came. It was evening when we reached Manila but throughout that 4 hour ride, “today is a good day” kept repeating in my mind.

This article was brought to us by: Last Minute Travel Booking

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How to Make a Beach Vacation Legen—wait for it… DARY!

Before we start talking about tropical Palawan destinations or cheap Boracay packages, let’s first pay homage to the guy who inspired this article…

suit and tie required

Ok, now that’s over, let’s first get to what makes a beach vacation legendary (*disclaimer: this is for party goers. If you guys want to chill, watch out for the next installment). Two things make any beach party legendary and those two are boozing and hooking-up so in 3 items, we’ll try to sum up everything awesome to do around surf, sand, and celebration.

Getting your Booze On

If you’re out for a beach party, make sure you’re at a beach well known for its night life. There are certain beaches where you go to for ambiance (Palawan, Panglaw), and then there are beaches you go to to get grinding. Two things you have to consider about a beach bar: 1. It has to have a sweet deal on the drinks and 2. It has to have an amazing party vibe.

If you ever find yourself at Puerto Galera, that’s probably the most night-lifey-est beach there is; booze doesn’t even need a discount, it’s too damn cheap there—priced almost like your typical inuman back home but with free live entertainment. At Boracay, be sure to check out Cocomangas Shooter Bar. They don’t give you discounted beer, they hand you a free one! But only during their happy hour; still a pretty rockin’ deal actually.

Get your Game On

Because summer is supposed to be legendary, you want to go home with a hook-up. For chicks, it’s pretty easy—all the play you need (according to Barney Stinson’s The Playbook) is to stare at a guy and hook up. For guys, it’s much more complicated. For the benefit of the gentlemen out there, here are a couple of plays you can, uhm… play to get a girl. Here are some plays paraphrased from the actual The Playbook (Barney Stinson & Matt Khun, Touchstone Publishing):

                The “Don’t Drink That”

Very mindfully set up camp near your target. When your target goes to the restroom and comes back, just before she takes a drink say “don’t drink that!” and say how someone slipped something in said drink. When asked who, say that they left or point to a friend whom you want to play a prank on. Offer to buy her a drink and go smooth sailing from there on.

                The “Hot Dude”

The Playbook says that this has a 100% chance of success. Only three steps are required: be a dude, look hot (sport a swimmer’s body pr’olly), get the girl.

                The “Shotgun”

Only for the strong at heart, The Shotgun is about as straightforward as a dog humping your guest’s leg: just approach your target, ask if she will have sex with you, and repeat the cycle until you get a yes. .25% success rate but hey, you aren’t playing lottery, your trying to hook up! Go for it!

Get your Booze AND Game On!!

Because if there are two things in the world that can combine boozing and hooking up, it’s parlor games! To break the ice, start a game inside a beach bar. Most engrossing is the beer pong but that’s for getting the attention. What you really want to get to is the game called Suck and Blow. You just pass a card along using your mouth and just your mouth so you’re either “sucking” it to not let if fall or “blowing” on it to pass it on. If it falls, you have to kiss with the person you failed to do suck and blow with. This is where you go for diskarte, if you know what I mean.

How ‘bout you, how do you get you beach groove on? 

This article was brought to you by: Last Minute Travel Booking

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Is the Beach considered a Desert?

 I could reply with a one word answer to that but I need to expound on the differences first.

My friend recently just came from the Middle East, in and around the desert regions of Dubai. According to him, the streets were scorching during the mornings most especially in the height of the afternoon. Houses had air-conditioning so you didn’t feel the difference indoors. During the night, the air changes—everything becomes icy, almost as scalding as afternoons but only with cold.

I however, in the most recent summer, availed a Boracay hotel package and went. It was hot (weather and ambience wise) at the beach; hot sun, warm beach breach, hot bodies left and right—hot. Just, hot. It was, as I’d imagine, not as hot as the desert; a sustainable kind of heat, that is. Although, with the setting of the sun and the length the night, because Boracay is all about the night life, the temperature never let up. Only around 4am but only up to about 7am did the air become cool and I know this because we never went to sleep.

Why is this? They’re both desert looking, right? Why do their temperature patterns differ?

One key point is their definition. Beaches are places where the sea meets the earth. Deserts, however are defined by barrenness and dryness. Keyword: dryness.

Deserts have fluctuating and extreme temperatures because there is very little water (precipitation) in the air as opposed to a beach. Since water has a very high constant temperature, the lack of precipitation in the air means that the temperature will rise or drop instantaneously from sun heat or wind temperature alone. The heat in Boracay is constant because of the water in the air; the heat only last as long as there’s a source. Even the Arctic is called a desert because the precipitation has turned into unusable ice.

So the next time you go to the beach and the heat gets to you, don’t go for a second think that it’s like being in the desert.

This article was brought to you by: Last Minute Travel Booking

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Feeling Ocean Waves when you Sleep?

Upon availing affordable Boracay packages, the things that you get include going and returning tickets, hotel (and buffet) with the hotel’s matching amenities, an island tour, and beach activities. Typically. What you didn’t know though, is that you also get psychological trauma!

Just kidding. But you know the feeling, don’t you? After a long day of swimming at the beach, by the time that you’re already sleeping, you feel as if you’re still floating atop the cradle of waves although, all of which feels almost too real but are actually happening in your brain as lucid dreams.

This lucid dreaming and/or probably vivid hallucination while in the state of half-sleep is called hypnagogia.

Hypnagogia may be characterized by being in a half-asleep/half-awake state followed by cognitive re-experiencing of previous activities in some instance. There are also other characterizations of hypnagogia but we’ll focus on this one and this one is specifically called the Tetris Effect.

Awesome

Originally, the effect happens because of repetition of a single monocyclic activity that re-manifests itself during half sleep as visions that are almost too real. It’s like playing tetris for too long that your start to see the world and everything in it as tetriminos that you eventually start to visualize moves and combos until you fall asleep and continue to dream about said moves and combos.

The effect is not however purely visual or rooted in monotonous and repetitive activities. Activities that powerfully stimulate the body and the mind may linger in nerve memory and manifest themselves during sleep thus the feeling for swimming albeit being asleep on a dry and otherwise moving bed.

And no, it isn’t something to worry about. It’s a perfectly normal nervous response. Much like feeling that you crashed onto something upon waking up because you were previously dreaming that you were falling. It happens and you don’t have brain trauma. Now go on ahead and enjoy the beach.

This article is brought to us by: Last Minute Travel Booking

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5 Common Pinoy types of Photos when Vacationing (Part 2)

Continuation of last week's post...

Awkward Faraway Photos

Because there’s shade where the photographer is at and there isn’t where the subject is. Plus, the zoom makes the picture look really, really bad.

Unlike this one

Also, it could also be because the photographer either can’t come to the water or the camera isn’t water proof. Or the photographer is in the shade still.

And, since there are a number of nipples already present in the photo…

Food and Fools Photos

And, yes, sometimes these could be the most awkward and yet the most memorable ones because there are a lot of skin both from people and from pork liempo AND it’s probably happy drunk hour by then.

And although most of the above items, be it that they take up most of the albums, are also some the ones you go through to look back on and reminisce. Some outstanding photos that you grab to make as profile pictures that merits a “ay! ang ganda nito(whoa! this is nice)” will never compare to the memories and laughs a “mukha kang ewan dito(you look like a fool on this one)” Kodak moment can dish out.

If you missed part 1, you can read it here.

This article is brought to us by: Last Minute Travel Booking

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5 Common Pinoy types of Photos when Vacationing

Of course there will always be new trends when taking pictures on vacation. Just very recently, the internet exploded from all the GoPro monopad photographs here and about. But monopad perspectives, jump shots, and very cool surfboarding photo aren’t the majority of the photos we end up with after the whole trip. Actually, most of the photos that fall common on almost every Facebook vacation album might include illustrations of

Travel Ticket Photos

Say you want to go and avail affordable Boracay packages, or low Cebu airfares, what’s the initial thing you do after deciding and then going for it? You take a photo, of course! And then caption the photo with something introductory and semi-vague like “all ready for the long weekend!”

On The Way Photos

These photos mostly do not have captions, are sometimes pretty “shakily” taken (especially those that shall be hence included in an album), and could sometimes look like just general traveling instead of an actual vacation photo. Single Instagram on-the-way photos, however, are calculated and thus can be captioned with “excited to get on the plane” and such.

…or who you’re staying with; if there’s a best time to take photos of your friends being at their most vulnerable, it’s during their sleep.

To be continued... 

This article was brought to you by: http://lastminutetravelbooking.com/

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10 Things to Do in Boracay Part 2 (Pinaka Edition)

It's been 2 weeks when I last updated my blog. So today, I give you a continuation of the last post 10 Things to do in Boracay.

Top 6 to Top 1: 

6. Mountain Biking

image source: junvillegas.blogspot.com

Aside from ATVs, one of the best ways to explore Boracay is through mountain biking. Mountain biking is an activity which helps you to stay fit, helps the environment and lessen the traffic congestions in Boracay. Renting a bike in Boracay will cost you P150/hour.

In 2012, the Boracay mountain club and rescue group were also formed in the island. Aside from being bike hobbyists, they are also involved in different activities to help the people, government and nature. Some of their involvements are tree planting, medical missions, etc.

5. Kite Boarding

image source: mylifeinboracay.wordpress.com

The best and safest place to go kite boarding here in Boracay is in the Bahari. Owned by the famous host and sports enthusiast Marc Nelson, Bahari is a boutique kite boarding resort in the Union Bay, Boracay. A full course in Kite Boarding is only 3-5 days of training.

According to Marc, aside from needing a good wind and shallow water, the secret of kite boarding is to understand the wind.

4. Go Karting

image source: global-drifter.blogspot.com

Started in 2010, Go Karting is now one of the most exciting activities in the island. This is perfect for speed lovers and driving enthusiasts. For a span of 15 minutes, you can race with your friends on a 700m racetrack.

3. Mermaid Lessons

image source: www.taringa.net

Did you ever dreamed to be a mermaid? Worry not because dreams do come true. Located here in Boracay is the Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy. Here you can learn different strokes, kicks that are used by mermaids. Trainings for adults will be for 2 hours and 3-4 hours for kids. After training, you can wear your mermaid costume and swim.

2. Crown Regency Water Park

image source: theislandexplorer.blogspot.com

One of the newest attractions in Crown Regency Resort is the Wave Pool and the Wave Rider. Using the resort’s wave pool and wave rider, you can learn surfing, wake boarding or even skim boarding in the safest way.

1.       Cliff diving

image source: www.lifewaitsfornoone.com

Probably the most exciting activity here in Boracay is cliff diving at Ariel’s point. Built in 2008, it offers fun activities to enjoy such as snorkeling, kayaking, hiking and swimming. This comes in an affordable package that costs P1500 per person with all the activities you can enjoy and all the drinks that you can have.

Thanks for reading! Follow my blog for more posts. Maybe this would be enough reason for you to try and visit Boracay. 

If you're planning to visit Boracay, you can click here. 

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10 Things to Do in Boracay (Ang Pinaka Edition part 1)

In today’s post, I will be telling you about a video that I’ve watched in Youtube that features the most fantastic and fun things to do to enhance your Boracay experience. It is an episode of Ang Pinaka, a news and variety show of GMA News TV hosted by Rovilson Fernandez, along with his co-hosts, Maey and Bentong. This particular episode aired last March 14, 2013.

To wrap it all up, these are the 10 Fun Things to do in Boracay:

10. Helmet Diving

image source: www.driftwoodjourneys.com

Also known as reef walking, it allows anyone to walk underwater while feeding school of fishes. The helmet weighs almost 25 kilos and looks like a giant fish bowl.  It is primarily invented for the pleasure of those who want to experience scuba diving but doesn’t know how to swim.

9. Drive the ATV

image source: blog.mangotours.com

If you wanted to see the view of Boracay you can rent an ATV or a dune buggy. Technically, if you want to drive an ATV in the Metro you will need a driver’s license to do so. But here in Boracay, with just a brief introduction and training, you can ride an ATV and you are good to go.

With the use of an ATV, you will be on an uphill road adventure until you reach a stopover then a stair will lead you to a tower where you can see all the beautiful sceneries in Boracay.

8. Island Hopping

image source: pinayforeverythingpinoy.blogspot.com

Through island hopping, you can explore different beaches and caves. Once you hop in an island, you can go snorkeling and/or sightseeing. One of the best beaches to explore here in Boracay is the Puka beach. Many tourists considered Puka as one of the best places to swim here because there is little to no presence of algae. It is also the best place to shop as many souvenir shops are in the area.

Island Hopping Boat Rent Prices:

• Small boat - P2000 for 3 hours.
•  Medium boat – P3000
•  Big boat – P4500

7. Sunset Cruise

image source: lilyanwei.wordpress.com

Started in 2006, you will have the opportunity to see the Boracay sunset. Boat rides are available every day from 11-1 pm and 12-4 pm. Aside from the sunset view, this trip could show you the beauty of marine life because the flooring of the boat has a transparent glass for viewing. It is advisable to do this activity in the late afternoon because the weather is better, the marine life is quite visible underneath and there is the breathtaking view of a beautiful sunset.

To be continued…10 Things to Do in Boracay (Ang Pinaka Edition part 2)

This article was brought to us by: Boracaygo- a company who offer affordable hotel packages in Boracay in 2014.

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Boracay of the South: Lemlunay Beach

Boracay is really a popular destination that even beaches from other places would be proud to be named after it. This was evident in Sarangani where one of its beaches was named “Boracay of the South”. Featured in Matanglawin, the beach of Lemlunay, Sarangani shows an enticing row of white sand beaches and azure waters which can be compared to the world class beaches of Boracay. 

Popular in this area is the Lemlunay diving spot, “Lemlunay” which comes from the tribe T’boli which means “Paraiso” or paradise. In a depth of 5 meters, you can experience a different kind of adventure in the underwater world. Present here are different underwater creatures of fishes and corals that are supposed to be found 100 meters below sea level.

Before 2009, majority of the coral reefs in Sarangani were found dead until it was revived and artificial coral reefs are put into place.  In 2013, 4000 coral reef domes where placed in Maasim Bay, Sarangani and was made of cement and organic materials which served as temporary shelters for many fishes in the place.    

Also, featured in a TV show Kris TV was one of the beaches there from Glan, Sarangani. 

This article is brought to you by: BoracayGo.com - a company who provides the most affordable packages in 2014. 

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Guess this Place in Boracay

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Have you been to Boracay before? If you are a regular tourist of the island, you will guess this place easily. This place is the most famous shopping center in Boracay. This open air establishment is a one-stop-shop which sells beach wears, lamps, woodcarvings and souvenir items like shirts, key chains and others.

Apart from its souvenir stalls and others, they are also a venue of some of the famous restaurant in Boracay. Some restaurants here are: Hama, Aria, Cyma and many more.

This article is brought to you by: BoracayGo.com- a website that offers affordable packages to Boracay.

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How to Treat Sea Urchin Stings

Three days ago, my friends and I were out of town on one of the popular beaches here in the Philippines. It was a long waited vacation as plans to the nearest resorts in our home town were usually not going through. Finally, it became a reality when one of my college barkada thought of an idea of going outside Bulacan. He reserved a 2 days one night package. It was a fun packed vacation until I accidentally stepped on a sea urchin wandering underneath the sea. According to the article that I’ve read over the internet, sea urchins usually goes to the shallow sandy parts of the sea or just hiding under the crevices of the corals.

Sea Urchins by: elle-ellestinkertoes.blogspot.com

If you got stung by a sea urchin, these are the steps that you should follow:

Remove the Spines

                   First step you’ve got to do is to remove the spine as quickly as possible. The best way to remove it is by using tweezers, using this tool you can remove all the spines inside your foot. It will somehow alleviate pain once the spines are slowly removed.  If you do not have tweezers, you can just your finger nails or fingers to remove it. If you can’t remove it by your finger nails, you can choose to leave it that way or cut it by a nail cutter which leaves smaller portions of spines under your feet.

Soak Affected Area with Vinegar/Hot Water

                After removing the spines or even with spines in, soak or wash the affected with vinegar. Soak it from 30-40 minutes. Sources from the net says that vinegar help in dissolving the spines and alleviating the pain on the affected area. If you do not have vinegar, you can use warm water as an alternative.

Wash it Water and Soap

                Finally, wash it to water and soap and put an anti-bacterial cream if possible. This step will ensure that you’ll be able to walk with it without infections.

                As for my own experience, I just did steps one and two, though worst is I didn’t have tweezers with me so I just cut it with nail cutter. I washed my affected with vinegar for 30 minutes and it’s like magic! Soreness was gone instantly.   

                This article was brought to you by: Boracay Go- a website who’s into affordable Boracay Packages.

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Philippines, a Hidden Paradise on the Other Side of the Globe

Yesterday, as I was browsing the net, I found a great article in Yahoo that triggered my curiosity.

When I saw the title and the description it made me more excited and questions instantly popped inside of my head and started thinking. Why do these international celebrities find time to visit the Philippines in spite of their busy schedule? 

source: ph.yahoo.com

Why do they love the Philippines? What are the things that makes them comeback of the country in spite of the negative news that are circulating around the globe?

                I clicked the article, and read positive reviews about the different places that they love about our country and these are just two their reasons:

One celebrity that visited Palawan twitted: “Thank you to the AMAZING staff at Amanpulo in the Philippines for the most relaxing, gorgeous holiday. #paradise,” her caption read.

The other celebrity that visited Boracay twitted: “Merry Christmas from the beautiful island of Boracay.”he says.

                Based on the celebrities’ reasons, they have one thing in common, they loved the Philippines because of its majestic beauty and its friendly people. For the full story, you can read this article here:Spots International Celebrities Love.

This article is brought to you by: BoracayGo.com-a website that offers affordable Boracay Packages in 2014.

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Featured Resort: The Palms of Boracay

Included in Boracay Go's affordable packages is its hotel partner The Palms of Boracay in station 1. It is an elegant resort that gives you a great value for your money. Though the place is not overlooking the sea it has a large pool just in front of its rooms.

In the video, first featured here is its native Reception Area and upstairs is the Bar Lounge area which looks down the restaurant and the Lobby. Upstairs is the bar, it has a huge glass window which lets the light to enter and outside is a wooden table overlooking the pool area.

All the rooms in the Palms of Boracay Resort is luxurious enough to suit your needs. Almost all the suites here have modern amenities included. Here are the suites available and its features: 

Two bedroom suite

Features:

• Large king sized bed
• Small Dining Table Facing a Large Window
• Modern amenities:

-Flat Screen TV with Cable channels

-Air conditioning System

2^nd room

Features:

• You have an option to choose a Queen sized bed or twin bed.
• Living area with beautiful furnishings (sofa with foam).
•  Full Kitchen

-Full sized ref

-Large stove

-microwave

-tea kettle

• Entertainment Area

-Large flat screen TV

-DVD Player

• Water dispenser
• Kettle for your coffee
• Bathroom with porcelain sink and marble walls.
• Shower area with large porcelain tub.

 Studio suite w/ Balcony

Features:

• King sized bed
• Writing desk w/ free Bag from Palms
• Kitchenette, mini Ref, kettle
• Dining area good for 3 persons
•  Large sliding glass doors
• Living Area
• Spacious Bathroom with tub
• Flat Screen TV

 Studio Suite w/ Terrace

Features:      Sofa Area

• Terrace with small Coffee Table and 2 Chairs
• Dining Table
• Small Kitchenette with snacks and mini ref
• Bathroom with Vanity Mirror and Porcelain Tub

 2 bedroom/ loft style

Features:

·      Queen Bed

·     Split type air conditioning

·     Small couch and flat screen tv

·     Downstairs area

-Nice and spacious

-King size bed

-Spiral stair case kitchenette luggage rack flat screen tv

If you would just notice, all of the rooms in the Palms Boracay Resort are spacious that won’t let you feel claustrophobic. Aside from its spacious rooms, all the rooms are also fully furnished. Hope you enjoyed this open house preview of the Palms Boracay.

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An Open House Viewing of Willy’s Beach Resort Super Deluxe Room in Boracay

                 Today, I would like to share to you a video dubbed by Rick St. John, the founder of  boracaygo.com and WOW Philippines Travel Agency which both offers affordable Boracay Packages in 2014. 

Willy’s Beach Resort

                 

                Located at Boracay’s White Beach Resort in station 1, Willy’s is a beach front resort just a few meters away from the famous Willy’s rock, Boracay’s most photographed rock. From its reception area, just in front of it is a restaurant/bar. There, you can enjoy breeze of fresh air, eat your meals and even drink beers at night.

                Opposite the reception area, is the Super Deluxe Room. Outside, it has a veranda where you can relax and chill. Inside the room, you will see 1 single sized bed, 1 double sized bed, a refrigerator loaded with beverages, and a bathroom with shower and a shower door. 

                Aside from the Super Deluxe Room, they also offer the standard room and the deluxe room. For the standard room, they will give you a Queen sized bed and a sitting area on the second floor of the building. The sitting area, is open air where you can stay and sip a cup of coffee with your friends. For the deluxe room, included are the basic amenities with a Queen sized bed and a Twin bed plus a bathroom.

                So, that’s it. You can tune up for more open house videos from resorts here in Boracay.

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