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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