Philippines, Part 1

To say that I have fallen in love with the Philippines would be a major understatement. I posted on Facebook the other day that I never want to leave! In my opinion Boracay has the best overall beach that we have visited. The pictures will have to do the talking because words to describe how perfect it is escape me. But not only is the scenery beautiful, the people are so friendly as well. They are so nice and welcoming and love having us here.
Day 1: We left our friends in Singapore and took a flight to Manila where we stayed the night. We didn't see much of the city as it took us awhile to get to our hotel, so we just went out for dinner and called it a night early.

Day 2: After being dropped off at the wrong airport, we eventually made our way to our correct spot and boarded this turbo prop plane. It shook a lot and I tried not to let myself think about the last time it had been serviced! They had to weigh us with our carry on bags so they knew where to seat us in the plane to keep the weight balanced.
After we landed we took a small boat to the island of Boracay and then took a tricycle (a motorbike with a sidecar large enough for us and our luggage) to our hotel in the hills. We decided not to stay right on the beach (don't ask) and the views we had from our room were amazing. This is from our balcony on night one.
After hanging out at our pool when we checked in, we grabbed a drink by the pool that night and then headed to d'mall, the heart of the beach area, and had dinner right on the beach. For under $20 I might add!
If your hotel does not have a shuttle to d'mall, there are no taxis so you have to take a tricycle. From the beach to our hotel it cost us around 100 pesos which is roughly $2.50.
Day 3: Our first night there we met a Filipino family that was vacationing at our hotel for the weekend and they really took a liking to us. When they left the next morning they wanted to take a picture with "the foreigners".
We then headed back down to the beach and walked the length of it. It is not too long so it took us an hour or so. But I could have done it all day.
The Philippines is predominately Catholic, so it did not seem out of the place to find this shrine to the Virgin Mary on a rock in the middle of the beach. Finding the culture displayed in so many different ways is what I am loving about traveling.
We spent the rest of the day at the beach and then watched the most unbelievable sunset.
Day 4: More of this....
And this....
Day 5: More of this...

Lots of this...

And this....
Followed by drinks at the Hobbit House, a restaurant staffed only by little people.
Day 6: We woke up to this view from our hotel and then sadly headed to the airport for our flight back to Manila where we will be spending a few days.
Notes of interest: it really made me sad to think that Bali could be this beautiful but isn't. For anyone that has any desire to go to Bali, please reconsider and come to the Philippines!

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Location:Boracay