This morning while having breakfast with my mom, a feature of Siargao, the surfing capital of the Philippines, was shown on TV.
Mom: Daw wala pa ta da kakadto haw? (Parang di pa tayo pumupunta diyan ah.)
Martin: Wala man ta ga-surfing. (Hindi naman tayo nagsu-surfing eh.)
Mom: Oo gale no. Te where will we go naman this summer? (Oo nga no. O saan naman tayo pupunta ngayong summer?)
Martin: Boracay!
Mom: Boracay again? Somewhere we haven't been to naman...like Palawan.
Martin: Pwede. Kagamo na man sa Boracay. It's not like before anymore when it was really a "survivor" type island. (Ang gulo na rin sa Boracay.)
Mom: Sadya to mga adventures naton no? Subong ya lain na guid. (Ang saya noong mga adventures natin no? Ngayon iba na talaga.)
Then I started reminiscing my first few Boracay trips. Iba na nga talaga ngayon. I decided to take scans of pictures of my past Boracay visits, and compare them to how Boracay looks at present. Here are a few.
Boracay 1989. My first time in Boracay, with my mom, lola, sister, and cousins. It was a USLS PALS board trip, and we stayed at Abram's Place. Bamboo cottages pa lang meron noon na wala pang kuryente, so we had to use oil lamps and mosquito nets at night. Namamalengke yung mom ko sa talipapa then she would have it grilled at our cottage. We were so fascinated then with how fine the sand was. We even tricked our lola to put sand in her coffee, telling her it was sugar. I remember walking to the outskirts of the island and finding huge rocks and caves. Sobrang daming foreigners noon na nagto-topless, na-pollute yung innocent mind ko.
Boracay 1991. My second time was with my bestfriend Anton's family and mine. We stayed at Pearl of the Pacific, na wala pang aircon rooms noon, but it had electricity for light na as I remember. I was still fascinated with the fine sand as you see in the pictures. Do you see Pier One or Cocomangas in the background? Probably not. Maybe 'coz they didn't exist yet. The rooms then were not as close to the shore, we had to walk a couple of meters more, unlike now when it's a stonethrow away. I remember visiting club panoly on the other side of the island during this trip.
Boracay 1994. This time I went with my family, my uncles, aunts, and cousins in my mother's side. We stayed at La Playa Blanca, which was owned by Tirol and Tirol. We kids made friends with a stray dog on the island, and named him Charlie, who followed us wherever we went, even when we swam. May pagka-remote island pa rin yung Boracay no'n, pero medyo dumadami na yung pumupuntang tao. Dun nauso yung Bazzura bar. Notice the shore, ang cute ng pagka-moist and shiny ng sand.
Boracay 1995. The following year, nainggit yung father's side relatives. So we went and stayed at Pearl of the Pacific, which had one of the first airconditioned rooms then (or maybe the first affordable ones haha). My mom and I woke up early one morning to take a long walk around the island, and I saw Charlie again who was still as friendly (and still a swimming dog!). Yeah that's me in the tiny speedos. And that's not a leprechaun. That's my cousin Beau.
Boracay 2001. Di ako nakabalik ng Boracay buong high school, I don't know why. The next time was during the summer after my first year in college. Father's side relatives pa rin, with my sister's friends JP, Poti, and Trisha. We stayed at rented houses in Diniwid Beach, a 10-minute walk away from boat station 1. My sister, cousins and I rode the banana boat, and the whole family rented a pumpboat and went island hopping. Ahh the financial perks of going with parents! This time buhay na yung mga bars like Cocomangas, pero wala pang Pier One. But then I wasn't able to go out that much at night 'coz wala kong kasamang ka-age ko aside from my cousins. This was the first time I saw establishments such as restaurants and shopping centers near the shore.
Boracay 2003. This was my first time to go to Boracay without my family. We had to manage our budget, which I think we did pretty well. Brice, Joe, and I went to Bacolod for 3 days, then stayed at Casa Camilla in Boracay for another 3 days. We made friends with Camilla, the daughter of the owner of the cottages we stayed in, and her friend Jessica, who were both from Connecticut. Wild na yung Boracay neto, with college students partying every night at Pier One. The beach was still as beautiful.
Boracay 2004. The following year, Brice, Joe and I did another Bacolod-Boracay summer bash, this time with those who weren't able to come the previous year, Marjoe, PJ and Richard. Mas pahirapan yung budget this time. We saw many of our college friends there who were also on vacation. Joe Faj was there on our first night. Our friends Patty and Negh stayed with us at our accomodation, again at Casa Camilla. John G, Nadia and Ai, and spent a couple of days and nights with us too. We went sailing around the island, stopping at the Puka Beach to take pictures. Crowded na talaga Boracay, pero masaya pa rin.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying pangit na yung Boracay ngayon; masarap lang mag-reminisce how it was before. Dati kase it was a quiet and peaceful vacation island; now it's a venue for a summer-long beach party. Tama yung mom ko when she said after our first Boracay trip, "after you've been to Boracay, there's gonna be no other beach." Wala talagang tatalo sa Boracay. I've grown to love this island through the years.
P.S. I cringe when I hear
cool people call it "Bora". It reminds me how commercialized the island already is.
