Tag: Boracay

Our OM BAR Experience in Boracay

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Whenever we’d go to Boracay, we always pass by this fun and happening place called OM Bar. A few years ago, before the pandemic, when we toured Visayas with Mahal’s elder sister from Belgium, we were able to experience it. Mahal’s sister took care of the expenses so we were lucky. We went in and just had a cocktail.

Then just recently, as we were doing our 2-week Boracay vacation (where we celebrated Valentine’s Day, my 45th Birthday, and parts of our honeymoon), we noticed that OM Bar looks bigger now and more exciting. So we decided to experience it once again, but this time, we’ll order a lot of food, try some of their cocktails, and shisha too! They usually require an entrance fee of about P500 or so I think from 7 pm onwards so we decided to come in early just before sunset so we can parteyyyyy to the maxxx!!!!

Here’s the vlog I made about our OM Bar Boracay experience. Enjoy!

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Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay – My 45th Birthday

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It’s been a whirlwind of a ride since we got married in a civil ceremony… one celebration after another and constant traveling. We’re actually in the middle of our month-long (or so…) honeymoon trip in the Visayas, part of which is my 45th birthday celebration in Crimson Resort and Spa here in Boracay. I just want to share the vlog I managed to create while vacationing. I’ll try to come up with more posts once this busyness is over. But I think with our beach wedding looming in the horizon, it will really be a challenge to keep you updated here as much as I want to. Anyway, you can always check my Facebook and Instagram for more current updates. For now, here’s my birthday vlog I wanted to share here:

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Cabugao Gamay

How to Avoid Travel Burnout When Traveling With a Group

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Hello from Boracay! It’s already the month of August, known as the “Ghost Month” (kaway-kaway sa mga Bea-Gerald-Julia followers jan… yeah, I’ve been following their drama too, lol!)  and I just found some time to check my blog. We’ve been traveling from Cagayan de Oro to Oslob, then to Dumaguete, Bacolod, Iloilo and Boracay, then Antique, then back to Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete, then Oslob again. I thought of continuing the 3rd part of my Boracay Series since I am here once again on one of the world’s best islands but I feel like I must share with you first this topic that I’ve only experienced now.

Let us define first the word “BURNOUT”:

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demand  (Reference: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/burnout-prevention-and-recovery.htm)

Don’t get me wrong. I love traveling! I’ve been doing this since I was 6 years old and I love the entire process of it — from planning our activities and itinerary, to listing down the clothes and accessories that I am going to wear (I like prepping 2-3 sets of clothes a day: one in the morning, one in the afternoon, one in the evening), to unpacking everything when we get to our destination and doing it all over again when we get home. Traveling is just one of my passions and I don’t think I will ever stop, not until I really have to due to old age. Teehee. So, it came as a surprise to me when all of a  sudden I feel so burnt out from all the traveling we’ve been doing. Has this ever happened to you as well?

So, how do we avoid travel burnout when traveling with a group, especially with our extended family? Continue reading →

Angol beach, Boracay

Boracay – Things to Do, Where to Eat, How Much to Spend PART 2/5

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It has been a loooong but nonetheless exciting day leading up to this post. This was supposed to be published yesterday but because of the demands of my client work, I had to work for 18 hours straight (with small meal breaks in between, and yes, I haven’t taken a bath in two days now) to finish all of my deadlines. Mahal had to take Tuz with him as he did his errands for his upcoming DTI business presentation, revalida and graduation (which is today) so I can focus on my tasks. By the time I was done working (I worked from 5am to 12 midnight), Mahal requested to use my computer to finish his business presentation in Keynote. His own Macbook Pro got busted by Tuz last year and we haven’t had the budget to have it repaired yet. It will cost him half the price of a new Macbook so he might just as well buy a brand new, none-Apple one. My old Acer and Asus laptops lasted me 4-5 years before. His Macbook Pro only lasted him a year, thanks to our toddler who kept on banging it, it finally gave up. Lolz!

Anyway, enough chitchat.

This is Part 2 of my 5-Part Boracay – Things to Do, Where to Eat, How Much to Spend  blog post.

Do read Part 1 first to give you a more wholistic picture of our travel experiences in Boracay. It details the first to third day of our 16-day Boracay getaway. Here’s the link:

BORACAY – THINGS TO DO, WHERE TO EAT, HOW MUCH TO SPEND PART 1/5

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s continue with Days 4-6. Oh, and please be warned, there will be a ton of photos! I’ve already curated these ones here so just imagine the hundreds of photos I had to go through to finally choose the ones I’m publishing here. That’s coz one of my life’s goals is to keep documenting our life together through pictures and videos. This reminds me to also update my Youtube channel soon. ^_^

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Boracay

Boracay – Things to Do, Where to Eat, How Much to Spend PART 1/5

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I don’t believe in work-life balance. For me, there is no such thing as this is work on one side, then there’s my life on the other side. Most of us work 8-10 hours a day, sometimes even more for those who are a workaholic like me or those who simply love their jobs and businesses. So, does that mean that we have no life? No way! Instead, I resonate more with the term “work-life blend”. I choose to live my life where everything I do is according to my own design. I love to work, I love to be with my family and we love to travel every chance we get. My work is my life and so is my family and everything we do together. That’s the work-life blend for me.

Anyway, I just have to say that out loud to give you a proper perspective on a digital nomad’s life like mine because, on this post, you will see what I actually do during so-called “vacations” and family trips.

You can read first my Boracay-related posts before you go ahead with this one. It will give you a more perfect picture of how I am able to visit Boracay almost every year for days and weeks at a time (which I’ve been doing since 2004).

BONUEVA HOME GUESTHOUSE – BORACAY CHEAP ROOM

BORACAY 2019 – WHAT’S NEW? HERE ARE THE DOS’ AND DON’TS, UPDATED LIST OF AUTHORIZED AND ACCREDITED HOTELS, GOVERNMENT FEES, AND MORE!

EXPERIENCE THE NEW BORACAY – A VLOG – CHECK IT OUT!

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get on with my post. This is going to be exciting! Coz every time I write about my travel experiences (or any experience for that matter), I feel like I am reliving those days. Teehee. This is also going to be a long post! So prepare some popcorn! Lol! I’ll divide this long post into 5 shorter ones, 3 days each. I’ve been doing this Part 1 post for 5 hours now because I had to sift through a ton of photos, resize them, put watermarks and upload them, that it’s going to take forever if I finish this all today!

Let’s go!

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Cokaliong Shipping Lines

Cokaliong Shipping Lines – a Review

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I’m on my 11th consecutive day of blogging which started last June 24 when I wrote that post about being a sleep-deprived mom, and the pressure is getting real, lol! I’ve actually started working on a post about Boracay more than two hours ago. I’ve already published 2 Boracay posts before…

BORACAY 2019 – WHAT’S NEW? HERE ARE THE DOS’ AND DON’TS, UPDATED LIST OF AUTHORIZED AND ACCREDITED HOTELS, GOVERNMENT FEES, AND MORE!

EXPERIENCE THE NEW BORACAY – A VLOG – CHECK IT OUT!

…and there are still at least two more about our summer vacation I want to share with you. But until now, I’m not even halfway through my draft yet! There are just so many photos and videos to sift through and I would need 24 hours of focus to do it which I can’t afford right now since Mahal is asleep and Tuz is being his hyperactive self. I still have deadlines I set for myself at work because I’ll be going to the farm this weekend to take care of our vegetable beds and to do another round of cleanup and redecoration for our bedroom and lounge area in the old farmhouse.

So, I went back and forth for a few minutes between finishing my next Boracay blog post to doing a totally different one when I just decided to tell you about this shipping line we rode on our way to Boracay — COKALIONG SHIPPING LINE. The pictures I took here were the first ones that came up as I was reviewing this trip of ours to paradise. So why not just focus on Cokaliong, right? You might be someone in the Philippines or planning to do boat trips in the Philippines, you might be wondering what shipping line is best to take.

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New Boracay

Experience the New Boracay – a VLOG – Check it Out!

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In case you haven’t been to the “new” Boracay and you’re planning to visit, here’s what you need to know…

Head to my previous blog post for all the juicy details. You would want to be in the know, trust me!

Boracay 2019 – What’s New? Here are the Dos’ and Don’ts, Updated List of Authorized and Accredited Hotels, Government Fees, and More!

I’ve also just published a related Boracay VLOG so you can see all the related video snippets we took during our stay. Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/71tIac5KS_4  

Or you can watch it here…

Do subscribe if you find it helpful.

That’s all for now! More posts about travel tips soon. I’ll be in touch. 🙂

New Boracay

Boracay 2019 – What’s New? Here are the Dos’ and Don’ts, Updated List of Authorized and Accredited Hotels, Government Fees, and More!

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Mahal, Tuz and I have just spent 16 days and 15 nights in Boracay and boy, oh, boy, were we so glad we finally visited this paradise I consider one of my second homes! (Siargao and Oslob are the other two).

Here’s a little background on how Boracay became my second home: https://wp.me/p7jAsu-pa

If you were like me who haven’t been to Boracay right after it opened again last October 26, 2018, there are a few important things you might need to know before visiting this paradise again. After all, Boracay is touted to be the best island in the world according to the following:

Gulf News –

“Boracay landed the first  place in Conde Nast’s “Best Island in the World” category, while “Cebu and Visayan Islands” and Palawan ranked second and third place, respectively.” –  https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/philippines/its-official-worlds-top-3-best-islands-are-in-philippines-1.2177580

Top 2 in Asia according to 2018 Readers’ Choice Award –

“The aptly named White Beach is Boracay’s main draw, with powdery white sand and shallow azure water ideal for swimming and snorkeling.” – https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2014-10-20/top-30-islands-in-the-world-readers-choice-awards-2014

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gratitude

Attitude of Gratitude: A Decade of VA Life

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It’s nearing the end of the year and as I was looking back at the events that transpired this year, it made me look even further back… back to when I was still struggling in the corporate world, doing a job I wasn’t happy with, like many people do, with all the commute, traffic, office politics,  and stress that come with it. And I thank God for that fateful day as I was drowning while surfing the huge waves of La Union back in Dec. 16, 2007. Right then and there I told God that “should I survive these huge waves, Lord, I will quit my job and finally do what I wanted to do — be free”. And that’s what I did the next day! And I never looked back. Even my million peso retirement was not processed by me… someone else did because I didn’t want to even physically go back to my old workplace out of the emotional and mental trauma it caused me. When I say no to something, I really mean it. I didn’t want to be persuaded otherwise.

This was me ten years ago when I posted about doing freelance work for my very first VA client: Continue reading →

Bonueva Home

Bonueva Home Guesthouse – Boracay Cheap Room

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I consider Boracay my second home. If you go to my old Sexynomad blog, you’ll find that I have a total of 30 posts there just talking about my various Boracay experiences all these years beginning 2004.  Here’s the link if you want to visit: http://www.sexynomad.blogspot.com/search/label/Boracay

I started visiting Boracay in 2004 when I first bought a Club Membership at The Panoly or better known as Club Panoly then. It was a ten-year membership that cost me my beach wedding savings of P250,000 which I thought could be better spent enjoying unlimited vacations in Club Panoly’s resort in Boracay and its other RCI affiliates worldwide. Unfortunately, the resort had some legal battles sometime 2009-2010 so suffice it to say that I only got to maximize my money’s worth for 5 years instead of ten years. After that, it was all budget accommodation for me. I got so guilty for spending such huge amount of money on a luxury club membership that didn’t hold true to its promises. Don’t get me wrong though, those five years with them were pure bliss every time I’d stay in their posh resort and other affiliates because they were still properly maintained at that time. The main resort had free shuttle service, butlers everywhere, nice amenities… the works! I’m not sure if at present they’re still in operation. I might give them a call one day and ask if I can refund the other 5 years of my supposed 10-year membership. Hmmm.

Anyway, after that long stint of luxury Boracay stay, I decided to still continue going to Boracay because I honestly fell in love with its fine white sands, amazing sunsets and exciting vibe. But this time around, I’ll visit Boracay on a budget… Continue reading →