Destination Boracay - Travel information

Tropical island paradise, featuring the beautiful Boracay. A hop, skip and jump,... well, more like two flights and a bumboat ride. Just remember to travel light. There is a weight limit of 10kg for bags so leave your gold bars and nine inch heels at home. Flip flops and swimming togs essential though. Boracay is an island of the Philippines located approximately 315km south of Manila. Boracay is voted as having one of the best beaches in the world and is listed as one of the top five diving spots in the world. Postcards don’t lie. Picture perfect powdery white sand and crystal clear water did not disappoint.

Boracay does not have an airport and you would have to catch a flight either to Manila or Cebu to catch the connecting flight to Caticlan before jumping on a short motor-tricycle ride to the ferry terminal. A ten-minute bumboat ride ensures you arrive in Boracay in no time.

Boracay is approximately 7 km long, dog-bone shaped with the narrowest spot being less than a km wide and has a total land area of 10.32 square kilometres.

You will notice that there are no cars in Boracay. Main modes of transportation include mini-vans, motorbikes or one of the many motor-tricycle that just seem to pop up everywhere in the island. They are hired much like a taxi. You may hire one exclusively for yourself or share with other commuters who are going the same direction. The former which sets you back approximately A$3.50 for two people for a 15 min ride from the ferry terminal to our resort. The latter of course is even cheaper.

CURRENCY: Phillipino pesos (about A$1 x 43 pesos) or (about S$1 x 30)

ACCOMMODATION:

The Boracay tourist stretch is divided into three different sections - from the most basic of accommodation in Station 1 to the more exclusive and expensive properties in Station 3.

This is the interior of the Garden View Suite at the Boracay Beach Resort.

An exclusive five-star property built by popular Fillipino boxing star, "Pacman".

FOOD & BEVERAGE:

Check out the size of that breakfast.

Bamboo Lounge where you can sit back and relax with food and drinks. Cheap cocktail and a fire-dance performance each night.

Plenty of fresh live srump-dilli-umptious seafood.

Huge range of different types of food to suit different pallettes and plenty of scrump-dilli-umptious live seafood to choose from.

Special mention - The Rib Place. Great tasting food, very reasonable prices and friendly, helpful service.

WHAT'S THERE TO DO:

It's a small island but you are not likely to get bored. There are so many activities to choose from. Boracay is well known as a wind-surfing hotspot with board competitions held here yearly. Kite-surfing is also extremely popular. Boracay is also one of the top diving spots in the world. Zipline at Mt Luho, the highest peak in Boracay is a popular attraction. Licenced adventure companies also cater to eco tours, island hopping, horseback riding, mountain biking, stand up paddle, go-karts, segway,island tours, scuba diving, fishing, sailing, snorkelling, the list goes on.

For 600pps (approx A$14.00) for two hours, we hired our own motor-tricycle. Our driver, Bong took us to Mt Luho, the highest point in Boracay, the bat cave as well as lovely Puka Beach. On arrival near the bat cave, we hopped on to the back of a guide's motorbike. 700pps (approx A$16.30) for the guide's service and 50pps (approx A$1.15) for entry fee. The three of us sandwiched together racing over a km or so of farmland and two dilapidated basketball courts before walking another km or so to get to the bat cave. It was a very steep good two stories down the slippery rock cave before we reached the bottom. Sharing just one flash light in the pitch black cave, we took turns and walked blindly over bat poo and stood under the ceiling of hundreds of bats screeching and flying above us. All this in just our swimming costume and our flip flop with wedge heels no less. Not the most sensible gear. We may as well have done it like beauty queens in seven-inch heels. It was a miracle we did not break an ankle or fall and chip a tooth. And nevermind the dodgy looking snake lurking behind a rock. The luminous clear blue pool at the bottom of the cave looked so inviting for our hot, sticky, dirty bodies in the humid, stuffy cave. The only thing missing were lovely little mermaids. I wouldn't want to go in there when it's raining though. A flash flood would be fatal.

Boracay is a great holiday destination. It is perfectly safe. The skills of the massage ladies are some of the best I have ever had and for someone who's been to some of the best spas in south-east asia, that's saying alot. Surprisingly, even the mani-pedi lady on the beach did an impressive job. Apparently the right training is compulsory before they get their certificate to practice.

Making your way to Boracay, just be prepared to rough it out a little - preferably back pack and travel light. I would not recommend it for families with very young children or elderly folks. You must remember that this is a small island and any activitity tends to carry a higher level of risk compared to a more developed place. That said, it is these elements of risk and freedom from rules and the unknown that makes it even more exhilarating. If Boracay maintains its environmental conciousness, we should still be able to enjoy their unspoilt beaches and reefs for years to come. Can't wait to go back... :-)

Girls' Trip Away

This red shoe chandelier was literally erected just minutes before we stepped into the shopping centre in the affluent suburb of Melate.



Girls' trip away... is the best thing for a girl's soul. From May 10th to 20th, my bestie of 20 over years, Irene and I shopped, ate and drank in Singapore, Boracay and Manila. Details of the holiday will be posted in my next blog for those of you interested in a holiday in Boracay.

Boracay is tiny and the shopping there was much of the same sort of generic beach & holiday wear that you get at most beach islands. If you've been to as many tropical islands as I have, you'd find the apparel rather generic and not overly exciting. Therefore I didn't go too crazy buying up stuff but I ended up buying a lovely sundress in two different colours of canary yellow and royal purple and a couple of colourful flip flops with wedge heels.

These fancy flip flops for kids and adults were rather unique and a big hit with my nieces, nephew and kids back home.

It might be winter in Sydney but bright lovely block colours in primary hues is the rage at the moment in our northern counterparts. As seen in ad campaigns and shop windows from trendsetters, Zara to Gucci. There are 7 Zara stores alone in Singapore while the first Zara store opened in Sydney's Westfield Shopping Centre in the city centre last month amidst much fanfare and crowd control. Being seasoned shoppers, Irene and I had rather big expectations in Manila but felt let down. We trawled three major shopping centres and didn't find any noticeable trends and they just didn't come across as fashion forward as their other Asian counterparts such as Singapore, Bangkok, Hongkong or Malaysia. Majority of my purchases were made from Singapore. Loving the beautiful, bright and happy primary block colours.

Orange bandage dress from Spanish label, FNT.

Canary yellow mini denim skirt from Stradivarius, a sister company to Spanish label, Zara.

Green suede strappy heels from Zara.

Blue suede wedges from Zara.

Gorgeous low scoop back fully-lined canary yellow dress also from Zara. Yes, I am a big fan of Zara.

Red strappy suede heels from Charles & Keith, one of our most successful local shoe and accessories boutique. From the birth of their first shoe store in the humble suburbs of Ang Mo Kio to their 23 stores in just Singapore alone and in almost every major city in the world, Charles & Keith only recently sold their business to Louis Vuitton for an undisclosed amount of money. They do have some really cool shoes, boots, handbags and belts. An extremely successful local business story they are very proud of.

Green knit dress with drawstrings from Spanish label, FNT.

Red, white and green shorts from Osmose, well known for their wonderfully soft & comfy cotton tops and bottoms. Again, the very bright, loud and happy primary colours in play here. Match these shorts with practically any colour top and look hip and smart.

Not being blessed with "bodacious ta-tas", I was most delighted to find these beautiful lingerie from local lingerie shops that cater to the "asian size". Not your boring whites, black or nude colour but gorgeous, lacy bras in every conceivable colour with the correct fit. God-sent! What joy.

These lovely shoes were so cheap but so cute! They were less than A$30 each. Gorgeous!

The packaging says it all for this product. I have been losing too much hair lately and if the condition of my own mother's hair is anything to go by, I'd better start looking for a solution to my hair loss or start a good wig collection. This product came highly recommended. It has been in business for almost 20 years and is used in many hospitals and retirement homes - now I feel really old and feeble... and bald :-(. There is also one for advance hair loss (just in case the one I bought doesn't work) and there's also one for adding volume. Each product comes with a specially formulated shampoo and vials of special oil. After shampooing, you separate your hair into four different sections and apply this special oil and massage it through starting from the base of the head and working your way up to the top.

This one's also self-explanatory. I have a little dark spot on my chin - a dark reminder of an acne scar (note to self: never scratch or pick the skin for whatever reason!). Asian girls are fond of having fair, smooth alabaster skin and so whitening agents and skincare tend to sell extremely well. I am not one to try and achieve that because a white face would just so not go with the other darker parts of me. You see, dark spots are very hard to get rid of in people like myself with darker complexion so I am attempting to whiten it with the special whitening lotion, cream and a silicon patch which is supposed to work on the problem spot directly. So far I have been using it every morning and evening before bedtime and I have seen quite a significant lightening. I have to say, the scar is no longer so obvious. Happy days again (well, almost).

I also discovered some wonderful japanese cosmetics. Great quality and wide selection reasonably priced. Available at Watson's. I had a great time spending up to two and a half hours just trying on different products. I found the cosmetics to be up to 25% cheaper than in Sydney. Also, the colour selection is different to Sydney. The liquid foundation from Revlon was not available in the colour that I normally use but instead of that, the salesperson found one that was even closer to my skin colour. It was a darker base colour with a yellow tinge which was ideal for my chinese skin.

So as far as shopping in Singapore, Boracay or Manila, Singapore still comes up tops for me.

"Vintage virgins"

Hiya everyone

Hope everyone had a happy Easter break. This blog comes to you a little later than I had intended to. I had the pleasure of taking the kids away to join my friend, lovely friend, Kaew and her gorgeous daughter Natasha at Umina in the Central Coast over the Easter break. Easter Saturday was pretty much a write off with the pouring rain staying around all day. We did the only thing any self-respecting fashionista would do - go shopping. So Erina Fair we went for a yummy lunch at Sage cafe and then shopped til the stores were shut. Fish, calamari and chips in Patonga... always worth the one and a half hour drive for. Yummm.

Anyway, here I am back home, sitting in front of the laptop with Adele's beautiful album, 21 blasting out from my headphones thinking about the vintage fair. On the weekend just before Easter, my best friend, Brie and her 17 year old daughter, Chardonnay joined my 13 year old daughter, Dominique and I at the 10th Sydney Vintage and Textiles Fair at Canterbury Racecourse. It was the first time for the two young "vintage virgins" and it proved to be an eye-opening experience. Clothes of every fabric and style from every era. Following the popularity of the pay TV series Mad Men and the trend being picked up by international fashion designers, the 50s style dresses are still very much in demand. We saw a fashion show of some of the best vintage wear from different eras and a rockabilly swing dance. The girls had a few laughs trying on few different types of outfits. Some they love some they just well, in their words, would never be caught dead in.

Here are some to give you an idea:

If you remember, I mentioned in my last blog that one of our objectives was to try and find the perfect dress for 17 year old Chardonnay's formal. Chardonnay is a gorgeous girl with a lovely ample bosom, a small waist and lovely long legs that seem to go on forever. However, the first half dozen dresses she picked up were tiny. It was not uncommon for dresses especially from the 30s, 40s and 50s to be on the smaller side. Somehow many ladies in those days were a little more svelte than our modern counterparts. But it wasn't long before she found two dresses which she was very taken with. We visited Coutura Vintage Fashion, my favourite vintage store. This one was a gorgeous strapless a-line frock with beautiful flocking on the bottom of the dress worn with a petticoat and a romantic shoulder wrap. She had many admiring glances and gasps from women from every corner of the store. The other was a totally different look - a black fitted bodice sequin dress all the way to the ground. They both looked gorgeous but which one to wear to the formal? The belle of the ball or sophisticated femme fatale? You be the judge and tell us what you think:

I spoke to my favourite vintage seller, Lena Slater of Coutura Vintage Fashion. I have bought many a wonderful vintage frocks from Lena over the last 5 or 6 years. Three of which I wore in my last blog post, Vintage mint-age. Over the last 30 years, Lena has been collecting classic pieces from the Georgian period to the modern era from the 30s to the 60s. She's been selling her insanely gorgeous dresses at vintage fairs for the last 10 years and still gets a kick out of watching someone try on her beautiful dresses especially young people who are new to vintage. To watch them transform and learn to love and appreciate vintage and continue the history of these classic clothes.

Lena's beautiful vintage pieces will be available online very soon. Her website, www.couturavintage.com is currently under construction but be sure to check it out in a couple of months. In addition to the vintage fair at Canterbury, Lena also sell at the Paddington vintage fair every second Saturday of the month. Lena's sister, Janet sells her vintage wear right next to her at every fair. Janet has her own vintage store, Classic & Chic, Shop 1 "The Penders", 20 Station Street, Bowral.

The above are pictures of Circa Vintage Hats. Owner, Jacinta Christian started Circa four years ago running her little business from home. She always felt that fascinators were a passing trend but hats will always have a place at the races and formal events. Jacinta wanted to know what women look for when looking for that perfect hat to go with their outfits and so she took to sitting at David Jones and Myer and eavesdropped shoppers while they shopped to find out what they really want in a hat. She found that women were willing to spend almost the same amount as their dresses sometimes to find the perfect matching quality hat. Jacinta brings in these amazing hats mainly from New York, France and Chicago including the wonderful flapper era to the gangster era of Al Cappone. All original and one of a kind in excellent condition.

We were there til closing time and still Chardonnay was undecided. We ended up taking the contact numbers of these two stores and going home to "sleep on it".

Brie and I ended up not doing too much damage this time around. Brie bought a lovely corset in emerald green brocade. Unfortunately she went home and found that it was tighter than she remembered and was unable to breath properly while wearing it. The solution? She passed the top to me. Her loss, my gain.

I bought a gorgeous sexy 80s black silk burnt velvet dress in the style of a chinese cheong sum. I went home and tried it over a flesh coloured slip and I think it looks absolutely fabulous. The fit was perfect.

Well, ,out two little "vintage virgins" went home exhausted after a day feasting the eye with so much colour, history and styles. It was certainly very different to the Supre, Dotti, Jay Jays and Sportsgirl chain store variety that's they're used to. I don't think they are die-hard vintage fans yet (unlike their mums) as vintage can be an acquired taste but they have indicated that they are very keen to go to the next one when it comes to town again. I think we do have two little vintage converts.

TTFN.

Cheers,

Tina