Boracay bragbook -3

So okay, there might have been some downside. The hotel faucets and showers

spewed out salt water, hence the many stocks of spring water bottles in our

room. And cramming six people in a room--five girls, for crying out loud--pretty

much meant bathroom mayhem. I won’t even start with trying to wake them all

up…mornings consisted of "alphabetical order to go to the bathroom," and we

never showed up on time for breakfast or dinner. And of course, there was my

Mongolian buffet mix-it-yourself dinner that never came, and my losing the ring

my mom gave me during a foam party (thanks to Marco). But overall, I think

everything else would make up for that. I might have come home with very badly

faded and damaged hair, a ringless finger and my chubby stomach forever

immortalized in pictures because of my tankini…but the experience of just being

in Boracay…a place that makes people more confident about who they are...was

worth it. Where else can you find a beach where wearing a bikini isn’t

scandalous, or show up at a party wearing just jeans and a shirt?

Bottom line is, my Boracay experience was, well, nirvana. Now Buddha would

be proud. Maui V. Reyes, Inquirer News Service

I AM owning up to the title, 2bU!’s Boracay Black Sheep. Although the trip

hasn’t been bad for me (I didn’t lose anything, I wasn’t in any accident, my

interviews pushed through), it has been bad for my fellow correspondents. And

the fact that I am the reason for that makes me feel as bad as they are, or even

worse. It’s never nice to have that burden of guilt hounding you on the trip back

home. Again, I’m sorry.

So what is it about Boracay aside from the sun, sand, sea and a string of

unfortunate self-made incidents? The answer exactly. Boracay, or any other

vacation spot for that matter, is always beyond the sun, sand and the sea. It’s

with the people you go there and have fun with. It’s the experience with them that

counts most.

I was there less than a year ago with no friends. I made acquaintances yes, but

nothing beyond that. It was then that I enjoyed what the tourist-y Boracay had to

offer. The powdery sand, the bars that lined up the shore, the colorful corals and

the sound of the waves at night. But going back there was a very different

experience, to the point that even the Boracay I knew changed completely. I

didn’t get teary-eyed and awed as I did the first time I saw the island from up

above. I didn’t smile to myself the moment I set foot on the island as I did the first

time. I didn’t pray to God asking that He take me back there as I did during my

first trip. And then it dawned on me: I was awed, smiling, praying for different

reasons.

I was awed at the fact that my closest friends were all with me for a four-day

vacation.

I smiled at the fact that I got to know them very well. From their morning rituals

to toilet habits.

I prayed for us especially after how things went wrong on our last day.

Suddenly, it just wasn’t about Boracay anymore, just like this essay.

Boracay is just the medium.