Until now, almost a month after that surprise vacation I had, and i’m still speechless.  Memories of the sights, sounds, and the atmosphere of Boracay are still fresh on my mind as if I was just there yesterday.  Those 8 days are the most unforgettable vacation days I’ve ever had, so far, hands down.

 

It all started when a relative from Germany, brought her 28-year-old son who hasn’t seen the Philippines, over for a vacation.  Little did I know that they were having Boracay on their plans, much less tagging me along.  They arrived on May 31, wanting to see the fiesta in our native province of Batangas.  We were tasked to pick them up and drive straight to Batangas from the airport to see what’s left of the festivities.  We spent the night there and headed back to Manila the next day.  But before we left, my aunt asked me to my surprise if I can spare at least one week to accompany them to Boracay!  I was shocked at the proposal, and with not enough funds to cover for an entire week, i respectfully declined.  But her next reply made me even more surprised.  “Don’t worry, i’ll take care of everything.”  I was stunned silent at this, and not knowing what to say, told her to give me a couple of days to think it over.  Part of me was thinking, “here’s an all-expense paid vacation to that one place you’ve been dreaming of going and you’ll say ‘i’ll think about it?’  What are you, nuts?!”  To be honest, I really didn’t want to be like a third wheel in their plans.  That’s the reason for my initial hesitation.  Yet, she accepted my reply and promised to get in touch with me in a couple of days.

 

That vacation proposal was on my mind the entire time since arriving home from Batangas.  And true enough, I wanted to go.  The luster of an all-expense paid vacation was too much to resist.  But I still had the problem of pocket money.  News of the planned vacation spread like wildfire in our immediate family.  Another cousin of mine based in London offered to shoulder the pocket money.  It’s like a chance of a lifetime!  Still, I struggled with the idea.  But I was leaning towards wanting to go.  I spent literally hours just going over it over and over again.  Thursday, June 3rd, my aunt called up, asking for my answer.  With a half-excited and half-nervous mind, I said that i’d be happy to go along.  She also was glad to hear that since she wanted someone to be with her son exploring Boracay.  So the plan was set.  We were set to leave on the morning of June 8th, a Tuesday.  I was still having mixed reactions as the conversation ended.  I guess it still didn’t sink in at that time that i’m finally going to Boracay.

 

Days went by as fast as i couldn’t have imagined.  I literally started packing about almost a day and a half before the flight.  I remember having a very busy Monday and I was still scrambling for items i needed to bring the afternoon before we leave.  Being my first time to fly locally, I didn’t know that the passport wasn’t even needed as I asked my mom where it was!  All i needed, i was told, was a valid ID.  Having flown three times internationally, I was accustomed to having the passport with me.  I even Googled it if it was true!  Call me silly, but hey, honestly, I really didn’t know.

 

I was brought to the airport by my mom and aunt at around 6AM.  Our flight was scheduled at 8:55AM.  I met up with Tita Baby and John shortly after.  I was told then that we will be first traveling to Roxas City then off to Boracay the next day.  I didn’t mind as it’ll be my first time as well to visit Roxas City.  Poor John though, he had become sick the day prior and was nursing a fever and occasional bouts of LBM.  But there’s no stopping the vacation plans, according to my aunt.  After getting our boarding passes, we proceeded to the waiting area.  Being also my first time at the airport (Terminal 3), i found it to be very nice, compared to the one I was used to seeing.  Upon reaching the waiting area, I remember a very jumpy feeling inside me as I took my seat to wait for boarding.  “This is really happening!”  was constantly running through my head.  John used a row of seats to lie down and rest.  Poor kid, I thought to myself, he’s been here a week and he’s gotten sick.  My aunt and I had a couple of conversations while waiting.  Just before the scheduled boarding time arrived, we were told that the flight will be delayed due to additional aircraft maintenance.  We were okay with it at first, but that announcement would come two more times.  I said to myself, “my first local flight, and it’ll be delayed twice?  Am I a jinx or somethin’?”  But there was nothing we could do.  What was supposed to be an 8:55AM departure time was pushed to 12:00NN.

 

Boarding time finally arrived and as we were headed to the plane, my excitement started to grow.  I did a good job of hiding it though, as I looked normal on the outside.  My first local flight, and what will be the farthest local destination I’ll be heading to since Puerto Galera back in 2007 can’t escape my thoughts.  Roxas City, here we come!