The Bride Wore Flipflops

My Mom, Manny, Jog, Tif and I went to Boracay June 2 to 4 to attend the wedding of my niece, Bianca, the eldest daughter of my older brother, Ton. And it was a wonderful trip and a beautiful wedding!

Transportation. We flew Seair which prides itself as providing the fastest flights to Boracay at 35 minutes. Indeed! We took off promptly at 6 am and landed at Caticlan at 6:35 am. As Tif said, he was just falling asleep after partaking of the free snacks when the solitary flight attendant announced preparations for landing. And when we landed, a porter took our baggage tags, retrieved our luggage without our having to point them out to him, and loaded them into the Boracay Regency coaster, The drive from the airport to the dock was all of 3 minutes, and when we got there, again the porter took our luggage, and loaded them into the Regency boat. The boat ride was a very pleasant 20 minutes with a refreshing breeze. When we reached the Boracay dock, another porter took our luggage and loaded them into the Regency shuttle that brought us to the hotel in 10 minutes. All those transfers were so efficiently done that I knew this was going to be a wonderful trip. It was the same routine going back with the added surprise that instead of taking off at 2:05 pm, we left at 1:40 pm since all the passengers had checked in already for the full flight. So my hats off to Seair and their German built 32-seater Dornier jets.

Accommodation. We stayed at Boracay Regency which is in Station 2. In our previous trips to Boracay in 2005 and 2006, we stayed in Waling Waling and the White House, both in Station 1. We enjoyed our stays in both beachfront cottages and appreciated the relative quiet, the finest sand and the high-end resorts of Station 1. But when I booked this trip, my travel agent, Ferry of Brand Philippines (whom I highly recommend for their professionalism, efficiency and personalized service), mentioned Boracay Regency's summer promotion which was slightly less than P10,000 per person for a 2-room accommodation with airfare, transfers, and daily breakfast. Since my friend and neighbor, Florie Mariano, had taken the same trip and highly recommended Boracay Regency, I availed of the promo and we were all delighted with it. Even though the Regency is in Station 2 (very close to Station 3 where the dock is) which is supposed to be very noisy and busy because that's where all the restaurants and medium to low-end cottages/rooms are located, the Regency is a big, high-end hotel and their rooms are so well-insulated that we didn't hear any of the noise outside. And our unit was even located on the pathway to the beach, the pool and the Sea Breeze restaurant where we had the daily breakfast buffet. The beach was not as deep and the sand was not as fine as in Station 1, but it didn't matter. The convenience of being able to take only a short walk to D' Mall, with its many restaurants and shops, and the excitement of being in a bustling place with plenty of opportunities for people watching (young Korean couples in their his and hers matching outfits, middle-aged Korean women splashing in the water while having their picture taken one-by-one, etc.) made me a Regency fan. The breakfast buffets were sumptuous, and the service staff very accommodating. On our second morning, my Mom had breakfast early while Manny and I walked on the beach (from Station 3 to Station 1 and back) and swam. After our swim, she was still having her breakfast and excitedly mentioned the delicious daing na bangus in the buffet. Alas, when we got there, it was gone and replaced by Spanish sardines. So I asked the chef if he could whip up some because that was the only thing Manny could eat now that he has to cut down on pork/beef/processed food. He gave Manny a whole plate of daing na bangus, and all bellies! We were also very happy with the "family room" which has 2 bedrooms connected by the bathroom and the closet. The outer bedroom has 1 double and 1 twin beds, and the inner bedroom has 2 twin beds. Both bedrooms have dressers and TV sets and separate airconditioning units. The bathroom is spacious and has both a rain shower and a telescope shower. The bedsheets were soft and everything was very clean. And the service was excellent. Room service was quick and the staff very well-trained and accommodating. Apart from the bangus bellies, on our last day and at my request, the Sea Breeze staff heated our left-over pizza. So we will probably stay in Boracay Regency again unless one of our sons decides to get married in Boracay. Then we will stay in Discovery Shores, my dream hotel which you will understand why when you see the pictures.

Food. They say that Boracay has all the cuisines in the world. And I can believe it. We saw Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, French, Greek, Italian, American and Filipino restaurants. I'm sure there were many others. For our first lunch, we opted to eat at Cyma, the Greek restaurant which started in Boracay and is now in Shangrila Mall, Greenbelt and Trinoma. We had our favorites – mussels, Greek salad, angel hair pasta with mussels, and chicken gyro; and my Mom tried the lentil soup. Everything was as good as in Manila. Our first dinner was after the wedding rehearsal. So we joined my brother and his family at the seafood buffet at Sea Wind, a cottage-type resort in Station 1. They had the salads; Mongolian barbecue; oysters; on-the-spot grill of prawns, 3 kinds of fish, steaks, and pork barbecue; and assorted desserts. Manny and I didn't touch the Mongolian barbecue after having taken it recently at the Baguio Country Club. So we focused on the oysters which were really fresh and succulent, and the grilled prawns. After dinner, we took the tricycle back to the hotel. On the second day which was the day of the wedding, we had lunch at Aria, which reputedly has the best pizzas in Boracay, baked in wood-fired ovens. We tried the four cheese pizza and the Aria pizza which has mushrooms, peppers, Parma ham, and mozarella. So yummy! We also had their tuna carpaccio which was very good since the tuna was so fresh. Dinner was the wedding reception and this was held at Two Seasons, a new hotel in Station 1. It was another sumptuous buffet consisting of salads, prawns, lechon kawali, carbonara, buttered broccoli, fish fillet, chicken, etc. I can't remember all that was served. But I liked all of them especially the French onion soup. Our last lunch was at Gesthof, at Jog's request. He said his Boracay experience won't be complete without eating the baby back ribs at Gesthof. And I can understand why. The ribs were so "meaty", and the meat was tender, juicy and flavorful.

Beach. I am a beach lover and, as a Piscean, love the water. Boracay is so beautiful it has spoiled all the other beaches for me. Myrtle Beach, Phuket, Penang don't even come close. And even if they say that Boracay is so commercialized, the beach is still perfect with the whitest, finest sand and the calmest water with varying shades of blue -- from the palest blue near the shore to bright turquoise at the horizon. It's a pity that we couldn't capture this amazing color in the pictures. But it just took my breath away every time I saw it. It's no wonder that Boracay is now the number 1 tourist destination in the Philippines. In fact, at the Regency, the Pinoys were the minority, clearly overwhelmed by our Asian neighbors from Korea, China, and Japan.

Wedding. My niece, Bianca, was planning to get married next year. But early this year, she and her fiancé, Glenn, made reservations to go to Boracay with friends. One inspired moment, they decided to get married during the trip. So they contacted a wedding coordinator in Boracay who made all the arrangements. Meanwhile, the boys and I were also thinking of going to Boracay but were not sure when to go. So when Bianca texted her cousins that she was going to get married in Boracay on June 3, we knew when. It was a very small wedding with only the immediate family members of the couple, their close friends, and us attending the wedding. But it didn't matter. It was still such a beautiful wedding. The wedding was held in the Holy Rosary Parish, right behind Sea Wind, and the reception was held in Two Seasons. On the day of the wedding, Bianca and her youngest sister and maid of honor, Aina, went to our room to dress up. Aina did her Ate's hair and makeup while the photographer clicked away. They also had the pictorial at the Regency and we all took the Regency coaster to go to the church. The mass started at 5, and most everyone was a member of the entourage except for my Mom and Glenn's sister. All of us were in white and wore flipflops, including the bride. I was a principal sponsor while Manny proxied for my oldest brother, Pet, the other principal sponsor. Jog was the cord sponsor and the emcee at the reception, and Tif was the candle sponsor. Bianca's other sister, Carla, was the cord sponsor, and her only brother, Aa, was the groomsman. Aa's girlfriend, Sharon, was the mass commentator, while Aina's boyfriend, Jondi, was the veil sponsor. Bianca's nephew was the ring bearer, and her two nieces the flower girls. Glenn's nephew was the coin bearer. Their close friends completed the entourage.

The Boracay church is still a work in progress. It still has no ceiling and some of the beams have not been finished. But Bianca and Glenn were lucky. The Saturday before their wedding, there was a grand wedding in the church, so the church ceiling was beautifully covered in white and cream drapery, and the wings were curtained in the same colors. After the entourage had marched and as the church doors were opened for the bride's entrance, Bianca looked so beautiful at the doorway with the sun streaming behind her as she walked alone down the aisle to meet her dad midway to the altar. At the end of the mass, her mom, Nyng, lovingly sang "I'm in the Mood for Love." After the photoshoots in the church, we all took the "multicabs" to go to Boracay Terraces Resort at the end of Station 1 for photoshoots in the sunset. It was already after 6 and the tide had receded so the beach was a huge expanse of white sand. We caught the last vestiges of the sun and it was so romantic. That's where they held the bouquet throwing and garter ceremony. And it wasn't a surprise that Aina caught the bouquet. She and Jondi are planning to get married next year. Then we walked towards Two Seasons passing by Discovery Shores (so beautifully lit at night). Two Seasons is a new hotel. Like Discovery Shores, it also has modern architecture but on a much smaller scale. The reception was held at the beachfront and Two Seasons had a lovely set-up. The backdrop for the married couple consisted of varying lengths of seashell garlands. The four tables for the guests had flower arrangements strewn with pearl strings. Most of us removed our flipflops and walked barefooted on the powdery sand. There were speeches from the father of the bride (I'm confident this marriage will last because Glenn is a good and patient man, and Bianca is the type who bounces back despite all the trials and setbacks that come her way), the mother of the groom (marriage is not always easy and the couple should be ready to make sacrifices for each other), the best man (this was just supposed to be a vacation but here we are at a wedding), and the maid of honor (this whole day was difficult because my ate was almost a monster bride but all my hard work paid off when I saw Glenn's expression as he watched his bride walk down the aisle and I knew then how much he loves her). After the speeches, the groom and bride danced to Nyng's repeat performance of "I'm in the Mood for Love", and then the bride and her dad danced to the tune of "Butterfly Kisses." I was so caught up in the moment that I told Manny that if we reached our 50th wedding anniversary, we would have it in Boracay. He laughingly agreed but added "with 50 guests."

Jog as the emcee ended the program by wishing that this adventure would last a lifetime (alluding to Glenn's love for adventure). It was around 9 pm when we took the tricycle back to our hotel During the tricycle ride, I reflected on the fact that this was the third wedding we attended this year. And all of them were held out-of-town. The first was Anna's friend's wedding in Cebu at the Shangrila and the second was another niece's wedding in Baguio at the Manor. And recently, there was a feature in the Velvet Channel on destination weddings. And I realized that I'm all for it. Everyone is in a joyful and celebratory mood because they're on holiday. The locations are so romantic. And of course, everyone comes on time!

So all our prayers and best wishes to Glenn and Bianca for a marriage as beautiful and happy as their wedding.