Boracay 2012 - Day 1 Afternoon

When we got to our hotel and after taking a bath, I thought Miya wanted to take a nap. She was saying that she was sleep when we were walking back to the hotel. But after feeding (yes, we're still breastfeeding), she said "Ninong, Ninong" and when I asked her if she wants to sleep first, she said "Ayaw!" hahaha. So we regrouped and headed out for lunch. Mek told us about the offer he received from Astoria and figured, yes let's eat where it's free! The buffet was supposedly only until 1:30pm so we were in a hurry to get there. It was already around 1pm when we left our hotel. We took the tricycle going to Astoria. When we got there, wow we were enamored with the place. It was so beautiful there. There swimming pool looked so inviting. There were rooms surrounding the pool. Their dining hall was big and airy. Before the start of our meal we were informed that in exchange of the free meal, we had to go through a 90-minute presentation on their club membership (I forgot the exact term they used). Since we're already there and the buffet lunch was free, we said yes. Anyways, they insisted that we don't have to commit to purchase the membership, we just have to listen.

My daughter making pa-cute to the camera

Our group

The food was good actually. And since we loved the place, we were excited for the presentation. I thought it was one of those annual membership thing where they give you GCs you can use for one year. Unfortunately, it wasn't that. The membership was for 30 years and they require you to pay on that very day after the presentation the downpayment of I think around P18,000. I don't really know the specifics because I left the function room where the presentation was held when Miya started getting cranky. She fell asleep outside the function room, just at the mezannine level of this dining hall where they had several more tables and a comfortable couch - that's where Miya and I settled in. Suffice it to say, when Joema, Mek and Joy left the function room they were already irritated with the hotel staff who gave the presentation. Joy said that she's feeling guilty even because the staff was disappointed they didn't get the club membership. Hay! First off, we're not rich people who just give you 18k right there and then without studying what you are proposing. The hotel gave them an ultimatum to decide there saying that it was a one-day deal! Secondly, if they want people to buy their membership it shouldn't take more than 2 hours to give a presentation. If at first  you get people to get excited with the deal, by the end of the hour and your presentation is not yet half way through that person will probably end up annoyed already. We were there for a vacation after all which you should know because that was one of the questions they had in the first part of the presentation (it was a Q&A portion where they ask you questions on how much you enjoy travelling etc). Funny coz when they came from the function room to get us, I told Joema I needed to pee. He was a bit of in a rush to get us out of that hotel hahaha. Too bad! Astoria Boracay is a really nice hotel in Station 1 from what we saw. But they should stop doing this to tourists! And they shouldn't say it was a one-day deal because all those times we passed by their hotel, they were offering those free buffet lunch/dinner.

One last photo before we left the hotel - Miya still sleeping

Anyways, moving on...As I kept on saying, nothing can hold us back in enjoying the trip. The sight of the beach can easily lift up your spirits no matter how foul a mood you're in.

Back to the beach!

Swim agad agad pag gising ni Miya

Our smiles are plastered on our faces once we hit the water

My water baby

When she's out of the water, she's playing with sand

It was a bit chilly that afternoon because of the rain so I had to put her robe on

When it started getting dark, we returned to our hotel to wash up for dinner. We ended up eating at a nearby  restaurant that served seafood buffet. Sorry no photos hahaha! The buffet was P250 per person and was totally worth it because we ate a ton of crabs (although small), shrimp (again small) and oysters. Miya immediately fell asleep when we got back to the hotel.