hopping around mactan

this was with friends. friends from college but with extensions. this was sort of my idea. i seldom insist on something like this when it comes to friends. aside from it's difficult to plan, it's just hard convincing my friends. they all have the issues. and we don't basically meet often. in other words, we are busy on our own lives.

yes, one way to know that you are all getting old in your group is that if you don't have that much get-together as the earlier days, then you are heading to... well, "maturity". some are already busy with work, with their loveys, with their plans for their "future families", quite a term by fame.

and so i came up with the idea of a summer get-together. it was for the summer birthday celebrants, the supposed-to-be welcome party for manny from japan, celebration of love by filden, and just plainly to connect again.

i suggested island hopping for i had just hopped islands together with my old group in my company. it was fun and i thought of sharing this to my friends. but of course, i asked them if they wanted something else, and since no one seemed to care, it was then island hopping.

but before this whole thing had even come close to a minor hope, glitches were on the way. first was, manny's stay in japan was extended. and what did that mean? there's no one  who will pledge a certain amount. and yes, people were already hesitant. budget could go overboard. and that was a critical no-no. this sounded like we were opportunists but it was meant for the greater good somehow.

and i did the budget thing. and i came up with 600+ each. original plan was we head to pandanon, as requested by edam. pandanon is expensive, considering the following breakdown:
- boat price of Php4000 (good for 20 boat)
- Php150 per person entrance fee
- Php250 cottage

a fixed rate of the entrance fee and the expensive boat killed the budget. i even resorted to a lunch wherein we would cook our own rice in order to lessen the budget. but it was of no help.

then, the week when we would hop came. i already had the assignments of everyone. but just then, jessa informed that she could not come since her sister would be arriving from samar. oh no. budget could then bloat.

it was a week of drama for me. for a day, i gave up the entire idea. people were suggesting something else and in a short notice, i could not come up with that! what i didn't understand was i didn't get those reactions, considering emails already began to flood, last week of april. i even thought of cancelling the whole thing.

but good thing, edam gave up pandanon. so we just hopped around mactan! with a lesser budget and more happy people. ^^

Be at BOYLA @ 8am.

breinn and i were the first ones to arrive. 15 min past 8. almost lost my temper since my name was not on boyla's reservation calendar. grrrr... in order not to feel bad early in the morning, i let breinn did the talking and i just busied myself taking pictures. it turned out that another person kept my reservation. anyway, almost everyone arrived 15 min before 9. that was why, i made it 8.

Map in Boyla

don't know if this is accurate. at least we all got the picture of where we would be going.

Holy Spirit, Our Boat

and i said almost everyone had arrived. almost because we had to wait for edam and her special guest in the boat. everyone was already guessing who could be that special guest, which turned out to be eva. surprise, suprise! and everyone just thought it was somebody else.

The Boat's Crew, Kids

First Island

forgot to ask the boat man what island was this. i just call this the "First Island" but we didn't dock on this island. we just anchored from afar. for if we didn't, 75 per person and a cottage fee.

Some Boat Parade

while we enjoyed the waters, a number of boats passed by. maybe a fiesta or something in one of the islands.

Our Food

not in the picture is the lechon manok (roasted chicken). there was a cake for eche who would celebrate his birthday the day after. hotdogs on sticks for a pre-lunch. enough food for everybody. and oh! we just had lunch in the boat. not to mention, grilled in the boat!

Birthday Balloons

edam brought the balloons to complete the birthday spirit but all the balloons just deflated before we landed back to Boyla.

Olango Island

we didn't go to those slides. slides could mean shelling out additional money so we didn't bother. the boat man suggested that we would go here instead of hilutungan since here was cheaper. 50 per person who swims/snorkels/dives. but we just ended paying 500 for the 16 of us. (hinangyu.an ^^) thanks to fame!

Olango Waters - School of Fish

we didn't go to what olango is famous for, their bird santuary. we just enjoyed its waters and delighted on their fish. though, fish and corals in hilutungan are way better but it was still a beautiful experience anyway. ^^

boyla diving resort
http://www.boyladivingresort.net

Php2700 - boat around mactan (boat man chooses the islands best for the tour)
Php100 - grill
Php100 - snorkeling gear rent (price per gear)

their boat already includes life vests. though, most of them are old but no worries, they still do work. for their grill, you bring your own charcoal.

and we just ended up paying Php365 each. yipee! :D

more pics here.

o-O