The sign says ” taking care of the future ” by providing fresh clean water to the entire island of Boracay ,  which is a project of the Boracay Island Water Company which is owned by the Ayala Corporation , and in  a joint venture with  the Philippine Tourism Authority.

Long  sections of Boracay’s Main  road are dug up to make room for the 18 inch water pipe.

Workers making the final touches to the ditch before loading the water pipe.

The heavy construction equipment can be seen along Boracay’s Main road as they hurry to provide every islander with fresh water.

Everyday i drive the small narrow road of Boracay ,   and everyday i feel the frustration of having one lane closed due to the water works project which is  ongoing around the island of Boracay . But i don’t get angry at the slow moving traffic , i just think positively about the water project providing  clean drinking water to every man , women , and child on this paradise island in the Philippines.

This fantastic  water project is a joint venture between the Ayala owned Boracay Island Water Company and the Philippine  Tourism Authority with the latter owning just a 20% stake .The Ayala Corp  is investing millions in the Boracay water project and I know why , the water rates on Boracay are the highest in the entire  country at 80 peso per sq cubic meter .Other places in the Philippines pay just 12 peso a square cubic meter for clean water .But never mind the high cost of water on Boracay , it sure beats the old days when our water supply came from shallow wells which gave us brackish water .

So we must thank the Ayala Corp . for investing in Boracay by  providing the entire island with fresh water , and for taking care of the island’s future  .Cheers to a job well done .

Yours truly,

John Munro

The streamer from Nestea Fit ,  advertising Ultimate Frisbee, Touch Football(but really rugby ), Consumer Volleyball(local resort league) , and the University Volleyball Championships .

Action shot during the Nestea Ultimate Frisbee event where winners won P50,000.00.

Ladies Touch Football was very competitive and  fun to watch .

The Nestea Consumer Volleyball event had a huge set up and big prize money to the winners.

The University Volleyball league had the biggest prize of all the events with the winners taking home P100,000.00.

Another fantastic spectacle was the 4 th annual Dragon Boat Races which were hugely successful and sponsored by the Department of Tourism .

Massive crowds gathered along Boracay’s White Beach to enjoy the Dragon Boat Races.

The other sporting event taking place on Boracay this past weekend of April 23 , 24 , was an obstacle course set up at boat station number 3 .

Last weekend ,April 23 , 24 , 2010 , Boracay was alive and well with several major sporting events up and down White Beach . Touch Rugby , Ultimate Frisbee, Beach Volleyball,Dragon Boat races, and an Obstacle course were all set up on the white sands of Boracay entertaining thousands. One tourist I met mentioned to me ,”Boracay has a good feel vibe to it this weekend with all these sporting events.” 

A few blogs ago I ripped on how commercialized holy week had become with big business exploiting Boracay to sell their products . This weekend past , I’m all for the commercialism from Nestea as they supported the locals by providing different sporting tournaments and offering huge prize money . Selling their ice tea  product but giving back to the island population is what every multi national company should be doing when they advertise in Boracay .

Nestea had the most sporting  events with the biggest prize money, a whopping P500,000.00 pesos in total .But the dragon boat championships had the biggest crowd of spectators on White Beach. It was a fun weekend and I was lucky enough to participate in the touch rugby event winning the mixed Championship game 9 points to 2 over the spirited team from the University of the Philippines.

I can’t wait until next summer when Nestea returns to host there 15th annual summer games. 

Yours Truly ,

John Munro 

An airport worker walks in front of the posters announcing the new terminal at Caticlan Airport worth a total investment of 2.5 billion pesos.

The poster advertising the launching of the development upgrade project of Caticaln Airport in Malay , Aklan.

The passenger terminal in the poster looks ultra modern with beautiful high windows. Boracay will surely reach 1 million yearly arrivals with this new airport project .

Here’s some good news for travellers heading to Boracay . Over the next seven  years Caticlan Airport will  have a major upgrade with runway lengthening(from the present 950 meters by 30 meters to 2100 meters by 40 meters ),   a brand new passenger terminal ,a vehicular parking lot,a fire station , and installation of fencing and navigational aids.The lengthening of the runway will allow for bigger aircraft like an Airbus or Boeing brand of planes.

The President of the Philippines ,Gloria Arroyo , led the ground breaking last month for the  new ultra modern airport at Caticlan Airport in Malay ,Aklan .This new airport development  project of the Philippine Government  is worth an astounding 2.5 billion peso , and is expected to bring bigger jet aircraft , and potentially one million visitors to Boracay every year .I guess the next question is can Boracay infrastructure  handle one million visitors. Only time will tell .

The new airport is a joint  project of the Department of Transportation and Communications,the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines , and the Caticlan International Airport Development Corporation (CIADC).The CIADC is owned and operated by George Yang ,Rafael Puno, Lino Barte and just recently the San Miguel Holdings Corp . has bought a majority stake in the CIADC. Yes , San Miguel Beer is diversifying into infrastructure projects to help develop the Philippines. 

 By the pictures above the new Caticlan airport is going to be an ultra modern ,   high tech airport , giving the travellers a wonderful  travel experience .The better travel experience , the better word of mouth advertising for Boracay  , which means  more tourists will come  to the island in the future .I really look forward to the future airport opening in Caticlan so Boracay tourism can reach it’s full potential . I ’m  also going to like travelling in a jet  to Manila .

Yours truly,

John Munro

Boracay’s toughest job , cleaning the sewage pipes of 35,000 islanders .I would not be smiling either.

Wearing a full wetsuit the BWSS worker sits on Boracay’s Main Road contemplating another dive into the human excrement to unclog the sewage line .

Up to his chest in sewage it’s no easy job pulling the rope through the pipe to unclog the blockage.

If you’re sitting at home reading this blog and you dread having to go to work as you hate your job , have a look at the photo’s above and maybe you feel better about your job.Maybe that 9 to 5 grind isn’t so bad after all .

Boracay’s toughest job is working for the Boracay Water Sewage System(BWSS) as a pipe cleaner .Having to swim in human excrement is no laughing matter . I take my hat off to those guys  from BWSS that spent the morning up to their eyeballs in crap .Most of the islanders that witnessed the workers swimming in the man hole were amazed and shocked. People just stopped ,   shook their heads ,and were probably very  glad that they weren’t the one’s having to unclog the island’s sewage pipe .

I admire and respect the workers of BWSS for being dedicated and loyal to their job . It’s definitely Boracay’s hardest job but also one of the most important as we need the sewage line clean and flowing at all times.Thank you BWSS for a job well done .

Yours truly,

John Munro

Van’s footwear  streamers hanging  all over the coconut trees along Boracay’s Main Road .Ugly or nice , you decide. 

Where’s the beach ?Marlboro and Bacardi umbrella’s blocking the view.Tattoo’s anyone?

Giant billboards on the cliffs of Boracay advertising the loudest event of summer .

Globe telecom’s booth along the beach trail of Boracay where holy week is about sell ,sell, sell, and not about relax, relax, relax.

This was a common sight along White Beach .Havaianas gave away hundreds of flip flop air mattresses.

Not even the sail boats are spared from advertising . Tanduay rum leaving their mark on holy week 2010.

Giant Nivea billboard right on White Beach .Not a pleasant sight.

Smart telecoms advertising on a sandcastle . Every inch of Boracay was an advert trying to sell you something during holy week 2010.

Commercialism rocked Boracay this holy week . The floating car is an Austin Mini Cooper . A floating car !! .

This one took the cake , walking billboards on White Beach . When I first saw them I was like thinking to myself , I think it’s time to find another island .

Holy Week on Boracay means big business . With thousands and thousands of tourists arriving for the extended 4 day holiday , it seemed everybody  was trying to sell something to somebody . The island was bombarded with marketing ploy’s from the bigger businesses of the Philippines to  some international brands like Lee Jeans,Austin Mini cars,and Vans footwear . I’ve seen it all this past week from floating cars to walking billboards . Big business tried to out market each other by hanging hundreds of streamers along the Main Road , by setting up their respective booths along White Beach , to giant inflatable bottles  with company logo’s, to sandcastles bearing their logo’s .Boracay  looked more like a circus than paradise .

Marlboro had a huge marketing blitz of Boracay. Since they are banned from advertising cigarettes on local television and print add’s  , they have a huge surplus in their advertising coiffeurs and spent it big in Boracay. They  decided to place a couple of hundred massive deluxe beach umbrella’s up and down White Beach  .Each umbrella is valued at $500.00 dollars ,  times 200 pc equals an astounding $100,000.00 investment .In some parts of White Beach i could not see the beautiful white sand that made this paradise island famous , i could only see Marlboro logo’s and umbrella’s. Sad .

Boracay  was an endless sea of the wrong colors . The colors of  different companies marketing there colorful  logo’s  . Logo’s that belong in the city and not on  Boracay’s White Beach . I feel the real loser here is   Boracay itself  , for being exploited by big business trying to  sell everything under the sun making White Beach look like a circus  , and the other loser is  all the tourists that were trying to escape the city life,  which could not relax and enjoy Boracay as a paradise island.I’m glad Holy Week only comes once a year  .

Yours truly,

 John Munro

A  Boracay supermarket  is selling the 750ml  bottle of Antonov Vodka at P134.00( $2.91 ) and the cheapest vodka available  is the small 375ml bottle in the middle , the Cossack brand which is selling at P34.00($0.73)

The Philippines most famous rum brand,  Tanduay Rum sells at P34.00( $ 0.73 ) per 375ml, and the bigger bottle , the 750ml is priced at P69.00 ($1.50 ) at a local Boracay supermarket.

The 750ml White Castle Whiskey , which is made in the Philippines ,  sells at P62.00    ($ 1.34 ) and the Matador Brandy , 375ml,  sells at P38.00 ( $0.82 ).

The Tequila mix on the left sells at a high price of P226.00 ($4.91) , but the small bottle in the middle, the Ginebra Gin , is the cheapest of the cheap at P30.00 ($ 0.65 ) for a 350ml , and the Gilbey’s Gin sells at P170.00 ($3.69 ) for a bottle 750ml size.

On the left , is the Asian Brewery beer brands , Colt 45 at P60.00 ($1.33 ) for 500 ml and beside it is the Coors Light at P48.00 ( $1.04).San Miguel Beer(SMB)  owns 97% of the beer market in the Philippines.The best selling SMB beers are the Red Horse at P42.00 ($0.91) , the Pale Pilsen P29.00 ($0.63) , and the San Miguel Light P39.00 ($0.84)

Another great alcoholic deal on Boracay is the still standing after 15 drinking challenge at Cocomangas Shooter Bar , costing a reasonable P1280.00 ($29.00). This price includes your brass name plate for the wall of fame ,a free t- shirt ,the 15 shots of assorted booze, and  one number for your country to be tallied on the bar’s score board .Now that’s a great deal and tons of fun.

Planning a  vacation ?? If you’re  at home trying to decide where to take your next holiday , think about a trip to  the friendly exotic  Philippines .Generally prices for food ,lodging ,air travel   , and alcohol are very reasonable and one can be on  a limited budget and still really enjoy their vacation in the Philippines.  I mean where else in the world can you buy a mickey of first class rum for .$0.73 cents. You can’t even buy a chocolate bar in Canada for that price.

The  prices for the alcoholic beverages in the pictures  above are the retail  prices I found at a local Boracay supermarket ,which are a little higher than in other parts of the Philippines .Boracay being an isolated island ,  and goods generally cost more due to the hauling costs . So if you were planning  to spend your holiday  in Manila , expect the prices for alcoholic beverags  to be even cheaper than in Boracay ,but still not many would complain about the Boracay price of a San Miguel Beer at $0.63 cents .  

The alcohol prices  I quoted above are from the supermarket shelves , but booze does get more expensive if you plan to hit the bars and nightclubs  ,where prices for rum cokes can reach P120.00($2.40) , and for beers P100.00 ($2.00) is the norm. Filipino’s know how to party  hard ,  so if you want a fun holiday to meet friendly people ,   make your next travel plans to the  Philippines .Party on !!

Yours truly,

John Munro

Picture show’s the poster advertising the new P360 million peso  road down the middle of Boracay ,  which is another excellent project of   President Arroyo’s administration.

The new  road has been built right beside the ocean in some parts . In this photo , if you were going to turn left up ahead ,you would run into the Main Road at the  crossing to boat station number 3 . If you continue straight on the new road , you’ll end up in Bulabog Beach passing through the dead forest.

The circumferential road of Boracay passes behind the dead forest ,  which you can see on the left of the photo .Actually the dead forest is really dead now with no remaining trees standing , only the tree roots sticking out of the water.

The heavy machinery involved with building and carving out the new road on Boracay Island in the Philippines.

Here’s some good news from Boracay or bad news depending on how you look at this new road project . The good news is that the road network on Boracay will eventually become a one way street system with this new circumferential road project of Philippine  President Arroyo , meaning traffic will flow faster along the congested Main Road as all vehicles will be travelling in the same direction . Right now the small two lane Main Road is a mess because when the local tricycles  pull over to let passengers off ,  all traffic behind must stop and wait causing traffic delays .At least with the one way traffic it would allow traffic to always be moving , even if the local transport are dropping people off along the road.

More good news is the fact that the road has opened up access to the middle and back parts of the island . Some land owners will like the increase in people traffic the road will bring . Land values will surely rise ,and business opportunities will be plenty along the road . I remember in the 90’s when  the Main Road was first  built in front of Cocomangas , my reaction was sadness at the loss of the  white sandy pathway for a cement road , but traffic increased to my business because of that road so it ended up being a blessing in disguise.

The only bad news would be for the people that sought peace and tranquility by building on the backside of Boracay .The road will surely bring heavy noise pollution to some of the  quiet isolated properties. But like everything in life you can’t keep all of the people happy .The new road is a badly  needed infrastructure project for Boracay so tourism  can continue to grow to the one million arrival mark .

Yours truly,

John Munro

The good times for our special family night out started at the beautiful lobby of Boracay’s 200 million dollar Shangri la Hotel ,  which is well worth a visit .

Start Boracay’s best buffet  meal off with the cold salad bar .

Follow the salad bar with my favorite part of the buffet , tuna or salmon sashimi , or sushi .

Top chef s from around the globe prepare your delicious dinner at the Boracay Shangri la .

Save some room for the main course . So many choices to fill your hungry stomach you’ll be in heaven.

To end your beautiful dinner try some desert at the Shangri la’s chocolate fountain .

For special occasions I like to take the family out to what I think is Boracay’s best buffet dinner at the Bintana Restaurant at the new 5 star Shangri la Hotel .It’s not cheap (P1,400.00 net)but it’s worth it as you get what you pay for and that’s delicious food and lots of it.With international chefs and first class service ,  everyone will enjoy a night out at this  200 million dollar hotel which  is Boracay’s only true 5 star hotel.The trick to saving some cash on your  bill  is to drink  the glasses of house water ,  because if you order ice tea with your buffet that will cost you P160.00 plus plus per glass . If    you ‘re a family of five than all those ice tea’s will surely add up .

Right now until March 21, the buffet is at P1,100.00 net , as the Shangri la is putting on  a promotional buffet dinner rate to celebrate their first  year anniversary party . Congratulations to the Shang for turning one year and hopefully many more birthday’s to come .

There are many buffet dinner’s being offered along Boracay’s White Beach but none compare to the Shangri la .I had a personal tour of the Shangri la’s kitchens  and I can vouch that they are nothing but world class offering the best hygiene techniques.Along White Beach some buffet’s are very cheap like P 200.00 for all you can eat ,  but you might end up on the toilet all night as those fly by night operations are not the cleanest on the island.

On your next visit to Boracay ,   celebrate life with a gourmet buffet dinner at the Shangri la Hotel ,you won’t be disappointed.Enjoy the finest that Boracay offers.

Yours truly,

John Munro

Picture shows my dad and brother walking along Boracay’s main pathway back in 1986 ,where tourists could stroll  from Cocomangas to Jonah’s Fruit-shakes. Today in 2010(check photo below), if you tried to stroll along the same path you’d be killed by heavy vehicular traffic.

Picture above  shows the pathway of Boracay  in 1986 going through the heart of Barangay Balabag. No cars or motorbikes to be seen , only bicycles and people walking about on the pure white sands of Boracay. Absolute paradise!!! Picture below is from 2010  taken from the same spot (What a difference 24 years makes).

Horses were a common sight along Boracay’s beach trail back in 1986 .The above photo taken right out front of Cocomangas Shooter Bar .Below is the  2010 photo taken from the same spot . I preferred the horse back mode of transport!!!

What was Boracay like back in the year 1986 ? I inevitably get this question from a visitor every night while working  at Cocomangas Shooter Bar in the beautiful Philippines.  Boracay in 1986 was  paradise to perfection with the whitest sand of any beach I’d ever seen on the planet . The quality of the white sand along White Beach had a perfect powdery feel to it like no other beach in Asia or quite possibly the world . The island was a special place in 86 with no cars ,no roads , no telephones ,no Internet,no daily newspapers, and hardly any tourists, just friendly locals. 

 I recently returned  to Canada to visit my sick mom and to help with  cleaning  out her apartment as she is moving into an independent living facility in Vancouver. While at home my mom  gave away all her photo’s which she had accumulated over the years and that’s where i found the  old photo’s of Boracay from 1986 , shown above . When I saw the photo’s I remembered how unbelievably beautiful Boracay was and I said to myself , it’s no wonder why I   stayed here all these years .Imagine an island with no roads , just white sand trails passing through the villages . It really was a paradise island like you see only in pictures or in a Hollywood movie.

One day in the early 90’s I awoke to dump trucks dumping dirt over top of the beautiful white sand trail which ran in front of Cocomangas. It was a sad day for me as i knew what the future was going to bring , a cement road with tons of traffic .The paradise island of Boracay really started to change when we got electrical power in 1992  . Electricity enabled builders to build faster with power tools and resorts offered better rooms with air conditioning and swimming pools .Commercialism arrived in the mid 90’s and Boracay has never looked back .

To the newcomer , Boracay is still a beautiful paradise island in the Philippines ,  but to the old timers there’s nothing like the old days … 

Yours truly,

John Munro

Ride the Zorb . Follow the signs which  are everywhere along Boracay’s Main Road .

Zorb’s are giant plastic balls . The yellow ball on the left of pic is the harness style where you get strapped inside and the blue ball in the middle of pic is the hydro ball where you slide around inside on water.

The view from the top of the Zorb race course .

The Zorb rolling down the hill gaining speed taking just 25 seconds to finish the course.

When in Boracay ride the Zorb .It’s  a new attraction on Boracay Island in the friendly Philippines . You can see  there posters and fliers all over the island advertising the Zorb.I was like , what the heck is a Zorb .

The Zorb is a massive 3 meter plastic ball of fun , which rolls down a hillside of grass with you inside laughing your guts out .They have 2 different types of plastic balls , the harness where they  strap you inside  so you roll head over heels(not for the light hearted), or the hydro ball where they pour buckets of water inside the ball , so you slide around while travelling down the hill. The hydro Zorb can hold 3 people inside at one time making it a fun event for families and friends.

The Zorb is located at Baragay Yapak . It’s on the same road that leads to the Bat Caves .Do the Bat Caves first , than to cool off on the way back , jump into the hydro Zorb and have a blast . They charge P580.00 for single rider and P350.00 each for two or more riders. The Zorb is a quick , exciting  ride ,  rolling down the hill in just 25 seconds.

So if your bored hanging out at White Beach , try to ride the Zorb for some instant fun and laughter.

Yours truly,

John Munro