I cope with large amounts of Tanduay rum and take-out food. And mangos, loves me some mangos.

My room was disgustingly foul because the owner thought it would be a good idea to open the back door while I was gone so the walls, clothing, bedding, furniture, every single item is covered in a layer of unsanitary mold. As I sat watching her person clean it, she dares tell me its not bad. Had to throw out a lot of clothing, ruined. Even the medicines in blister packs were molded, which tells me the place was flooded with steam at one point. I thought about confronting her on this but of course, shes Filipina so its automatically a lost argument.

While I’m cooling from the day, she tells me I have to move because someone is renting my room for 6 months. I object about getting kicked out after renting for a year and still having deposit credit: she says I’m not getting kicked out… “you can move to the room next door”… I said, “thats kicking me out!” She thinks not.

Think I’ll be looking for another place to live.

The SEAIR flight out was delayed by 3 or 4 hours.. telling us, and I quote “the plane is broken”. Great PR skills. Around 11:00, they fed us. It was fried bits of fried bits. I couldn’t tell if it was chicken, pork, beef, dog, cat, or what. its was pure crunchy fried meat with a slight bit of flexibility… barely. See that fork? Took me a while to stick it in there and the tine broke off. This isn’t SEAIR’s food but something from the airport cantina they bought for us. I always fly SEAIR because they’re cheaper and I like the small planes and they have some of the best pilots. Unfortunately, this ticket was expensive – likely because they’re carrying extra fuel in case they have to divert on a weather basis.

We waited, they fed us this while waiting to get to Boracay. Fried bits of fried bits anyone?

Giving credit where credit is due. The Caticlan cantina.

At the last minute the weather turned foul and the plane was slammed into the runway, causing people to scream… no crash, just a massive hard landing. Finally made it back to the Land of Brownouts. Sure enough, we have them every day so it’s a good thing I sprang extra for a 7 hour battery on my new laptop. Boracay itself isn’t bad, but the trip getting here is never pleasant. I’m just glad I didn’t have to suffer that horrible, uncomfortable, packed-like-sardines trip from the Kalibo.

Stayed at Hostel 1632 next to Robinsons Mall in Ermita and the first room was ghetto as hell. I mean a pure dump. Front desk telling me incorrect hours for everything. NOTE: always get a room on the 4th floor (smoking) since they’re all nicer/newer, preferably room 404 or 405 (the largest) at the same price. The first room was on 2nd floor with high ceilings, almost dead light bulbs, cracks in the wall, dirty, aircon filter a solid mat of dust and mildew, human soap scum/grime in the shower, unbolted sink faucet, dirty linen, small and they refused to change rooms that night. Then…. at 4:30 am on a second night…. the hotwater pipe under the sink blew out spraying steamed water from bathroom into the room, flooding it. F.L.O.O.D. Hot. Steam.

This was odd because I hadn’t been able to get hot water from the sink. Took them an hour to cut the water and fire alarm (even 20 minutes to respond after calling). Several neighboring rooms flooded as well and guys with their prostitutes were in the halls.

They moved me to the 4th floor an hour later and by floor design, 404/405 are longer by a couple meters.It’s freshly painted, the bathroom is three times bigger, low ceilings with good lighting, good linen/pillows, much nicer and even had a small dining table! Even the minibar was fully stocked whereas the other one was almost empty. I asked: its the same price as the ‘dungeon’ I had before. First night, the front desk chick was indifferent like I was annoying her but after that, everyone else was nice as hell, really cool. Oh, and their room service food is really, really good! Try the Seafood Salpicao or Stuffed Chicken.

Hostel 1632 floor plan - best room is on 4th floor, same price