Aaaah. i live on Mindanao and Boracay is a place never goto (having been there of course). The Philippines as a whole are a place where people who are clearly foreign are set to be fleeced, sounds like a genralisation but I have been here on and off for 24 years now. It is what it is.
Boracay, while beautiful and very Westernish in terms of accomodations, no squatting on two bricks wth a bucket of water for a Comfort Room (lavarotory), it is crazily overpriced.
We have 7,107 islands here and some like Bohol are amazingly beautiful. In fact, pics I have posted of my home on Bluelight, in Gallery, show how beautriful even this war torn island can be.
"Nothing like Thailand price wise.": Actually just had 3 months up there and in Cambodia. Phiippines are about the cheapest on the Rim and most of the Mainland and that includes Cambodia. The average tuktuk in Cmbodia is 2 dollars within 5 klicks or so. Here, on Mindnao, the local equivalent, a trike, is 14 Pesos anywhere in the municipaily. 14 Pesos at the current dollar exchange is about 27 US Cents. Big difference.
Buses are more expensive here. Thailand and Cambodia are very inexpensive. For my wife and myself, from Pnohm Penh to Bangkok (changing in Poi Pet of course) it was 24 US and a great accomodation. That is almost 500 klicks. Here? 1400 Pesos roughly for the lower level accomodation of the two tiered quality wise bus system, for both of us to travel 300 klicks to Davao.
Food wise? Borracay is not the best place to sample. Might as well be Manila. Nothing truly local in almost all cases.
The staple here of course is boiled white rice, 3 times a day (thank G-D I have rice mills, ha!). We eat mostly fish although it is more expensive than any domestically produced meat due to demand. We are about 100 klicks in from the coast at Butuan, and 9 from a viullage in Suriagao del Sur and we can pay up to 500 Pesos for a 1 kilo lobster (why noone eats it).
A typical meal varies according to the tribe you are eating around. My wife's people are Visayans and we eat usually, aside from rice, amaplaya which is almost exactly like the Chinese bitter melon but very healthy. Often we have a bit of scrambled egg mixed in with it to take away soem of the bitterness.
For meat on those rare times wwe use it, we usually use Native Chicken (Chikens originated in SE Asia not far from here and a sign of locality in chickens are the babies from hatching have their parents colouring, no fluffy yellow critters), or Brahaman Cows. Cooked in viand (sauce), soy for the rice, and purified water. For dinner tonight we had Blue Prawns cooked with egg, breadcrumbs, garlic, ginger,red onion, and leek all made into fritters. Quite good.
The reason cheese is such a delicay here is that 95% of SE Asians cannot digest it as they lack the enzyme. Philippines has a slightly higher average at 90% unable to digest it.
I get mine at import stores in Davao or Cagayan del Oro.
The breads are almost always sweet. Just local taste.
Anyway, sounds like you had fun, mabuhay.
) and while I'd like to explore the Philippines more, this island holds little for me. The beaches are nice but the very poor level of development mean the beach for Kite Surfing could be cleaner and the main beach less like an Asian Blackpool.
