I had the #BestNightEver

(January 30, 2015) It has been a tradition (sort of) for me to spend my birthdays out of town. For the past years, I'd spent it in Alaminos, Baguio, and several other local destinations. This year, I chose Boracay, an island paradise in the Province of Aklan in Visayas. Since November of last year, my friends and I have been talking about this trip. (Thanks to RNO Bess for sponsoring our airline tickets! LOL) But, most of the time, we just talked about how we could enjoy Boracay. Nothing was really concrete. We didn't even have a hotel booking until after we set foot in the island. Everything remain cloudy except for our plan of joining #BoracayPubCrawl. We thought this was necessary as Boracay is more famous for its party scene than its pristine beaches.

Prior to leaving MNL, we had to make sure that we visited #BoracayPubCrawl's website and booked ourselves some tickets. They offer several payment methods (e.g. credit cards) but I opted for PayPal as I deem this more secure. As soon as I finalized our booking, I received an online receipt from PayPal. Booked! Yey. :)

#BoracayPubCrawl

Php 790 (USD ~17.50) for guys; Php 690 (USD ~15.30) for girls

Before the shedule of our booking (which is 30 January), I got several reminders from Team #BoracayPubCrawl. In my mind, I said.. "Grabe maka-build up ng excitement ah!" (What a way to build up the excitement!) In one of the emails, we were instructed to proceed to Station 4 Beach Bar at around 8pm of the 30th.

On the day itself, we just had dinner and proceeded right away to the meeting place. we were there around 7:45pm. Early birds! LOL. Upon arriving, we were assisted by some of the captains (i.e. guides). We were given a shirt, a shot glass, a baller band, and some drink stubs. As soon as we got our stuff, another captain approached us to brief us about the fun and excitement we should expect in our nightlong journey. We were also given some reminders as to what not to do. Lastly, we were  instructed to "design" our shirts with a pair of scissors. Clueless with what I was doing, I just cut the sleeves to transform it to a sando. At this point, we were all busy making our creativeness work.

Kite and I. This is how my makeshift sando looked like.

Our new found friends Kit and Kath being briefed by Captain Jae

As soon as we were done testing our clothing tech prowess, we went around to get to know the people joining the Crawl that night. To my surprise, there were more foreigners than Filipinos! I met friends from Australia, Sri Lanka, the States, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, and many other parts of the world. It's as if I was attending a social event of the United Nations.  At this point, we were tasked by our captains to get to know three things about the people who we will talk to. Otherwise, our asses will be slapped. (Not literally, of course.) This was a good motivation for us to learn unique things about these cool, new people. I found out that there were some who visited the Philippines as part of their company's corporate social responsibility. Some were in Boracay for a convention. But most of us were there just to have fun. And boy were we glad to have joined #BoracayPubCrawl!

We stayed in the first bar for about an hour. We then went to Juice Bar. Pretty much like the first bar, we just talked and talked while we were there. We still tried to get to know the other people who we did not yet get the chance to talk with. More chats and a li'l bit of dancing.

Me and RNO Bess

Nepalese-Brit friend Praz, Kite, myself, and Bess

With Malaysian friends Adrie, Cheah, and Tiji

After another hour or so, we proceeded to Wave Bar and Lounge. This bar is (somehow) affiliated with Boracay Regency Resort and Spa. This was more of a club than a bar. What we weren't comfortable doing in the previous two bars was finally put to the test --- dancing! I don't remember taking a lot of shots when we were here. We were too busy showcasing our footwork alongside some hand coordination. Our dance moves were relentless that this bar was filled with havoc (the positive kind).

I shamelessly took over the dance floor!

Party people! (L-R: Random Korean guy, Bess, random Korean girl, Kite, someone, Kit, Kath, Tiji, Adrie, Marcus, and Cheah)

With Captains Rizza and Verge, and new friend Josh

In between bars, our captains led us to the beach area to play some games and take dozens of "class pictures".

#BoracayPubCrawl Batch 520

Say cheese!

Kite, making her way through the relay

Can you see me? I'm next!

My #BoracayPubCrawl is made more memorable because of the surprise birthday cake. It's like the cherry on top! After visiting one of the bars, I was greeted by the entire crowd of crawlers. Captain Jae then gave me my candle to blow. Thank you, #BorcayPubCrawl!

It's only now that I realize how horrible I look when frosting's all over my face.

Pardon the pits. LOL

After all the dancing, we went to Epic Bar. ("Epic is one.") I must say that this was the only boring part of the Crawl. Nothing interesting happened during our stay in Epic. But on hindsight, this was a much needed break. I dunno if this was intentional on the part of the organizers, but the boredom was a tad "relaxing".

Epic lounging

Deepening the friendship! Haha

Strike a pose, guys.

Next stop: ADHD Silent Club. In one of the email reminders sent, we were told to bring one identification card. Right before the Crawl started, we were told that our ids will be required before we get admitted to the last bar. I was puzzled but I just shrugged it off by socializing. And now that we're down to our last bar, we were instructed to bring our ids out. As we lined up, we were given wireless headphones in exchange of our ids. Again, I was puzzled. When I put the headphones on, there was music playing. That's the only time I realized that it was a silent bar! It was my first time encountering such a concept in a bar. Amazing! More and more dancing for all the crawlers! I just can't help myself from laughing ,though, every time I put my headphones off and see the people dancing in silence. LOL. This bar was my favorite! It is in this final stretch where I pushed my limits and ended up drunk. Thanks to my good Malaysian friend Marcus for making it a point that I enjoy my pre-birthday celebration drunk! And yes, he was successful in this quest of getting me wasted. HAHA

Ana's really into the groove.

BKT yo with Captain Jae

BKT yo!

I kept on telling people that the highlight of this nth time in Boracay is #BoracayPubCrawl. As mentioned, I've been to Boracay many times but this bar-hopping experience made this visit top it all. We came to the island with no expectations but we definitely went home with a bag full of (epic) experiences. Boracay will never be the same again. Thanks, #BoracayPubCrawl and its makers! As for everyone who's reading, I suggest that you plan your next Boracay trip. And never forget to allot a night for your #BestNightEver.

Photo Credits: Boracay Pub Crawl's Facebook Page