Ready For Summer?

Summer collections start to rise in EDSA billboards and mannequins are now wearing swimsuits in your favorite mall. Bandanas, straw hats and bags, sunscreen and tanning lotions have a bit increase in their retail prices. Can you feel the heat? It's summer! Are you ready?

The perfect season to hit the beach is fast approaching. If you plan to go out of town to beat the scorching heat of the sun, start planning it now. Planning ahead on where to go and what to prepare for a little getaway will help you save money and time! Beach resorts go up thrice in their rates during the peak season as well as bikinis, SPF and other essentials. Rewrite your summer checklist and update yourself on what you and your travel buddies need.

Let me help with this: where to go, what to wear, what to do, etc, etc! I'm not an expert but I hope you'll appreciate. : )

Diniwid Beach, Boracay Island

Where to go?  Boracay. Again? Admit it, Boracay Island is undoubtedly hailed as a top beach destination because of its highly-urbanized feel with the perfect view of nature's beauty. As much as I'd love to explore new places and discover remote islands, I'd still choose to go here for a short weekend vacation.

If you're caught between relaxing and partying, I suggest you to stay at Orinda Beach Resort. Its location is perfect if you want a piece of privacy while sunbathing. Located at Diniwid Beach (near Nami), you can take a distance from the crowd in Stations 1, 2 and 3. When the sun sets, ask the friendly resort staff to bring you to where the nightlife is. Take your time, no curfew. Party all night long! The 24-hour service will ensure you that they can safely bring you back to the resort after drinking and dancing.

Orinda Beach Resort, Diniwid Beach, Boracay, Malay, Aklan, Philippines.

If you want to skip Boracay this time, Bataan is a good choice. Guimaras Island and Bantayan Island are highly recommended too! Puerto Galera, like Boracay, is also a good place to "island party" and other places like Palawan, Bohol, Zambales, Pagudpud and La Union should also be considered.

What to wear? One of the few FAQs of my life is how many bikinis do I own and how do I manage to keep, wear, and mix and match them. Well, honestly, I don't keep track of the quantity of my shoes and swimsuits but I keep the designs, styles and types of those in my mind. Now going back to swimsuits, it's my mood who decides on what I should wear on the beach. My mood depends on the item I bought (if I purchased a bikini set, I tend not to mix and match it anymore, because some brands sell items individually). Topshop, for an instance, sells both a set and an individual swim wear but you can score a SET during their clearance sale.

Hot pink with "polka hearts" bikini set from Topshop.

Reversible, strapless bandeau bikini set also from Topshop.

For some mix-and-match techniques, which works simply the best especially when you're on a budget, looking for brands which allow buyers to purchase only an item is the easiest thing to do. Picture in your mind the colors, designs and prints of the swimsuits you already own. The best place to go is, of course, SM Department Store! Sunkissed and Coco Cabana specifically won't hurt your pocket. Keep your budget for other essentials or save it up for a bigger pocket money.

Lime green bikini bottom paired with a yellow bandeau and yellow/purple tribal bikini haltered top.

This photo above shows the original bikini bottom pair of my yellow/purple tribal bikini haltered top. I paired it with a graphic/zebra-print bikini top which I bought from SM Department Store's Sunkissed. I also paired this bottom with this:

...while the original bottom pair of the paisley top is worn with:

...a plain white haltered bikini top. :)

Now, when it comes to coverups, I have a few words for you: never cover up too much. If you want to cover your belly or cleavage, wear something like this:

Well, his is not actually a coverup. Knitted/crocheted clothes can also be worn as coverups. I tried to keep my belly here but didn't want to sweat that much so I kept the neckline open. The length is also enough to cover my upper thigh. :)

If you opt to show a sexier you without showing off your skin, chiffon bottoms are of help. Take these as an example:

Plain and printed chiffon bottoms from Betty.

Oh, by the way! Did I mention I only got these chiffon bottoms for only P150 each? I riri, riri, riri love SM Department Store! :)

What else to bring? You know what your travel essentials are, it's all up to you. My frequent hop to the beach gave me the idea to have a separate kit for the things I need when traveling, including: SPF body lotion, SPF face lotion, lip balm with sun protection, shampoo and conditioner (I recommend Sunsilk Weather Defense here), extra-moisturizing after bath lotion, and facial mist spray. These are my super top essentials aside from the toiletries and stuff.

And lastly, don't forget to bring your cameras and to keep good memories. No matter how near or far your destination is, regardless of what your face and smile looks like, the best trips remain the best when you know how to have fun! 

♥,

Marianne

More Fun In The Philippines

Last Friday, the Department of Tourism launched its newest campaign, "It's More Fun In The Philippines". Filipinos all over the world have fun in sharing their own versions of "more fun" by creating personal posters with witty descriptions on why it's more fun here.

I'm really grateful that our people embraced and supported this campaign despite the accusations that the idea was stolen from a Swiss tourism campaign. In all honesty, I think that this is just a pure coincidence because the word "fun" rhymes with "Switzerland" and the phrase "it's more fun in *blank*" is an ordinary phrase. It can be heard from everyone... everywhere, everyday. And "It's More Fun In The Philippines" in Tagalog is "(Sa 'Pinas) Mas Mas Masaya" just like here at TV5! Mas masaya naman kasi talaga. And take note, my boss retweeted this! 

Going back, I wouldn't let this moment slip. We're currently on a high sharing what we've got! I made my own versions, too!

Sam, Marga and Reesha in Baguio City.

With Paolo, Boracay Island.

Corregidor Island

The Magic Stays With You! At Enchanted Kingdom.

A certified only in the Philippines: dirty ice cream!

A lovely sarong. Pagudpud Beach.

Main reason why I wanna go back to Laoag. Paoay Church is a little piece of heaven in the Philippines.

Body massage by the bay? Yes. At Puerto Galera.

I ran out of witty descriptions but I swear, making these "more fun" posters alone is really fun! Please find time to make your own too. All you need is Adobe Photoshop and get the vector and raster template here or get instructions from Jayvee Fernandez or download the Harabara font for free! If you would like to share your photos, you can add them on InterAksyon.com Gallery or email MoreFun@InterAksyon.com. And lastly, like "More Fun In The Philippines" on Facebook and follow @MoreFunInThePHL and @DOTPhilippines.

Show your photos, show your support!

♥,

3/4 Boracay

Third and last day post for Boracay before you tell yourself, "Pweh, Boracay again?" Hahaha so okay, this is going to be the last post with regards to this trip. Seat back and relax! Loaded with bikini photos, I don't know why but we just had a few decent photos with our clothes on. But then again, this is Boracay! It's a beach, anyway. Disclaimed!

Lunch at D'Talipapa in a restaurant called Aquafresh, sounds like a toothpaste but I think I know why they named the restaurant Aquafresh. Fresh seafood! Giant lobsters, prawns, crabs, oysters, shrimps, fish, squids, etc etc and then a not-so-dirty, dirty ice cream from Fruits in Ice Cream. That choco pinipig flavor from its Pinoy Sorbetes ice cream collection brought me to paradise! 

Superloving this photo with Ailyn! :)

We hit the beach at around 3:00 in the afternoon because Johnson and I watched the replay of the 2011 Ad Congress. We waited for our bosses, Mr. Manny Pangilinan and Mr. Gabby Lopez, to finish their talks. Maro and Mark took their afternoon nap so most of my pictures are with Ailyn, who's also longing for a tan line like me. We both failed, yo.

Missing our morena girls!

We just stayed in front of the resort where we stayed.

Wore black bikini top from Sassa and red bikini from Topshop. Look out our fezzz, zooo hot outzide!

With Vona who patiently took numerous photo of us. ♥

And yay! Lottie followed :) Good morning!

Tres marias!

Babe and I ♥

One of the happiest afternoons in Boracay to date. We played charades while swimming, boys vs girls. Super fun, we had to guess movie titles like Saving Private Ryan, Home Along Da Riber (boo, boys!) and in return, we asked them to guess Freaky Friday (Mark's really hilarious answer was SPOOKY SATURDAY, SPOOKY FRIDAY AND SPOOKY THURSDAY! Hahaha! He almost completed the entire weekday!), Da Vinci Code and Forrest Gump. The boys won, however!

We rushed back to the resort to wash up, prepare our stuff for our return flight the following day--in my case, watched MMK's tearjerker episode, Singsing featuring Eddie Garcia and Gloria Romero, before we went to Station 1 to favor my fruitshake craving which can only be satisfied by Jonah's itself. Paolo and I had an exclusive dinner at Big Mama's and met the rest of the group afterwards at Shenna's.

Our last night in Bora. We did not want to party hard anymore because I'm scared we might miss our early morning flight. We all settled by the shore and drank, ate, and continued playing! This time, we played Pinoy Henyo! As usual, boys vs girls again. We made them guess the words like pugo, nunal and Wi-Fi! Hahahaha!

Johnson's friend, Luster, also joined us that night.

I made sure we wouldn't miss our early flight and yes, I conquered another fear on our way home. I'm really scared of the sea at night/in the dark but last Sunday, we had to take the boat at 5:30 (breaking dawn, naks!). I couldn't wait for the sun to shine but I'm thankful that I enjoyed the boat transfer to Caticlan. Another first in my history of traveling! Shallow for others, but historic for me.

Z2-309, KLO-MNL

Back in Manila's arms by 11:00 in the morning. Going home after every trip is always as exciting as your journey to your destination. As they say, home is where the heart is. Others may argue that they left their hearts in Boracay, but me, I just left my footprints there. ♥

Read my posts on Day 1 and Day 2 of our Boracay 2011 trip, too.

♥,

Boracay, 2nd Day

Day two of our Bora adventure, as promised in my First Day at Bo-Rock-Ay post. :)

We partied during the first night without destroying our lungs so I'm happy to wake up in a different bed feeling alright, no hangover and the like. Starting the day with rumbling stomachs, the boys wanted to eat something heavy that we decided to take our lunch at the all-famous, the more the many-er Mang Inasal. Unlimited rice, fight!

Girls and boys while Vona's still asleep.

After this fulfilling brunch, we craved for something sweet and cold aka ice cream so we roamed around the area in search for the perfect dessert. We stumbled upon Halowich, situated at D' Mall Avenue and were astounded by this big ice dessert in a huge punch bowl for only P399!

Ailyn's birthday treat, three months delayed! Hehe, thanks girl! :*

Kagulo, seryoso, agawan at unahan sa ice cream!

This ice dessert can be prepared by anyone! Just be sure to have some crushed ice, vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, evaporated milk topped with fruits, cereals and anything you want to please your taste buds. Me, I want to fill this bowl with lots of crispy pinipigs oohlalala~!

Station 2.

Ailyn and I badly wanted to have tan lines we sunbathed at around 3:00 pm under the sun's scorching heat. We also applied tanning lotion to achieve our goal but it looked like Coppertone is not that effective. No visible tan lines at all! 

 Lotty and I and our tanning lotion.

Pimping with ola mestiza, Ailyn.

Paisley-printed bikini top from Coco Cabana and purple bikini from Sunkissed.

Where's Mickey? Where's Mika?

Stolen shots with Lotty and Vona! Like! ♥

Time to get a tan!

At Cafe del Mar. Nope, that's not mine. :)

(c) Vaughn Johnson Hautea

We drank during the late afternoon by the bay (moments like this, I truly love!). It did not feel like a Friday afternoon at all because there was no too much crowd. We expected people to rush in by the weekend, but oh well, expect the unexpected. Fewer people made the island more beautiful.  

Beach volley, again.

Beer and isaw!

While the others spent the early sunset playing volleyball, Paolo and I continued drinking and eating isaw (grilled chicken intestine), atay (grilled chicken liver) and barbecue!

And then suddenly, Johnson got lost! We didn't know exactly what happened but we couldn't all go back to the hotel because they key to our room was with him. After 20 minutes, he appeared somewhere! Whew!

Dinner at Villa de Oro.

The five of us had dinner at Villa de Oro at Station 3 while Ailyn and Donn had an exclusive date. Mushy much! We enjoyed our blue marlin, grilled porkchop and more! We talked about a lot of things too and forgot about the time... the time to party!

Happy couple Mark and Maro :)

On our way to Villa de Oro, a lady approached us and invited us to a ladies' night at their bar called Deja Vu. We liked the place, clean, big and not crowded and it's actually the cheapest place to drink and dance. First round of cocktails are for free, yay for Mai Tai and bottled drinks like San Mig Light, Red Horse and Tanduay Ice only cost P40! What a steal! :)

Ladies night turned into couples night!

With my forever date!

Eh hindi naman ako partyng-party na!

I already wore this maxi dress to Boracay last year as a coverup :)

Maxi girls!

Dougie + Tanduay Ice = fun night with my mars!

The DJ played such great songs!

Thug lovin'. Haha! :D

Bro. Flavius vs Bro. Hartmann. Mika and Monte, where are you guys?

End of day two. Time flies when you're having fun, but our time flew twice as fast than the usual because not only we had fun, we had new memories worth keeping. How I really, really wish we were complete, though. Day three coming up next. :)

♥,