And I thought the extra trips were over. We were in one of our Bora’s must eats, Andok’s one lunch time when China spotted Mr. Sandy Javier, owner of the place and said hello (they’ve been family friends for a long time). Another chef, Sandy invited us to try his ribs at Obama. This was pretty timely since we were looking to go to Obama’s during one of our dinners. The next day, he invited our family to go with them to a “enchanting place” off boracay…we soon found out that this place was Ariel’s Point. On his boat, we took a 20 minute boat ride to Ariel’s point. This was really the life, we were also served drinks and bananas on the way there.
A bunch of rock formations and cliffs greeted us at Ariel’s Point. You gotta hand it to Ariel, he had the vision and patience to create a small recreation spot for people in a place that seems impassable. I could already see a bunch of people jumping off cliffs and snorkeling. It was enchanting, and I think you can do so many things here like snorkeling, boating, cliff diving…The place also has lunch included, with unlimited drinks if you’re going there on your own. What made this trip all the more amazing was that we were going to have a nice barbecue with ribs, meats and seafood with the king of barbecues himself!
We got to Ariel’s point and walked through a small cave going up to the cliffs. This was totally beautiful. The cliffs overlooked the vast sea and the crystal clear waters below. People were already eating lunch when we got there, but we were in for an even more special lunch. We took time to go around the area, there was a natural pool area and a snorkeling site at the side of the cliff. There were tons of fish and crabs on the water, and it was so clear that you could see the wildlife just by looking at the water. People were cliff jumping and swimming along what was literally open sea.
Lunch! This was probably the most fantastic ocean side lunch I’ve ever had. Sandy is much like dad, there’s always an overwhelming amount of food! We started off with some grilled US ribeye, grilled pork belly (liempo, which is fantastic in Andok’s!), grilled prawns and grilled sea bass. This just kept pouring in and we just kept eating! The steaks were perfectly medium to medium rare, just salted, to let you taste the fabulous juices. Then came and absolutely delicious grilled Taningue, which is probably the best grilled macarel or taningue I’ve ever had. It was so moist and tasty and didn’t have that annoying fishy taste you would usually get from taningue found here in the markets.
Then came Sandy’s Ribs. I tell you, it was fork tender…it was falling off the bone. The sauce was peppery and spicy, with a fantastic balance of sour and sweet. The textures were fabulous, there was crispness and softness once you get to the middle. I even ate the soft bone! This was the ribs he’s been telling us about since the other day. And I think he’s right, this could very well be, the best ribs on the island! Yum!
After all that eating came some leisure time. I just had to try to jump off the cliff, even if it meant, the smaller ones. I was in a place you’d have to take a boat to reach and I just had the best ocean side lunch…I just wanted to jump off since I was feeling completely satisfied with everything (in case something goes wrong at that point you know). My knees were shaking even if it was a shorter distance than the one my dad jumped off. But I knew that if I stayed any longer on that post, I would chicken out since I’d feel dizzy because of the height…so I just did it…and I screamed on the short way down and filled my nose with sea water. But I was glad I jumped off since the others didn’t get to do it.
After an hour of snorkeling through the clear waters and hanging out in their “natural jacuzzi” we had to go over to a beach off Buruanga so Tito Sandy and his daughter Jenny could pick up some hermit crabs to bring home.
Buruanga looks almost deserted. There were only fishing nets on the water and the beaches had zero people. The sand. my dad said, was pink, from the corals washed ashore. Since the boat was too big to bring closer to shore, Jenny and Tito Sandy had to take a boat. China and my brother, went snorkeling since the waters were full of fish and wildlife. There got so caught up, they snorkeled all the way to the beach! Mig and I were also snorkeling, but only near the boat since we were both paranoid about all the sea urchins and unknowns underwater. It was beautiful and perfect for snorkeling. We were in the middle of a reef that had a small canyon of corals and sea weed. Wish I had an underwater camera. About an hour off the beaches of Buruanga, it was time to go back to Boracay. It was pretty enchanting!
Back in Boracay, I ended my afternoon with Andok’s delicious bibingka! I think this is a new product, but it was so smooth and tasty, with the little salted egg surprises in the center. Yum!
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