 11/99
UPDATE! Marc de Vries writes:
Dear all,
Only 35 days to go until the start of the new
Millennium. Many of us have understood that there is no better place to
celebrate this, than at the tropical beach of Borocay, Philippines.
Yes, you too can be part of this
festival. Or would you rather watch the
Australia celebrations from
the comfort of your home. Framing the most
important New Year of the last
40 generations with a 14" TV screen. When at
the "moment supreme" you are
surprised to see that Australia has actually
arranged for a snow storm to
occur in the middle of the Southern Hemisphere
summer. Until you realize all
TV connections have been broken, because some
poor bastard oversaw a small
Y2K program in the cameraman's pacemaker...
As an IS alumnus, we know you
realize that there is no place where you
would rather be. Finances have
been raised as a deterrent, but if you
consider that costs for accommodation,
drinks and wholesome fun are about
as low as you can get anywhere,
The main cost will be the flight. Let's
assume your cost for a ticket
is 1,000 US$ per person, and you are
travelling with a family of
four, then your total expense for this
memorable trip would be around
4,000 US$. In perspective, this would cost
you a mere 1 cent per day until
the next millennium. Or only 11 US$ per day
if you would pay for it in a
year... That's more than you blow away on
Cappuccino.
That is why we now come to the
real problem, although you'll never admit
it.... You can't convince your
spouse without risking a millennium divorce
(no special promotions there...).
So here are a few sentences we have found
very helpful:
*
The stars are as clear as in the nursery rhyme
*
The airlines don't use computer systems down there
*
Oh no dear, there will hardly be any loud fireworks...
*
There'll be a full time nanny
*
Have you tried the famed Mango shake?
*
What about the banana shake?
*
Sharks? In the Philippines?
*
No honey, the sand is quite edible, the local kids do it all the time
*
Sunstroke? Have you ever seen a Filipino with a sunburn?
So try it out. This is your one
and only chance to relive your high school
memories without the black tie...
Come celebrate New Year 2000
at Borocay.
Marc and Carol de Vries-Priore
"Borocay-if-you-only-loose-your-suitcase-your-lucky-tours"
Marc
de Vries also wrote:
New Years 2000 celebration in Borocay is fast competing
with Easter
Island or some other forlorne place destined to be
the first to witness the
birth of the new millenium.
Not that Borocay will be the last, but its not the
timing of the sunrise
which has made this magnificant island our Mecca of
celebrations and
festivities.
What better way to start this auspicious New Year with
a dip in the ocean,
cold San Miguel at hand and the best of friends at
your side helping you
remember your senior locker code...
You can imagine that it didn't surprise "Borocay-If-You-Only-Lose-Your
Suitcase-You're-Lucky-Tours" to learn from our pro-bono
agent Alex Kahl,
that Juan Elizalde, another far-sighted
individual, is planning the same
event on the same dates (actually his start a few
days earlier), at the
same extraordinary island. No wonder it was so hard
to get the return
flights confirmed. In combining forces (my next e-mail
will be a personal
one to Juan about how to share commissions - one does
learn a trick or two
living in Thailand you know) BOROCAY 2000 is going
to be an even bigger
party!!!
Juan is even arranging for some guy to sit on a banca
and light up the
thing for a fantastic explosion which would make Meralco's
power plant
manager proud. I would gladly pitch in and offer some
fisherman's yearly
supply of dynamite for the grand finale!
Some of you may only read about this for the first
time, and you have
missed some entertaining correspondance on this
matter. For starters,
"Borocay-If-You-Only-Lose-Your Suitcase-You're-Lucky-Tours"
has succesfully
squashed the "forget-that-let's-do-something-really-silly-and-go-skiing-in-Austria"
lobby. Additionally our professional and experienced
tour operators have
convinced even the freshest of parents (Alan Jones,
2 wks baby boy -Ethan
Gobbelaar Jones), that Borocay is a baby and child
friendly place.
In summary, we would like to outline the following
advantages
of
celebrating New Years 2000 in Borocay with us (not
necessarily in order of
priority):
- The
beer's cold and abundant
-
It's San Miguel beer, not some trendy brew which won't survive the next
millenium
-
The water's warm and its not the kiddies pool.
-
Who cares if Y2K cuts off electricity, blocks your credit card and ATM,
gets
elevators stuck between floors, screws-up your tax return files and
makes
public transportation synonimous with walking 5 km to the office with
5,000,000
other lost souls.
-
who cares if planes don't fly and you're stuck on a tropical island.
-
These are friends who know what your talking about when you try to
describe
the smell ventilated through the holes in the windows of the note
book
and small supply shop...
-
its cheap
-
Good place to find a husband/wife if you're still a bachelor
-
there's still space
-
Diving
-
Golf
-
Good food, good bars
-
Night clubs
-
beach volleyball
-
basking in the sun
-
fireworks galore
-
sailing
-
"jump-the-fence trials"
-
we might see a bearcat (???)
-
and much much more.
In keeping with tradition of Borocay's venue for high
level sporting
events, "Borocay-If-You-Only-Lose-Your Suitcase-You're-Lucky-Tours"
will
organise the World Championships Quarters, which as
you know takes place
only once a millenium. The unique character of this
major event is
magnified significantly, that they will not be held
once, but twice, namely
on Dec 30 or 31 1999, and on Jan 2 or 3 2000 (depending
on the wind speed
of that day). They will then not be held for another
999 years!!! Judged
according to the well accepted US Rules, a fierce
competition is expected
to emerge, a gruelsome and stamina enduring marathon,
leaving the last man
standing. The winner will then automatically qualify
for the World
Championship Beer bonging in the 1 litre catagory
(the 0.33L catagory
championships were supposed to be held in a
log cabin somewhere in
Austria...) staged the following morning. The prize,
a two hour banca
cruise under the pleasant 38 degrees Celcius sun,
is sponsored by the "
Feed the Fish of the World" campaign.
Well there you have it in a nut shell. "Borocay-If-You-Only-Lose-Your
Suitcase-You're-Lucky-Tours" has booked an pre-paid
a number of huts on the
beach (Fan only) from 29 Dec to 5 Jan (departure date)
for about 800 Peso's
per night per person (500 peso's if the hut is shared
by 2 or more). The
number is limited so inform me asap if you need one
of the huts. However,
there are still a number of other cheap options available
to you if we have
no more rooms left over, but you have to inform me
quickly and we can help
you with those arrangements (since your travel agent
probably wouldn't
bother with these rates). You can book other rooms
at more luxurious and
expensive resorts via http://asiatravel.com
remember that most people will be booked on the most
southern part of White
Beach (West Side). Lorenzo Resort, for example, is
a good alternative.
However, getting to the Philippines, and especially
getting to Borocay is
crucial, and flights are filling-up fast. BOOK YOUR
FLIGHTS NOW. For
reference I am giving the details of two airlines
which you can contact.
Make sure you book to Cataclan airport which is closest
to Borocay (only 15
mins. by banca).
Asian Spirit has 3 flights a day to Cataclan
Departure Manila at 08:45, 12:00 and 15:30
The return flights to Manila are at
10:15, 13:30 and 17:00
1 hr. flying time.
Most people will be on the early morning flight to
Cataclan on 29 Dec.
Asian Spirit
Ms. Me-An or Ms. Lara
G/F LPL Towers No. 112 Legaspi Str.
Legaspi Village, Makati City
Fax: 632-8130183, 7501142
Phone: (632)-8192827, 8671746
reservations: 840-3811, 7504191-2, 7501441
ticketing: 7504193-4
E-Mail: sales@asianspirit.com
The other (more expensive alternative) is:
Pacific Airways
Domestic Airport Road PC
Phone: 632-8322731 (connecting all departments)
CONCLUSION:
1. Book the flights now
2. E-mail/call us after for a room, let us know if
you plan to
arrive/depart earlier or later.
Hope to hear the good news from you soon.
Luv
Carol de Vries-Priore and Marc de Vries
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