Summer getaway
BY BOB ZOZOBRADO / Manila Standard Today

I just discovered a perfect summer getaway and I’m so thrilled, not so much as to where it was but more, importantly, when it was!

I’ve made many out-of-town trips during summer, to several domestic destinations: Cebu, Baguio, Boracay, Iloilo, Tagaytay, Ormoc, Batangas, etc., but when I get there, it seems like almost everyone from Manila is there, too, as I bump into friends and acquaintances wherever I go. Nothing wrong with that because I love being with friends.

But I go to these places because my inner soul yearns for a complete change of scenery, preferably, devoid of people, so that my poor, perennially harassed and stressed-out muscular and nervous systems have the time to tone down a bit, to re-energize me for my return to the concrete jungle several days later.

This is why I was so happy to have found the perfect getaway this time---I went to Boracay on the last weekend immediately before classes started, stayed there Saturday to Monday, and I tell you, it was heaven! I practically had the entire beach of Station 2 all to myself! Somewhere in this column you’ll see two photos I took around 2 p.m., right on the wide beachfront of the Boracay Regency Beach Resort and Spa, my home during this “perfect getaway.”

It was supposed to be the peak hour for beach denizens to strut their wares, so I was expecting the area to be teeming with the usual rowdy mob running all over the place but, lo and behold, I had peace and quiet, exactly what I have been hankering for every time I take short breaks like this! It was Heaven on Earth!

Of course, it also helped that my home for the weekend had all the facilities seasoned travelers look for. The high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity in my de luxe room kept me continuously connected with my office, my family and friends. And, I didn’t miss out on the hotel’s claim-to-fame: the Kai Regency, Boracay’s most popular Spa. On my first night, I tried the Four Hand Harmony Massage which uses the “Lomi Lomi” technique, with two therapists simultaneously working on my body, mimicking each other’s movements and pressure for a balanced experience.

On my second night, I had the Healing Hot Stone Massage, with its slow rhythmic massage movements using heated basalt stones to elicit physical and mental relaxation as well as spiritual connection to earth energy. The placement stones rebalance one’s energy while the working stones release tension, bringing one to a state of calm and quietude of mind and body.

I could have tried the other types of massage the Spa offers but it was time to go back to “reality” and be on the treadmill again. Heading back home, I was contented to have finally discovered the right time to visit my favorite beach destination and I hasten to add that Henry Chusuey, chairman of the Boracay Regency Group, really knows how to run the only five-star hotel in Boracay.

Small wonder why it has become the favorite of celebrities and other important faces in business and government.