Around San Antonio (Gamay)
I roamed around this little village, where Araw Beach is a part of. Not for any special reason, but just a go-see really, at its present-day look, before more changes happen.
Why? What changes are happening? Aw, just like everywhere else in this country. By and by, yes, even if too slow, remote rural areas do get upgrades. That's what I mean.
Examples: 1) on arrival, I saw that streets are fairly newly-paved; 2) above Nathalie's (since it's a hill, at the back), the street is being extended to 'above the beach'. O ha!
Signs of progress. And, I think it will be more towards that situation, as Araw Beach becomes more and more visible, to the local and even international tourist markets.
Who knows, baka pag balik natin eh this barangay could already be a crowded area of highrises! O, optimist di ba? It'll be best if we visitors have memories of the past!
Ayay, take it from me, I always say now: "if only meron nang phone camera or kahit na digital camera man lang (at my disposal) way back in 1985"! My memories of Boracay!
Syempre, sana din meron nang blogspot that time, so that 'diary-writing' would have been easier! And who would have thought that diaries (like this) can be made public!
That's the drift. I record as much of anywhere I visit, for future nostalgic reference!
So this was to see feel experience anything in the nayon. Come what may kumbaga.
Let's go!
First I noticed was: where the 'beach attraction' starts, the residential abodes end. If in many places, you see that residences also double as resorts or cottages na mismo.
Here it's not so, except for Nathalie's. They're the only resort that's also a residence of the owners. And they're the last residence of the area, before you enter the beach.
So all other resorts are not homes. They are just 'businesses'. Meaning? Meaning... no one actually lives on the white sand beach area. Why? The likely answer: 'spirits'!
I wanted to hear more. But when I started asking around, no one would give me any economic or legal reason, until one lady told me "they do not like being talked about".
Who is/are "they"? The spirits, the "diri kinikita". Da! I stopped asking! Kulba!
I maybe a skeptic on that topic, but as an outsider, a visitor, a tourist, and alone, I do also believe, it is always better to heed what residents say. Kasi, what if totoo yun?!
Let's picture the barangay facing it from the sea:
Right side are the streets and houses; the beach area is that type with a lot of 'small rocks'; the shoreline is the same until the leftmost house which is Nathalie's Resort.
From Nathalie's, the shore becomes a long and wide white-sand beach; there are 3 or 4 resorts leftwards - all of them are not residential homes - just cottages for rent.
Nobody wants to live there! Why? Shh, ayaw nga ng spirits na pinag-uusapan sila. Na!
Well, if I may make an analogy... Boracay was once like that. When we were there in the late 1980s, we stayed at Pearl of the Pacific 1 (take note of the 1, as 2 was still in the making). Locals there told us of a waterfall in Balabag but it was "engkantado"...
Now, look at! Hehe, ganyan yata talaga - when investors come, beliefs go, bahala na!
Anyway, back to Brgy. San Antonio in Gamay, let's wait and see if resort expansions do happen, and if residential areas go south beyond Nathalie's (especially when their new road extension at the back, on the hill, is finally finished). Let's see who dares first!
You know the sabi-sabi? We mere humans can build naman daw anywhere, even on what we know as *their* domain. But, kukuha daw ng kapalit ang mga... *sila*. Hala!
Anyway...
At the end of the street pavement, before and in-front of Nathalie's, I saw this...
Nostalgic. It's been decades since I last witnessed that 'activity' at very close-range!
Root word: LOON [pronounced: lo-on];
Meaning: to smoke-dry (usually coconuts);
The act (verb): paglo-loon
(verb future): maglo-loon
(verb present): naglo-loon
The structure: lon-an (loonan)
This was in the afternoon, and from how it looked, I knew the actual loon would still occur the next day. The setup (what they're doing as pictured) takes a very long time.
I asked what time they'd be "firing it up". The manong said "pag-sirang" ("at sunrise"), so I will be back there early tomorrow morning, to watch them continue the activity!
Ah okay, maybe I should write a separate story about this whole "loon" thing. I will!
Hey, I'm not done with the picture above. Look overhead and behind of manong and the 2nd coconut trunk. You should see a white rectangular sheet. That is a tarpaulin.
Yep, the usual government-made tarpaulin announcing projects. What's it this time? The construction (extention) of a road, so it continues further south (though uphill).
That's what I've been mentioning above - behind Nathalie's, going to the white sand and no-rocks portion of Araw Beach that is still uninhabited by humans as of today!
If you stare at that 'ridge', you could discern the outline of the road.
And actually, my air-conditioned room at Nathalie's is somewhere there beyond the upper left edge of photo, even if resort entrance is down beyond the lower-left corner.
I attempted going for a go-see at that street extension under construction up there, but aborted at the last minute, due to some unavoidable circumstances. What's that?
Nahadlok ak! Kay bangin asya na it an dalan ngadto ha Araw City!
Anyway, as if to temper my fear of the spirits (or, was 'my guardian angel' leading me to the right path'?), instead of going left to the "new road", I instead went right to this:
Nice to know that they have a well-kept dainty little chapel (kahit walang pari)!
Oh, for those who don't know yet (since I also just learned about this lately), chapels at remote barangays don't have 'resident priests'. They are just visited per schedule.
Kaya, hwag kang magpa-KBL outside of the schedule. KBL? Kasal Binyag Libing ba!
After peeping at their closed chapel, I saw an activity further right (north), and I was excitedly walking to see it, when an askal blocked my way. Parang galit-na-galit sya!
Malayo pa lang, I could already see his teeth, at naka-ngiwi ang mukha growling. All I could say naunsa ma ning sigbina oi. Abort! I turned back to the street at Nathalie's.
That was my best option at that particular "Act 1, Scene 3" hehehe! I did not wait for it to bark. Why? Ay, from my personal experience walking at remote barrios, when a dog barks angrily, all others in a battalion come out of their houses to join the choir!
Di ba? Ang mga sigbin na yan, di man lang magtanong muna ng "o pare anyare, sino kalaban"?. O kaya naman "ano tol, tahol lang ba to-its o sakmal na agad?" Like that ba!
My latest such hair-raising kulba was in Brgy. Magallanes, Basey. Kinuyog ako! Yes I was mobbed by about 20 of those mongrels. Di na dapat maulit. Retreat PT, retreat!
Buset na iro, panira ng plano. Buti pa dito sa kalsadang ito, quiet and cute. Ajujuju!
Kita nyo? Ayan si puppy sa tindahan o! Cute na, mabait pa! Yung sa kabila, bad dog!
And it even approached, as if to greet me a joyous morning! [this was 6:11AM]
Here comes the atrevida me! That puppy picture is actually more of an "alibi" - only!
While I genuinely loved that little one, I was also curiously amazed at that 'apparatus' behind him. Yep, the 4 water jugs, serving as bins (with a rack) for segregated trash.
O ano, meron ba kayo nyan? Ingenious! Now, if it has to be uniform in the barangay, or purok man lang, I wonder how many such 'watercans' they'll have to break heheh!
Anyway, past the cute puppy-pup, I turned, as it seemed to be begging that I stay.
Yet another opportunity to click a picture of the street. That at the end, is Nathalie's. Yes, that tindahan at the end of the pavement. That is also their info and front desk.
The real Araw Beach (the white sands, I mean) is via the dirt path veering diagonally left from that tindahan. While a few steps to the right, is the 'lon-an' I told you about.
Oist, I could see the piso-wifi box at Nathalie's. Just saying - but I did not have a use for it. Smart signal is fine in and up there. Yet, they even have free wifi for all guests.
Oh, do you see the perpendicular street, just after that black dog? Turning left there, is to the rocky beach. Right goes to the other street parallel to this one where I was with the little doggie. The on-going road extension and the chapel are on that street.
Plus the masungit azucena that made me pass here in the first place!
Salamat na rin sa ayam na yan. It incidentally gave me a chance to describe where I started my walk from. Isip ko pa nga, kampon ang asong yun nung mga... oops, shh!
Okay Enough! I am at Araw Beach pero ayoko mapunta sa Araw City!
I turned around, to go on with my walk, in the direction of the lady w/ a golden shirt.
But oh BTW! Yes By The Way, I have some BTWs:
1) Pardon my multi-lingual multi-cultural use of words. I'm just globalizing hehe! For example, I use aso, ayam, iro, sigbin, mongrel, azucena, etc. They're all the same: dog!
2) In this country, even at posh villages of highly urbanized cities, dog-related edicts are not (yet) taken seriously. Seasonal ang effectivity or observance nyan - anywhere!
We don't hear anyone being fined nor imprisoned, for letting dogs out-and-free to do what they want, like pee, poo, bark-at, or bite people. They are even protected by law.
3) Animal rights activists are good only at dramatizing "bad deeds" of humans who "hurt" dogs - in whatever circumstance it happened. Their usual way is, ridicule you on mainstream or social media or even bring you to court - and usually successful!
But the other way around isn't their issue. If you are attacked, intimidated, harassed, terrorized by dogs, it's not their problem. Mag-formal complaint ka daw sa barangay!
As a tourist? Hasola! Di ba humans are animals too? So, they should make sure that we too, do not get harangued by a bantay or a spot na mal-edukado at walang modo!
Anywhere. Anytime. Ever!
Hahaha, in our dreeams! Basta, best way is, when they gnarl, avoid na lang.
Oist, I don't hate dogs. We have 4 in the house. I especially love fluffy pups like this:
Innocently cute ang bulinggit na yan - having fun in the weeds and grass, newly cut by its owner. Yep, still on the same street that I strolled on, straight from Nathalie's!
Come to think of it, dogs on this street, young or adult, were friendly to me!
Hah, after that last puppy encounter, I finally walked to the street with an 'activity':
Wow! At 6:15AM! But as we can see in the picture, their 'output' so far, couldn't have come from just the last 15 minutes, right? One lady told me "they even started late".
I was thankful that they were fine answering my questions, even if they were busy in that cleanup activity. Foremost of my learnings was: that, is not even a GPTA effort.
Of course not a Brigada Eskwela since it's just May 24, 2025 - and I did not even see teachers nor pupils. In that picture there are 15 women, but I knew there were more.
They told me it's a "pintakasi". In Waray, it means a community-led concerted action - no remuneration - some may even be sponsoring or contributing for refreshments.
They also told me, that this effort was not specifically for the school grounds. I only chanced upon them there. After that, they will 'attack' other areas of their barangay!
And they were all so jolly early in the morning, with all the marites and banter. Wow!
But I had mixed-feelings witnessing all that:
1) Ang galing naman nila. Bakit kayo, tayo, do we do that in our barangays?
2) Ang swerte ng mga bata ngayon! Nung 'elem' ako, trabaho namin yan ah!
Di ba? Whichever point of view you subscribe to, nakaka-inggit sila!
Hey, over at that northern end of the street, I chanced upon some of the dads:
They were 'kalikuting' their jetmatic pump. Naghuhunta pa o! Are they not amazing?!
Next to that corner with a "jetmatic pump resuscitation action" hehe, I saw this:
Sent that to a friend, who replied with "over-exposed. ayusin mo camera mo, but that's a dendrobium (anosmum) best for events coz maramihan mamulaklak. Abra n pud ka?"
I did not reply, but happy to know such things. Orchids pala yun!
Then I saw something else that had my brain churn into an analytic breakfast. This:
There are a lot of that in this place; and many don't even seem purposely planted; it is called "adlaw-adlaw" or sometimes even the literal translation that is "araw-araw" in Tagalog; and no one could tell me why it is called Araw Beach. Hmmn, thinking2X!
Therefore wherefore heretofore... could it be that... the flower gave the beach a name?
Puyde! But I'll leave that to researchers and history enthusiasts to confirm!
NB as in nota bene: that flower is called "adlaw-adlaw" or "araw-araw" because, it is known to bloom at sunrise and wilt at sunset. Pang-daytime lang. That short-lived.
Anyway, at the end of the school, is the barangay disaster management office etc.
Which, I noticed only this time, is actually at the "entrance" to this interesting barrio.
Okay, since I reached the (only entrance) northern end of the barangay, I started my way back to Nathalie's, planning to have them concoct any breakfast. But I saw this:
That is a Mika's Resort, that I did not know about. Eh after here (San Antonio), I was supposed to be getting a ride to Mika's Beach Resort, but definitely not that one. Ta!
Oh what a discovery! But let's talk about all that in my next story.
Why? What changes are happening? Aw, just like everywhere else in this country. By and by, yes, even if too slow, remote rural areas do get upgrades. That's what I mean.
Examples: 1) on arrival, I saw that streets are fairly newly-paved; 2) above Nathalie's (since it's a hill, at the back), the street is being extended to 'above the beach'. O ha!
Signs of progress. And, I think it will be more towards that situation, as Araw Beach becomes more and more visible, to the local and even international tourist markets.
Who knows, baka pag balik natin eh this barangay could already be a crowded area of highrises! O, optimist di ba? It'll be best if we visitors have memories of the past!
Ayay, take it from me, I always say now: "if only meron nang phone camera or kahit na digital camera man lang (at my disposal) way back in 1985"! My memories of Boracay!
Syempre, sana din meron nang blogspot that time, so that 'diary-writing' would have been easier! And who would have thought that diaries (like this) can be made public!
That's the drift. I record as much of anywhere I visit, for future nostalgic reference!
So this was to see feel experience anything in the nayon. Come what may kumbaga.
Let's go!
First I noticed was: where the 'beach attraction' starts, the residential abodes end. If in many places, you see that residences also double as resorts or cottages na mismo.
Here it's not so, except for Nathalie's. They're the only resort that's also a residence of the owners. And they're the last residence of the area, before you enter the beach.
So all other resorts are not homes. They are just 'businesses'. Meaning? Meaning... no one actually lives on the white sand beach area. Why? The likely answer: 'spirits'!
I wanted to hear more. But when I started asking around, no one would give me any economic or legal reason, until one lady told me "they do not like being talked about".
Who is/are "they"? The spirits, the "diri kinikita". Da! I stopped asking! Kulba!
I maybe a skeptic on that topic, but as an outsider, a visitor, a tourist, and alone, I do also believe, it is always better to heed what residents say. Kasi, what if totoo yun?!
Let's picture the barangay facing it from the sea:
Right side are the streets and houses; the beach area is that type with a lot of 'small rocks'; the shoreline is the same until the leftmost house which is Nathalie's Resort.
From Nathalie's, the shore becomes a long and wide white-sand beach; there are 3 or 4 resorts leftwards - all of them are not residential homes - just cottages for rent.
Well, if I may make an analogy... Boracay was once like that. When we were there in the late 1980s, we stayed at Pearl of the Pacific 1 (take note of the 1, as 2 was still in the making). Locals there told us of a waterfall in Balabag but it was "engkantado"...
Now, look at! Hehe, ganyan yata talaga - when investors come, beliefs go, bahala na!
Anyway, back to Brgy. San Antonio in Gamay, let's wait and see if resort expansions do happen, and if residential areas go south beyond Nathalie's (especially when their new road extension at the back, on the hill, is finally finished). Let's see who dares first!
You know the sabi-sabi? We mere humans can build naman daw anywhere, even on what we know as *their* domain. But, kukuha daw ng kapalit ang mga... *sila*. Hala!
Anyway...
At the end of the street pavement, before and in-front of Nathalie's, I saw this...
Root word: LOON [pronounced: lo-on];
Meaning: to smoke-dry (usually coconuts);
The act (verb): paglo-loon
(verb future): maglo-loon
(verb present): naglo-loon
The structure: lon-an (loonan)
This was in the afternoon, and from how it looked, I knew the actual loon would still occur the next day. The setup (what they're doing as pictured) takes a very long time.
I asked what time they'd be "firing it up". The manong said "pag-sirang" ("at sunrise"), so I will be back there early tomorrow morning, to watch them continue the activity!
Ah okay, maybe I should write a separate story about this whole "loon" thing. I will!
Hey, I'm not done with the picture above. Look overhead and behind of manong and the 2nd coconut trunk. You should see a white rectangular sheet. That is a tarpaulin.
Yep, the usual government-made tarpaulin announcing projects. What's it this time? The construction (extention) of a road, so it continues further south (though uphill).
That's what I've been mentioning above - behind Nathalie's, going to the white sand and no-rocks portion of Araw Beach that is still uninhabited by humans as of today!
If you stare at that 'ridge', you could discern the outline of the road.
And actually, my air-conditioned room at Nathalie's is somewhere there beyond the upper left edge of photo, even if resort entrance is down beyond the lower-left corner.
I attempted going for a go-see at that street extension under construction up there, but aborted at the last minute, due to some unavoidable circumstances. What's that?
Nahadlok ak! Kay bangin asya na it an dalan ngadto ha Araw City!
Anyway, as if to temper my fear of the spirits (or, was 'my guardian angel' leading me to the right path'?), instead of going left to the "new road", I instead went right to this:
Oh, for those who don't know yet (since I also just learned about this lately), chapels at remote barangays don't have 'resident priests'. They are just visited per schedule.
After peeping at their closed chapel, I saw an activity further right (north), and I was excitedly walking to see it, when an askal blocked my way. Parang galit-na-galit sya!
Malayo pa lang, I could already see his teeth, at naka-ngiwi ang mukha growling. All I could say naunsa ma ning sigbina oi. Abort! I turned back to the street at Nathalie's.
That was my best option at that particular "Act 1, Scene 3" hehehe! I did not wait for it to bark. Why? Ay, from my personal experience walking at remote barrios, when a dog barks angrily, all others in a battalion come out of their houses to join the choir!
Di ba? Ang mga sigbin na yan, di man lang magtanong muna ng "o pare anyare, sino kalaban"?. O kaya naman "ano tol, tahol lang ba to-its o sakmal na agad?" Like that ba!
My latest such hair-raising kulba was in Brgy. Magallanes, Basey. Kinuyog ako! Yes I was mobbed by about 20 of those mongrels. Di na dapat maulit. Retreat PT, retreat!
Buset na iro, panira ng plano. Buti pa dito sa kalsadang ito, quiet and cute. Ajujuju!
And it even approached, as if to greet me a joyous morning! [this was 6:11AM]
While I genuinely loved that little one, I was also curiously amazed at that 'apparatus' behind him. Yep, the 4 water jugs, serving as bins (with a rack) for segregated trash.
O ano, meron ba kayo nyan? Ingenious! Now, if it has to be uniform in the barangay, or purok man lang, I wonder how many such 'watercans' they'll have to break heheh!
Anyway, past the cute puppy-pup, I turned, as it seemed to be begging that I stay.
The real Araw Beach (the white sands, I mean) is via the dirt path veering diagonally left from that tindahan. While a few steps to the right, is the 'lon-an' I told you about.
Oist, I could see the piso-wifi box at Nathalie's. Just saying - but I did not have a use for it. Smart signal is fine in and up there. Yet, they even have free wifi for all guests.
Oh, do you see the perpendicular street, just after that black dog? Turning left there, is to the rocky beach. Right goes to the other street parallel to this one where I was with the little doggie. The on-going road extension and the chapel are on that street.
Plus the masungit azucena that made me pass here in the first place!
Salamat na rin sa ayam na yan. It incidentally gave me a chance to describe where I started my walk from. Isip ko pa nga, kampon ang asong yun nung mga... oops, shh!
Okay Enough! I am at Araw Beach pero ayoko mapunta sa Araw City!
I turned around, to go on with my walk, in the direction of the lady w/ a golden shirt.
But oh BTW! Yes By The Way, I have some BTWs:
1) Pardon my multi-lingual multi-cultural use of words. I'm just globalizing hehe! For example, I use aso, ayam, iro, sigbin, mongrel, azucena, etc. They're all the same: dog!
2) In this country, even at posh villages of highly urbanized cities, dog-related edicts are not (yet) taken seriously. Seasonal ang effectivity or observance nyan - anywhere!
We don't hear anyone being fined nor imprisoned, for letting dogs out-and-free to do what they want, like pee, poo, bark-at, or bite people. They are even protected by law.
3) Animal rights activists are good only at dramatizing "bad deeds" of humans who "hurt" dogs - in whatever circumstance it happened. Their usual way is, ridicule you on mainstream or social media or even bring you to court - and usually successful!
But the other way around isn't their issue. If you are attacked, intimidated, harassed, terrorized by dogs, it's not their problem. Mag-formal complaint ka daw sa barangay!
As a tourist? Hasola! Di ba humans are animals too? So, they should make sure that we too, do not get harangued by a bantay or a spot na mal-edukado at walang modo!
Anywhere. Anytime. Ever!
Hahaha, in our dreeams! Basta, best way is, when they gnarl, avoid na lang.
Oist, I don't hate dogs. We have 4 in the house. I especially love fluffy pups like this:
Come to think of it, dogs on this street, young or adult, were friendly to me!
Hah, after that last puppy encounter, I finally walked to the street with an 'activity':
I was thankful that they were fine answering my questions, even if they were busy in that cleanup activity. Foremost of my learnings was: that, is not even a GPTA effort.
Of course not a Brigada Eskwela since it's just May 24, 2025 - and I did not even see teachers nor pupils. In that picture there are 15 women, but I knew there were more.
They told me it's a "pintakasi". In Waray, it means a community-led concerted action - no remuneration - some may even be sponsoring or contributing for refreshments.
They also told me, that this effort was not specifically for the school grounds. I only chanced upon them there. After that, they will 'attack' other areas of their barangay!
But I had mixed-feelings witnessing all that:
1) Ang galing naman nila. Bakit kayo, tayo, do we do that in our barangays?
2) Ang swerte ng mga bata ngayon! Nung 'elem' ako, trabaho namin yan ah!
Di ba? Whichever point of view you subscribe to, nakaka-inggit sila!
Hey, over at that northern end of the street, I chanced upon some of the dads:
Next to that corner with a "jetmatic pump resuscitation action" hehe, I saw this:
I did not reply, but happy to know such things. Orchids pala yun!
Then I saw something else that had my brain churn into an analytic breakfast. This:
Therefore wherefore heretofore... could it be that... the flower gave the beach a name?
Puyde! But I'll leave that to researchers and history enthusiasts to confirm!
NB as in nota bene: that flower is called "adlaw-adlaw" or "araw-araw" because, it is known to bloom at sunrise and wilt at sunset. Pang-daytime lang. That short-lived.
Anyway, at the end of the school, is the barangay disaster management office etc.
Okay, since I reached the (only entrance) northern end of the barangay, I started my way back to Nathalie's, planning to have them concoct any breakfast. But I saw this:
Oh what a discovery! But let's talk about all that in my next story.
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