Philippine Travel Notes

Here is one story that would probably be my first on the convergence of us Humans (our curiosities) , Nature (the unadulterated world around us) , and, AI (new technology) . As I walked on the beach at Mika's Beach Resort, fascinated, I took this picture... Right there, I uploaded it to my AI Chatbot and asked " What is this crab-art called? " The reply opened with "indeed it is crab art" parang tao rin, trying to pull my leg! And went on to tell me that it has many names depending on the speaker or the location. I learned anyway that those are called (any of the following):     ☺ sand balls     ☺ sand ball patterns     ☺ sand pellets     ☺ sand pellet patterns     ☺ feeding pellets     ☺ crab feeding pellets     ☺ sand wreaths     ☺ sand rosettes     ☺ crab tracings and many more, depending on who's talking! So, oo nga, the names are descriptions. And dependent ...

From Nathalie's Resort on Araw Beach , a morning snack at Marcela's Resort , it was then time for check-in at Mika's Gapo Beach Resort , still in Gamay, Northern Samar. Finding the resort. Where is this place? Aw, an expansive beach property just behind Marcela's. While it is still distant from the highway, you won't miss their signage in big and bold letters. Here here, for clarity, I grabbed an image from google maps' street view. Got it? No? Aw, bahala ka sa buhay mo, malaki ka na haha! Sige na nga, let's describe the arrows: Starting from the right... White Arrow - the southward way to Lapinig, Arteche, San Policarpo, Oras, etc. Black Arrow - the northward way to Gamay proper, Araw Beach, Mapanas, Palapag. Red Arrow - the entrance gate and swimming pool of Marcela's Resort Hotel. Yellow Arrow - that perimeter wall signage shown in the picture above. Blue Arrow - the multipurpose, convention, events, whatever hall at Marcela...

From Araw Beach , near the northern end of Gamay, I was en route to Gapo Beach, at next-to-last southern-most barangay of this same town. Before entering the gate to Mika's Gapo Beach Resort though, I saw the inviting gate of Marcela's Resort Hotel . I told my driver "let's pass there first, to check it out". And so, we entered ! Nicely done, therefore 'enticing entrance' to a hotel/resort in the middle of nowhere. Yet dumb, because not easily readable. I call that material "the damn stainless steel" . There are many of that all over the world. The latest I can recall are Adamson U, UP Tacloban, Brgy Sampaguita Village, Oakridge Business Park, Adoration Convent etc. Some of those who sought my advice had to paint them over so the letters wouldn't reflect anything! My joke: "di lahat ng mamahalin ay mabuti"! But stainless steel lasts. Anyway, 'wag na natin pag-deskitahan yan. It's artsy anyway. Let's go in! ...