All eyes were on me. Somehow, my presence interrupted what seemed to be an early morning trade of freshly caught fish and other seafood. I was running the upper stretch of the San Vicente Long Beach in Palawan and just reached the rocky cliff cutting the long stretch of this white sand beach on the other side. I was already heading back when I caught this small crowd and it seems from their reaction, they don’t get as many visitors as early as this morning. “Magandang umaga po! Ano pong meron dyan? (Good morning! What’s in here?)” I asked, bringing out my best smile which seemed to have broken the tense and curios atmosphere. I was reciprocated with the genuine smiles from the locals and they went on with their bargains, weighing-in of goods and sale. I went on with my run back to where I started.
