The art of slow

STA. MONICA, Siargao Island — There’s a myth in northern Siargao about ships and night lights. Locals say vessels passing offshore sometimes mistake a strange glow for a port. Enchanted or not, they are drawn to it, pulled by the lights, hoping for quick relief from the dark waters. Fisherfolk claim it happens once a month. A ship drifts closer than it should, chasing what appears to be a safe harbor.

And that is Siargao.

About 45 minutes from the airport, far from the party noise of General Luna, the municipality of Sta. Monica offers a different kind of glow. In Barangay Tangbo, where surf breaks roll steadily and sunsets linger, Ora Kafe has quietly become one of those lights people follow.

For visitors arriving from Luzon’s cities — from deadlines, traffic, and inboxes that never sleep — North Siargao feels like a recalibration. And Ora Kafe feels like the reset button. The café is the only hi-fi café on the island and one of the few in the country. Its Bowers & Wilkins sound system, a brand trusted by Abbey Road Studios in mastering legendary recordings, including remastered works of The Beatles, is not there for background noise. It is part of the experience.

Music spills across the space with clarity and depth, indoors and outdoors. Sitting at the bar with an iced coconut latte, the café’s bestseller, one might describe the sensation simply: “It’s taking me to outer space.” The sound seems to follow guests from table to table, wrapping around conversations rather than competing with them.

If coffee is the anchor, the menu grounds it in familiarity. Silogs sit comfortably alongside Aussie-inspired toasties and well-loved bagels. For those staying past sunset, local beer selections complete the picture.

Behind the counter is Martin Andanar, a veteran media man now proudly referring to himself as a barista.

“I’m back to my roots,” Andanar said. “It took me 20 years, but I’m here and doing my dream retirement job, which is to serve coffee, surf, enjoy the sunset, and touch base with, as you said, my roots. Nothing better than that.”

North Siargao was not a random choice. His grandmother is from Tangbo. His grandparents settled in Sta. Monica decades ago, drawn by the area’s fresh water source long before surfing and tourism defined the island.

“I grew up here partly in the late ’70s and early ’80s. I saw the island when there was no electricity. I experienced life without paved roads,” he recalled. “Very rustic, very pure, raw.”

Today’s Tangbo is a contrast — internet-ready, surf-watched, increasingly on travelers’ radar — but still far quieter than the island’s southern hubs.

At its core, Ora Kafe is about coffee as ritual and precision. Andanar began drinking espresso 15 years ago, drawn to its daily jolt.

“It became a ritual eventually, almost a religion,” he said.

His newsroom discipline carried over. “If you’re truthful to your coffee, if you do it accurately, the same way that you gather the news, since I’m a newsman, it’s so similar,” he explained. “If you do it both precisely, with science, with the exact truthfulness and accuracy, then you get the best results.”

The hi-fi system is another lifelong passion. An audiophile since his early radio days, Andanar believes sound should mirror nature.

“When you listen to the waves crashing while watching the sunset, you are listening to the waves crashing with zero treble, zero bass. It’s all flat,” he said. “When you listen to a hi-fi audio system, it’s also zero bass, zero treble. It’s all flat. I feel that the technology complements nature itself.”

Community, however, may be Ora’s strongest current. The café evolved through 12 to 13 weeks of soft openings, shaped by feedback from surfers, digital nomads, and locals. The extension space, built in response to demand from remote workers, maintains the island’s raw feel while offering a place to plug in.

Even brownouts become part of the rhythm.

“When there’s a brownout, I love it,” Andanar said, describing manual brewing methods that slow the process further. “Time, in a way, slows down on the island.”

For those coming from the mainland’s constant acceleration, that may be the real draw.

In Tangbo, with waves breaking in front and sunset spreading wide across the horizon, Ora Kafe offers something simple yet rare: a place where the music is intentional, the coffee is precise, and time somehow moves slower.

One of those lightships might give chase at night.

Only this time, it is not a mistake.