After a Boracay community on Facebook posted an announcement about the supposed closure of Nigi Nigi Nu Noos, one of the oldest resorts and bars on the island, commenters started paying tribute and sharing their favorite memories there. The overwhelming sentiment was of sadness and nostalgia; as if a beloved drinking buddy had croaked and everyone was raising their glasses and toasting to the dearly departed.
Delnor Nano, who owns and operates the resort with her partner Jason Probyn, couldn’t help but feel emotional at all the wonderful things people were saying about their little enterprise, which is celebrating its 36th anniversary this year. She says she appreciates the kind words from everyone who’s ever visited and spent time at Nigi Nigi, but wants to make it clear that, they are not, in fact, closing and are merely moving to a newer, and, according to her, even better location.
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Nigi Nigi Nu Noos e Nu Nu Noos
PHOTO: PJ Cana
“Isang tumbling lang from here,” she says. We’re seated in one corner of the restaurant at Nigi Nigi, whose full name is Nigi Nigi Nu Noos e Nu Nu Noos, beside the U-shaped bar that has seen countless barflies come and go over the decades. Nano says that since the Facebook post went up and got picked up and shared on social media, she’s been inundated with questions on why they were shutting down.
“Everybody thinks that we’re closing,” she says. “We’re not closing. We’re relocating just 25 yards away.
“The truth is that our lease was not renewed by our landlord, so we decided to look for a new spot,” she adds. “Luckily we found one near here, and so we’re just moving.”
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Nano says that their landlord—the Sacapaño family—informed her and Probyn that their lease was not being renewed last year. After the patriarch of the family passed away, the children were planning to divvy up the property, and each sibling had their own plans about their portion of the land, which, because it was beachfront property in one of the world’s best tropical beaches, was incredibly valuable. The couple understood the decision and proceeded to find a new home for Nigi Nigi.
Entrance archway to the rooms of the resort
PJ Cana
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They found it just beside Nigi Nigi Too, the extension of their beach resort, bar and restaurant, literally just steps away from the original location.
History of Nigi Nigi
Nigi Nigi opened in Boracay in 1990, when the only visitors were long-term backpackers.
“They were mostly Japanese,” Probyn says. He sits down and joins us while he’s busy prepping for the upcoming relocation party. “They worked six months in Japan and then come here and do nothing for six months.”
Nano and Probyn ran a business in Manila and heard about Boracay from friends, who spoke of its pristine white beach and easy lifestyle.
“But when we first came here, there was no water, and no electricity,” Probyn says. “We had a small generator that ran from around six in the evening to around 10 at night. And then it was dark, and we just went to bed."
“And there was no telephone,” Nano says. “There was just a radio at the old Palm Beach Resort owned by the Elizaldes. It’s now Henann Palm Beach Resort. At five o’clock, that radio would be open to us, and we could use it to call our office in Manila. So we would all line up and we could hear what everybody else was talking about.”
Nigi Nigi Nu Noos Boracay owners Jason Probyn and Delnora Nano
PHOTO: PJ Cana
“We used to boast that, when someone made an inquiry in Manila, we could get a response in four days," Probyn says. "And (visitors) only flew down here in four-seat airplanes.”
It was an era when letters from Iolilo would be delivered by bus to Caticlan, and then handed to boatmen who would give it to the couple on the beach. They had blocks of ice delivered from Kalibo and it was covered in rice husks so it wouldn’t melt as fast.
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“And then when electricity came, the demand for air conditioning shot up,” Nano says.
“Because before then, our big advertising out in front was: ‘Rooms with Fans!’” Probyn chuckles.
“We’re the first people to have happy hour here,” he adds. “We’re the first to advertise food on the beach.”
“We even had a singing dog,” adds Nano, and proceeds to tell the story of their old pooch who used to run beside the speakers and howl along whenever they blasted some Kenny G.
Dwarves and fairies
Many of Nigi Nigi’s contemporaries, such as Hey Jude and Gasthof, have long since faded away. While they’re hesitant to call themselves the oldest continually operating resort and enterprise in Boracay, if they’re not, they’re definitely one of the oldest.
The open U-shaped bar is practically a Boracay institution
PJ Cana
As for the name, Probyn, who is British, says he got the idea from when he was living in Jamaica.
“There was a hotel there that was called S S S S S S S. Seven S’s. I read a psychology book that said that if you name a place with a complicated number or seven letters, it would make it easy to remember. So I said let’s make a place with a name that would be easy to remember.
“We started with Nigi Nigi Nu Noos e Nu Noos,” he adds. Then we found out that Nigi Nigi, in Japanese, means ‘place of pleasant surprises.’ And Nu Noos e Nu Noos just means, dwarves and fairies (or nuno). So yes, it’s all made up. So the full translation of the name is: ‘place of pleasant surprises with dwarves and fairies.’”
The seafood display in front of the restaurant
PHOTO: PJ Cana
The couple says they believe in feng shui and built the entire resort based on its principles.
“So we have 69 doors, and none of them face each other,” Probyn says. “The idea is that, if luck comes in, it won’t get out.”
Judging by how long it’s been around, the resort has certainly had a pretty stellar streak of good fortune, but even Nigi Nigi wasn’t spared from the devastating effects of the pandemic. As with most other resorts and businesses on the island, Nigi Nigi struggled in 2020. The resort was forced to lay off some of its workers, many of whom have been with the resort since the beginning. Nano says that even now, five years after the pandemic, the resort is still finding it difficult to get fully back up.
“This was the worst year,” she says. “From July to October, everyone was hurting. Tourist arrivals fell flat. There were still some coming, but very minimal. The demographic has changed also. There are more locals now than foreigners. Of course, we appreciate local guests, but foreigners, in general, spend more.”
The Nigi Nigi Extension is called Nigi Nigi Too
PJ Cana
The entrepreneur admits it’s still a challenge to fill up their rooms as tourist arrivals have continued to go down. According to data from the Department of Tourism, there were 4.3 million foreign visitors from January to September this year, a decline of 2.4 percent from the same period last year. By the couple’s estimate, about 30 percent of shops in the island have closed.
“We really have an abundance of rooms that aren’t getting filled, kahit mababa na yung rate,” Nano says.
Still, for Nano and Probyn, there is much to be thankful for and celebrate. In fact, the resort is throwing a four-day beach party, from November 14 to 17, both to mark the closing of the original location and to hype up the opening of the new place beside Nigi Nigi Too. They’re calling it the Nigi Nigi Entertainment Center and it will house a Korean and Chinese restaurant, a few other small tenants, a billiards and darts bar, and even a gay bar called the Rainbow Café and Lounge. Besides the 35 rooms in Nigi Nigi Too, the couple has apartments for rent in Station 3, where they also moved their bakery.
Soon to be the new home of the Nigi Nigi Entertainment Center
PHOTO: PJ Cana
In the new iteration of Nigi Nigi, there will still be a fresh seafood display, as well as the original U-shaped main bar, which they plan to move over to the new place. It seems that after three-and-a-half decades, the place of pleasant surprises (with dwarves and fairies) is going to be around for a few years more.
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