Had a wonderful time fishing at Cagbalete Island this recent long vacation (Nov 1-4). Tessie (my wife) and I arrived at the island last Wed (Oct 31). Immediately, I asked Alex (our boatman) to set up our small pump boat and ventured into the sea. However, when we were a few kilometers away, the big waves started to hit us and we were forced to return close to the shore and did our fishing there. We only caught a few fish (banog, lapu-lapu, etc.). The following day, i did not dare go out on a boat because of the strong waves. I just tried casting my fishing line on the rocky part of the shore and caught quite a number of fish (enough for our dinner – delicious fresh lapu-lapu). On Saturday (Nov 3), three of my high school friends arrived – Bong Iyulores, Edwin Santilices, and Max Hernando. Bong brought his lovely wife Shirley and their 4 kids. I urged my friends to explore the small island just in front of our resort. Actually, this small island served as a natural break water for us. We walked about 1 kilometer in chest-deep water to reach that small island that we call Bonsai Island – because it has 2 very old bakawan trees that is only 2 feet high. It has been there since time immemorial according to the old folks in the place. the trees never grew tall because it is naturally trimmed by the waves of the sea. Anyway, I brought my 2 fishing lines with me just in case we run out of things to do. When we reached Bonsai Island, my friends were amazed with the place which is about 2,000 sqm, surface is very flat as if it was intentionally cemented to be a helipad. They looked at the old bakawan trees wondering how it managed to survive in that harsh condition for hundreds of years. Only its top branches can be seen when it’s high tide in that area. Max and I tried fishing around the area and started to catch some big lapu-lapu. I caought the biggest fish that weighed 1 kilo. We had a lot of fun, almost the same boyish laughter when we were still in high school. We went back to Bonsai Island the following day. Bong brought Shirley and their kids, and they bathed in the area. There were some small pools of water which has a natural “jacuzzi” effect because of the strong waves. Again, we did some fishing and caught some more lapu-lapu. Indeed, it was a great, memorable vacation for all of us. (by Tonet Reyeg)