Because our December Ilocos roadtrip plan was cancelled and we were having great difficulty how to proceed with our travel plans, my officemates and I just decided to go fishing in Laguna. One day an officemate who lives in Laguna province asked me if I wanted to go fishing. I was more than happy because I've never done it before. When I was a kid, my family went to Caliraya Lake and they were all able to fish, except for me who was left at home because according to them, I was deep in sleep no matter how they tried to wake me up. That time, I made a mental note to myself to one day experience fishing. [It's just so weird that my siblings and I have very different experiences. I'm the only one among us who hasn't been to Enchanted Kingdom, too.]
We made last-minute plans, only two days lead time to prepare everything. So on March 21, the four of us had half-day leave and left the office at 2PM, picking up stuffs and doing last minute shopping along the way.
We arrived at
Lago Fishing Village in Cavinti at around 7:30PM. We stayed at a casita, its location perfect since it is a bit isolated and the view was impeccable.
Hungry and cold (the temperature was significantly lower than in Metro Manila and we hadn't expected it), we immediately got to work. My officemates set up the tent while I cooked penne in corned beef and tomato sauce. The pasta didn't turn out well because I forgot to add salt. Also, I forgot to bring some herbs. For dessert we shared salt caramel cookies which I had bought earlier from Miss Matamis in Greenbelt 1. After that, us girls slept inside the tent while the boys slept inside the room but because it eventually rained hard, we were forced to join the two inside the casita.
The following day, the sky was a shade of gloomy grey. We had soup, leftover pasta, and bread for breakfast. We waited a long time for our order of fish food which is called
masa, a ball of clayey stuff which smells salty. Then it was fishing time! I was the first one among us three amateurs to catch two fish, both of them small so we returned them to the lake. But my luck easily ran out and in the end, I slept in my favorite spot, the bamboo raft which is just across the enchanting tree. The cool wind was just so refreshing that I was instantly lured to sleep.
At 11AM, we cooked lunch. I cooked rice and chopped tomatoes, onions, and garlic for our
sawsawan while my officemates grilled the fish. Boy, were they resourceful! Before I separated from them, we gathered twigs and other whatnot to start a little bonfire and wait for the charcoals to catch fire.
Because we were tired from all the fishing and cooking, we slept after lunch. [Hello, digestion problems!!!] Then we cleaned up fast to prepare to go home.
We had a little stopover at Japanese Garden. The place was built to commemorate Japanese soldiers who died in World War 2. [I don't know how this was allowed considering the Philippines was one of those who suffered a lot when Japanese Imperialists were in power.] The place is very big and one can get a pretty nice view of Caliraya Lake from the top. Also, I found the garden well-kept, different from the parks in Metro Manila. Thoughts of having a photoshoot were in my mind while I was there.
And then we were dropped at HM Transport bus terminal in Biñan, Laguna for our trip back to Manila.
It was my first time to go on a trip with these officemates of mine. The three of them are from the same team so initially I was having second thoughts in joining them because I might feel out of place. But they turned out to be friendly and really cool people. I hope we get to go on another fishing trip soon.
