Fisherman’s Net

Lahug, Cebu, Philippines-. I love outdoor dinning. Seems to me there is never enough outdoor dinning, especially here in the tropics. One place I found with friendly attractive girls, ok affordable food, best value fresh fruit shakes, and live entertainment is Fisherman’s Net. This place is actually 3 places. There is the street front covered grill area; the indoor fancy aircon restaurant, and the back garden setting area. My favorite is the street front outdoor grill. It has a cover band of 3 young babes and a big guy that play a couple nights a week. The girls are sexy but the sound system sucks (too loud & drop-outs) as is normal here in SE Asia.

“Hi Sir”, is the greeting I always get from the single guy there. But it is the big sexy smiles I get from my waitress Catherine, the enthusiastic fruit shake girl, and the cashier girls that keep me coming back. They are so cute, have young vibrant energy, and actually provide pretty excellent service, which is a not so common combination.

I was first infatuated with the fruit shake girl because of her bubbly personality and her excellent mango or avocado shakes. Then I fell for the great body of the young cashier from Bohol. Finally the broad smile, dark skin, slim body, and bright mind of Catherine intrigued me.

I was hanging out across the street at the Sinagang Express late one night. I like the inexpensive meals and the friendly workers there. Suddenly I see Catherine approaching. It was after midnight and she had finished her shift and was walking home. She came in and sat next to me with her broad sweet smile. We began talking. “What is your passion, or hobby?” I ask. “I don’t know”, she lies at first. I notice her hair is down instead of bunched-up in the hair net at her work. Wow, thick long black wavy sexy hair! Then she begins to open up. “I like Chess”, she admits. “Wow you must be smart” I reply. “I have a friend in America who is a Chess Master”, I exaggerate slightly. Actually Larry was listed as some level of Master at one point in his long years playing chess. “Are you good at it”, I ask. “There are guys that play where I walk past on my way home. I stopped to play them and won all five games”, she offers to illustrate her prowess. “I like to play chess on the Internet, I won 3 of 4 games last time. But I don’t have time or money to play.” I discard my dirty thinking about chest and playing on the Internet, and proceed in a normal conversation.

We talk more and agree to a date to go disco dancing. I gave her 100 pesos and told her to play chess on the Internet with it. She smiled and took it. Next time a saw her she said she had won 4 of 5 games on the Internet with the 100 pesos.
We had a great time dancing at 2 discos with her friend. Dropping her off late at night, the taxi took us to her shantytown neighborhood in middle of a field a half-mile from the main road. I asked to see her house. She seemed embarrassed but agreed, but would not let me inside. I enjoyed seeing the simple bamboo, plywood, & tin roof structures under the clear night sky.

I told her I liked her and she then replied with the words all guys hate to hear, “I like you too but only as a friend”. Ouch! Ok, well she is smart and young and saving herself for college and her ideal husband. And whatever.
I eventually moved to another part of town, so don’t see much of Catherine or her restaurant anymore. Still sometime I make the effort to stop by and get those smiles, visit my “friends”, and have a tasty mango shake, and get caught in the simple charm of the outdoor grill at Fisherman’s Net.