(Top: The catch on the boat / Bottom: Lunch!)

After an awesome evening with new friends at a beach-side restaurant, I got up at 5 a.m. to catch the Bantayan sunrise. I was slightly disappointed to see significant cloud cover over the horizon, but I decided to stick it out and was pleasantly surprised to see the sun's rays making cool patterns through the clouds as it rose. However, this light show was soon followed by huge thunderheads and a torrential downpour. One of my favorite moments here thus far.

I grabbed a cup of hot tea, claimed a little thatched hut and watched the storm roll through. I was so enamored with all the life still going on around me, even with the heavy rain. Being low tide, kids and dogs were out playing on the sandbars, crabs scurrying across the sand - it was a great 30 minutes.

It wasn't until the storm had passed that I spotted a group of fishermen about 50 yards out. Curious about their methods and their catch, I wandered over to their little boat.

We got along very well, talking a bit about our different cultures as they fished. Luc, the matriarch of the family, was so very kind. She taught me everything from how they fish to how she takes the catch to market to how she cooks the catch. When they were done with their work, Luc said, "You like to try fish?" Totally.

"Ok, I cook, come back to beach at 10."

I went back at 10, but there was no sign of Luc, even waiting until 10:30. By then I just assumed that she thought I wasn't going to come, so I went for a swim. However, when I got out to dry off, one of the hotel hands approached me with a beautifully wrapped banana leaf, a plate and a spoon.

"Mrs. Luc want you to try."

I unwrapped the leaves to find a pile of cooked fish- skin, eyes, head and all. I loved it, loved it, loved it. For everything it was. That amount of fish would have sold well for her in the market, but she gave it to me instead. Culturally, the generosity here is just awesome.

So after I finished my little lunch I went to go find Luc, but she was nowhere to be found. I asked the hotel hands to see if they knew where she lived, but no such luck.

It is an absolute must to go back to Bantayan at some point to give her the pictures I took and to thank her, face to face, for her one-of-a-kind gift.