probably the best fishing trip so far.

it was my first to have fished with zachary and alvin. we met up at clementi early in the morning. while waiting for shahridan, i went through zachary's fishing belongings. seeing the presence of good quality rigs, branded hooks, variety of sinkers, rolls of thick shock leader line, and etcetra, i knew we'd have a bloody good time. obviously, not forgetting his branded set up - a 8ft ugly stik and a spinning penn reel. we shared our knowledge and experiences, and as we went on, our enthusiasm soared. we decided to take a cab to east coast park, instead of taking the alternative, which is to hop on bus 14, and have our ass tortured for the 2 hour long journey.

upon reaching east coast park, we debated on which carpark to stop at. they took my advise, and we stopped at carpark F2, although zachary's suggestion to stop at the clearing in between carpark F1 and F2 would be a better choice. we walked quite a distance to the jetty, and another quite-a-distance deep into the jetty. soon we were preparing our setups, ready to do some fishing. zachary brought sarong worms, which were packed in hard mud and have to be watered to maintain its survival. to use it, you have to squeeze one end of the mud (like how you would to your toothpaste tube)so that the sarong worm will exit from the other end. nobody dared to touch the worms initially, except for Mr Black Fingernails Zachary. so we had all the worm-squeezing handed to zach, while we make full use of the pliers available to hold the worm in place. bait presentation is the toughest job to do- you have to get your hands as dirty as your asshole.

soon after we reached, the tide went down. even on high tide, there were little bites, except for one or two that was registered on shahridan's rod. so, we decided to have our lunch. zachary and shahridan walked all the way to the east coast lagoon to packet chicken rice for us. we sat on the floor and used the stone benches as tables. all of this was done with intervals in between used for the checking of baits.

then came the most enjoyable part of the day, only for them. we started playing cards, and was immediately absorbed into it, that we didn't bother much about our rods. zach introduced the game, indian poker, to us. rules of the game is simple - each of us will receive a card randomly from the deck, place it on our head for everyone else to see except for yourself, and can choose whether to change your card. the one with the smallest value loses. so, we came up with a forfeit. initially, all of us agreed on doing 10 push-ups in the middle of the jetty for everyone else to see (mind you, bicyclists and roller-bladers can be seen everywhere along the whole stretch of jetty), but decided it was too light a job for anyone of us. then, somebody suggested that the loser will have to run to his rod, pick it up, and shout at the top of his lungs, "FISH.! FISH.! FISH.!" and reel the line casted out back as quickly as possible, as if he has a hook-up. we played 5 games, and the first to lose 5 times will have to perform the forfeit. from the very first sentence of this paragraph, you'd have guessed who lost this stupid and lousy game.

after that, our mood to play cards died down. alvin volunteered to buy drinks for us. zachary chose coconut drink for me, which turned out to be an extremely strategic move. the drink was so refreshing, my want to bathe was lost. we savour on our drinks and tidbits zachary brought, and started fishing again.



very soon, we got bored. i relaxed on one of the stone benches, and started tying more rigs with zachary's leader line and carbon hooks. i tied and tied happily, thinking zachary will offer some of them to me out of courtesy. i should have guessed it earlier, and you should have already guessed - he didn't. he kept it all for himself. what a bitch. after tying all of these rigs, i complained that i was feeling tired. i was feeling extremely lethargic, maybe because of the lack of sleep. i turned in at around 2am, and had to wake up at 8am. we started packing up, reeling in all of our lines, unhooking unused baits, removing rigs connected to our main lines, and keeping rods into fitted rod bags.

then we began the unearthy 'journey to the west' to the makan place. just by walking out of the journey, we saw a good-sized ikan parang and a slightly-bigger-than-average duri being landed. amazed at their luck, we swore our next fishing trip will start only at 7pm. zachary had forgotten his cap, and i voluntarily took the initiative to walk the long distance to take it back for him. while walking back to the food centre, i saw a swamp eel landed by a group of malay youngsters. i paced up the pavements even faster this time, eager to share what i saw.

upon reaching, my first reaction came on its own, without any pondering - i merely said, "eh somebody caught an eel when i was coming back,", and was chorused back instantaneously by the other 3 of them that they will come back in the night one fine day. alvin, shahridan and i had the luxury of sitting at the tables and wait for food, while zachary went to order some dishes from one of the malay barbeque stores.







we had stingray bakar (zachary did the punk rock sign \m/ and shouted, "steve irwin.!" when it was served), sambal sotong, baby kailan in oyster sauce, mutton and chicken satays with rice, and the sex of the day, TULANG MERAH. oh my god, you have to try this dope shit, but please do, only when you have malay friends, or friends who knows how to eat this. it was alvin's and my first time eating this delicacy. first, you have to chew on the meat around the thick bone, then, hit it on the plate hard so that the unknown soft, worm-like thing, can exit through the part that has been hit. dip the worm-like thing in the sauce provided, and swallow at one go. expect immediate multiple orgasms, i warn you.

our mood had to be dampened by the crudest of people. a car in front of us was waiting for traffic to run, and we were beginning to cross the road in between his car and the car behind his. zachary shouted, "MOVE LAH.!", urging all of us to cross the road and not waste time. the bloody uncouth punk in the car thought he was worthy enough for zachary to commute with him, and thought the 2 words were for his ears. mind you, his girlfriend was sitted at the passenger's seat beside him. he winded down the window at the passenger's seat, and began shouting at the group of us. only i could listen because i was the last one walking behind them. i turned, stop, and had the time of my life, seeing how his girlfriend try to subdue him of flaring up. the scene was hilarious, seeing how helpless that stocky man was. he made a turn, came out of the car, and then a string of vulgarities came out so quickly, not even the biggest of mafia boss could comprehend. i only heard 2 words, "asshole" and "mother fucker". somehow, with an effort so great i could lift my mom's car up, i could make out what he was saying. he said something like this - "eh asshole, you scold what.? you mother fucker, scold what.?" and pointed his finger at us. i wasn't the least of scared, and i'm sure the other 3 could burst out laughing like how i could. i started talking, "he was scolding me.!" with the innocent look. the change in his face, his mood, his temper - that split second, that moment, that point of time, was extremely.. golden.! if i could have that shot taken on my camera, you'll be seeing me up high in the canon photograph-taking competition with the award of the most scenic shot taken. his girlfriend came out, and started apologising to all of us. the man retreated back into his car with embarrassment all written on his face. he thinks it's very okay to scold young educated people without a reason because he doesn't have a fashion sense. fuck him.

we were so beat, all of us shared a cab home. we swore at the guy aloud with much disdain, wondering if we had let him off so easily. on account of his pretty girlfriend with such smooth skin, we let it go, and had the comedian, mr alvin, to help us regain our initial mood back. he said jokes almost the entire trip, and after each one, we had to beg him to say another one. here's a few i can remember -

Q: what is the appliance in front of the pillar in the kitchen.?
A: kettle. (kettle-pillar, caterpillar.)

Q: which animal is the most harmful in this word.?
A: humming bird. (harming bird.)

Q: which fruit is the thinnest.?
A: mangosteen. (mango's thin.)

Q: what beverage is served in an aeroplane.?
A: plain water. (plane water.)

now, thinking back, i must be a fool laughing at such stupid jokes. use them only when the friends around you are in an ecstatic mood to ensure its function.

i must say this - fishing is not only about the availability of fish, but more importantly, the company of friends. our catches were only mere tambans once again, but the time spent and the fun we shared was extremely priceless. a very wonderful trip, and i'm expecting more of such fishing trips with the same people, only maybe with an inclusion of other friends. i'm glad i have this blog to record this experience. one day, i'll date back, and smile at this post. till then people. =)

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