I haven't felt so refreshed for a long time... Sitting on a stool, rod in hand, hook in the waters, the vast expanse of blue skies and white clouds immersing me in peace and serenity. The horizons drew me in, and the hours passed like minutes. Here was a great getaway, replete with a overflowing atmosphere of calm that enabled us to talk and share freely and have fun. These were the halcyon days...
It's not the fishing, but the company that matters. I feared at first that i wouldn't be able to make friends there, but it was just so easy to get to meet and know so many new people whom i've never seen before!
There were the 'villagers' and Exco who worked hard to make the event a success... Jame, Xinyi, Sophia, Jason, Wei Qiang, etc. There were the 'mahjong khaki' that i played with, including Felix, Huang Hui and Wei Kang from German class :) There were the random peeps i've met, either queuing for the toilet, helping me with my line, or just plain chatting as we fished, like Jia Long. And of course, the girls whom i'd spent most time with, fishing, playing cards and had meals with... Xinru, GC, Carol and Yeexian! It feels refreshing to know more people for a change, and though it were just two days and a night, i had open, interesting conversations with a lot of different personalities.
Yet another big catch :p
We fished as much as we liked, with squid as bait, and easily caught a myriad of fishes. From a white one that made kissing sounds as it spat water at us, to a colorful variety that had spiny fins along its back. At first it was fun putting them in the pail, like a record-keeping book; but later when they started suffocating, we could only release them back to the sea. And make no mistake, fishing is cruel, really cruel! I regret the times i had to pull out my hook from the fish's eyes or mouth, leaving them bleeding! In the end, i stopped fishing the second day.
We ate as much as we could, too. There was good seafood, and i enjoyed the restaurant-style yet communal meals. The locals rang the bell to start the meal, and we streamed in like schoolchildren to get our ricebowls and sit at random tables, each with full five courses set out tantalizingly. There was even a supper BBQ; you just had to feel satiated the whole day and night.
I liked to wander around and talk to people. The kelong was an open-concept, mammoth wooden platform with rod holders all around the perimeter. In the day we shuffled around like rabbits, looking for new spots to hopefully dig out something. At night we waited patiently for the squids at the bottom of the sea to bite, which rarely did. When we got sick of it, we played mahjong, chatted, got drunk (not me!)
It was all a good, wholesome weekend :) Hopefully next year, when i come back from Germany, i'll be able to go for it again. Hurrah for retired uni. life! It's really great to take a leisurely pace of life to things, for a change.
Life must be so full of all these new and interesting experiences, waiting for us to explore and discover :)
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