Bare necessities.....

Last weekend getaway for the Royal Rangers leaders and families was probably the most "trying times" ever for the leaders and their families. You see, we went to a very basic kelong to have some time of fishing and rest. As usual, there were it's mumblings, grumblings, complaints, whining and so on but it was really an eye-opener for me. Imagine, we survived just one day without the basic necessities like bathing, proper place to sleep and weathering the hot & cold day ( the wind in the night & early morning was freezing cold!). For me, I just love the place in the sense that it had it's basic facilities like partitioned empty rooms, enough shades, toilet cum bathroom ( size of probably 4'X4' ) and enough fishing areas. I guess, many of us are not used to such "lack" of facilities as we are quite accustomed to resort-like facilities and thereby, the surface of unpleasantness.

OK, not everyone like fishing and having to face such difficulties but I am really glad we all managed to weather the difficulties not matter how difficult it was. Though some swore by their ancestral graves that they would not return to such horrid place, I know that I will come back here someday on my own. I like the place, honestly. It is basic and an angler's paradise as far as I am concerned. It is not as though I am against modern facilities but I really felt that we have been too dependent and pampered to extinction by modern conveniences that we simply forget how to live in simple ways. I love the salty breeze and the tugging of fish on my line. It gives me a thrill to feel the tugging of the fish no matter how small the fish may be. Yunno, every trip to the kelong is a learning experience. From fishing rods to lines to hooks and to baits seemed to make a difference. I have learned a lot by watching another group of anglers led by one Mr Lim. He told me that he comes here regularly which was like every month and thereby, when he deftly flicked his light long fishing rod for some bait fish, it wasn't hard to know that this was an experienced hand. It was fun being able to learn from him and he was the one who informed me that the fishing action starts at night and at the wee hours of the morning. Thanks to Errol, I was able to wake up at 4.00am and started fishing. It was at this hour till about 8.00am that I managed to catch 3 palm sizes fishes. By the way, Mr. Lim caught a nice size ikan pari, one nice ikan ebek ( sometimes known as ikan cermin ) and two good sized ikan putih! The fishes were put into a freezer box filled with ice while the smaller ones are left in the airated baby pool. So, there are fishes near the kelong but it is just that we weren't able to land those fishes because probably, we used the wrong size hooks, baits and so on. Many factors could have been the reason for the lack of landing some nice looking fish on our part but we had a great time landing those bait fishes with our Apollos size 8 and size 10. I guess, to me, seeing the young leaders and our young family members landing bait fishes and the glow on their faces are indeed priceless. Some were even terrified of putting the umpun-umpun or fishing worm on the hooks and made a mess out it causing laughter every where. These are some of the lighter moments and memories which will last in my mind and heart. I most sincerely hoped that these memories would last in these young people's heart and mind. Imagine, they don't even know how to hook a worm to a fishing hook! To me, these are the basics in which I learned long long time ago and not feel squeamish about it. By the way, the young leaders really deserved applauding for taking the trouble to help out the young ones during fishing time. It enlightened my heart a lot seeing all the effort they put in to ensure a good time at the kelong.   

At the end of the day, we had to leave the kelong after spending 24 hours there. Under the blistering sun, I kinda miss the place. To me, it was serene , doing what I like most and away from the maddening crowd, corporate political life games, murderous envy & ambitions of the corporate ladder and the ever prevalent piles of unending work. So, was I at home at the kelong during those times? YEAH, I was !~