June Holiday Vacation Part 2

Our first catch.
The second part of our holiday vacation was the part that I most looked forward to. This holiday involved only me and my son - a perfect way to bond. It was organised by the Catholic High School Dads for Life and involved a fishing trip on a kelong. I have to confess that I have not fished before. I remembered fishing in my youth, but I cannot remember much of it. So I guess I am a newbie in fishing. Nevertheless, I was very keen on going. My son was also very keen to fish, despite having zero knowledge about fishing. Sometimes I wonder what goes into his head - he seems keen to do things he has no idea about.

It was a long way to the kelong. We had to cross over to the Malaysian border, drive up 3 hours (at least) and then take a slow bumboat to the kelong. The only bonus... the driver played Jurassic World for us. It was a bonus for me, but for my son, it was obviously too much gore and violence. He kept complaining that he was sick of the movie (translation: I am afraid of the dinosaurs eating up human beings, but I do not want to confess). Anyway, if you match the dates (we were there on the 24 and 25 June), you will realise that it is a pirated DVD!

Once upon the kelong, we were given our fishing rods and taught how to use it. Both of us were not paying attention and needed help. One of the organisers helped us, and with his help, we caught a fish within 10 seconds! I kid you not. 

After a while, my son felt restless and started to play with the other equally restless kids. But he did try to help by helping me cut up a squid for bait. It was my first time witnessing him use a knife. I nearly died when he wanted to open the blade fully by pressing it blade first on his palm. I quickly taught him how to use a blade. Hopefully, he will not forget. 

Cutting the bait

After dinner, we hung out together. We put the fishing rod in a pole and talked to each other. It was great that he was not on the iPad or iPhone and was just talking to me. To our surprise, we caught a weird looking fish - a squirrel fish. He was really excited about that fish.

A squirrel fish

I expected him to have difficulty to fall asleep in a dormitory style with nine other people, but he surprised me. I was the one who had difficulty sleeping thanks to this other father who snored very loudly. His two sons endured his snoring though.

On the last day, he was very keen to fish. I was surprised. But he was very good, and he caught a fish all by himself! I left him to wash my hands, and when I came back, he had reeled in a spiky fish.

Finally, it was time to go back. We caught 18 fish in total, not too bad for two guys with zero experience. We managed to grab a speedboat back this time, and it was an enjoyable ride.




His first catch


Bye Bye Kelong!

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