Kelong Trip To Sibu - 26th July 2008

After an unexpectedly long jam at the Singapore side of the Woodlands custom, we finished our breakfast quickly at our regular spot at Sentosa in JB and set off at around 7am for Taman Leman Jetty, which was where we took our ferry ride to the Sibu Kelong.

There were 16 of us and together with another similar sized group we were to be the first groups to arrive at the HB Kelong.

We took the initiative to "chope" our area after a quick recce of the kelong and set out our rods in the holders.

First up...wah!, Sheila caught a nice table-size spotted Groupa. (Very sorry lah, no picture taken as she was the camerawoman).

There was no Tamban in sight, so we had to make do with our live prawns, which the boss, Sydney, made good use of to hook one Garfish after another. See, kana professional like that...


After that it was smallish fishes all the way till nightfall. I took out the Yozuri Sotong Jig to try my luck and after a few tries, lo and behold, we had a nice Reef Squid!

I spent the night jigging for my beloveed squids and we were able to land 7 of them in total. The following morning, Robin caught a good size Flathead without much of a struggle. It sure added to our miserable catch as the Tambans and their "relatives" were still not sighted.

In the following late morning, the boss used a small yellow kelong fish as bait in the absence of the usual Tamban. Before long his new 13ft Loomis rod exploded and arched. Suddenly, there was great excitement not seen during the 2 days at the kelong. The gong for a great battle sounded... the boss pumped his long rod hard in a whipping motion, anticipating a long duel. He whipped his rod fast and furious in a test of his skill against the unknown enemy. He held his rod firm and high, a sweat trickled down his tanned cheek. Without warning, the enemy propelled itself above the water surface and flipped, sending sparks of reflecting sunlight into our staring eyes. Before anyone of us could accurately identify the silvery disguise, it disappeared. Immediately after, we realised its split-second appearance was a tactical manoeuvre meant as much as an attempt to dislodge itself as well as to momentarily inflict blindness upon us so as to facilitate its escape. It picked the wrong guy though. The battle-hardened man knew their trickeries all too well and would not be fooled... Alas, as suddenly as the fight began, the much anticipated long battle fizzled out. The rod went limp and the 3kg Talang Queenfish was easily defeated and reeled in...Give That Man A Tiger!

We had these catch to show for our one day effort. Not bad, if you considered that others went home with only durians to show for their trip.

NDP 08 - Students Preview 5th July

Ca Mau - Vietnam Southernmost Province

Last week, four of us booked the only available flight from HCMC, Tan Son Nhat Airport to Ca Mau Airport. Although, I called up Vasco (Vietnam Air Services Company) about a week in advance, the seats had been fully taken up on one of our selected days so we had to push back our trip by a day.

We arrived at the Domestic Terminal at around 5am for our flight at 5.55am. The place was quiet, although well lit and was already filled with weary-eyed passengers. Shortly, the check-in gate opened and inside the airport, shops began to open as if on cue. We were able to have our quick breakfast before we boarded our flight that would take us to Ca Mau Airport.

Looking through the windows of the 65-seater plane, one could see that Ca Mau is a province of streams and waterways running through rice plantations and other vegetations and not much else.

The pilot did a smooth touchdown at the short runway of the airport and we taxied to the terminal nearby where ours was the only plane in sight. A control tower stood nearby, although given that there is only one flight in and one flight out of the airport a day, it could seriously be done away with.

We observed from a short distance away that our luggage were unloaded onto a canvassed mini-lorry and transported all of 20 meters to the front door of the terminal as we stood waiting. We grabbed what was ours as the workers pushed the load through the front door...nothing quite like a conveyor belt system, seriously! But then there was no need to. The claimants were orderly and there was no shoving and pushing. Such was the first of many pleasant encounters we had with the people of Ca Mau.

We stayed at Best CM Hotel, a really nice 3-Star Hotel, which cost us USD39.00/night. It was a beautiful hotel and service was excellent. The service staff at every dept were very friendly and the bosses mingled among the employees and talked to everyone like a family member. Food was good and consistent as the lady boss was ever present in the kitchen during meal times to ensure quality and consistency.

An alfresco cafe was located on the top floor (9th), which provided a breezy setting to go with your coffee. Satellite TV projected onto a huge screen was available much like any pub in a big city. There was even an outdoor swimming pool at the back of the hotel.

We went sightseeing to a place called Ap Da Bac or Da Bac village, which was about a 2-hour drive away from our hotel.

The drive for much of the way was through endless streams upon streams and small bridges across the muddy streams. However, we loved the experience because the oneness with nature could be felt and breathed. We were also full of pride to have stepped foot on a place where not many were given the opportunity to venture.

After 2 days of uneventful but incredibly absorbing and highly satisfying time immersing ourselves into the ways of life of the Ca Mau people and their nature, we left with really fond memories and a longing desire to return again in the near future... and next time, I would not be able to resist getting myself pampered with a half-hour session of pedicure and manicure for only 10000 dong, much like this friend of mine.

Pictures of Ca Mau