Hook,line and sinker.

So i spent Saturday deep sea fishing (words i never imagined to say). It's for a story i'm working on and although my initial plan was to just grab some brochures and interview some anglers, my boss decided the story would have a better 'feel' if i actually WENT on the fishing trip. Great.

And i did. My morning started at 5:30. I had one nagging fear. No, it wasn't hooking the bait. It wasn't the scorching heat. It wasn't even the fact that pirates could raid us in the open sea at any moment.

It was the high probability of getting sea-sick.

I don't have any problems with being on boats. Living in KK means growing up by the sea and hopping on speed boats for weekends on nearby islands (I *heart* KK, as certain people would say). But i was forewarned of getting sea-sick once the boat stopped moving at high speed. All that tossing and tumbling would guarantee at least three shades of green. So i popped in a motion sickness pill and hoped for the best.

The boat ride from the Sutera Harbour Marina took around an hour plus. I watched as the islands and buildings around us got smaller and smaller, and soon disappeared completely. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the open sea. It was just blue as far as the eye can see! I was in awe of my surroundings and, lucky me, the sea was pretty calm that day. The boat finally came to a halt and i instantly panicked. The boat began bobbing up, down, left, right, round and round and round.... I kept my eye on the horizon (the only decent point of reference) to avoid getting sick. I decided to keep myself busy so i wouldn't think about getting sick. I asked one of the anglers (there were about nine of us on the boat, me being the alpha female, haha) to show me how to bait the hook. I kept myself occupied thereon and, lo and behold, I was doing fine.

Anyway, we started fishing at around 9:30am. There were loads of unfamiliar equipment and gadgets lying around the boat and i made myself a nuisance by asking what each of them were, heh. And then, just when everything was getting a bit too quiet, someone caught a fish! It was exciting, i have to admit, but not as exciting as when you catch your VERY OWN fish! Yessiree, I caught my first fish that fateful Saturday morning. First, a tug and then your rod starts to bend. The other guys were all excited for me and started throwing instructions, "Pull, slowly slowly! That's it... Ok, reel it in! Not so fast....There it is...slowly, slowly...That's beautiful!" Here's what i caught:



Ok maybe not. But it was a nice big one by my standards anyway. By noon, the sun was merciless and i kept slathering on sunblock (but, as i'll explain later, not enough apparently). I sat right at the edge of the boat, near the motor, where i could dip my feet in the sea. The men were impressed that I was still doing ok despite the bobbing and rocking. Hell yeah, once you catch a fish you forget about everything else! I was determined to catch more and that was all i could think of. Damn nice, man. There's a lot of waiting though. Sometimes you wait almost an hour before you even feel a nibble. No wonder it's the perfect setting for a male bonding session:

Junior: Dad, what's the meaning of life?
Senior: Well, son, when i was your age...
Junior: ....Wait, i got something!
Senior: Reel it in boy! That's it, that's it!
Junior: Wow, look what i caught!
Senior: *tears in his eyes* I'm so proud of you.
Junior: I love you too, dad.

You get the pic. Anyway, i caught a total of three fishes that day, the last fish being THE catch of the day. It was a huge (and i mean 2 kilos at least) red grouper. I actually lost it while i was reeling it in but one of the Master Anglers of the Highest Order (Mr Chong to you) took the baby fish i caught (it had teeth marks all the way down meaning, Big Fish was after Little Fish but Big Fish got away) and used it as bait for round two. Less than three minutes later, he reeled in the Big One that Almost Got Away and gave it to me, "Here you go, girl...This one actually yours." All hail the Angler King!

The sea was getting choppy by 4pm so we headed back to shore. The ride back was relaxing, the sun setting behind us and the occassional splash from the sea to cool us off. Back on land, we took the obligatory group photo. It was nice to be one of the guys for a day and they were a fun bunch. I smelled like fish from head to toe but it was well worth it. And I loved the look on my dad's face when i showed him my catch of the day. No points for guessing what we had for dinner :)

The aftermath? The worst sunburn ever. I'm gonna look 'well done' for the next week or so but if you asked me to do it again, I'd hop on the boat in a heartbeat.

"Rock the boat, (don't rock the boat baby)
don't tip the boat over..."
-It's on the radio. How appropriate.