And it was a great way to celebrate the start of a new year with a bang (literally) with Rovers overseas! And we were blessed by good weather and a great place to have jolly good fun!
Prior to the trip, we were contemplating whether or not to go on with the trip, with the bad weather and flooding being reported, it kinda dampened the spirits of us party-goers. After some discussion, we went ahead with the initial plan and I'm sure glad we did! (Well, I'm wondering what we would be doing in SG, maybe watch the fantastic fireworks on display at Marina Bay area?)
And the first thing which we had planned was to meet at Clementi at 6am on Saturday. Having arranged to meet Jason at 5.30am, I set my alarm to wake me up at 4.45am, since I was a little sick with a blocked nose already, and I had barely 5 hours of rest.
Guess what? I was late in meeting him! Argh. Mum woke me up at 5.30am, and I jumped out of bed, rushed to brush my teeth whilst letting him know that I was going to be late, and I prepared to leave...in 15 minutes! Well I guess I've to thank the army experience for allowing me to do things with such efficiency, but in the end I was still kinda tired and shacked...was half-awake when the 2 of us arrived at Clementi MacDonalds'. By then, CK, Luiyee, Mufeng, Pei Geok, Shuying, Stephanie, Weiguang, Weihuang and Zhihui had arrived. Geraldine and Nicholas arrived shortly after, both coming from their hall...and Hwi Bee was the last! (This was confirmed 'cos she just woke up when Shuying called her, and she met us at the checkpoint in time).
But anyway, we managed to proceed onward to Malaysia via chartered minivans, which swiftly brought us to our destination - Tanjung Lehman - the jetty whereby we take a ferry over to the kelong.
The long road ahead...
Arrow marks the spot.
Boarding the ferry to the Kelong
Me, Guang, Geoks, Zhai
Ah Mu and Guang on the boat
Leaving the breakwater
Geri & Luiyee - Geri's frightened? o_O
Nearing the Kelong!
Climbing up to the Kelong at low tide
After arrival at our Hotboys Kelong, we proceeded to explore the area...it was really a step back to an easy-going lifestyle, away from the hectic life and hustle and bustle of Singapore. Everything there seemed to be pass by us slowly.
Fishing and mahjong in the middle of the Sibu Sea, what a great way to spend our time away! Away from books, away from the Internet, away from many other things which define our fast-paced school life. It's like a getaway from Singapore, and I certainly enjoyed the fishing which we started on after lunch! Although the fishes were not particularly big, it was certainly amazing on how 'easy' the fish took the bait. The fishing rods on rent were interestingly cheap at RM31 for our entire trip! So we had like 4 rods rented, and including Mufeng's, it was a total of 5 rods for all of us!
Our bunk for the 3d2n sleepover!
Interesting.
The black tank there holds our water for the day
BBQ pits available too!
Fishing is the standard activity here
Our beautiful kelong
Guang and his MLE text on the Kelong?!?! No!!!!
The first to be caught
Cages for fishes...Used by the owners I believe.
Mu & I preparing to kelong-jump.
(back to front) Steph, Luiyee, Guang, Geoks, Huang
So it was just catching, and reaping in the rewards, as well as learning new techniques in 'enticing' the fish to take our 'bait' and learning how to cast our hooks...another thing which I had to do so often was to undo tangled lines, which was super mafan and a total waste of time! Like Jason and I having to spend almost an hour solving a complex tangle, it was even worse than having to do our maths questions!!!
Me trying out fishing!
A struggling fish
I'd think this is a zebra fish?
Hwibee, Me, Jason
Geoks fishing
Slicing a dead fish for bait
Hwibee & her catch!
Our catch on the first day!
Geoks and her catch!
Guang pulling the line up
And the wind was really strong! All around the kelong, I could feel the sea breeze - strong yet calm, powerful initially and gradually fading away...it was really a great life to just relax there! And not to forget, things flew when the gusts of wind blew by - Shuying's slippers went into the waters during one of the windy periods.
Food onboard the kelong was great too! Mostly fish, but we also had crabs, prawns and even duck for our meals! The best thing was that they were really tasty and filled the stomach!
Mu's name on the table...they actually write down who is sitting on which table for meals!
The sunset of Day 1 @ Kelong
The rest of the time was spent on taking photographs or playing mahjong - the ultimate past-time for any group of 4 people! At least 2 tables of mahjong kakis gathered, and one of the tables was into playing with money (RM, not SGD since we are in Msia)...and it was a whole night of mahjong with LIVE EPL saturday night soccer! Nicholas and I were partially focused on the table in front of us whilst watching the soccer match, with Hwi Bee and CK being the other 2 on the table.
Me, Geoks, Nic doing the 'SMU-jump'
Managed to stay up from 5.30am till 8am on the last day of 2006...31st December 2006! And although the sunrise wasn't that pretty, the changing colours around us were wonderful! From black, till blue-black, then slowly the far off mountains can be seen, then the clouds seemed to have appeared, and the surroundings lit up! Anglers (or fishermen?) were awake at that time, trying their luck in catching big fishes and casting their lines far out.
Early morning...a fishing line cast out at sea throughout the nite.
Early morning, and the fishing lines are out at sea...
The early morning plate of noodles.
A sotong (is it?) caught!
Tried my luck fishing for a while, had breakfast by the sea, and then back to sleep, a wonderful early morning nap. In the afternoon, it was off to the nearby Sibu Island (apparently there's a resort there...wow!) for some beach fun and games! The scenery was picturesque and idyllic! The weather, which threatened to rain ever so often, cleared up! The beach was untainted (possibly because there were not many people on the island) and the waves were amazing! Taking pictures, dunking each other in the water (landing on the butt at times and having a huge wave come crashing down on u) and 'riding' the waves...too bad we did not have a surfboard, else we can do smth like Baywatch. Muhahaha. Coconut juice was also served, and it was refreshing!
The lonely boat
Us @ the jetty!
Swaying with the wind...
WH in ad for beach boys
Us having fun!
It should read: 27 ROVERS
Too much fun!
Ouch!
Nic & me
Back at the kelong, it was more mahjong, followed by watching of TV (Liang Jing Ru singing on TVBS and the Taipei countdown show)...as the hours ticked by, and we played Action Heart Attack, the end of 2006 was near and 2007 beckoned.
Yings, Zhai, Geoks, CK, LY
LY, HB, Nic, Me!
Last sunset of 2006!
The box of fireworks! (yea they come from boxes o_O)
On top of that, we've sparklers...
The best thing was...the kelong had fireworks! And to see the fireworks all being set off right in front of one's eyes...simply fantastic! (Well I'd wish to set off my own fireworks too..haha) Then there were the sparklers that we played, and the happy new year greetings to all...it was wonderful!
The start of the new year was spent drinking vodka and engaging in fruitful (and interesting o_O) talks, chit chat and interesting tidbits of each other...hopefully we'll get more of such chances in future!
R O V E R S
The guys (full strength!)
Yings, Me, Geoks
The last day of the kelong trip passed with the morning spent on catching up on lost sleep, and after lunch, we took pictures, talked and finally bade farewell to the wonderful kelong trip...a memorable one indeed. The ferry ride back was full of people, but it was okay...the adrenaline rush has passed and we're on our way back to where we belong...
En route home, we had to deal with the jams at the Malaysian side (the Johor-Kuantan road as well as the Causeway) and listened to the 93.3FM countdown on radio! Shiok! But the best thing was that we wrapped up our trip with the sighting of a new year rainbow! Too bad the vehicle was moving, else I'd wished I could get to some big field and take the picture of the rainbow, in all its grandeur.
What a way to close 2006 and to receive 2007 with open arms! Hopefully 2007's better for us all! :D
The New Year Rainbow :)
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