HITTING THE TIDE STRONG: FISHING TRIP TO MALAYSIA DAY 1

i got up at around 3am on the 18th. twas time to prep up for the trip. i got my stuff together the night before, so pretty much, all i needed to do was bathe, grab breakfast and go to the rendezvous point. ate nannette and kuya bong (whose house i bunk in with currently) were already up by that time, fixing the stuff they were bringing along for the trip - a 14' net, a long fishing rod, and their luggage. i was carrying my k-swiss backpack (a gift from my sister in exchange for the small house my wife and i left behind, which they now occupy). while waiting, i ate the last plate of noodles i made the night before.

by 3:45, we were already flagging cabs at the void deck. a few minutes after, we were on our way to bedok reservoir to meet with another guy who was joining us on the trip. at his block, our taxi stopped. we alighted, and took our stuff out of the trunk. at around 4am, this seasoned fisherman comes down with his fishing rods at one hand, and a strolled cooler on the other. his name was max, was turning 60 in a matter of moths, and was originally from taiwan. he was a PR (permanent resident), like the couple i stay with now. by the second day, he would tell me about his exploits as a child in taiwan, and how he started fishing when he was six years old.

by 4.30, this starex royale rolls over and out comes uncle heng (the man who organized the fishing trip) and his son, who was behind the wheel. we loaded up our stuff on the van, and uncle heng handed us malaysian embarkation cards to fill out. we decided to write down on the cards when we reached our boss' house, so we moved out of bedok and drove to serangoon (unfamiliar? please download an SG MRT map). we arrived at the landed property by 5.30am and my boss had just waken up. her husband, an accountant, was by the gates in a matter of minutes, after uncle heng rang the doorbell. by 6am, we were on our way to woodlands, to crossover to malaysia via johor baru.

OFF TO MALAYSIA
after passing through the immigrations at singapore, the next checkpoint was at JB. we had to get off the van to have our index fingers scanned (yes, both at the same time; and not just the tip - the whole finger) on portable scanners at the immigration counters. it amazed me that they aside from the stamps they put on your passport, they also use stickers on the passports, with codes similar to when you buys apps on the app market.

our first stop was a hawker centre. we were waiting for the toilet to open (which apparently was available only at one of the shops which opened at 7am), so we went for breakfast. we were treated to pork porridge, with aromatic sesame oil. we had some yu tiao (flour fritters), which resembled bitso minus the sugar. i ordered a glass of te-oh (tea with milk). the hawker centre was in the middle of the public market, and it reminded me of home.

by 7.30am, the shop was open and so people started queueing up for the toilet. as i was the third person to go in, i tried looking around the shop first, wondering whether there was something neat to buy. and indeed there was. guess... i bought some deodorant. why? because it only cost me RM6 (around S$2.40). compared to the local singapore price of deo (which is about S$4.50), it was cheap. i also bought some peppermint lozenges.

it took us a good two hours to travel from JB to tanjong leman, while taking notice of the remnants of WWII that lined up the roads, not to mention the dozens upon dozens of palm trees that created the whole lush scenery of the trip. but mind you, although i was enjoying the trip, and smelling the palm oil in the air (since there were nearby processing plants), it fascinated and disturbed me that i couldn't see any other type of tree as dominant in numbers as the palm tree (i guess that would be attributed to the high demand for palm oil, which comes from malaysia). twas like every corner, nook and crany was planted wit palm trees.

AT THE WHARF
we reached the wharf at around 10am, and we meet wilmer who would become our boatman for the next two days. on his jetty (speed board ferry), we loaded up our stuff, put on our life jackets, and sailed, err sped off (although we did pee first before hopping on the boat).

the boat ride was about 40minutes, with the boat cutting across the waters like a hot knife on butter. we were getting wet, the waves were kinda strong, and the tides were high. little did we know though, that there was more to the trip than just the waves and the tides.

TO BE CONTINUED...