Friday, 23rd July 2010
The place was already quite packed when we arrived @ 9pm. And it only got worse as it closed in to midnight. Even when we were about to leave, people were still coming in... The thing with there being more and more people, was that it became increasingly harder to cast your line into the middle of the pond where I believe most of the prawns were. Not to mention the chances of lines tangling together.
There was also a coffee shop connected to the prawn pond. And there are always people walking around the pond, taking orders for food and drinks. I ordered drinks while the girls ordered some food. It's really quite convenient, and you can concentrate on just prawn fishing... without leaving your seat.
Before we set off, everyone was asking if I dared to handle the prawns as they had two pincers, and if I knew how to remove any prawns from the hook after being caught. Frankly speaking, I didn't know how to do either. I never had any fishing experiences... but I figured it shouldn't be any problem at all. After all, I'm JCC (Jungle Confidence Course) trained during my National Service. If I can kill a quail, I can certainly handle some prawns... No problem~!
Charmaine was the first to have a 'go' between the both of us. It wasn't long before she caught her first prawn for the night. And seeing the girls screech in terror as the prawn 'flew' out of the water and into their seat, is always a laughable sight to behold... hahahah.
Catching the prawn was the easy part. The hardest part was what to do with it, once it got caught. And that was our first challenge for the night - removing the prawn from the hook without getting caught by the pincers. One way is to leave the prawn resting on the floor, stepping on the two pincers and breaking them off at the joint that joins it to the body - a bit cruel, I must agree. =| But that was the only way we knew at that moment. After the pincers are off, it still took me quite some time to remove the hook. Needless to say, by the time I was done with the captive prawn, it was already dead (probably from the pain I caused when I was trying to remove the hook) when I dropped it into the net, submerged in the water. The second way (which I slowly mastered and got the hang of, after several more catches) was just to use one finger to hold down the prawn's pincers while holding the prawn with the thumb and index finger at the head, just above the body, at the same time. Then, use the other free hand to remove the hook quickly (you'll get the hang of the trick after some practice). With that increased speed, I managed to keep them alive when they drop into the net... =)
My "war trophies"... All the broken pincers collected from the prawns...
After you're done with all the prawn fishing, you can actually barbecue your catch over their pits as I've been told, as they provide satay sticks, salt, charcoal and even sambal chilli. But by the time we were done, it was already quite late. So we decided to split and bring home all we've caught for the night.
I think I've gotten quite pro at fishing for prawns, with prawns taking my bait every now and then. Our catch was not that bad. The girls tell me it was beginner's luck... I say we can only tell on my next visit.
Though "prawning" has been in trend now for some time, I never really got the chance to go "prawning" until tonight, with Charmaine & two of her friends... So this is my virgin "prawning" experience, as is Charmaine's too.
There are many prawn fishing farms in Singapore. The one we went to is called Hai Bin U Enterprise - Prawn Fishing (Bishan). It's located at Bishan No. 603 Sin Ming Avenue (575735), right next to Nature Park Golf Driving Range. Apparently the place is quite popular because the car park just outside was packed! not that I drove there or anything... just saying.
The rate for renting their rod are:
$15 for one hour,
$25 for two hours, and
$30 for three hours.
We rented two rods (one for Charmaine and me, another for her two friends) and "prawned" for three hours, from 9pm - 12am. That's $60 altogether. The price, I guess was quite reasonable, compared across other prawn farms in Singapore. And the prawns I think are generally quite big. The family beside us caught one prawn that was HUGE! The head was HUGE! The largest I've ever seen in my whole life!
There are many prawn fishing farms in Singapore. The one we went to is called Hai Bin U Enterprise - Prawn Fishing (Bishan). It's located at Bishan No. 603 Sin Ming Avenue (575735), right next to Nature Park Golf Driving Range. Apparently the place is quite popular because the car park just outside was packed! not that I drove there or anything... just saying.
The rate for renting their rod are:
$15 for one hour,
$25 for two hours, and
$30 for three hours.
We rented two rods (one for Charmaine and me, another for her two friends) and "prawned" for three hours, from 9pm - 12am. That's $60 altogether. The price, I guess was quite reasonable, compared across other prawn farms in Singapore. And the prawns I think are generally quite big. The family beside us caught one prawn that was HUGE! The head was HUGE! The largest I've ever seen in my whole life!
Huge head! Huge pincers!
The place was already quite packed when we arrived @ 9pm. And it only got worse as it closed in to midnight. Even when we were about to leave, people were still coming in... The thing with there being more and more people, was that it became increasingly harder to cast your line into the middle of the pond where I believe most of the prawns were. Not to mention the chances of lines tangling together.
There was also a coffee shop connected to the prawn pond. And there are always people walking around the pond, taking orders for food and drinks. I ordered drinks while the girls ordered some food. It's really quite convenient, and you can concentrate on just prawn fishing... without leaving your seat.
Before we set off, everyone was asking if I dared to handle the prawns as they had two pincers, and if I knew how to remove any prawns from the hook after being caught. Frankly speaking, I didn't know how to do either. I never had any fishing experiences... but I figured it shouldn't be any problem at all. After all, I'm JCC (Jungle Confidence Course) trained during my National Service. If I can kill a quail, I can certainly handle some prawns... No problem~!
Charmaine was the first to have a 'go' between the both of us. It wasn't long before she caught her first prawn for the night. And seeing the girls screech in terror as the prawn 'flew' out of the water and into their seat, is always a laughable sight to behold... hahahah.
Her first catch... My first catch... And the biggest catch of the night...
Catching the prawn was the easy part. The hardest part was what to do with it, once it got caught. And that was our first challenge for the night - removing the prawn from the hook without getting caught by the pincers. One way is to leave the prawn resting on the floor, stepping on the two pincers and breaking them off at the joint that joins it to the body - a bit cruel, I must agree. =| But that was the only way we knew at that moment. After the pincers are off, it still took me quite some time to remove the hook. Needless to say, by the time I was done with the captive prawn, it was already dead (probably from the pain I caused when I was trying to remove the hook) when I dropped it into the net, submerged in the water. The second way (which I slowly mastered and got the hang of, after several more catches) was just to use one finger to hold down the prawn's pincers while holding the prawn with the thumb and index finger at the head, just above the body, at the same time. Then, use the other free hand to remove the hook quickly (you'll get the hang of the trick after some practice). With that increased speed, I managed to keep them alive when they drop into the net... =)
My "war trophies"... All the broken pincers collected from the prawns...
After you're done with all the prawn fishing, you can actually barbecue your catch over their pits as I've been told, as they provide satay sticks, salt, charcoal and even sambal chilli. But by the time we were done, it was already quite late. So we decided to split and bring home all we've caught for the night.
"Our Catch of the Night"
I think I've gotten quite pro at fishing for prawns, with prawns taking my bait every now and then. Our catch was not that bad. The girls tell me it was beginner's luck... I say we can only tell on my next visit.
