Occasional Green Pastures and Quiet Waters

The walls there are only about 4m high, but don't let it's short stature fool you into thinking that it is easy! Compensating for what they lack in height, they excel in challenge, both mentally and physically. There are many excruciating paths you can choose to traverse across the walls, and even ceilings! Definitely a fun place to visit if you're looking for both a mental and physical challenge.


Scaling walls is a hungry business, and so for dinner, I was at the Overseas Restaurant to celebrate the 50th birthday anniversary* of a dear family friend. 50 years and she doesn't look much different from when I first met her about 20 years ago. One thing I really admired was that at the dinner, her father made good use of the opportunity to share the gospel with the guests. Very, very brave of him!

At the dinner, I met up with the birthday girl's sister and brother, who are my old fishing 'kakis'. It goes without saying that somebody casually mentioned the word 'fish', and we ended up going for a all-night fishing expedition to this Natural Exotic Fish Fishing Pond in Rawang. For RM100, you can fish for three hours, or you could pay RM100 for two hours and try reel in a jackpot catch. They said that there were giant fish to be caught, and they were absolutely serious about it. Here's me with my 8kg catch - the biggest I have ever gotten. Ever. Amongst the four of us, we managed to reel in another three more giant Redtail Catfish (Hemibagrus wyckioides) by 5am. Unable to stay awake any longer, we left quite reluctantly. So there ended my adventure.

*I say birthday anniversary because you technically have only one birthday. No prizes for guessing when that was. The ones you celebrate every year, would then naturally be your birthday anniversaries.
**Farshid, if you're reading this, no worries. The fish were not killed, but allowed to recuperate, then were subsequently returned into the pond.

My Fishing Buddies

Catch of the Day!

This time, we brought earthworms for bait. The fish didn't quite seem to fancy the worms we brought, so I tried luring them in with some meal. Next thing I know, something's gently pulling my line taut. Seeing the slow movement of the line, I didn't think much of it, and reeled in anyway. Several tugs on the line, and I didn't seem to feel like anything was on the hook. Strangely enough, as the bait end came in closer, I could see the silhouette of a fish breaking the surface, and this fella popped out!

However, with closer inspection, I noticed that the line looked a little funny - it was all rusty brown. Then I realised it wasn't my line at all! Turns out somebody had hooked this fish, and thinking the line got stuck, cut the line. That or the fish broke the line. Either ways, the line trailing from that fish's mouth had got ensnared in my hook, allowing me to reel in the biggest fish I've ever caught.

After reeling in my catch, I was quite satisfied, so I didn't really try for any more. Instead, I took a stroll to the opposite side of the pond where we had seen plenty of piscine activity. Standing on the edge of the stone bridge, I could see plenty of fish, and proof that my fish wasn't the biggest in the pond! I'm definitely marking this spot down as potential fishing area. The only problem is the security guards... may have to pay them off. haha.

The past two weeks have been insane. I am now chronically sleep deprived. It must be some cruel joke of the university admins to put all the assignment due dates in the same 2 weeks. _φ(･_･

Batu Dam Scenery

Still, despite all that insane work hours, one has to still take a break to enjoy the finer details of life, no? Even if it's at the equally insane times of the day. Hehe.
So on Wednesday night, my landlady's daughter brought back a haruan from Batu Dam. Now, I've only been there once before and caught barely anything. Seeing that prize catch, i had to go when I heard she was going again the next day!
Screw the fact that I only had two hours of sleep. I needed a break real badly. Leaving the house at 0645, I got there in time to join them. It was really good to be able to spend some time in the open with fresh air and beautiful scenery (if you keep your eyes away from the littered water). Pity there was no thrill of a catch to end the trip.

On a, well, distraction related side note, I've finally finished painting my monk. I think I'll call him 'Wu Zheng', never mind about the Chinese characters yet. Haha. Here are some pictures of several stages of completion.

I've also managed to finish Doulos' figurine of Paul the Paladin. Went for a Boltgun Metal, Mithril Silver, and Shining Gold combo, with Enchanted Blue for the cloth. I think it looks pretty good - just need to touch up the finer details on the cape and its trimmings, also the shield, and other finer details.
So as a celebration for five figures painted, here's a picture of all of the together!

So after my trip to Pulau Besar, we were driving home when my dad asked us:

He was met with silence, so he gave us the answers instead:
After a while, I realised he wasn't talking about fish. Haha. Sneaky dad.
Still, the apex of the joke was still this:
Very true, both literally and metaphorically.

lol.

The first four days I spent back home was at a CF committee planning retreat, nothing much to write about there. Just nine people cramped around a table trying to make plans for the rest of the year.