OPEN SEA FISHING AT SUNGAI BESAR

The year was drawing to a close. To cap the sense of a great year behind us, we decided to drive out to Sungai Besar where the state borders of Selangor and Perak meet the Straits of Malacca, ferry ourselves out to the open sea and do some deep-sea fishing.

Starting out from Kuala Lumpur late afternoon on Friday, 27 December 2013, the one-and-a-half-hour northbound drive took us to a nice restaurant in Sungai Besar for an early dinner. The group of us, ten in total, then headed for the jetty to begin our little fishing expedition. By the time we have completed loading up all our fishing gear and equipment into the trawler that was to take us out to the open sea, the setting sun had already given way to the blanketing darkness. At 7.45pm, the trawler chugged its way out into deep dark ocean ahead of us, carrying with it each individual's thoughts of how to land the prize catch as we prepared to face the elements of wind and rain to try our luck albeit with great patience to catch that "dream" fish.

After about three-and-a-half hours out to sea from the jetty, the boatman chose a particular location for us to spend the night fishing. It was pitch dark about us, and when he turned off the engines, the darkness was engulfed in total silence; only the gentle lapping of the sea against our boat kept us aware of our place in the wilderness. The boatman told us quietly that this was the "best" spot, and so we put our trust in his alleged years of experience and his uncanny ability to know where the "best" fishing spots were, as if guided by some sort of a radar or GPS device.

The boat we hired was by no means a luxury yacht. It could hold up to 12 people - tops - and it came equipped with an air-conditioned lounge located at the lower deck, basic cooking amenities and a decent bathroom. And lest you thought the lounge was anywhere near comfortable, let me tell you that one had to sleep on planks, to be sure. We shared the total cost of hiring the boat and the boatman among ourselves, and as you'd expect, there was quite a bit of haggling with the boatman before we settled down to an agreed sum.

And now for the catch. In the thick of the two nights we were out at sea, we each managed to catch something but the luckiest among us, Ah Soon landed a biggie - a 15 kg ikan kerapu (Malay for grouper fish) which could fetch a market price of anywhere between RM400 to RM500. But alas, except for Ah Soon's prize catch, each of our individual achievements could not pay for our share of the cost for hiring the boat and boatman. To be sure, it wasn't the money that's the main attraction of this seaward expedition - it was the thrill of the catch among old friends. And a whale of time doing just that.

The greatest moment of fun came when we had to draw lots among ourselves to determine who would be given the most commanding spot to do his fishing. As it turned out, we had so much laughter drawing the lots that I was sure we could have keeled over the boat itself.

Being together out at sea in this manner, we felt a certain sense of closeness and camaraderie one would not expect to find anywhere else. True, there was much exhilaration in the catch as one pitted one's luck and skills against the odds, testing the elements against the will of the catch, but nothing beats the bonding of kindred spirits huddled together under God's great heaven for two whole nights in a rickety boat for comfort in the great vast ocean surrounding us.

And so we headed back to shore on Sunday, 29 December. The moment we hit Sungai Besar and loaded up everything back into our cars, we shot straight for the old historic town of Kuala Selangor for some of its famed sea food for lunch. According to history, Kuala Selangor was once ruled by the Malacca Empire. A famous historical landmark is Bukit Melawati, a hill overlooking Kuala Selangor and the Straits of Malacca. The Dutch destroyed the existing fortifications on the hill during their 1784 invasion of Kuala Selangor. The two canons guarding the hill exist till this day as a reminder of Kuala Selangor's rich and colourful history.

Apart from its historical interests and sumptuous seafood, Kuala Selangor offers many charming tourist attractions and activities like the Nature Park, Firefly Park and eagle watching, making it a perfect one-day outing with family and friends. A main attraction of Kuala Selangor is the seafood market where the catch of the day is sold so fresh and relatively inexpensive that even city folk from Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur flock in droves to get their seafood supplies for the day.

Sunday night found me in the comfort of my own home and in my own bed. I was so utterly exhausted by the excursion that I could literally sleep till the proverbial cows come home, except for one nagging thought - could I do this all over again at another time and another place with the same camaraderie of friends?