Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Prawning - the kind which involves live shellfish.

When I say “prawning”, I’m referring to the activity which (mostly Asians) people do at man-made ponds whereby they use a rod and hook to catch prawns.
I’m definitely not referring to this activity.

Anyhow, I realize that it’s a very popular activity over here, even with kids and females.
Ponds are normally so crowded with people that everyone is sitting chair to chair along the edges, with no room to swing their arms and rods, and only clears up around 6am or so. Even on weekdays.
A good prawner can catch up to 120 prawns over 3 hours. Just for comparison, I normally end the day with 40 on 2 rods.

So it got me thinking.
Why is prawning so popular?
                  Instant gratification
a.       Prawns bite very quickly. There’s none of the waiting time normally associated with fishing. Excitement levels are well maintained even when the prawn is caught because these prawns have large pincers which give the angler an itchy sort of nip when their fingers are in range. 
Removal from the suffering of the object
a.       Bait is normally chicken heart, or cut up shellfish. Therefore, its already dead. Some anglers do use their own live bait, but it’s the kind of bait which can’t actually scream when its poked.
b.      Prawns don’t make noise when they are out of the water, and they don’t bleed when hooked. This creates the illusion that it is not suffering – or at least, the signs are not that evident. 
Packaging and marketing
a.       It’s not a very dirty activity, most of the muck is quickly settled with a small supply of wet tissue
b.       Bbq pits where people can immediately cook their catch give people a mental justification that it’s ok to do this to the prawns because, I might be hurting them, but it’s for sustenance, and not just for my entertainment.

Monday, June 20, 2011

[PHOTOBLOG] Punggol Promenade

As part of my new healthy living regime, I will get outdoors more and be up earlier in the mornings.
Heh.
Have no idea how long my resolve will last, but it sucks to keep getting sick.
Anyhow, early mornings provide nice photo opportunities...
Presenting my latest haunt:



Punggol longkang is now a dam, and fishing, swimming etc in it, is now prohibited.
There's a red bridge leading to Lorong Halus (ie, the other side of the river) for those with lots of stamina.



The broadwalk, carefully landscaped, with wooden planks for the jogging path.



A small bridge over a smaller inlet.
I like the plants here. These cattails (?) appear to be of a reddish variety, which matches the bridge prettily.


Ripples, from the many fish which flip around excitedly as they kiss the surface.



Sun kissed boy. Looking very sinewy...



Cattails of a greener variety, against a checkered morning sky.



Water-side plants.



There's a nice chill out place near Punggol Plaza - there's popeye's, a Jap restaurant, a cafe, some seafood restaurants...
There's also a pool hall, and a 24hr prawning/fishing/crabbing pond(s). The prawning ponds are opened by hai bin as well - the quality of the catch is not bad, as good, maybe better than their Bishan branch.

Saturday, June 04, 2011

CREATIVE!

I have decided that I will obtain a Wacom Intuos4 Medium and become more creative.
lol.
Nope, this isn't one of those split second decision things... I've always wanted to be proficient in Adobe.
Time to get software to complement it!

***
I don't want to give the kittens back... =(
Been looking after them for the past 2 nights and they are easy to manage - when they have their cat litter.
And they are so sweet.
<3

ofc, you're gonna be treated to my fabulous photography once I get the kitty pics uploaded.