the clog

Gone fishing...something like verbal diarrhea

Okay, I know that I haven't updated in a while. Not that anyone noticed. Probably. And yes, I was being a lazy bastard again. Sorry. But I also didn't have anything to write about at the time. Okay, that was a lie. I did have something to write about, but we'll get back to that later. The long and short of it is that I couldn't be bothered to type up anything. So there.

But I did have something to write about. And that's what irks me. I mean, aside from being lazy the other reason for me not updating was that I had nothing to write about (I mean, does anyone want to hear what I had for breakfast for the next sixteen posts? Didn't think so). Anyway, I'm now going to write and pretend like the event that I'm about to write about happened yesterday (to create an illusion of freshness. Nobody likes stale news). But if you really must know, the event happened on Saturday. But you should pretend like it happened yesterday. Everybody with me so far? Good. Moving right along...

Yesterday (ehem), I went fishing. I had never been fishing before so I was rather taken aback when my father said, "Let's go fishing tomorrow (which would have been the day before yesterday)". Being the filial son (and someone who has romanticized the sport of fishing for ages) I readily agreed to my father's proposal. So, the next morning (which was yesterday), my father, brother and I got into the car in the wee hours of the morning (9am...hey, that's early by my standards) and drove towards Basel. There we met the man who arranged the whole trip: Mr Jeffry. He owns a thai restaurant in Basel and I recommend that you try out his place at least once if you get the chance. Anyhoo, it turns out that we were going to a place of his across the border to do the fishing (yes, he owns the lake...I'm so envious). So we went into France without much problems (the border guards weren't even looking at us) and made our way to the lake. After setting up the gear (barbeque pit, food table... etc) we each picked a corner of the lake to do our fishing. Initially, Mr J's assistant, Phillip, cast the lines out for us (since we were newbies to fishing and all). Of course, it was only a matter of time before my damned inquisitiveness led me to trying my hand at casting (I blame it on video games...they all make fishing look so easy!). Fortunately, I had observed how Phillip cast the line so I didn't botch the job too magnificently...I managed to cast the line a whopping 5 meters out (which was quite pathetic). After a few more tries I finally managed a decent distance and decided to just wait for a while (fortunately, I brought a book). I didn't have to wait long (didn't even get to open the book, actually). A fish bit the hook! I was so shocked that for a few seconds I didn't even try to reel the sucker in. But the wily fish decided to tangle my fishing line with that of my brother's (who also was in the process of reeling in a fish at the time). The fish then made good his escape when my line broke. Curse you, fish! I felt like I was re-living the excruciating frustration I felt when I missed a catch in Animal Crossing (I'll talk about that in the next post). Anyway, after many more hours of waiting for fish (the better part of fishing is patience, after all), I decided to take a break for lunch. And then it happened: another fish! It started tugging my line just when I was about to walk away. I started reeling the bugger in. Gosh, he was heavy. When he finally broke the surface I saw that it was a carp (which explains why I was getting carp-al tunnel syndrome (sorry, obligatory Animal Crossing joke)). It looked like it was about 50cm. No, really. We fought for a full 10 minutes: he for his freedom and me for the trophy that he would make. The fight was no way as epic as the duel between The old man and the marlin from The Old man and the Sea (great book. You should read it if you haven't yet), but it was enough to make my heart race. In the end the fish looked like it just gave up and I netted him handily. And then we released him. That's right, we released him. Yeah, I'm almost a saint ^_^. After a couple more hours we all decided to pack shop and head for home. On the way home my dad says:

"I'm tired, take over"
"What, now?"
"Do you know of a better time?"
"Good point"

Mwahahahaha. So I got to drive the van back home. And lemme tell you, it was amazing. People actually gave way when I signalled and they didn't hog the road or anything. It was like I was driving in a mirror universe or something (since I had only experienced Malaysian driving prior to this...well, with me behind the wheel anyway). I also was in no danger of getting lost since I was using the spiffy GPS system (a great problem with me in Malaysia. If I'm not familiar with the area I'm driving in I have an amazing knack for getting lost. Heck, sometimes I get lost in places I know. I'm gifted that way).

And that ends the flashback of what happened to me yesterday (sorta. Remember, it actually happened on Saturday. I hope that didn't confuse you too much). And since most stories should have a point, I'll end this post with a little request of sorts: GO FISHING! Try it at least once (which shouldn't be too hard unless you're living in a desert). Go! Go and get in touch with nature!