There are some days when I am out and about that I feel the need to pinch myself to see if I am really in this life. I take a lot of pictures... there is no worry about me not being able to remember it, I have an external hard drive filled with our Singapore experience pictures. When I come home and edit them, I usually do it without even thinking... you know, just click on the right things, crop where necessary and shrink to fit on my blog.
Yesterday as I was editing, I really took a good look at my pictures from another view... like I had never 'been' in these places, but was enjoying through someone else's eye. As I was doing this, I realized I have seen these places through someone else's eyes before, and while doing so, I guess I thought it was some remote fishing camps that they had to look deep and wide to find the 'hidden' treasure - like off the beaten path.
These little floating fish camps are right offshore near Singapore outer banks. Dozens of them are around Singapore and our 'across the street' neighbors, Indonesia and Malaysia. They are all up and down the coasts throughout Asia; Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore... everywhere.
A couple of weeks ago, someone whom I take tours through at church came up to me very excited. Val had wanted to take us on a tour of a kelong (a fish farm), and had finally secured it. She asked me if I wanted to go, and I quickly gave her the S$20 it would cost, as I knew this would be a once in a lifetime experience. I didn't know much else, just that we were going on an excursion to a fishing 'farm' and we would get to see how the fish are caught around here.
So yesterday, we showed up at the Changi Ferry Terminal and left in our bumboat:
As I got on the bumboat, as always I check out the safety features. As usual, there were no life vests - a common thing here in Singapore. Looking under the seats, this is all I saw:
My, my - how handy. They drink beer and tea. I hoped the last thing this captain had was tea ;-)
I am mighty glad I am a fairly good swimmer - it is always reassuring when I look around the bum boats at the less than strict safety measures they take.
Val was beaming ear to ear:
It is always such a pleasure to go with her. Val is Singaporean, so she can explain customs and ways to us. So as we were on the boat, she showed us miscellaneous things as we were traveling down the waterway. She pointed out boats, told us what islands were what (dozens of little islands all around us and we never know if we are looking at Indonesia or Singapore), and what places we were passing on the shores.
So as we travel, we see lots of 'kelongs' Val tells us. They are floating fishing farms and the families all live on them:
As you can see, the floating fish farms are very, very modest... bare necessities - and maybe not even that. However, once we got close to the floating fish farm we were going to, I was quite impressed with how 'new' it looked:
It was quite colorful and relaxing:
Going inside, we found the living quarters comfortable and very basic. They had a living room:
A bedroom:
A workshop:
A modern clock and bulletin board:
They had a bathroom on the left (can you tell?):
And a shower on the right:
Did you notice the red bucket in the back? That is the bucket they put the 'pure' water in from the rain collection buckets outside. Look closely and you will see a blue handle. That handle is for the dipper they use to dip the water and pour over their head. I did not see a water heater sitting around :-(
The fisherman was quite proud of his floating fish farm. He showed us his nets, fish quarries, and even some shrimp (not 'shrimps' here for you cajuns) that he had caught and was ready to cook for us.
He took time and explained that this is indeed a floating fish farm - not a kelong as we had thought. Upon his explanation, we found that they are different in the fact that the kelongs are actually the ones high up on stilts like this one:
We were quite surprised to learn there are only FOUR kelongs left in Singapore :-( He said there were more in Malaysia, but Singapore is all floating fish farms now; they rise and fall with the sea. There are 135 floating fish farms left in Singapore. He also explained that the Singaporean Government has asked them to increase their production by 17% so they will quit relying so heavily on imports. Yes, even that tiny strip of water between here and Indonesia means it is imported.
While explaining all of this, he also told us how pollution kills the fish and how strict Singapore is about the water. He explained several things: (1) That it is very important not to litter to save the ocean and its sea life. (2) If we want to live long and healthy lives we need to take care of our fish. (3) If we eat more fish and less meat, we will be very healthy.
After all of this pollution talk... I thought this was rather amusing when I opened the bathroom door:
Yes, that is real life. Yes, that is water under it. Yes, they use it. Yes, it is all they have. I just thought the squatters were so hard to get used to... lol... And I am assuming this does not damage the sea, but I probably don't want to know where the tp goes. Not. Ever. Swimming. Here.
Thank God and good sense I have not done it yet.
Before you ask, this is not an 'official' tour. This man did it out of the goodness of his heart for Val. It was an amazing experience; one I think everyone should take, but I doubt they have 'official' ones. Risky is an understatement for this excursion, but oh so fulfilling.
So on the way back, those fish farms looked mighty different to me. I was looking through different eyes; eyes that had seen how life is on the other side of all those pictures:
And each tour I take, I grow a bit and realize just how lucky I really am to be able to learn more about Asia, embrace it and allow it to open my eyes.
And it still hurt when I pinched myself so that means I am really here, really soaking in this experience and the best part is *I* am the one taking 'those' pictures.
This journey is amazing.
But, I have to admit, it makes me feel guilty when it is so easy for me enjoy things like this:
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