My Fishing Reel collection

I was supposed to be sleeping after a tiring night shift, but the sleep lasted only less than 4 hours. Since i couldn't force myself to get asleep, i decided to pack my Fishing cabinet. I took out the reels from the Cabinet for some photo-taking session. Truely, It is impossible for me to use all the reels in a single fishing trip but i strongly prefered to have the right gear and tools for it. After some calculation, i have more than 20 over reel in my collection. Among the reels, there are some which was used for more than 5 years which is in pretty good condition and its pretty unlikely for me to sell it away since there is not much value worth. In fact, the most expensive reel in my collection, the Saltiga Z-40 was sold away recently which i used it for the funding of my new toy.

Part of my Spinning and Multiplier collection


Shimano Stradic and Banax GTW and other spinners


Shimano Torium 30 with line installed for Oct Sabah trip

18 Fishing reel on the table and some more in the Cabinet

Fishing is indeed not a cheap hobby for me but most importantly, its the whole process that really caught my interest into it. I strongly believes that one needs to enjoy and play hard so that at the very last minute of his life, he will surely live without much regrets.

Enjoying the King of fruits with Fishing Friends

"King of the fruits" .....This time of the year, which is June you are likely to see Durian all over Malaysia and it is the time where the fruits are harvested. Being a Durian lover, i can't wait to have a great feast on my favorite fruit. Seriously, The smell of the fruits and the taste is really awesome. Hohohohoooo.....I really can't live without it!!!


These are the normal Kampong durian..its really good

In Europe, chances of seeing Durian is almost impossible but during my half year attachment in Germany-Mannheim in Yr2002, i managed to see those Thai durian sold in the Asia mart. Buying durian in Europe indeed cost you a bomb but in Malaysia.......Rm$3-5 ringgit per kg is so affordable and i can eat hell lots of it...hahahahaaa :)


Wifey and Mother-in-law buying fruits


Creamy meaty durian.....really yummy!!!

After buying the durians, My wife and i celebrate our "Durian Feast" at Edmond's place. Seriously, just the smell is simply irresistible for we durian lovers. As the fruits is freshly collected in the morning, every bite, you can really felt the warm beneath the durian meat. It indeed a luxury to have fishing friends gathering for some fishing chat as well as enjoying our favorite fruit at the same time.

A satisfying look from Dickson's face..."Joon, you want some?"


Edmond busy eating durian.."i'll help to finish Joon's share"

That's how we wash off the durian smell from the hand


Pinch of salt and water does stop you from getting heaty

Can't wait to have another round of durian feast when i'm back in Malaysia. Really miss the Durian. However, do not eat too much durian as you will be likely to fall sick as this is a very heaty fruits :P

The Cleaning up ceremony for my Orange Pearl

Date: 7th June 2009

On the Saturday afternoon, i did a partial cleaning on my Yak and the fishing stuff. Doing it on a hot afternoon is really a pain in the neck and some more it is done after a fishing trip. It took me nearly 2 hours to clean up my fishing stuff and also with the splashing of water and wiping on the yak exterior. I needed to make sure that i can removed as much salt as possible so that to prevent bringing back the salt home. Till everything is kinda of dry then i can loaded it back into my Forester.

Seriously, when i'm back home, it took me another 2 hours to thoroughly wash up my stuff with 100% salt removed as well as doing another round of splashing of water and wiping on and in the Kayak. During the washing of the yak, it is good to inflate it so that most part can be accessible for the cleaning.

After washing up, i deflated the yak and took out the advancedframe and flooring and air it dry. After the cleaning, it was around 7pm and there were no sun for the speedy drying up. So, i folded the Yak and left it to dry.

On the next day, which is today (Sunday), the weather was really hot in the morning with around 33 degree celsius. Since the outer cover and the advancedframe of the yak were still wet, I left it to dry under the shade. Its seems that the outercover dried up much faster than the advancedframe due to the different type of material used. All in all, it took me nearly 3 hours to get everything dry up and ready to pack into the bag.

Here are the assemble procedure which i'm sharing with all:

1. AEC- Advanced frame and outer cover

2. Installing back the Bow Rib into the advancedframe

3. Same goes to the Stern Rib

4. Install the advancedframe into the cover from the Stern

5. Make sure the Ribs goes all the way till the end

6. Aligned the advancedframe and the cover

7. Velco near the stern are aligned properly and then tape it together

8. Fixed the Bow into the outercover

9. Unzip the cover and push it in (Hmmm...)

10. Make sure the ribs and the frame goes all the way in

11. Aligned and adjust the velco near the bow

12. Zipped back the cover

13. Time to install the floor

14. Adjust the floor in the yak

15. Put back the Chamber 1 valve cover

16. Bingo! Everything is put back

17. Time to fold the yak into the bag

18. Put the 2 seats and the foot brace into the bag

19. All nicely in the bag

20. Back to the storeroom

Hope that all of you will like it. The cleaning needs lots of patient and time. Enjoy the cleaning process and happy cleaning your AE-Yak!!!

My Maiden trip with the Orange pearl

Date: 6th June 2009

Captain Sparrow has been mentioning about this island Singapore in the movie "Pirates of the Carribean" and today is the chance for him to really explore this island......however, he couldn't really make it today and i was told to replace him as the Captain for the Orange Pearl maiden trip....Hahahaahaaa...juz joking!

Seriously, i was so excited about this trip and hardly able to sleep well the day before the trip. I woke up pretty early at 05:30am and reached Tuas about 7am in the morning. I was pretty late for the 6:30am appointment with Ian and was feeling quite bad for my delay.

When i reach the destinaton, i saw 2 Police officier talking to Ian.....perhaps asking him about his Expedition. Initially, i was quite shock to see the Petrol car, parking on the road thinking that we might get some tickets for parking here. I greeted the 2 freindly officer and immediately check with them for the parking. When i have finished setting up my Orange Pearl, one of the officier came over and ask for our particulars which is a normal standard procedure (SOP) just to make sure we are not into trouble and most importantly making sure Singapore is really a "FINE" city.

An AE Expedition and a AE Convertible


Ian with the 2 Kayak

After some Photo-shooting session, we set off from Tuas to some good fishing spot. This maiden trip is a good chance for me to really test out the boat and this Kayak really track well with me and load of stuff on the Kayak. The frame which i built on the Kayak was really superb and i'm damn proud of it although some more modification is needed to make it flawless.

Out at sea with my convertible

After 15 minutes of paddling, the first Coastal Petrol boat came over to us for some checking. Both Ian and I was so surprised to see that the commander of the Petrol boat is a pretty young lady. Seriously, How i wish i could have join the Coast guard!!! :P

Not long after, another petrol boat came to check on us. This time round, no more pretty ladies on board the petrol boat...hahahahaa! After some routine question being asked and making sure that we have our safety gears with us. Soon, both of us were back to our fishing and paddling.

The 1st Fishing Spot at the yellow buoy


Caught a Queenie with Tamban (White sardinella)

A Butterfly Whiptail caught and released by me

Time for a break


The Orange pearl with gears


Its time for some more fishing

It was a pretty tiring trip for me being my first paddling after so many years since my school days. The fishing was not really good but the paddling was really awesome. The total distance covered for this trip was approximately 10km that took us roughly 6.5 hour in total. The kayak was really stable and according to Ian, the AE-Convertible (without the backbone installed) seems to track better than the AE-Expedition. I will try out the AE-Convertible with a Backbone next time round to see the actual performance with it. So everyone, got to stay tuned for my next Kayak-Fishing trip with my AEC aka Orange Pearl :P

The cool looking Orange Pearl of mine

Captain Sparrow's Orange Pearl modification

Many of my fishing friends were eager to see my Catch Report on my Kayak-fishing trip but i'm so sorry that i have made all of you disappointed. My maiden fishing trip was cancelled and the weather was not favorable for me to do fishing as there were thunderstorm in the early morning. Hence after sending my wife to work, i proceeded to a hardware shop to do my shopping for the 5th modification on my "Orange Pearl". After days of brainstorming, i have more or less confirm with my design. Without the deck install on Kayak, there are indeed load of space for me to come out with lots of wonderful ideas. Amazingly, i have the Fishfinder console, a foot brace, Fishing Rod holders, a cooler box compartment and a Kayak stabilizer all well sorted out. Everything was more or less completed except for the Stabilizer which i will need sometime to figure out the best solution on fitting it. With everything completed, a mini sail will also be fitted to my frame structure. Last but not least, i also have a nicely built Yak trolly which was proven working to move my "Orange Pearl" around. Seriously, after sorted out all my receipt on the modification, i was shocked to see how much i have spent on the modification.....anyway, i'll keep this a secret which i will not tell anyone.....figure out yourself if you're interested on this :P

The main structure on the modification


The rod holder that accommodate 2 rods and a net


The Fishfinder console which i'm proud of

A Cooler box compartment on my "Orange Pearl"

Rear view of my Cooler box compartment

My Foot brace...very nicely built and comfortable

The front part of the structure

Can't wait to do my fishing

A trolley for my "Orange Pearl"