Monday, March 11, 2019

Fish Farm and Sas Rimba Floating Restaurant - Part of the Langkawi Mangrove Tour @ Kilim Geoforest Park [Malaysia]

Coming to our last stop of the Langkawi Mangrove Tour; the fish farm which was essentially the kelongs that Singapore has although its numbers have dropped drastically compared to the period before 1990.

I think there were quite a number in the UNESCO geoforest park but it appeared that the rest (for which the boat had driven past) didn't quite command the popularity that the above one did.

Stepping onto the floating platform and saw a crowd congregating in the middle of the form. Now, i don't like crowds but the curious persona in me couldn't resist quickening my pace to see what's there.

Some big splashes in the water; due to the murkiness of the water, i can't really pinpoint what fishes species but they are definitely not the sharks i know.

More excited to see the rays which reminded me of the fun i had at the now-defunct Underwater World in Singapore where you can feed the rays using your bare hands! 

The adventurous and fun loving Alex feeding the three rays with the following names; Abu, Ahmad and Ali. How come all male sia?! 

Marine fishes in another section! Bet you don't need introduction on the common sergeant major fishes; the bigger one is a triggerfish. Frankly, it's quite sad to see them holed up in such a small, constricted space. 

Wait, how come there's a rubber ball floating in the water?

A closer look revealed that it's a living creature; a bloody puffer-fish! I have seen them in books but this is the first time i am seeing a spiky blowfish (another name for pufferfish) up close. The next few photographs might make some of you uncomfortable.

Constant squeezing and pressing in order to make the poor pufferfish deflate! To be honest, i was literally shocked into silence but i can't say much since i am not exactly on home territory. Look at how the other fishes were sharing its pain! 

The pufferfish in its innocent, deflated self. 

It was brought out for tourists like me to marvel at and strangely, it didn't huff and puff as if it's lacking the water like most fishes that were taken out from the water. 

In mere seconds, however, it inflated again and you can see how aggressive and fierce it looked this time; with the inflation causing the spikes on its body to stick out menacingly! 

I can't imagine how many times the poor fish had to undergo this continuous process of inflating, squeezing, pressing and deflating! I didn't want to lengthen its torture and choose to leave so that there's no more "audience" for show.

Other 'tanks' which include mantis prawns, sharks etc.

Pictures taken on both ends of the floating platform; relatively quiet even though it's a Sunday. Maybe because of the time as it's already about 1.00 pm. 

What would have complemented a fish farm? A restaurant of course and nothing's fresher than having the live catch right next to you right?! 

Pity i have already identified a venue for lunch that day and i am in a huge dilemma as i would love to have something from Sas Rimba Floating Restaurant yet i don't want to gain unnecessary pounds in this Langkawi trip by overindulging! 

It's tempting, i tell you, although we figured that it would eat into our precious time to wait for the live seafood to be cooked, and Andy would be leaving Langkawi later that evening. 

Hence, i just looked around to see what else there were to see; not much honestly unless i want to see the pufferfish being given infant-grade CPR or buy some souvenirs.

A photograph of the menu showing the price of seafood. I could only compare the pricing of seabass as we had grilled seabass at D Khas Cafe the night before; RM 7 versus RM 15 although the latter would likely be live fish. p.s. i can't confirm though. 

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