Kukup Kelong Trip

Brandon holding onto 2 starfish

Standing on the rickety planks of the kelong
Holding out fish food for the Archer Fish to aim at!

Family fun at the kelong

At Kukup Kelong having lunch

It was a super hot Sunday afternoon in Pontian, Johor. We didn't want to cook for such a large number of people so we all decided to go to the pretty well known and popular Kukup seafood restaurant. It was only a short 20min drive from the uncle's house in Pontian Besar to Kukup. At the restaurant, the view was so nice and breezy and everything was a new experience for the young ones. (the adults too!) We took pictures of pretty much everything and posed everywhere "posable"! Hahahaha! The lunch was mostly seafood and there were around 12 dishes for the 10 adults and 2 kids and 1 baby. The bill? RM$230!! What a reasonable price for such a sumptuous lunch!

After lunch, the "suaku" Singaporeans decided to take a ferry to the kelongs (fish farms) at sea. There, we stopped at the kelong and walked along the rickety wooden planks. It was pretty scary for those who have "land feet" as the locals called the land lubbers! My sister in law was pretty terrified and my husband had to hold her hand and helped her across the planks. Her own husband was helping her equally terrified son across the planks! Luckily, my son found his "sea feet" after a while as I had to carry Brianna across the planks.

There were some interesting stuff to see. The guide pulled out a horseshoe crab and flipped it upside down so we could look at it without it scuttling away. Then we saw the uncannily accurate shot of the archer fish as they shot out squirts of water to hit the fish food. Baby sharks, starfish, jellyfish and a dried out puffer fish completed the interesting tour.

Well, this trip was really meant for the city kids. We hardly have a chance to see all these things first hand and even if we do, it's always through a glass window and they are usually not allowed to touch anything. This time, the boys had fun feeding the archer fish and touching the starfish and the shark. They also saw a jellyfish up close. It was really fun and educational even though we all had a pretty bad sunburn!