Prawning @ Yishun Bottle Tree Park!

Prawning (action verb. of catching prawns for food), a word I've heard fellow Singaporeans friends talked about for months on end, about how thrilling it is to go "prawning" etc. and most of the time, I'm left wondering, just how is it done? is it really that thrilling? Is it expensive?  Due to school work, I hardly could ever try it out or find enough "prawning" khakis to go with, that is until last Saturday, November 28, 2009.  I managed to find enough khakis to try out this "prawning" activity with my puppy dog 'Saffie' and another dog 'Lowey' which belong to one of my friend, Rain. (Now, this Rain is NOT the Korean superstar, Rain) =P

So off we went to this Bottle Tree Park located just opposite the Yishun Stadium at around 11.30am.  For a moment prior to reaching, the weather was hot and sunny, extremely ideal for 'prawning'.. yeah.. but then as we neared the gate... the weather took a 180 degree change and began showering us with chilling rain and strong wind.  (Hmmm.. Friend's name 'Rain', comes to Bottle Tree Park and the "Rain" actually came... =P)

So we took refuge in one of the pavilion by the Bottle Tree Park Seafood Restaurant and decided to just order in some breakfast cum lunch food, while waiting for the rain to clear away and the crowd at the Prawning pool to thin out.

(Frumpy Saffie wanting rain to go away, so she can go out to play)

Finally, by the time we finished our lunch at 1.20pm, the wet weather cleared up, sun came out and frumpy Saffie is no more.. lol.. so we went on ahead and paid for our prawning session of 2.5 hours for S$29.00 (1 hour at S$14/-) and got down to finding the 'best spots' to prawn.

(Prawning in action, Saffie looking at kids playing balloons)

Throughout the 1.5 hours before I managed to get my first catch of the day, (Whew! A Big Catch some more - details below), Saffie and Lowey were within reach of one another often and Lowey the playboy was trying to get fresh with Saffie! Gasp!  Check out the incriminating photos!

(Incriminating photo No. 1 - Playboy Lowey eyeing Saffie)

 

(Incriminating Photo No. 2 - Playboy Lowey getting closer to Saffie)
(Incriminating Photo No. 3 - Playboy Lowey attempting to sniff Saffie's butt!)

(Best incriminating photo! - Playboy Lowey attempting to kiss Saffie!)

Looking at the last photo, which was so well taken, incriminating Lowey the playboy! LOL.  Look at Saffie's expression, it seems like she saying" No, don't kiss me, you playboy!" =P

(Group shot of the doggies, I wonder what is Saffie looking at?)

(Saffie, the ever friendly dog, and Lowey with a don't care look) =P

Thanks to these two khakis of mine, who helped to keep the two doggies from going at one another, could I concentrate on the 'prawning' and not long after, did I manage to get my first catch of the day and subsequent a couple more.

(My first catch! Look at the size of this 'King' prawn!)

(Our total catch of the day!)

(A peek inside with the skewered live prawns.)

So after ending our catches of the day, what you see above is a cumulative effort of three prawn catchers, before washing and skewering them on satay sticks, ready to be barbecued alive for our enjoyment. (I know it sounds cruel, but hey.. it's food after all)

(Let the barbecuing begin! - Said a little prayer for them before roasting)

(Close up shot of the King and Queen Catch of the Day)

(Almost done now.. smell good.. hungry...)

(End result.. now don't that look yummylicious?)

(My first catch - the 'King' Prawn')

(Acting out the smelling process.. wah...got me hungry now...)

During our 'prawning' session, we got to know this kind uncle, who refused to tell us his name, just refer him as the "Uncle", a great prawning expert, who within 1 hour, fished out more prawns then all of us put together and he treated us to some of his catch as well, saying he only fish for the fun of fishing and not into eating the prawns.

(The Great Prawning Master! must call him Shifu)

After all the prawns, which was tasty by the way, the 'Uncle' says hold on, and went ahead to get more prawns caught by his fellow khakis and give us another treat, Curry Prawns!  I think nothing beats better than photos.. check it out.

(Preparation 1 - put in the ingredients, freshly cut)

(Preparation 2 - Put in the key ingredient, Curry Powder!)

(Preparation 3 - Add some water and marinate the prawns)

(Chef says:"Ok! Now wrap up and go on to the Grill!)

An agonizing 20 odd minutes wait begins, and towards the end, the aromatic smell of the 'Curry Prawns' started wafting towards us and the hunger immediately begins again.  Within minutes, the piping hot aluminum foil package stands in front of us, unwrapped it and "Ooohh La La!! The aroma is absolutely fabulous and got us all mouth watering!

(Unwrapping in process, tantalizing aroma and check out the hot steam! Shiok!)

(No more waiting! Tuck in! Sorry lah.. hands to busy, cannot take photos!)

(Ending the day with a group shot)

Well.. that's pretty much ends a great day of "Prawning" session and it sure left me interested and wanting more, to prawn again in the near future!  I sure hope it got you all interested, so hurry, check out Bottle Tree Park and go for the "Prawning!" Available from 9am to midnight everyday!  Anyone interested in prawning? Message me and we can organize another 'Prawning' outing!