A Night By The Sea

Hello! Fellow hivers, it's me again ylaruj, ready to share another chapter of our family adventure. Today's blog is about our night by the sea where we dive into the enchanted world of seashore, collecting edible treasures.

One evening my cousin invited us kindly to a sea adventure. Without hesitation, I nodded yes, because I really wanted to join them. It's a wonderful opportunity for me to connect with my kin and nature and enjoy the bounty of the ocean. We prepare our flashlight, potable water and butane gas.

These were our rides going there.

We traveled for almost an hour to Lambusan.

As we nearly approached our destination, my attention was caught by this magnificent view. A tree that was located in front of a church was adorned with Christmas lights. It gives a fantastic view to anyone who passes by.

Destination reached, and we put our things near the shore and ready to embark our sea adventure. We go strolling in the sea using our flashlight, looking for something that is edible.

We saw an eel swimming away from us, afraid to be caught and cooked I guess. And honestly we are afraid of it too, and we are very cautious about the way we step. We light the head of the eel so that it will get blinded and would not swim away.My cousin, Joseph, tried his best to catch it and eventually he really did. But my another cousin, Neil, shouted that it is a "tangkig" (sea snake). So he throws it away and afraid to get bitten by it, but the locals in the area told us that it is really an eel.

My daughter picked a huge sea cucumber. At first she really hesitated to get it, she said it looked hideous. I told her that it will not cause her any harm and that it wa delicious. So she picked it up.

I picked these seashells, but I don't know what their names are.

Since the sea is not really at full low tide, my daughter grabbed the chance to swim and have fun.

There are children also who went there to catch some fish . They bring along their homemade equipment called "pana" (a type of harpoon or spear). They made this out of broken umbrella and wood, they got the iron and sharpenend it to a point. They assembled it that look and function like a gun but the bullets are iron string.

Some elders there use some native trap to catch some shrimps, it is made of bamboo. This has two holes, one on the bottom and one on top. If you see a shrimp you place the trap over it and retrieve the shrimp through the top hole.

These are all his catch, he not only catch shrimps but also crabs. He said that he would catch some more because what he caught was only few.

So we tried our luck and finally catch a single shrimp. Why luck? Because we went there and hopeful to catch a bounty but we didn't bring equipments with us, only flashlights and our plastic bags where we would put our catch.

As we went back to shoreline, I saw my partner looking at the beach house near our location. I know he was amazed by it but I don't know what is on his mind.

We got tired of walking back and forth for hours but our catch was too little. Pareng Marjun cleaned the sea cucumber that we gathered and processed it into a "kinilaw" (a raw seafood dish and preparation native to the Philippines).

This is our "balat kinilaw". This is our snack for the night.

We were really hungry, because we left home without dinner, because we really thought we could catch more. So we decided to buy fish from the fisherman there. We bring rice with us but we have no viand.

The fisherman told us that we should wait for a little longer because the fish he caught was still in the fish net and he will going to retrieve it.

We bought a kilo of newly caught fish. It was worth 200 pesos per kilo.

Me, my daughter and my partner cleaned the fish we bought. I used a spoon to remove the scale and my partner just uses his thumbnail to scratch the scale. We cleaned them using the sea water, so that our potable water will not be drained and we have some to drink later after we dined.

After we are done cleaning the fish, my partner prepares the kettle where he cooks it into "tinolang isda" (fish soup/fish stew).

We are waiting for our fish soup to be cooked, my daughter was playing in the sand to buy time.

I was looking at the beautiful lights in the sea. These are the lights came from the boats there , from the people who went there to gather food, and from the distant houses, creating a beautiful sight in the dark. I can't help but feel the peaceful moment that the shoreline offers , away from problems. This adventure seems like an escape from the real world. The breeze was so comforting and soothed my whole being. The world seems to stop and it was just us away from toxic people. I have been imagining things but get startled when my husband calls my name because he was done cooking.

Our fish soup was cooked and we start eating. As I savor it's meat, I can compare it's taste from those already in market. The meat of a fresh fish has a sweeter taste compared to those fish in the market.. Yeah, they are both yummy to consume and healthy, but nothing beats fresh fish.

We cleaned our utensils after, using the water in the sea. My daughter helped me cleaned them and eventually played with them.

My partner decided to wash my daughter because she was full of sand.

We have some left over, especially the sea cocumber kinilaw. I really don't know what variety of sea cocumber we had gathered because it was tough, stony in texture that it was challenging to chew. Pareng Marjun transfer the sea cucumber kinilaw to the small plastic bottle of Royal so that it will be easy to carry and and the vinegar will not spill. He will bring it home for pulutan later .

After how many hours of our sea adventure, we agreed to pack our things and head home.

As we are heading home, I reflect that there are lots of foods in the sea, you will just have to put some effort and bring some tools. Because we seem like we went to a battlefield without any weapons.

Reality cannot be escape, and this adventure of ours is just a get away from our bustling lives. Sometimes in our lives we have to go somewhere to feel at peace.

I will end my blog here and see you soon dear readers on my next blog. See yah!

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