A few days ago while a friend and I were talking, I suddenly got the idea of finding a new hobby. No specific reason. Maybe just to have the chance to do something new, something else––other than dorm, school, DOTA, rockband, Internet, etc.
One of the first ideas that came to me was fishing. Ever since I was a child, I wanted to try it. I still remember that one time, a neighbor/playmate of mine gave me this improvised fishing thing (made up of a hook and a string rolled into a donut-like plastic container) that the kids in our neighborhood at the time use to “fish” in the waterways near our barangay plaza. Unfortunately though, my Dad, the killjoy that he was, upon finding out about my fishing thing, took it and locked it up in his tool box and told me that it was unsafe, thus he was not allowing me, to play with hooks. And the good child that I was, I just sulked away my disappointment and kept my enthusiasm for fishing out of my mind.
Anyway, back to my point. So, I told my friend about that possible hobby. The first thing he said was, “but fishing is for the patient,” then, as I expected he’ll say, “so, it’s not for you.” Shoot! I tried defending myself but in the end, my friend was able to give counter arguments to break down my defenses. Okay, I thought to myself, maybe I’m not that patient but that doesn’t mean I can’t take up something that requires it. I mean, perhaps there’s way or something.
So, days passed and I kind of forgot about that conversation already. Until we visited an Antipolo farm last Monday.
The farm was great (though it’s really far from our dorm and we got lost going there). There was so much to do there. They have tight ropes, balancing logs, a hanging bridge, bamboo rafts and so on. However, what really interested me was the fishing part. You see, they have this Tilapia pond wherein any visitor can just use their fishing rods and try catching whatever.
After eating the sumptuous lunch they prepared for us, I went straight to the pond to try my luck–and perhaps fulfill my childhood dream of a hobby. From then on, most of us spent the whole afternoon there, trying to fish while talking about whatever and all. At the end of the day, the whole group, armed with around seven rods, was able to catch a total of four Tilapias. Proudly, I caught three out of the four we got. Talk about beginner’s luck. After being hooked on my thumb (because of my own stupidity) and a couple of hours waiting, catching those Tilapias were so fulfilling. In a way, I was able to continue the fishing hobby and disprove my friend for saying that it was not for me. Hahaha!
Okay. So I know that catching fish in a not so big fish pond is really nothing compared to the real thing. However, who would not be proud of being responsible to the biggest part of the whole catch! Thus, despite this being so triviall, I don’t really care. At least in my own point of view, that fishing exprience was a total success to me.
I sure hope I can do it again sometime in the future. Not just once or twice. But so much more. Like a real hobby maybe.
