Sangkar and Clam Foods at Tanjung Dawai

Since there was one more week for preparing last semester final exam in my Uni Life, I decided to have some activities in order to relieve stress. Back to home and hunting foods would be a good "Excuses" for this. LOL! My hometown, Tanjung Dawai is a small, peace and lovely town in Kedah, the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia. It is located nearby Singkir, Merbok, Yan and etc. Definitely, it is a seafood spot for those who come from nearby town such as Sungai Petani (about 30km).

First activity of the day: Sangkar (Fish Cages).

Sangkar Ikan is literally means "fish cage", in fact that a floating wooden platform is built to breed fish in the sea for commercially selling to local markets, restaurants and export. Various species of fish are bred, such as Grouper, Tiger Grouper, Sea Bass (ikan siakap), Snapper and others. Apart of being a feed breeding site, Sangkar is also a novel attraction for tourists. In there, you can feel the sea, see how the fish are bred in natural, fishing and many more. If you wish to go Sangkar, you have to contact local people for fetching you there. =)

While waiting boat to go Sangkar, we managed to capture some photos for the fishing boat, Pantai Merdeka (an island opposite of Tanjung Dawai) and beach around jetty there. It is a green and peacefully blue place recommended for you if you love travel and adventure trip. It took about 5 to 10 minutes riding boat to Sangkar. Once reaching Sangkar, you can hear dog barking from everywhere. No worry, they are nice to good people. Some dogs are very cute too~ =P Activities 1 - Feeding fish

Small, unused small fish are usually used as fish feed. These natural fish feed will be replaced by artificially manufactured fish foods, when there is lack of that. Nevertheless, the bred fish are still "flying in water" fighting for it. Water are spilling out vigorously even though these are "young" fish only. Breeding duration is normally depend on types of fish and desired size.

*Just want to show that this is not the correct way of using hand net (fish net). Don't try at home. LOL! Activities 2 - Seeking for Mussels and Oysters

Mussels and oysters grow easily over the plastic barrels, which is used to support the floating of fish cages. It is abundant and easily found, however, you need to be careful when pulling out the bivalve molluscs (clam) as the "corals" are sharp and it might cut your fingers. Knife is used to open these clams. These oyster and green mussels can be eaten raw, according to the person in charge there. Well, we have tried it. Both were fresh and good enough! Slurrp~

Nutrition of oyster: It is rich in vitamims (vitamin A, folate, thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, B12, vitamin C and vitamin D) and minerals (iron, magnesium, calcium and notably zinc). Zinc is required by our body from the diet in a very small amount, for the immune system, hormone production and endocrine system. So, when your energy levels are low or SEX drive is low, then you are recommended to eat oysters. (It increase testosterone and sperm production) Activities 3 - Rest Time and Chatting

While waiting for boat to fetch us, we were enjoying the moment of resting on this traditional fish net cradle. I bet most of people, especially those from city has been long time didn't sleep on cradle. It is soft and safe, proven by us. Haha! Stay tuned. Next post: Fish loading from boat and Lembaga Kemajuan Ikan Malaysia (LKIM) is coming soon.