Q&A Episode 5 Throwback:Balik Kampong

Episode 5 of Throwback: Balik Kampong aka The One Where They Go Fishing. If the embedded video below doesn't work - try this link at Toggle.sg. To read all blog posts on Throwback: Balik Kampong, click here.  

This post was a difficult post to write in the sense that I didn't have much questions to answer. Got some friends who kindly obliged me when I asked them to pose me any questions that they had about Episode 5 and these are the questions that they asked... 

Love this shot of Asher & Shawna looking out to sea. Photo by me, Pamela Tan! #nofilter !

Q: Who looked after the kids when the adults went to sea?

A: Both times, when we were fishing out at sea, there would be at least one or two adults from the production crew who would help us watch over the kids. This is usually the case when we have to do a challenge where only adults are needed. The boat fishing trip, Mrs Awad was on shore as well, so she was there to watch over the kids too. 

Q: Are you worried about the kids when you head out to fish? 

A: No, I'm not actually. I trust the adults who are on shore will take care of them. Besides, for both fishing trips, it would have been even more dangerous for the kids to be with us. For the first fishing trip, I would have been worried that the kids stand up on the boat and fall out of it while we're in deep waters. For the second fishing expedition, the water came up to my chest for me! If the kids were there, they would have to thread water to survive - and they don't know how to thread water yet. So, no no no, I rather they were safe on shore. It was much more dangerous for them to be with us on those two occasions, than they would be on shore with adults watching over them. 

Q: Were there leeches?
A: No, we didn't see any leeches, nor get bitten by any. Thank goodness!!!

Lovely shot of Matthew and Asher at the shore during low tide, taken by Rozz :)

Q: So Rozz says you get seasick but the Chinese subtitles had Matthew saying that he is the one who would vomit when seasick? So who gets seasick - you or Matthew?

A: Actually it's Matthew who would get seasick. Before we had kids, there was a trip where we went to Australia with another couple, good friends of ours. We took a boat out to sea to see the Great Barrier Reef - but Matthew and our friends got so seasick due to the choppy seas that the three of them were puking non-stop. I was actually alright the whole time and enjoyed snorkeling out there in the open waters. Matthew came into the water, determined to make the best of the trip. Instead, he puked into the sea. We then witnessed fish coming to eat his vomit! :p Hence that comment of his on the episode where he said he'd vomit in the sea, while I catch the fish that come to eat his vomit.

Q: What prompted you to be so poetic while fishing? It's almost as though you went crazy and started singing?!
A: We had a huge net which was all tangled up when we got it, and was impossible to untangle even after some kampong men tried to help us. So it seemed to me that our fishing trip was doomed from the start. But instead of being stressed out by things not within our control, we decided to just try our best to untangle it, while having fun! Okay so Matthew tried harder at untangling it. I was just having a good time wading in the water, not having the kids around to worry about. I did have to swim after my slippers when they got away from me though - thank goodness they float. Other than that, we were quite idle out there, because there wasn't very much we could do about the tangled, gigantic net. So I was trying to think out of the box you know, inspired by my escaping slippers - we could slap the fish underwater! Hahaha... Now, that obviously didn't work. So I decided to just enjoy the water (like swimming, you know), enjoy the scenery (the sun, the sand, and the sea coconut trees), enjoy the company (my darling Matthew!) - I was just having fun in the sun! Hmmm... maybe Fuzz is right, heat stroke made the nonsense seep out of me!!! :p

Asher & Shawna jumpshot pix taken by Rozz (instagram @heyrozz) - who's fantastic with all the kids!

Q: Did your singing frighten all the fish?
A: Alamak. On hindsight... maybe huh. I must have scared all the fish away! Urrghh! All MY fault!!! hahahahahahahaa... Actually huh, I wasn't singing at all?! Why does everyone say I was singing? More like a poem recitation perhaps. Singing? Maybe I am more melodic than I know... hmmm...  :p

Q: How's Mr Awad, is he okay?
A: Yes, Mr Awad is a strong man, he recovered fine and was his lively self by dinner time. Hannah and Danish also recovered well and were actively playing with the younger kids too. The younger kids love playing with the Awad twins, and they were excellent with the kids too.

Q: How did you feel about having Mr Azimullah join in with his family?
A: We thought it was great! It just made it seem all complete now, you know. Before, when he was unable to help his family with the challenges, it always seemed a little unfair to the Azimullahs because they were at an obvious disadvantage. And he's such a funny guy with his hilarious quips delivered with a straight face. You can also see how he centres Farzana and makes her more calm. Definitely very good! :)

Q: Did you guys only have BBQ fish for dinner?
A: We had our dinner before we filmed the BBQ scene. We really did eat the BBQ fish though - jiak tek tor as my mum would say in Teochew - 'eat for fun'!

That's all we have for now. Feel free to ask more questions and I will add them on in here. Stay tuned to Channel 5, this Sunday at 9.30pm for the next episode of Throwback: Balik Kampong! :)

• Throwback: Balik Kampong - all episodes videos
• #throwbackbalikkampong hashtag - all posts on the blog relating to the show
• Throwback: Balik Kampong - Episode 4 Q&A blog post
• Throwback: Balik Kampong - Episode 3 Q&A blog post
• Throwback: Balik Kampong - Episode 2 Q&A blog post
• Throwback: Balik Kampong - Episode 1 Q&A blog post