You know how the saying goes ‘patience is a virtue’ and ‘good things come to those who wait’? Well we decided to teach our kids what those sayings truly mean by bringing them…prawning!
Prawn…what??
Prawning is exactly like fishing, but instead of catching fish, you catch prawns! Prawning looks deceptively easy but it’s trickier than it seems and requires so much patience. You will need some skills and luck on your side if you intend to get a good yield.
A-Prawning we will go
To catch your own prawns, we headed to Utama Farm which has a prawning centre. It is located just a stone’s throw away from 1 Utama Shopping Mall, in between Avante Hotel and Shell petrol station, and occupies a 1.6 acre space. You can find a variety of activities here ranging from prawning and fishing to aquaponic farming and dining. The prawning centre has two ponds but when we were there, one pond was for prawning and the other pond was for fishing.
Rods, worms, and hopefully prawns
Prawning prices vary depending on the type of prawns you want to catch and length of the session. You can choose between udang harimau (tiger prawns) from MYR 38/hour or udang galah (giant freshwater prawns) from MYR 81 for 2 hours. The prices are for one rod (fishing rods are provided) but you will need to purchase baits (large sea worms) at MYR 25 per tub. We opted to catch the udang harimau. The staff was helpful and showed us how to set up the bait and rod, and after a few screams (think wriggly worms), we were ready!
We picked a spot and once we got everything set up, the waiting game began. The first few minutes were powered by excitement, but as the minutes ticked by with nothing tugging on our rod, the girls quickly got bored. Didn’t help that we would see other people catching prawns but we were getting none. The kids were starting to get impatient. Thankfully you get to order drinks and snacks while you prawn, so this gave them some fuel to carry on.
After a few spot changes and patiently waiting for more than 30 minutes, we finally did it! We caught one prawn! The excitement was real! This powered the girls on to keep trying until our session was up, but sadly, after 1 hour, all we caught was one measly prawn. They won’t let u leave empty handed though. You get to bring back 500g of prawns for your patience (even though you didn’t catch it yourself!). We opted to get the prawns cooked at the restaurant located in the farm itself.
From farm to table
The restaurant on site serves a variety of Chinese style dishes and also steamboat. We ended up having dinner there and as it was drizzling that day, it was perfect steamboat weather. As for the prawns we “caught”, we opted to get it cooked ‘butter prawns’ style and it was absolutely delicious.
As Utama farm is an urban farm with an aquaponic concept, it has many pesticide free vegetables growing. The ‘farm to table’ concept allows diners to pick their own green vegetables at MYR 12 for 5 bundles. These could range from siew bak choy or kailan to sweet potato leaves.
We had our vegetables with the steamboat and it sure tasted fresh. While waiting around for the food to arrive, the kids also got to feed the fishes in the pond, and the chickens and rabbits in the farm (you have to buy the animal feed from them).
Some helpful information
- Utama Farm is open everyday from 12pm – 1am. I’ve heard that many people go prawning late at night, as an after work activity to destress.
- It is advisable to pre book a slot for prawning, especially on weekends when it gets busy.
- When we were prawning, we noticed that many people were casting their rods at the side of the pond. We tried doing this too and that was when we managed to catch our one and only prawn!
- Pre book a table for the restaurant beforehand so you get to enjoy 10% off your total bill.
- They recently started a Sunday fish market, held every Sunday from 9am – 12pm selling antibiotic free fish and prawns.
Despite only catching one prawn, the girls agreed that it was a really good experience and wouldn’t mind giving it another go next time. We also enjoyed the food and the whole ambience so we will definitely be back!
Bookings can be made here.
For more outdoor activities with young children, why not head to Paya Indah Discovery Wetlands?
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