Ever since the lifting of the MCO (Movement Control Order) we were allowed to travel interstate but within the country, going oversea for a travel is still a big no no for Malaysian. Jason has organised a trip to Bentong, Pahang for a weekend and I decided to join them at the last moment. Let's cuti-cuti Malaysia !
Jason and Kenny met me at Setiawangsa LRT Station where we started our drive to Bentong from there. Our first stop was at Kg. Bukit Tinggi and the car was parked at the commercial area at Kampong Bukit Tinggi. Unfolded our Brompton bikes and took a loop into the village to visit this river called Sg. Tanglir
A Chinese primary school in the village where the majority people living here are of the Kwong Sai dialect and Bentong ginger is widely planted in this area.
Thanks to the developer who took the extra effort to beautify and maintain the river. A spot not many many people is aware of it.
The weather was cooling probably in the region of 25°C and enjoying the fresh air and lovely countryside of the village. After completing the loop we settled down at a kopitiam for a bowl of wan tan noodle before proceeding to Bentong town.
A clip of the loop we did within the village of Bukit Tinggi.
The traffic into Bentong Town on a Saturday morning was rather heavy, it seems that every weekend one can expect such traffic jam into the town.
Kwong Fook Temple sited along the main road Jalan Loke Yew with a GPS : 3.522843, 101.909695 with a bold red paint on the building that one could miss the sight of this temple.
There are many documents on the wall like pictures of the early leaders and strong linkage with Sin Sze Si Ya Temple from Kuala Lumpur. Loke Yew was the one responsible in the making of Bentong with the tin mining industry and also rubber plantation.
Guess these are the Menshen or threshold guardian - divine guardians of doors and gates in Chinese folk ... 尉迟恭
As we were very close to Cafe Kow Po, the famous ice cream or ice kacang shop we just could not say no to its ABC. Ais Batu Kacang was good and situated at GPS : 3.522296, 101.910817, don't miss it whenever you are in Bentong.
Glad to have a local Brommie accompanying us and it was indeed an excellent way to know Bentong better.
We were able to "kidnapped" Kokhway to show us around linking the routes from one Chinese Village to another, it was really a big Chinese village community which were built during the time of Malayan Emergency under the Briggs Plan to cut off communication from the Chinese people and the communist guerrillas.
Lemang To'Ki Bentong is an extra ordinary place, never in my life I have never seen a lemang seller so popular. Thanks to Kokhway for leading us to the place, it's located at the junction between the main road Jalan Tras heading to Raub and a kampong road called Jalan Permai with a GSP ref: 3.545283, 101.899523
The crowd was overwhelming and we did not bother to eat but just to see the amazing eatery.
The last stop was a hidden shed and apparently the favourite place of our Bentong buddies.
"Anchor" is popular in Bentong and cheers to our cold beer before we check into our homestay in Bentong. Photo credit : Jason Leong.
As recommended by Jason a tilapia fish done in two ways steamed on one side and the other was deep fried. Unique and tasty.
Sinful soy sauce pork belly cut in a sinful size just nice to be mouthed.
A delicious dish of tofu with nice fried eggs, it looks simple but the taste was awesome. Besides these dishes we had giant kangkung merely stir fried but another great dish.
Nothing like a simple and delicious dinner with the company of wonderful friends.
Place of dinner was at GPS : 3.522071, 101.906724 among a cluster of food stalls next to a covered basketball court and a stream behind the stalls.
We decided to visit Langkawi again which I spent sometime browsing through the internet for a trip. After much surfing I ended up at expedia.com.my for a stay of 3 nights in Kuah Town including return flight tickets for less than RM1,400 for both of us.
This time around we chose Malaysia Airlines instead of Air Asia like our previous visit. I have also pre-booked a rental car for 4 days which costed RM380.00 and was waiting at the airport when we arrived. And off we went exploring the island with a Nissan Almera.
Oh I forgot to mention we brought along our Brommies and we checked in to Adya Hotel Langkawi in Kuah Town itself. It is a 4 Star hotel, lovely and friendly Islamic hotel. It is very near to the duty free shopping area, banks and restaurants. Before arriving at Kuah we stopped by Cenang beach for a lunch.
In the evening we met up with Sandra Loh where she took us to Weng Fung Restaurant in Kuah, one of the oldest restaurants in Langkawi. We had a wonderful dinner with their signature dishes like fried fish with black sauce, fried prawns, squids and a veggie. The beer is cheap in the island and one must not miss it ... hehehe.
Day 2
We arrived to Pak Raja Villa earlier to test out our bikes before Sandra and friends turned up. We drove from Kuah to Ulu Melaka and found Pak Raja Villa (GPS : 6.358724, 99.777143) without much of a hassle in this modern day using Google Map.
By 8 plus Sandra and her two friends appeared with their mountain bikes the other two friends were Francios and Yani. The scenery of Ulu Melaka is beautiful with the sun rising from the paddy fields and amazing mountain lines at the back.
From the paddy field we began hopping from one kampong to another with continuous and interesting scenery to go through, this one with a row of shady coconut trees.
We have been riding along small kampong roads, some of them were gravel and some better ones with worn out tarmac track, suddenly we emerged at a main road and a bridge along Jalan Kuala Muda over Pulau Langkawi River. Francios had a loose pedal crank and at one time it dropped off.
All the bike shops we visited were all still closed and fortunately Sandra had other option where she contacted a friend for the rescue.
We then rode to her friend's place for the repair.
Here we were for the rescue at Seaside Guest House (GPS : 6.360795, 99.709823) to tighten the crank.
We stopped by a cherry tree, yes a Malaysian cherry tree and it is different from other abroad. Jo tried a fruit from the tree.
A close up of Malaysian cherry soft and juicy with lots of tiny seeds in it.
Let's move on as Sandra took the lead for another destination for the day.
Francios was good and back in action. I was impressed with his knowledge of the these interesting trails, he surely cycle a lot in Langkawi.
I was glad that Sandra took us to this water break as I wanted to visit after seeing her posting at Facebook before I came to this island. I bet not many visitors have visited this place in Langkawi.
We followed Francios & Sandra back to our meeting place which was generally along the periphery of the mountain sides.
At times it could be steep on and dismounting was necessary for non mountain bikes like ours.
It was nice to meet Yani from Lahad Datu and enjoying the ride with us.
I remember passing by a buffalo park before riding along this stream back.
Yes we did see some big buffalo along the way and the heat is getting hot as we were about to finish the ride.
It was a relief seeing the paddy field again and sign of getting closer to Pak Raja Villa. Sandra & friends had to continue their ride back until Kuah while we were lucky to end the ride. Thanks Sandra for a lovely exploration of inner Langkawi and arranging with the Manager of Pak Raja Villa to park the car.
My lunch was a nice nasi campur at a warong near Pak Raja Villa before we headed back to the hotel. The "kuah" or "gulai" was delicious from fish curry.
This is my fourth time visiting Taman Botani Negara also known as Taman Cerakah or Taman Cahaya. My first time I went with my sons together with a friend's family in April 2012, our kids were so young then. Subsequently in July 2012 Dave Ern had a big group visiting the park. And the last visit was on December 2012. Malaysia has vast potential for tourism as usual we need to buckle up on our maintenance things seem to be deteriorating over time and it is a waste of money and opportunity.
This recent visit I took my wife for a morning ride it was a public holiday and it was her first time. I was glad she enjoyed it though she was had a bit of hard time with some climbs. She got to practice more in order to couple with tougher rides. We enjoyed the visit such as the paddy fields. Well done Taman Botani Negara for the perseverance, continue to improve and revive the property.
It was a good work out we covered as many places as possible and it was so refreshing with the clean fresh air, the breeze of the coming new lunar year, sound of birds and animals in a forest environment that is so near to the city.
We will back for more rides in this park. Bear with me for about 5 minutes to watch this clip of this recent visit and I hope you will like it.
For once I decided not to drive back to Penang but instead we boarded a coach together with our bicycles. We cycled from home to Corus Hotel, Jalan Ampang to catch the bus and little did we know that we have to pay additional charges for the bicycles. It was RM20.00 for a bicycle. If I were to have bagged the bikes I could probably have save the additional charges. A lesson learned indeed.
On the hindsight our bikes were placed at the lounge at the lower deck of the coach.
We reached Queensbay Mall about 1pm the bicycle lane is just situated less than 200 metres from the shopping mall, immediately we set up our bikes and proceeded with our ride back to mum's place.
We have rode at this bicycle lane before and we quite like it with its heavy landscaping and canopying trees despite it was a hot day.
The beautiful sight of Penang Bridge from the underneath of it.
We noted the State has rectified some of the obstructions which we encountered previously.
The bridge over Sg. Pinang as usual standing proudly and welcoming us to Georgetown.
We were hungry and decided to eat at these stall behind Gama Departmental Store (Jalan Trang).
A fried Char Kuay Teow & Prawn Mee (or known as Hokkien Mee in Penang). After the makan, I decided to aviod using Jalan Dato Keramat to Farlim as Jo might be frighten by the traffic.
We found our way to Jalan Sg. Pinang via Jalan Sungai into Jalan Perak and out to the main road via Jalan Lim Lean Teng. Immediately crossing the intersection we turn into Jalan Grove after the State Mosque for Lorong Batu Lancang and finally Thean Tiek Expressway with a climb at Farlim. Well done Jo, you have done it!
