Monday, January 13, 2014

Sekinchan - Sg. Besar Ride - Seaside & Paddy Fields

11 January 2014 I managed to join a ride hosted by Rivern Yong, KT Wong and SC Chin for a feel of West Malaysia coastal world. Thank you to KT Wong for mapping out the route as where exactly we went. A total of 70km was achieved on this day and it was fantastic!!!
The cyclists whom took part in this amazing ride. Thank you SC Chin for this photo and it was taken at Sg. Besar.
Joe & me were sort of late, everyone has left the meeting point when we arrived. Fortunately a few friends turned back to help us to join the group.
The route started off with this kind of road, a kampong setting and it was heading towards the seaside.
A group of nearly 20 cyclists eagerly waiting  to start the ride at Sekinchan popular seaside spot. I have been here before in a previous event held sometime early August 2012. See here for the previous event.
And off we went for the discovery.
The start of the bund is immediately from the Sekinchan popular spot and the bund was constructed from laterite earth something I that I have not seen it before, a combination of sand and red earth. The colour doesn't blend at all.
The path was a bit muddy due to the wet season making the ride a bit tricky.
Apparently these stretches are pretty long with breaks in between.
These people were catching cockles and the tide was low, maybe it was the best time to collect them.
We met a man collecting his catch of crabs. He placed his nets at various positions at the rocks of the breakwater.
After a short journey we landed ourselves on the shore and had a good feel of the sand, broken sea shells and cockle shell are everywhere.
At the seaside of Sekinchan.

Cycling in smaller towns and villages is more common than in the cities of Malaysia.
At time we moved out off the bund and used the palm oil plantation road like this ...
and sometime we used the kampong roads but all are more or less parallel to the shore.
The seaside is basically the same as we travelled towards Sg. Besar.
One of the toughest path we travelled was this path with narrow tyre space and it requires concentration for a good balance of your bicycle.
One of the many bridges we crossed and by this time some of us were ready hungry and requesting for food.
We were told that we will be eating at a place called Sg. Nibong.
At last we arrived at King Original Mee Udang of Sg. Nibong, Batu 23. You might need this contact 019-2056030 to check with the operator in the near future.
Nasi Lemak bungkus were all gone before some of us can even have a sight of it. Simple yet delicious. The sambal was mouthwatering gorgeous. Nothing beats a kampong nasi lemak bungkus.
Mak Cik has been cooking this Mee Udang for the last 24 years and her mee udang is truly awesome!!!
Mee Bandung Poktek is a seafood noodle with a mixed of seafood like fish, squids, prawns, crabs & eggs. None of us tried it, I bet it must be good. Maybe I will try it in my next trip here.
Rivern had a Mee Udang Special with 3 gigantic prawns for RM15 and he simply loves it. A normal bowl with smaller prawns is only RM5.00.
After having satisfied ourselves with the good food at Sg. Nibong we headed for another eye opener location.
A must visit resort at the middle of a quiet coastal corner stands a marine park called D Muara Marine Park located at Sungai Haji Dorani. It is actually owned by Maljis Daerah Sabak Bernam.
GPS : 3.639411,101.019219
Directional sign at the entrance of the Park. The condition of this place is starting to deteriorates I just hope the management will do something before it is too late. 
Fishing boats are aplenty and nothing more but it has its own beauty.
A park with basic fishing activities and the sea out there is the Straits of Malacca.
It was a good discovery and could be a good hide out to stay away from the city madness.
Chalets on stilts. 
That is a lot of Siput Retak (Lala).
Bag by bag they hauled up and to be taken away for sale.

We continued our ride for the last destination and that was Sungai Besar.
A typical scene of a Malay wedding at a kampong, how nice if we can be invited to attend the wedding.
As we approached Bagan Sg Besar, we could smell food and we get hungry pretty fast ... and we love eating....
Every town nearby this region has to be a fishing town as fishing boats are everywhere.
A fresh coconut to quench our thirst was not a bad idea after all.
This was the place for our lunch Xin Hai San Restaurant recommended by KT Wong.
A claypot of Bak Kut Teh
Soya sauce fish
Deep fried sole fishes with preserved bean & veggie gravy was awesome.
Stir fried mixed Veggies with prawns & lean meat.
Tasty stir fried brinjal with dried shrimps, prawns and egg.
As usual nobody can touches the food before it is documented. The food was delicious and cheap. We paid RM14 per head for the lunch.
Kook Keong has been given a task to lead us to the second part of the ride.....we wanted to see paddy fields.
On our way out of Sg. Besar town we visited a bicycle shop.
One for the album at Eng Hwa Bicycle Shop, Sg Besar.
Into the main trunk road heading for a turn at the opposite side of the road where paddy fields will be seen.
Turning off from the main trunk road route 5.
The sight of the paddy field made me so happy especially with beautiful colour of the ripen paddy.
Crossing a wooden bridge to get closer to the paddy field.
The wonderful thing of cycling it takes you to places of interest like this paddy field and it is so beautiful!!!
Alex had a puncture at his rear wheel. While he was mending this problem, most of us were happily taking photos at the surroundings.
KK Fong taking the lead ... but somehow at midway we lost him and we had to cycle extra length to finish.
One of the name of the road where we visited.
Looks like a proper management of paddy planting with tagging & records.
Cycling through the paddy fields was fun and a great experience for us.
This plot has been harvested.
Water is very important for paddy growing and here is a big irrigation canal distributing water to the fields.
Paddy harvesting in progress.
A rest under a shade is a luxury on a hot day while waiting in any regroup.
If I remember well this road is called Jalan Terusan Besar and it was really "terusan" we went and went for an extra mileage of 12km but we took it as a good work out for us.
The last few kilometers seems  to be rather endless and my butts were getting uncomfortable, shifting from one corner of the seat to another.
Eventually we completed and everyone was happy with the achievement, the awesome experience, the food and the good weather...All thanks go to the organiser Rivern, KT & SC Chin. Thanks to KK for this picture.

4 comments:

  1. Your posts are always filled with good food and bicycle adventures. Nice pictures of the country side. I used to go fishing with my dad. We went to Rawang and Kundang. That was 30 years ago. Some of your photos reminds me of those small towns. Maybe I can retire in one of those villages.

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  2. Suprisingly, you recorded quite a lot more than most of us other riders! Thanks for summary! Nice.

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  3. Wong - Thanks for the ride.

    flymeng- thanks for visiting this site.

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  4. good documentary & good ride with good company! special thanks to Wong Kt, Rivern & SC Chin for organising & leading the ride. to the rest of the troops - thank you for the good company & looking out for each other.

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