Cycling Around Sekinchan for a Golden Harvest

First of all I would like to thank Kimmiskie for inviting us for this lovely event and Fenn Siah for arranging the accommodation. Paddy Village Hotel is a good place to stay. It is clean and it costs us only RM68.00 per night, it is located at the main trunk road of Sekinchan and most importantly it's within the town itself.

We arrived at Sekinchan around five something in the evening, hoping to catch the sun set and yes we did it. It was on our ride to the fishing village that we managed to captured it.

There are many restaurants in Sekinchan and we were recommended to eat here. I guess the food is about the same everywhere in this small town and the pricing is reasonable. That is why it is attracting people from all over to visit Sekinchan for it seafood and also its many places of attraction. Well done !!! Sekinchan it's now a tourist spot.

After a good dinner at Restoran Wan Lau, we went roaming the small town searching for action. We heard some traditional Chinese opera music around a corner.

Yes, it was an opera show in a temple. We were told that these performers were from China. It is sad to know that this performing trade has died off locally, I used to cycle during my teens' days in Padang Serai to watch Teochew Opera shows in a temple just like this one.. It was then like a fun fair kind of atmosphere and one of the limited entertainments available where I could be thrilled.

Shortly after at the temple, there came an exciting street procession, there were mediums in trance and it was quite a show. After spending some time at the temple, we rode back to the hotel for a good night sleep preparing ourselves for the Cikgu Cikgu's event.

It was raining early in morning but that did not deter us at all. In fact we came with a full force and had a good breakfast at this mamak restaurant. A total of 55 participants took the trouble to wake up early for this event, many drove from Kuala Lumpur and finally we were ready for Cikgu SC Chin and Cikgu Liliana Lee for a tour of Sekinchan and they are the best.

The paddy fields is sited next to the town and it is really a huge field with an acreage of 4,300 acres. We came at the time, it was harvesting season with plain of beautiful golden horizon such a lovely sight in deed. Sekinchan is one of the major rice producing areas in Malaysia.

This is outside a rice factory where we went out to the huge rice harvesters for some photo shooting. The rice factory has been commercialised for tourists with shows and exhibits all for a fee of RM4.00 each. You will also get a free souvenir pack of rice from the ticket. 

The visit to the rice factory was truly educational and interesting, the weather was getting better as we headed to our next destination. 

Mango King is a place to buy big mango and many more local produce like corns, vegetables, big pineapple, etc etc...

Passing by a lady fingers' farm....

I was taking a short ride into a corn farm, the plants seems to be still young with no yield yet.

Another visit to a fruit farm where some went into the farm for more photography while others enjoyed them at the sale counter.

Sekinchan is yielding very well in term of rice producing with a double planting per year.

Unfortunately Malaysia has not achieve self sufficiency in rice but maybe soon with example like Sekinchan.

The afternoon sun was starting to scorch ....

Roaming in the vast land of padi fields away from the city, a life that is simple and relaxing.

By the way the word Sekinchan, which literally means “village suitable for plantation” in Chinese, lives up to its name as the town is the rice bowl of Selangor. Large plots of land are cultivated to produce the staple rice supply of Malaysians. This area is well-known for its high yield of rice and mechanised farming method.

Luck was with us, we were able to witness how the rice being transported from the harvesters to a truck. SC Chin told us the it was rare to see two harvesters connecting together in the loading of the rice.

After we crossed the trunk road (Route 5) into the kampong before reaching a red bund along the coastline. The rocks filled bund is a protection against erosion to the coastline. The change of scenery was breathtaking as we see a different set of scene, we see sea and could feel the breeze as we cruise along the seaside. 

A stop to regroup the 55 cyclists for a rest while some were busy shooting with their cameras.

The ride along the coastline was a short one and we reached a beach called Redang for some drinks. This beach is getting popular these days where visitors would enjoy themselves with picnics under the trees and kite flying is another interesting activity seen at the beach.

By this time everyone was hungry a seafood lunch was just perfect. The seafood at Restoran Township was awesome and the price was very reasonable which cost us less RM17.00 per head.

This is a visit to a fish cracker factory.

The last visit was a shop where we bought the local dry produce such as dried shrimps, archovies, fish balls, yong tau foo and many more. How could we leave the place empty handed...so it's shopping time.

I was glad that Jo was coupling well with the ride, she managed to shield herself from the hot afternoon sun.

From the fishing village we rode back to the town, the only concern was we need to cross the busy trunk road which we were assisted by the traffic lights so it was good for a safety crossing.

The last place was for a good dessert ABC (Ais Kacang Campur) before we go back to Kuala Lumpur. Do check this place out, it is opposite Hong Leong Bank.

Besides the awesome Ice kacang, cycling around Sekinchan to see all the amazing things in the fishing village and paddy fields is an absolute brilliant idea. So get your bicycle there and start enjoying a discovery of Sekinchan. There are bikes for rent too which can be obtained from Paddy Village Hotel. Cheers & have fun.