Saturday 16 September 2017

7 Day Road Trip Malaysia – The Road to Sekinchan

I realized as I write the blog about touring Malaysia, my post entry will be heading towards a new style … more pictures, less stories or rather the story is incomplete without the picture of very very mundane lifestyle of the people. There is finesse in simplicity and tranquillity in the normality

Kapar, a small town of one street but surprisingly busy with lots of vehicles. 


Kapar Main Street
Nasi Lemak Tepi Sungai – Along the way I see some signboards that are just nostalgic or sentimental ... this one was just plain simple ... a stall by the river ... thou the river is nowhere in sight 
Nasi Lemak Stall
The old bus stop still stands ….  this bus stop is like a historical piece to us city folk I think. Yet some things still function and survive time .... old stuff were really built differently
Old Bus Stop
And the roads has no traffic …..:)

Detour off the main road ( the main road is already a small road ) and this is what I found … a beautiful mosque with a school next to it where the signpost is not even in malay but in Jawi. 
Mosque Somewhere Near Kapar

Signboard in Jawi
Follow the brown signboard – brown = tour spot …. Now in Malaysia when driving, if you see a brown signboard like so below, its suppose to be a place, attraction or landmark of sorts. Safe to say it will be the reason for most of my detour  

Brown Signboard - Pantai Remis
Off to the beach …. One happy family 
Family Outing to Pantai Remis

Pantai Remis …. 

Pantai Remis
Next Stop – Sekinchan

10 km to Sekinchan


 Travelled on: Nov 2016

Tuesday 12 September 2017

7 Days Road Trip Malaysia – Apalah Itinerary

I am going to backtrack a bit from the blog and write up an Itinerary of my 1 week road trip around Peninsular Malaysia. This is cause after sharing on Facebook of “The Departure” post I got a comment from a friend, an upset that she could not see the itinerary before I started story telling. I know that my post are so slow some people can’t wait to see the whole picture so ….

The exact comment was – "I was hoping to see the full itinerary! Apalah …. "

Should I even call it an itinerary?? I did not really plan it and was always looking at google map thinking which route I should take or where should be the next stop to spend the night. Anyways we can call it an itinerary or summary of the places I went and a short description of things to see/do

Solitary Peace On the Road
 In Running Order

1. Kapar – One Road Town – Drive By

2. Pantai Remis – Beach only seen by the locals

3. Sekinchan – Paddy Fields, Fishing Village, Fishing Boats, Seafood, Temple, Wishing Tree, Beach

4. Sabak – Drive By

5. Teluk Intan – Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan ( we have a leaning tower too in Malaysia haha )

6. Ipoh – Lots of stuff in this heritage town (Pit Stop)

7. Chemor – Drive By

8. Sungai Siput – Drive By

9. Kuala Kangsar – The Oldest Rubber Tree in Malaysia

10. Taiping – Lovely Lake with Overhanging Trees (Pit Stop)

11. Kuala Sepetang – Fire Flies, Mangroves, Fishing Village

12. Sauk – Small Chinese Village with amazing fresh water fish food

13. Chenderoh Hyroelectric Power Plant – I tried … drove the tiny offshoot road to the end only to be turned away by the guards as it is a restricted area

14. Jambatan Raja Muda Nazrin – Bridge Crossing of Sungai Perak, Beautiful View

15. Kampung Bahru Kota Tampan – Archaeological Gallery Lenggong,

16. Pekan Gerik – Small Town, Petrol Stop ….

17. Belum Rainforest Resort – Belum Tropical Rainforest (Pit Stop - Blow my budget this one)

18. Hentian Rehat Titiwangsa – Highest point you can get by driving to the Titiwangsa Mountain range (Banjaran Titiwangsa), Amazing view and one delicious Ramly Burger

19. Ayer Lanas – Drive By

20. Rantau Panjang – Duty Free Border Town between Malaysia & Thailand (Did not have My Passport else I would have crossed over :P )

21. Kota Bahru – Capital City of Kelantan, Nasi Kerabu – Nasi Kerabu ….. Yum Yum (Pit Stop)

22. Nearby  Kuala Krai – Polis Trap … (got a ticket overtaking on double white line)

23. Kuala Krai – Drive By

24. Gua Musang – Small Town with lots of Unique Rock Formation (Paid My Traffic Ticket)

25. Kampung Pulai – Very Small Chinese Kampung with a Temple inside a Rock

26. Merapoh – Drive By, the fringe of Taman Negara

27. Kuala Lipis – Railway Town, Good Food …

28. Bentong

29. Genting Sempah

30. Kuala Lumpur – Home (Pit Stop)

31. Johor Bahru – Hijack Dad Car to drive my self back to Singapore

Not every place is interesting and there are stretch where it was just a drive in a limbo state, still I felt it was too rush, too haphazardly put together to really venture but it was a good break non-the-less

Travelled on : Nov 2016

Saturday 9 September 2017

7 Day Road Trip Malaysia – The Departure

How do I even begin? 

Woke up the next morning after the bus ride from Singapore and packed a bag of cloths for a week. Dad told me the most important thing about his dodgy car, COOLANT. So apparently the coolant was leaking so I would have to constantly check it every morning and top it up so the engine will be good and I won’t get stranded. 

Planning an overland border crossing road trips isn’t easy but luckily I only have to worry about Malaysia this time and the car has the MAA insurance which I can get a tow truck anywhere in Malaysia ….. mental noted it for a bigger trip, but small steps at a time … a little experiment before the big one I kept telling myself  

Breakfast and mom said in Hokkien : - 

“ Lu Jin Jialat, Jai-nya-ba-lu-wa-kang-ah-bei-sai-si-sua-knya-ee-the-kua-kin-ke-sor”

(Note: If only I have a Kind Soul to give me the correct Pinyin in English)

My auto inner translation was like this in my head 

“You damn Teruk - Knowing you just change job and won’t be able to travel anytime soon, you faster faster go cabut. 

The grin I could give at the end of that sentence was priceless :)

9am and it was time to depart, a photo taken by dad and I was off …. Basic errand first I guess so filled up the tank full and loaded the toll card and got some money out of the bank. Set my first waze destination for Kapar the start of a kampong town north of Klang. 


Me with Dad's Car .... My Ride for the Week

Driving Out of Kuala Lumpur - My Trusty Companion ... Snoopy
Took me nearly an hour to get to the start point and about RM 10 on the tolls. KL is damn expensive. No more highway from here and it was the real beginning. 
The first Route Aim - Kapar
P.S – For those that is wondering, Dad’s car is a Naza Bestari – Link Here (I'm gonna use Paul Tan Website coz that's was the first on google search)

Travelled on : Nov 2016

 

Sunday 3 September 2017

One Week Road Trip Malaysia - The Route

Normally I would post as I travel for all my blog and wont be able to tell you the route of my journey till I reach the ‘x’ mark … since normally I don’t know myself where I’ll end up, but this was a journey done in Nov 2016 so …..

This was a trip done by looking at google map ... in a way i was pushing it a bit going too far but seeing the hidden part of Malaysia warmed my soul. Lots of small stops were done but yet many more was missed out since it was only a week of travelling ...

Many a times people ask me ... which was the best country you have ever traveled ?
I could only smile at that answer most of the time ....

More detail stories and vlog coming soon ...

One Week Road Trip Malaysia - Driving Route