Me and Mark go roadtripping Part 2

When I was a kid, hanging around with most of my cousins meant it was either the school holidays or the festive season. During the school holidays it was common for some of us to be shipped out to spend a week or so at a cousin’s, or for one of the other 38 n my generation (yes, we’re a big family!) to stay over with us.

Sometimes too we would go away for a few days - Port Dickson being a particular favourite in those days.

My Mum’s and Dad’s families were spread mostly through the PJ and KL areas though we had aunts and uncles in Perak, Melaka, Penang, Pahang and Terengganu too at one point. I guess I was close to a handful of cousins but even then we didn’t see each other that often so the holidays or festive occasions were great fun.

When Mark, Megan and Michael were younger we used to bring them up to PJ where they could hang around with Rosemary’s kids, James and Joanna. Generally a splendid time was had by all, as the Beatles would sing, and I like to think that my own fond memories of the PD trips were echoed by the PJ trips for my kids.

The kids now have more ways to stay in contact with each other now - Facebook being a primary point of contact - but I think it’s still rather a fun time when Mark, Megan and Michael go up and spend some time with their cousins, James and Joanna. Time moves on as do people, and James and Joanna are now studying overseas so it’s much rarer for them all to meet up. Still, we were fortunate that both were back and that Mark managed to get the leave necessary to do this trip just then.

My Mum’s battle with Dementia and Parkinson’s continues and she gets sufficient care for the most part. She has good days and not so good days and when we were there she was a little tired but reasonably alert. At least she had a pretty good appetite and that’s always a reassuring sign.

My Mum having dinner.

An appetite was what we needed and we displayed it in ample quantity over the next two days.

A trip with Mark to get my favourite Jackson’s Burgers ended fruitless but chendolled… Jackson’s was closed but a Chendol stall down the road wasn’t so Mark and I indulged. The chendol was so-so but it was nice once again to be able to sit under a tree next to a mobile hawker stall. It’s little things like this that can be so pleasurable.

If there’s one thing that identifies Malaysians, it is our ability to almost immediately be at ease with a stranger, and to make friends. I found this out with the numerous people I met at various gerais all down the west coast of the Peninsula, and although I find cities to be more rushed and aggressive, you can still set yourself down at a chendol stall and make friends within minutes.

 Yes I know the spoon looks large but that's because I shot it from close up and it distorted it. You can see there's stuff in the chendol which isn't normally there and which I think detracts form the taste. Still, it was not too bad.

Mark is into board games now, as are his cousins, apparently so they whipped out something called Munchkin Quest which Mark had brought up form Singapore and were at it that evening. I stayed clear - these things confuse me…

The next day passed in a blur of food (wantan mee, yong tau fu, roti chanai, Ipoh-style chicken rice) and some board games. The kids ditched Munchkin Quest to include me in Risk - a game I do like - and we promptly had a lesson in politics. First we manoeuvred so James destroyed his sister, then Mark and I ganged up and whalloped James after which I kicked my son’s butt. Champion of the world! ha ha!

 I like this shop in PJ New Town for breakfast, not because the food here is the best but because it's a very pleasant mix of decent service, variety and ambience. Cool, shady trees give you shelter not just form the heat but from the hustle and bustle too.

 Wantan & Pai Kuat Mee the way I like it.

Yong Tau Fu

Oh, we did get our helping of Jackson’s Burgers and mmmmmm they were too… More in part 3...

Me and Mark go roadtripping Part 1

I had looked forward to taking Mark on a short trip around Malaysia before he went off to do his National Service. It didn’t quite happen that way as I was overseas at the time. Then early this July we finally managed to get away together for a few days. Not the full-blown trip I had wanted but it was close enough.

As is my wont, I chose a circuitous route through Johor that went around Kota Tinggi and we found ourselves in Kluang at lunch time. We stopped at the railway station and had a simple nasi lemak meal at the stall next tot he station. After lunch we wandered around the station itself and found the Kluang Rail Coffee outlet.

The staff were really friendly and invited me step behind if I wanted to take pictures - an offer I took them up on. Stuck in the hustle and bustle of Singapore, the slower pace of life and the natural warmth and friendliness of Malaysians is always such a welcome contrast and relief. Despite not patronising the outlet, the staff were never less than friendly.

 They sell their own brand of coffee too if you like.

Kluang isn’t such a small town of course though my contact with the town has been limited to my brother Francis living here some years ago when he worked at  Endau Rompin National Park, and my meetings with Kimberley Clark whose 26-acre factory nearby once contemplated buying my LED lights.

In many ways Kluang is the kind of Malaysian town I like - busy enough in the town centre but quieter in the adjoining residential areas. And of course, just a few minutes’ drive and you’re in rural Malaysia.

If we walked along the tracks to the left, we'd eventually reach Singapore. And to the right would be KL, assuming we took the right track at Gemas which is the main junction for the west-coast and east-coast tracks. 

The old ticket office sign - The sign remains although there is now an air-conditioned area just around the corner.

Mark on the Kluang platform.

From Kluang we got back on the highway (which I usually dislike, but the need to be speedy was becoming more pressing). The PJ house was as it has been these last few years, though the missing garden wall was puzzling… As were dislodged slate tiles form the driveway… Hmmm had there been some calamity in the months I had not visited? Turns out it was just repairs and refurbishments.
The garden fence, mounted on a low concrete base, had begun to lean so was being replaced with something sturdier. Meanwhile some of the slate tiles had, as slate is inclined to do, cracked or sloughed off layers and were also being replaced.

What hadn’t changed was the reception my old dog, Cookie, gave me. She is all of 9 now but still greets me like she used to when she was a pup - by trying to jump on me and lick me to death. Her tail whipped up a little whirlwind of dust and shed dog fur as she excitedly strained against her chain. To be honest I was as happy to see her as she to see me.

I adopted her from the SPCA in 2003 when living alone had begun to wear me down a little and they say the ones you adopt know you’ve saved them from a potentially nasty fate and have a strong bond with you. Whoever ‘they’ are, they know what they’re talking about. Even though she’s now lived longer with my sister, Rosemary, in PJ than she did with me in Singapore, Cookie still gets all excited when I drop by. In fact, Rosemary remarked that she doesn’t wag her tail when Cookie greets the PJ House residents, but she does for me when I visit.

Good dog… heh heh

Next: Eating our way through PJ...

Cool Malaysians #4: Wong Ee Lynn

Here’s a Malaysian whose every day is all about making a difference. A volunteer with the passion and drive to help the most helpless in our world - animals, she volunteers hours most of us wouldn’t even dream existed in our daily routines.

Read all about Wong Ee Lynn here.

Cool Malaysians #3: Dr Jegathesan

Here’s someone I actually heard of and whose name has been in the mainstream off and on over the years. Certainly another Malaysian to be proud of. Thinking of Dr Jegathesan, I am reminded of Roger Bannister who broke the 4-minute mile and who was himself just as proud of his work in medical research.

Both are truly men who have done their country proud, on and off the track.

Tan Sri Dr M Jegathesan

Cool Malaysians #2: Yasmin Rasyid

I’m really enjoying reading up on Malaysians who’re making a difference and making us proud.
Here’s the second instalment:
Yasmin Rasyid.

Finally, some action again!

It’s taken awhile but I’ve begun to do some stuff with this blog once again. First up, a slight change to the layout as I found the old one too busy.

Next up will be some more postings - there are quite a few waiting in the wings and it’s time to let them take to the stage.

While I’m sorting that out though, I finally came across someone else who has the same idea of celebrating the good stuff and who has taken the Merdeka/Malaysia Day season to highlight Malaysians of note. I’ll share the links right here.

Stay tuned for more, but meanwhile enjoy this first instalment available at:
Cool and Committed Malaysian #1: Ahmad Fakri Abu Samah

Pengerang, Sg Rengit, Batu Layar, or Riding, Roti and Sunburn.

Time to catch up on some old tasks namely writing about trips done some time ago. This one was a bicycle ride much like the one Mei, Wei Yen, Jeff and I did in July, but this time it was 4 guys and the ride was to Batu Layar, about double the distance of the previous ride.

Johann had of course cycled halfway around the world and was now my business partner. Joe is an old friend who had introduced me to Johann when I was planning Celebrate Malaysia! and who had also once cycled around Malaysia in his teenage years then accompanied Johann from Cambodia down to Singapore when Johann did that leg. Brian is a friend of both and was also their housemate until recently.

The idea was to cycle to Batu Layar, stay one night then make the trip back the next day. It’s about 50 70km both ways and is doable as a day trip except for one thing - the bumboats that ferry you and your bikes from Changi to Pengerang don’t operate at night so you have until evening to get to the ferry terminal and it thus becomes less enjoyable an experience. Unless all you want to do is to ride of course. But we had other ideas…

We were at Changi Ferry Terminal bright and early and got on one of the first few bumboats out. The sun was still low on the horizon and cast a beautiful warm glow on the sea around us. It didn’t last that long though and by the time we rounded Pulau Tekong was beginning to sizzle us just that little bit. We saw again the land reclamation works going on around Tekong and the amount of effort going into increasing Singapore’s land mass is still astonishing.

The morning sun looking quite pretty.

Johann looking much less so. Even in the morning light.

Land reclamation going on around Pulau Tekong.

We got to Pengerang, disembarked, set up the bikes outside the ferry terminal then got on and rode off on our guys’ riding weekend! We’d ridden 40 metres, 35 of which were in the carpark, and had just cleared the gateposts of the ferry terminal when we looked right, spied a gerai selling Roti and Kopi, shouted almost in unison ‘Roti!’ and screeched to a halt, jumped off our bikes and sat right down to a breakfast of Roti Chanai (we’re in Malaysia now, so it’s no longer called ‘Prata’) and Kopi or Teh-O for me.

This turned out to be our ‘other ideas’ and was repeated another 4 times during the 40km ride to Batu Layar. I’m not complaining, mind. In fact I rather think this is the way rides should go. Hey, I’ve always said enjoy the journey, right? What better way to do this than to breathe in fresh air, drink in Teh O and munch on good Roti Chanai? Or Ais Kacang as it turned out…

We sat around chatting, and marvelling at a little cat that hung around the stall and which impersonated a monkey by doing the most astonishing acts of acrobatics climbing up the mangosteen trunk pillar like its simian counterpart in its pursuit of bird prey. Finally we figured we really needed to be getting on, got back on our bikes and set off once again. It was a beautiful day turning a little hot but still great cycling weather.

Yes we did stop again not too long after for lunch and Ais Kacang… Now I just noticed I’ve spelt it this way here but have previously spelt it Ice Kacang. Same same… In all I think we stopped 4 or 5 times though only once for a rest. OK I guess having stopped for breakfast, tea, lunch and dessert we probably weren’t much in need of a rest halt for errr resting…

The place we stayed at was quite empty and we got a double-storey chalet with one squat toilet-equipped bathroom with cold water - no shower, just a tap with a bucket. The whole place was in a state of some neglect and if your needs are modest would do the job of providing shelter and a place to clean up. A walk along the short beach revealed that if you were expecting any more than that you’d probably be a trifle disappointed. The beach was filthy and I saw discarded drink and food containers and even disposable nappies. Not a place you’d walk barefoot about.

The place did have a small restaurant which served, if I remember correctly, a grand total of two types of fried noodles. So I had that for afternoon tea, then again at night for dinner. The guys fished out a pack of Monopoly Deal or something and I joined in for one game then proceeded to play the role of anti-social bastard by choosing to write instead. It was a great cathartic weekend as far as writing was concerned as there were many things going through my mind at that time, but which were seemingly locked in by writer’s block. A friend’s suggestion to use a journal unpicked the lock and in the space of an evening I filled 15 pages of my little notebook with thoughts and scribblings.

Later that night a bunch of young people moved in next door and one joined in for a game of cards. I’ve found most Malaysians are approachable and friendly and so it proved again. We stayed up a bit then decided to share the place Johann with Brian upstairs and Joe and me in the downstairs bedroom. Joe’s snoring is legendary but I was bothered by it at all. What did wake me up was the sound of rustling.

I stayed in bed but kept my eyes trained on the little bit of hall I could see through the open bedroom door. The windows were all shut though and I could hardly see anything in the near-total darkness. There was a bit more rustling and a light thump which I eventually worked out wasn’t human in origin so I clicked on my bike lamp which I’d kept by the bed. The sounds stopped for a moment then were followed by a light scratchy scurrying noise.

Rats. I got up, looked around the hall where we’d parked our bikes for the night and kept our stuff and that was when I discovered a roll of Oreos on the floor. A rat - with a sweet-tooth apparently - had tried to drag this unopened packet away but the packet had proven to be too unwieldy and my light had scared it away whilst in the midst of its exertions. I placed the packet back on the chair and went back to bed.

Only to be awakened a few minutes later by the same darned rat trying the same darned thing again. This time he didn’t return which meant that in the morning we did have Oreos for breakfast…

The steel wall which is part of the reclamation works.

On the way back we passed a number of other chalets and places to stay at that looked quite a bit more presentable than the one we had just shared the night with rats with. Maybe next time… We had Roti at Sg Rengit and when we finally reached the ferry terminal again I realised we also had sunburn. Well, I did anyhow. I’ll never learn…

We haven’t been to Batu Layar again though have talked about it a few times. Johann is expecting kid #2 soon so I’m not sure when we’ll get to go again. One things for certain: I will suggest a different place to stay the next time.

View Pengerang & Batu Layar in a larger map