6 - 7 Aug 2011
We has not done a single over-night ride this year. 3 weeks ago, Phang casually mentioned that his in-laws fetched the whole family to a durian feast at a durian orchard in Kampung Sungai Gapoi which was a short drive from Karak town. I know that road as I ridden on it a few times. It is typical no-so-well-maintained back road with an exception. A good portion of the road is twisty and technically engaging for motorcyclists. The sudden seduction of riding on a curvy road plus the chance of sampling the finest durians brought the idea of doing a long-overdue weekend ride. Incidentally, the durian season is at its peak. We decided to take a long winding scenic ride to Melaka. I think no one would imagine heading to Melaka from KL taking Route 9 after Karak.
The assemble point was at BhP Station just after Gombak-Karak Toll. For the 1st time, I was late. I took too much time packing up in the morning. The pack was ready to pound the road when I pulled up at the gas station to top up my half-filled tank. I figured with an eased hand on the throttle, I ought to be able to make it all the way to the resort without re-filling up. We were soon dodging slow traffic on the Karak Expressway. We were just warming up when we reached Karak town. Karak was popular as the main rest town as travellers would stop to break the journey from KL to Kuantan or vice versa on old Federal route 2. Things gotten quiet when the new East-West expressway opened and travellers can totally by-pass Karak on route to Kuantan. Food wise, Karak's main attraction is the durian 'bomb' courtesy of Yik Kee Restaurant. Made from D24 variety, the tarts are truly heaven sent for durians lovers. We stopped at Yik Kee for breakfast. Incidentally, they also serve dim-sum albeit limited in variety and choices. Yik Kee's boss told us to come back in 3 months' time as his durians at his own orchard would be ripe by then.
Fortunately, I managed to buy 2 pairs of long socks at the shop next to Yik Kee Restaurant. The 'short' socks I was wearing were a complete mismatch for my riding boots. The boots' upper lips were practically scratching my calves whenever I moved my legs. The longer socks would provide the relief buffers between my skin and the boots' lips.
With Karak town slowing blurring away on my bike's mirrors, we exit into route 9 to Kampung Sungai Gapoi. Phang has made prior arrangement with Sam, one the orchard caretaker to reserve some A grades durians particularly the 'Musang King' variety. Mohan, a durian connoisseur, even came prepared with containers to 'ta-pau' durians for his family. We had no trouble locating the orchard's main collection center. Sam upon seeing us immediately opened a few durians for us to sample. Even though we had a decent breakfast barely 30 min ago, it was hard to resist those bright orange-yellow 'meat.' The sampling slowly turned into a full fledge durian feast. We started with some D24 or similar variety as consuming the Musang-King first would make our taste buds insensitive to the milder D24. Everyone had a good time eating the durians,
Sam offered us a ride in his 4x4 pickup to see his orchard. Honestly, we were totally awed with the size of the orchard. There were acres of land with matured durians trees. The unofficial highlight of the ride behind the pick up was dodging those durians still hanging on the branches. Hats to the driver who steered his 4x4 on the tight trail with precision.
We continued our ride South bound. The road continued to be entertaining with a couple of curves banking some 180degrees. I regretted that I didn't mount my DV-cam to record the ride. We stopped at Simpang Pertang for drinks as the weather grew much hotter. We bade farewell with David, Richard and Mohan as they detoured to Kuala Klawang to head back to KL. Meanwhile, the six of us: Ivan, IM, Phang, Bin, Chee Leong, Raymond and myself continued on to Kuala Pilah .
As we rode past Kuala Pilah, a Singapore-registered r1200GS was lying by the roadside with broken forks and smashed panniers. We didn't see any injured motorcyclist. There were two bikers standing and waiting a distance away probably for a tow-truck to haul the stricken GS away.
Feeling a bit guilty for not stopping to ask if they needed help, I motored on with Raymond. The rest were too far ahead. The road into and out of Kuala Lipis was narrow with numerous bends. Coupled with traffic, riding on the stretch was a little less enjoying. I slowed down a little after seeing the accident.
The rest were waiting by the road side when reached somewhere near Johol. As we stopped for a short break and talking about the ill-fated GS, none of us can conclude how the GS met its fate or what sort of injury the rider suffered. It was almost 3pm and we decided to continue our ride.
As we neared Melaka, traffic as expectedly turned heavier. We used AMJ highway before turning off at Jalan Pulau Gadong to Tanjong Kling where our hotel was located. We skipped most of the dreaded Melaka traffic junctions. The last time I been to Tanjong Kling was almost 12 years ago and frankly, I was impressed with the development. Lots of new land created through sea-land refill and new condos sprouting up.
It was extremely rare for us to arrive at our destination on time. I put in our ETA during booking at around 4pm. We reached the lobby at 355pm. The pool was inviting after almost a day riding under the sun. Then again, most of us were hungry as we skipped lunch. As Phang and Ivan went to the pool to chill, we ordered some food from the hotel's cafe to appease our empty stomachs. Meanwhile, Raymond rode back to his home in Melaka town.
We had about an hour to kill before assembled at the lobby for a ride to Melaka city for dinner. Raymond would re-join us for dinner.
Jonker's street and surroundings on Friday and Saturday nights become a mini street carnival and party. It was my 1st time to the place at night even I been to Melaka dozens of times. There were bars and grills oozing live music and street vendors selling variety of local and unique souvenirs and food. Our 'famous' Petaling Street or KL Chinatown which sell nothing but counterfeits bags, shirts and watches. KL Chinatown should emulate Melaka's Jonker's street night market.
As most were feeling a bit tired after a day under the sun, we decided to head back to our hotel. We did not bother to check our other night life in Melaka particularly at Melaka Raya.
I had a little run-in with the hotel's cafe counter lady. I asked if I could redeem the coupons for welcome drinks but was rudely shoved away. She even pointed me though the main lobby door if I wish to buy any drinks as they were already closed for the night. It was only 1035pm. It was a shame considering the hotel with the pool and nearby beach would be an ideal place to relax over beers or teh-tariks.
Since we adjourned back to our respective rooms early, we decided to meet up for breakfast a little earlier.
Phang took us back to his old days in Melaka kopi-tiam. He used to work for Siemens in Melaka many years ago. One thing I love Melaka was the local food. Phang's old favourite kopi-tiam was not big but the variety of stalls offering local delights made ordering very difficult. For coffee lovers, Melaka is famous for true kopi-tiam style black coffee.
The reclaimed land near our hotel in Tanjung Kling offered a scenic backdrop for a little photo shoot. We all got our opportunity to take pictures with our bikes.
Raymond was already waiting at the lobby at 1130pm. My bike dash read 28C ambient temperature as I cranked up the boxer engine. The slight gloomy weather with fair bit of rain clouds helped cooled the mid morning temp. Again, we were on schedule to leave Melaka. Our target is to reach Tanjong Sepat for seafood.
Riding along the coastal road was invigorating. The cool weather helped a lot too. Dodging traffic along the kampung road was more fun than throttling at high speed along the NS Expressway. It was past 1pm when we reached Port Dickson. Phang suggested that we opt to Lukut for lunch. Lukut, a small town only a few clicks away from its much more popular seaside neighbour, PD. It was hard to envision that Lukut was an important commercial hub centuries ago to the point the Selangor Sultan ordered a fort to be built on top of Bukit Gajah Mati overlooking the Lukut river. Guarded by arab mercenaries under Raja Jumaat, the fort 200m long and 170m wide and fortified by large cannons defended the tin rich area with absolute authority. It was a great example of a 19th century military fort.
Lukut in the early 1800s was virtually overran by Chinese migrants looking for prospects in tin mining. One young Chinese immigrant who came to Lukut and worked as a cook before heading off to Kuala Lumpur was Yap Ah Loy. Yap Ah Loy was perhaps the greatest figure in the rise of Kuala Lumpur in the 1860's.
These days, Lukut offers tourists great choices on seafood dining.
(map courtesy of arkib negara
malaysia)
We had a satisfying lunch before resuming our ride back to KL via Sepang - Semenyih.
Note: 2011 3-Nations Charity Ride would be held from 18-20 Nov 2011 in Melaka. Pls email me if you wish to join this year edition
