Arriving at Redang, we all had to change to another landing
craft/RPL type of boat to get nearer to the shore. But good thing was that the
whole process was rather dry and there wasn't a need to touch the seawater.
From there, Trains pulled by Tractors would bring us all to our resort
respectively. All very organized. R was elated at riding on a tractor driven
train, Blippi style. In a mere 5 minutes, we were at the entrance of Redang
Paradise. The resort looked clean and nice. Not a bad choice by KT to book us
here. The room itself was rather special. It was actually a double decked room,
with another 2 beds on top accessible by ladder. KT took the upper half while
my family took the lower half. R however could not resist going up to the upper
half to visit his Kor Kor "fox-cee" (Forklift)
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| After "landing" from this landing craft |
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Sitting on the Tractor...
 |
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| Yay! We are finally here! |
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| Checking in. My luggage choop the floor oredi |
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| Scene from Ju'on |
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| Monkey jumping on the bed |
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| My "fox-cee" kor kor |
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| Wild animal at Redang |
By then, it was almost lunch. So, we recced around the bay
to find a place for lunch. We lunched at one of the many resorts along the bay.
Our plan was to eat at different place for every meal. There certainly was
enough food places for us to try. At our bay, there were probably about 7-8
resorts. Once you made a turn, there would be another 5-6 resorts along the
other bay. There were other bays in Redang, but not all are accessible to each
other. We were situated on the eastern side of Redang. From the map, there were
other bays and other resorts dotted around. There was even an airport at the center
of Redang, and "city" area. However, they were inaccessible to us.
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| Our first lunch here, not bad |
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| Overview of the island. We are on the centre right of the island |
After lunch, KT went around the dive centers to book his
diving for the next day. I was told that it was about RM80 per dive, and he
would be doing 3. That day was rather hot, and I wasn't up to doing anything
that would burn me up during the afternoon. However, KT was all suited up,
"terrorist" style. After lunch, KT and I did a short recce of the
place and around the bend, and then it lead to another bend where it was the
place that I originally booked, "Delima Resort". Thankfully we
changed to Redang Paradise. This place looked run down and the beach in front
had seen better days. Walking further down, it was another resort that KT originally
stayed some 5 years ago. The entire place was in a shambles, and looked out of
operation now. Perhaps the beach was much nicer than. Clearly, it had not been
maintained here. There were many rubbish, plastic bottles etc. And the sand was
littered with broken corals and stones, not like the powdery sand in front of
our resort. Thinking that it could lead further down to the central area, we
walked till we were blocked by a rocky cliff and we could go no further. KT did
try to wade over the rocks with his long stilty legs but it was unpassable,
unless if you are swimming over. Interestingly, someone left a long rope up to
the cliff. I wonder for what.
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| Unsightly place |
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| KT previous resort where he stayed |
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| Only long legged creature should attempt this |
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| Wahsay, mountain climber was here |
Along the way, there was the interesting "mo-mo tea
inn", which was a famous Hong Kong movie taken here many decades ago. I
believed that that was the movie that made Redang famous then, and many would
flocked to Redang to take pictures in front of this place. I also could not resist
having my photo taken here too.
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| Can I be the lead for Mo Mo Cha 2? |
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| Scene from the movie. No one remembers it now |
That afternoon, KT went out to the sea to do some recceing,
to test water so to speak. Due to the hot sun, we kind of chill in the room,
and catching up on our sleep. Thanks to modern technology, the room was even
air conditioned and the sleep was a restful one. (Oh, did I mention that we
have WIFI too!?) About an hour later, KT came back and reported that the water
were full of fishes and said that we could snorkel in that area. My last experience
with snorkeling (in Tioman) was paying for some boat to bring us to fishy
waters, and jumping out from the boat with a life vest. So this was a bit new
to me, this free form of snorkeling. Anyhow, I was game to give it a try.
Dressed in my bermudas, I wade into the water, and followed KT to the area with
the big rock at the end of the bay. True enough, there were plenty of
inquisitive fishes. It seemed that the fishes were not afraid of humans, and
even look at us as a sign of food. People must have been bringing bits of sausages
and biscuits to feed them.
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| No wonder Nasi Lemak is so popular |
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| Is that a Barracuda? |
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| Hello, did you see Nemo? |
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| What's that thing on my face!? |
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| How come my jacket is PINK? |
KT took some interesting pictures of me underwater. KT had
this underwater camera that could be brought into the water without any
waterproof casing. It was actually pretty cool. For the first time in my life,
I actually have a picture of myself in the water teeming with fishes. KT spied
a Todak and quickly grabbed my hands to orientate me towards it. This strange
fish look pretty in the sea, a new perspective from looking at it from the top
of a Kelong. Nearing the other side of the rocky outcrop, KT also turned my
attention to 2 juvenile sharks. Funny how they looked so harmless for the
reputed killers of the sea. At this end of the beach, the bottom was full of
rocks and corals, and I had to be careful not to step on it. There were plenty
of folks also at this end snorkeling around and feeding the fishes as well.
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| The fishes demanded; Give me food! |
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| Optical illusion |
A and R were playing with sand by the beach. R loved the
sand and he could sit there whole day long building his sand castle. Good thing
was that we brought along some beach toys to keep him occupied. After my round
the rocky outcrop swim with KT, A and R were at the other side of the beach to
welcome us back. We then wanted to try R with snorkeling and carried him into
the shallow waters. But he was terrified of the fishes, and wasn't too comfy
with the mask on him. But at least he made some progress. Back home, he
wouldn't even want to go into the swimming pool water.
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| This sand is so fun! Better than my playground one.. |
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| Don't disturb, I sun tanning |
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| Don't...I DO myself... |
For dinner that night, we dined at another place, trying out
different food. As I remembered, it was decent. I also realized that the food
here is very reasonable, at Malayisa standard of living. Given the same type of
resort and food in Batam, it would have cost an arm a leg. Thereafter when it
got dark, there wasn't much to do but to laze around. R wanted us to turn on
Youtube, but alas the TV here was not capable of doing that. We slept early
that night, since we woke up rather early that morning to catch the 9am ferry.
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| The 3 beach hunks |
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| I so happy! I found my NA! (Ribena) |
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| Chilling at the Resort dining area, eating peanuts |
Day 3
Next morning, we had breakfast at our resort. It was provided
as part of the stay. Breakfast was American breakfast style with beans and eggs
and sausages. KT kept some uneaten sausages and bacon to bring along for his
dive later. Shortly then, he went off for his first dive of the day. We didn't
have much to do except to walk around the island. Since I had recced with KT
yesterday towards the southern side of the island, we walked to the northern
side this time round. Upon reaching the end, I spied a road leading towards the
back of the resorts. We continued walking to see what was on the other side. R
wasn't cooperative and refused to walk, being scared of the dark road. So A had
to carry him all the way. I try to take over but he refused and only wanted
mommy. I realized that he was very much a mommy boy, and was sticky to her the
whole trip. He would only come to me when he wanted TOYS.
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| Breakfast! |
The road was clearly a service road, for the workers to work
behind the scene. It kind of run parallel to the row of resorts in front of the
beach. From here, I can see all the disarray of rubbish and unkempt housings
for the workers. It even smelt bad at some stretch. So, it was pretty much a
show on the front, with the white sands and pristine beach. But all the dirty
secrets were kept backyard. We chanced upon some monkeys and A&R were
terrified and insisted that I get a stick to scare them off. Halfway round,
seeing that A was struggling with R, we turned out and found ourselves at the
resort near the rocky outcrop. I left A&R playing the sand there and
continued on the service road till it reached the end. The road finished near
the Delima resort place and could not go further. From my Garmin, I could see
that I have covered the entire round of the bay area this side. Interestingly,
along the way, we saw a signage pointing to a jungle track. Later I found a Youtube
of some past islanders making the trek across the jungle. From the map, it
looked like they could reach the center part of the island. The video confirmed
it, showing them reaching the other side exiting at the beach area. However, it
looked like a fair distance, probably about 7-8km. That was too far for me to
venture on my own, and also worrying about the way back.
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| Hidden service road behind |
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| Aha! A trekking trail, to the OTHERS on the other side |
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| OMG..it stink. Worker's quarters |
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| R got no footprints in the sand...haha |
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| Sandfly....ouch! |
After KT was back from his dives, I asked him to take A
around the outcrop like what I did yesterday. So R was left with me on the
sand, when A followed KT to the attempt the swim around. However A wasn't
comfortable once the water got too deep and only ended up snorkeling around the
shallow area. Personally for me, the cool part was when the water got deep and
the feeling was that the world (and all its cares and worries) melted away. It
was a nice feeling to put my head into the water and hear only the peaceful
sound of the sea. Although there was less fishes, it was wonderful to see all
the living creatures and corals in the ocean that the world is fast depleting
of. The current was rather strong but I still could manage to paddle my hands
to move myself forward.
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| Feeding the fishes with OREA (good life, the fishes) |
That evening, we had dinner again. Seeing that KT had not
eaten well, we headed for a better dinner place. This time, it was a nice
looking restaurant with low lighting and posh candle light setting. Food was
spicy and delicious rice and A and KT liked it very much. KT paid for this
round of the dinner.
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| Atas restaurant in Rendang...but affordable for us |
Day 4
We decided to head back on the 7am ferry seeing that we had
already accomplished all we came here to do. So after a night rest, we all woke
up early in the morning to pack. This time round, I tried to catch the sun
rising. We were located towards the east, exactly perfect to see the sun rise.
There wasn't time to eat at the table for our breakfast and the resort had it
packed for us to eat on the ferry. The tractor came again and we loaded up to
be taken to the landing boat, and then transfer to the ferry proper. From
there, another hour or so to reach the mainland at Kota Bahru. Reaching the
carpark, car was still intact. The PR parking man came and did some small talk
with us, and soon we were on the way.
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| Beautiful sunrise on Rendang bidding us goodbye |
At the resort, we had discussed the next destination.
Initially, we were thinking Tasik Kenyir, when was just further south of Kota
Bahru. However from my research with the resort WIFI, it seemed that there
needed much preparations. And the only decent hotel seemed to be closed (for maintenance
and upgrade?). Other options were to take a boat house, but that would require
10 or more people. And to rough it out, you could rent tents. But with a baby
in tow, that didn't look like a good option. So I looked further, and an
appropriate halfway mark back to Singapore would be KL. KT was ready to go
Genting even. However, I thought of Fraser Hill, a place that I never had been.
KT thought it was a good idea, as he only had been there in 1996, when he was a
boy. So he couldn't remember anything from the place. From what I know, Fraser
Hill was modelled to be a little England in Malaysia with quaint colonial
housing. And also, it was 1500ft above sea level (Genting is 1700ft), with a
temperature of around 17-25C all year round. Activities here were to be hiking
and birdwatching. (due to the bio diversity here). Beyond that, nothing really
much to do. But a one day stay here would be perfect.
Info about Fraser Hill from another website.
"Fraser’s Hill is a highland resort destination nestled among the mountains of Pahang, located about two hours away from Kuala Lumpur. Locally known as Bukit Fraser, this cooling holiday retreat is popular for its nature activities and cooling climate, attracting not just locals escaping the city heat, but visitors from Singapore and other international locations. It is also one of the last hill stations of Malaysia, an imprint left behind by former British colonial masters. Fraser’s Hill has its roots in the 1890s, when Scottish prospector Louis James Fraser opened up a tin mine but mysteriously vanished in 1915. In 1917, the bishop of Singapore rediscovered Fraser's Hill while on a hunt for the man, providing suggestions for the area to be developed into a hill station which was brought to fruition by authorities."
"Fraser's Hill can be found in the central region of Peninsular Malaysia in the state of Pahang. It lies about two hours north of Kuala Lumpur and 400km away from Singapore in the south. Bukit Fraser has an average altitude of 1,200 meters high but its highest point rises at 1,500 meters at the Telekoms loop. Meanwhile, the base of the Gap road is about 800 meters in height. Generally, the months with the least rainfall fall between April till September, during the lapse in the monsoon season. This would be the best time to travel if you dislike wet surroundings, but the weather can still be unpredictable. It is also recommended to go during off peak seasons, which are months that have no major public or school holidays, in order to enjoy cheap accommodation in hotels and smaller crowds. Temperatures usually range between 22 - 28°C during the day and 16°C to 20°C at night."
http://www.fraserhill.info
Soon, we were enroute from Kota Bahru towards KL. Going by
the expressway, it was rather fast. We had to hit all the way back to Kuantan
and then route towards Karak highway and to KL area. Fraser Hill was a little
north of KL and the roads were fairly devoid of traffic, and we reached there
around 2.30pm, in time for lunch. Originally from the GPS, the expected arrival
time was 2pm. However from the foot of the hill, the way up was full of twisty bends
and turns, and narrow roads. So, not an easy drive up. That took about 1 hour
before we reached the town center, marked by the iconic town clock. Feeling
hungry, we looked for a place to eat first, before looking for accommodation.
Spotting a nice looking "teahouse" with ample parking, we stopped
there to refuel our stomachs. To our surprise, food was really good, and the
setting was perfect. R was enjoying his fish fingers, and wanted to try out the
binoculars that they had there. (In retrospect, I think now that the binoculars
was for bird watchers).
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| Passed by Bentong on the way |
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| Can you see Genting Highlands! |
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| Very winding and narrow roads up |
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| This is like the halfway mark, I think |
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| Nice lunch at the "teahouse" |
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| Picture at the teahouse |
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| Hey, they are ready for Halloween |
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| Hoo~~ I am a scary GaberShark Arg Arg Arg...(R's description of things scary) |
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| One of the bungalow, for public to rent |
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| Lady caretaker came out and asked what I want... |
Next was to find suitable accommodation. I had read about
the "ole smokehouse" and we drove there to check out the prices. It
came out to about RM510 for the lot of us. I thought it was fairly cheap, but
KT was astounded by the cost. So, we headed to the Punchak hotel that we
spotted along the way. This place was cheap, and it only cost RM200 for a suite
for a family room. So we grabbed it and settled down in our new lodging for the
night. The place was huge and even had another "living" area that KT
could sleep. We soon realized that for that day, we were the only people
staying there on the floor. This lodging seemed to be preferred by the locals
as we could see groups of them at the lobby, smoking and using their phones and
laptops. WIFI here was only available at the lobby.
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| We settled for this Punchak hotel (strange name..I thot Punchik tyre..) |
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| Recept looked good |
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| Arg...how come got this random "tiger" on the roof? |
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| Come R, let's run to the top! |
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| Help...Kor Kor FoxCee gone crazy... |
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| Hoo~~~ |
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| I so high! |
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| Can see me? |
For the afternoon, we went driving around the place to check
it out. We headed to the Allan's water place, thinking to try the paddle boats.
However, R was below the allowed height, and could only get a package of fish
food to feed the fishers. Nevertheless, we had fun. Once a while, the clouds
would engulf us and the whole place would turn foggy. After that, we went
driving around to look further. There were plenty of bungalows that public
could rent to stay. We went into one and out came a caretaker and asking what
we needed. She was rather friendly and let us walk around to see the place.
Many of the places looked rather rundown, and in lack of maintenance. Some even
looked spooky and haunted. That night, we headed back to the ole smokehouse for
dinner. I wanted to try it out, given the reputation of this place. The setting
was indeed very quaint, and we were ushered to a fireplace to look through our
menu before leading us to the dining room for our food. R saw that there were 3
candles being lighted on the table and said it was his birthday. (just nice, 3
candles). Dinner was traditional western style meal of pasta and steaks and
chops. After dinner, he insisted to blow out "his candles". :).
Although the food here is upmarket, a single set here was about RM30, which was
just $10 to us. So, really affordable. For this meal, it totaled RM150, which
KT insisted on paying.
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Having Teh Tarik at the food court
|
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| Feeding the fishes at Allan's water |
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| Can you see KT in the fog? |
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| Let me tell you a story.. |
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| It's MY birthday..see 3 candles? |
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| I want to stay this house.. |
Day 5
After dinner, back to the hotel and we rested for the night.
The next morning, I suggested to try out the waterfall sign that I had saw
earlier. I was half worried that the waterfall would be a tiny stream of water
not worth the effort. However upon reaching the place, it looked good. But unfortunately,
R refused to walk the rather muddy track and had to be carried. He also didn't
want me to carry him, but only his mommy. Poor A had to carry this 15kg load
all the way up and down the track and steps. At the early section of the track,
I thought that was it for the waterfall. Thankfully, KT run ahead to check it
out deeper and indeed found the proper location of the waterfall. But that
included some many steps down (I think about 10 storeys). A had to walk slowly
to reach the place. The waterfall was indeed fun, and the air around it was
charged with positive ions and refreshed all of us. We took some pics and
attempted to touch the waterfall. R at that time also accidentally wet himself
(due to the cold air), and had to take off his pants to don his diapers. He was
quite terrified of the rushing waters, but gamely took some pictures with us.
The way back up was tedious, and I had to cajole him to let me carry him up the
steps at the promise of more toys. That took quite a bit of effort from me, but
luckily, we managed to carry him all the way up before the slope lead uphill
with a gentler slope. From there, A took over to carry him.
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| Come here for my morning swim |
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Photo looked nice
 |
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| Quick a walk in, with a 15kg load.. |
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| We are here! |
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| Don't tell anyone I wee wee here ok? |
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| So cold! |
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| Swanlake... |
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| My version.. |
Next activity for us was to head towards the Paddock place,
where I read that they had horse riding. From the outside, it looked close.
Fortunately when we went in to check, it was open, although just barely. The
staff readied up the horse for the ride when we waited at the embarking point.
I read that the horses here were retired race horses. When we asked, we were
told that the horse that R rode on was 10 years old. After A sat on the horse,
R funnily got scared and wanted to run away. KT then carried him and passed him
to A on the horse. But once on the horse, he was giggling and enjoying his
ride, being the first time riding on a horse. After the ride, he wanted to pat
the horse, but for some reasons, the horse that day was rather grouchy and kind
of gesture/shook his head to him, warning him not to touch him. But nevertheless,
it was an enjoyable ride, and only for RM11. Yet again, we were the only ones
here, and had the place all to ourselves. The morning was cold and foggy,
something that we don't get in Singapore. Within the enclosure, there was an
archery place, but we were not so interested in it.
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| Don't know if the horse wake up oredi or not? |
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| Hi Mr Horse.. |
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| Hee hee...so fun.. |
Thereafter, we looked for a lunch place for our last meal
here before checking out and heading back to Singapore. R had to get his toy
that I promised and we shopped at some hotel convenience shops for yet another bulldozer/tractor
toy. But it was cheap. For food, I had wanted to try this Green Roses place at
the food court. I had read somewhere that it served this famous Nasi Lemak with
newspaper cuttings and all. Sadly when we arrived, although the place was opened,
the Nasi Lemak was all sold out, even at 10.30am. We then settled on this
Shazan place, a posh looking hotel with their own restaurant. R had his pizza
and I had oxtail soup with rice. (can't remember what the rest ate). Food was
nice amidst the nice setting. After that, we had to rush back to the hotel and
check out. Official checkout was 12pm, but we did it like 12.30pm.
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| Aiyah...5 chopsticks...but sold out! |
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More posh hotel here
 |
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| I got my PIZZA! |
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| We were here 2017 |
So it was all the back "fast and furious" back to
JB, via the north south expressway. The route lead us through KL, which was rather
congested, even on a friday's afternoon. Clearing the KL section took some time
before we get onto E2, which traffic was much smoother all the way 300km back
to KL. Along the way, the car in front got snapped for speeding, and KT was
quick to slow down. So, he was rather alert to cameras located on the
expressway. We also passed a bad accident on the other side of the expressway
where an oil tanker toppled over. R cutely asked, "Is anyone injured?” We
reached JB around 7.30pm, and we thought of heading towards the Kilang Bateri
place that I had read about. It is basically a night market made up of containers. Alas, we didn't have internet and I couldn't quite
located the GPS location. Luckily, KT had some roaming plan and was able to
text the guys on our whatsapp group. AN revert with the address shortly. But
strangely, the GPS could not direct us there but lead to some shop houses
instead. KT had to pump petrol and I asked for directions there. We were told
to go further down 4 traffic lights, and we couldn't miss it. Yet, 4 traffic
lights later, we turned into another row of shop houses, which was clearly not
the place. I asked another person and was directed further down. Still, further
down did not yield any "night eatery" place. I was about to give up
when KT said to go even further down as we all spied a place with big neon
arrows. We were then elated to find that it was indeed that place and we had
found it. Quickly parking, we went inside finally to Kilang Bateri.
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| The back part of the oil tanker is hidden in the photo... |
Kilang Bateri was definitely a hip place, with many varied
shops and eating choices. This place was so called as it was made up of
containers to form night shopping eating place. It was an upmarket version of
Pandan City so you don't get the very cheap (and low quality) stuff here. There
was pubbing, shopping, eating, gaming and even a gocart arena place. We had a
simple dinner actually at the indoor food court, with KT and I doing some Nan Kebab
style of food. R had his waffles while A had her Bakso. But actually, the food
places outside the indoor area was more happening which we later found out.
Seeing the lack of time, we left the place shortly and then headed to get KT's
car washed and then it would be back to Singapore. KT for just RM10, had his
car shampooed (snow washed) and interior all cleaned up like new. Going back,
checkpoint was very smooth and should he dropped us at our block, completing
our week-long road trip. For him, another 30km or so before he would reach
home.
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| We are here at Bateri....actually it means Battery |
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| So many TOYS! |
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| The outer area with the hippier eatery |
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| Wash car |
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meet and greet Gatwick