Tag: pahang

The Clock Tower of Fraser’s Hill

I was looking for a decent pic of the roundabout clock tower in Fraser’s Hill and, at last, I found one in Wikimedia.

The stone structure with creeper vines and flower beds was an iconic landmark in front of the golf course, post office, police station and the the former Merlin Hotel. It is the town centre. A favourite selfie background for visitors and something that greets the visitor on arrival.

http://www.mycen.my/frasers-hill-hotel-deals-finder/

Attribution: By RoB (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Memories Of Labour

Memories Of Labour. I wrote recently about Kota Kinabalu being the sunset capital of the world, particularly from the beaches of Tanjung Aru. On peninsular Malaysia, we have what may be the Sunrise Capital. The sunrise are consistently glorious.

I am talking about the beaches of Cheating near Kuantan city. It faces the east and the South China Sea. I used to stay at the Hyatt Regency Kuantan which was on the Teluk Cempedak beach. Loved the sea facing dining terrace at the Hyatt Kuantan, The sunrise view from there was great too. Many Malaysians know Cherating from Club Med located there.

One day on this same day, around 13 years ago, and it was also Workers Day or Labour Day, also a public holiday then, I took an impulse drive to Kuantan. Every hotel from luxury beach resorts to budget hotels were fully booked. Was grateful for the thoughtful hotels that placed a sign showing “full house” visible from the car. Grateful also for budget hotels that have their phone numbers on their lighted signboards. You will appreciative that too when you parked and ran in/out of lobbies like a million times.

See over 92 hotels and homestays in Kuantan, Cherating and Beserah area.

Many hotel less people ended up sleeping in the car which presented two challenges. Option 1: Die of carbon monoxide poisoning if the car engine and air conditioning were kept running, Lower the windows and the car will host a buzzing mosquito party. Option 2: You will die of Dengue and other mozzie carried diseases. Moral of the story: Book your hotel in advance as everyone has the same idea to visit a popular tourist destination on a public holiday.

Google was so primitive then and it even suggested Genting Highlands Resort as an alternative nearby hotel. I called up and expectedly they were full house too. Is like that all over the world. I recently wrote about the overcrowding at Yellowstone National Park in the US.

Check availability ahead for hotels in Cherating, Kuantan and anywhere in the world via MyCen Hotels http://www.mycen.my/ Anyway, I parked and slept at the very dark car park of an unknown beach hotel in Cherating. With the full occupancy, the open air park was full too. Was lucky to get a space. Luckily my then travel partner and camera assistant Pooi-San PS was quite a tough and hardy girl.

I walked groggily to the beach at around 6 am and soon saw the most beautiful sunrise. A just reward for all the hardship.

See Hotels in Kuantan and Cherating at MyCen Hotels.

Photographed handheld with the excellent Olympus C8080 bridge cam,

#kuantan #cherating #sunrise #eastcoast

Around Bentong

Around Bentong.

Once upon a time, I went to the National Park and took an hour long chartered boat ride. The boatman stopped suddenly upriver and said. “This is it!” I asked what? He said “The waterfall!” I asked where? Another 45 minutes by jungle trek, he explained.

Few months later I want to Bentong to check out famous Kow Po ice cream. The friendly boss’s son recommended I visit Chamang Falls. It was a long winding drive and I finally ended up at Chamang Falls. I can hear the roar from the car park. I got down and there it was , the most beautiful waterfall that was incredibly easy to access. It was a walk in or drive in waterfal like Niagara. Amazing. Only down side is the car park is choked with cars on weekends and on public holidays.

The reason why photographers prefer accessible waterfalls is because we need to carry our heavy tripods to create the silky blurred water effect.

On the way to Chamang waterfalls, I remember seeing a sign to a remote hotel. Good thing, because a few months later I was driving from Negeri Sembilan at night and wanted to use the back way to Cameron Highlands. It was late at night and I decided to put up at this hotel for the night. It was long and torturous drive from Kuala Pilah. The hotel is nice in that there was a convenient Old Town White Coffee Cafe downstairs.

My travel partner thought the room was haunted the next morning, she claimed I kept ending on her side of bed. LOL.The explanation is simple. It was one those shophouse hotels with a window facing the road downstairs. Every time the car alarm goes off, one would instinctively climb up on the bed to look down. Park strategically and hope you get a street view room if your car has valuables.

There are so many things to see, to eat and to do in Bentong. I recommend this hotel since I stayed there and found it satisfactory. Book from link given below:

http://www.mycen.my/tras-mutiara-hotel-bentong/

A Tree In Sungai Lembing

While searching for the previous tree image, I found one image from 2007 photographed in Sungai Lembing, the historical mining town. There was also a tree in the middle of the road. That was ten years ago and I am not sure if it is still there. Maybe recent visitors can confirm.

Known as the El Dorado of the East, it was once a bustling cowboy town in Pahang. It had one of the world’s biggest and deepest underground tin mine while it was in operation. Today it is a sleepy, rustic town with a few relics still standing in the ghost town. It was like as if time stood still, all of a sudden.

2017 re-processing of the image made the colours pop. Originally, it was flat and dull. I still remember having a homemade pineapple ice drink with boiled pineapple cubes and attap chee at the stall across the road. Wonderful stuff.

My friend the famous turtle scientist and conservationist Pelf Nyok has a cousin staying there who can guide and ferry you to the famous rainbow waterfall. I didn’t go though. It was on the local hipster bucketlist during the last decade.

Olympus E-510, ISO 200, f10, 1/250 sec

#sglembing #pahang #tree #smalltown #tree #nature #heritage

Kow Po Revisited

Kow Po is that famous family-owned ice-cream parlour in Bentong. I tried their cendol (icy dessert of green jelly in coconut milk, sweetened with palm sugar) this time and was delighted to find a scoop of pandan (screwpine) flavoured ice-cream on it.

While home-made ice cream is their signature product, part of the appeal of the place is the old-school containers and high-back diner-style chairs of the 60’s. The place is also quite dark, perhaps harking back to the dimly-lit coffee-houses that served as courting venues during yesteryears.

There is also a Malay lady selling some killer nasi lemak and rojak for which I didn’t try. On weekends, there are literally busloads of people lining up to get in.

Map and directions to Kow Po in Bentong: http://www.mycen.my/kow-po-ice-cream-bentong/

Warung Ais Krim Kow Po, Bentong Heights, 28700 Bentong, Pahang. Tel: +609 222 1258

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f4.5, 1/50 sec.

#pandan #cendol #icedessert #kowpo #icecream #bentong #pahang