Category: Travel

The Old Jetty In Tanjung Sepat, 10 Years Ago

Love the power of social media networking. My long time Instagram follower @jaschintaz sent me an old pic of her wedding day at the old jetty in Tanjung Sepat, 10 years ago! What a sweet couple, weren’t they? Her husband CS is a native of the town. If you remember, I mentioned that the old jetty collapsed. See how charming the old jetty was albeit being quite rickety then. Thanks Jas for sharing. Now my story about the new and old jetties is complete. See my earlier post about the new jetty titled “Time And Tide Wait For No Man Or Woman”.

#tanjungsepat #jetty #fishing #sea #smalltown #selangor #landscape #pier #wedding #tbt

Travel Partners Make Or Break Your Travel

At Tanjung Sepat, I wanted to get shots of fishing nets and related paraphernalia since we were in a fishing town. Alex Wong MF, my helper and driver for that day was extremely accommodating in his willingness to help me get to places we both weren’t familiar.

Can’t stress enough of the importance of a travel partner who share the same vision and who is understanding and flexible. Am grateful for the shots I got and can’t thank this kind, generous and patient man enough.

We found a house which we think was manufacturing fish traps or cages. I told Alex I needed to get the dilapidated house behind and Alex understood my intention.

As with any travel, don’t be too serious about everything. Keep it light hearted and fun. Both are seeing things never before experienced when exploring a new place.

Travel is about observing and noting things together for impromptu discussions.

For example; we laughed when we saw a new housing estate there. Every Chinese house had a massive, shiny stainless steel gate and a pair of stainless water tanks on the roof. A sign of the new rich or a status symbol, perhaps.

In the 80s and before, Chinese families aspired to migrate to Australia when they became rich. Now it is a fetish like passion for acquiring stainless steel or chrome ornaments.

If you think you may also be a suitable adventure or roadtrip mate and would like to learn more about photography or to have a few chuckles together at the same time, please contact me.

Thanks, Alex for making it a fun, productive and memorable trip

#tanjungsepat #travel #adventure #streetphotography #fishing #landscape #roadtrip

Into A Top Secret Military Operation

After all, the building was rickety and at the verge of collapse. LOL. Inside, I was surprised to see her using big stainless steel steamers, shiny new stainless steel containers and even a conveyor belt system for automation. A crew of Indonesian women were deployed and they worked with military precision. Wow. Looks from outside can be deceiving. Mei Ling, an auditor by profession, scolded me for being naive. Surely they make money, she noted.

Now I am wondering if Teluk Intan had some techno clubs that justified such late closing hours (until morning). I like techno music but hate the loss of neck control induced by the pills. This was nine years ago when ‘feng thou’ clubs dominated many Chinese communities.

We were late because we spent the whole night looking for an elusive hotel room. There was a Hindu Festival the next day and every hotel in town was booked. Saw a sign advertising ‘Homestay’ hanging by the roadside and decided to call the number out of desperation. It was already 4am.

A lady came on a motorcycle and led u to a corner terrace house somewhere. Paid her, she handed over the keys and whispered where the towels were hidden. This was my first experience with the weird and bizarre world of independent Homestay.

#telukintan #telukanson #perak #liewkee #cheecheongfun #ricerolls #smalltown #kitchen #homestay

Liew Kee Of Teluk Intan

It is so famous that it spawned so many imitations in Klang Valley’s pasar malam stalls or the night markets. The imitations tasted lousy, having tried the original. The iconic stall, Liew Kee is as famous as the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan.

If it is your first time, you may be surprised to discover the restaurant to be a shack or a crumbling wooden house. There are maybe a couple of rickety tables outside for dine in. The main door is always locked and customers order takeaway packets through a gap. Things may have changed. This is based on my experience one late night, 9 years ago

The queue is always very long and I saw one guy buy 250 packs! Pity the hungry folks queuing behind him. The business started in the 1920’s when Port Anson was a thriving hub serving the whole of Perak. As with the old days, plain old newspapers (including the obituary sections) are still used as wrap.

The rice flour rolls are pockmarked with strange patterns because they are steamed with turnip, dried shrimp and fried onion crisps.

The delicacy is eaten plain or with pickled green chilies (instead of drowning it with yucky sweet sauce). I was there one night at 3 am. Since everything was so secretive, I was surprised the lady proprietor invited me in to photograph the kitchen from inside. Pics coming up next. No. It was not my charms. Maybe it was because I was with the MP’s special assistant. In a small town, people look up to the MP and will call him when there is a power failure or if a rubber slipper or flip flop was stolen. Life is such.

Are the CCF really that good? Yes and consistently so. Yumz.

#telukintan #telukanson #perak #liewkee #cheecheongfun #ricerolls #smalltown