DAYTRIP TO SUNGEI RENGIT (26 NOVEMBER 2008)

Whilst researching on Kukup, Mommy discovered another popular destination for Singaporeans in search of fresh and cheap seafood - Sungei Rengit. So off we went to Malaysia again last Wednesday.

Sungei Rengit is about 30 km away from the beach resort of Desaru, where I've visited several times before. Mommy promised to take me to the beach after the adults had their fill of lobsters. We left the house at 1030 hrs, and arrived at Sungei Rengit at about 1330 hrs.

Much like Kukup, this rural, seaside town was tiny. We made a quick loop around the town in search of Good Luck Seafood Restaurant, which had received good reviews online. Whilst making the loop, we came across Sungei Rengit's fire station and its stable of ancient fire engines. Reminded me of those we saw in the museum at Central Fire Station in Singapore!


We found Good Luck Seafood Restaurant along a quiet lane, devoid of customers. We debated on whether to try a different restaurant instead (Jade Garden Seafood Restaurant looked more appealing), but decided to stick to our original plan in the end. Daddy ordered two steamed lobsters topped with a generous portion of chopped garlic, one butter lobster, one assam fish, one oyster omelette, a plate of sambal kangkong, and a plate of bitter gourd with pork.


The bill, including steamed rice and drinks, came up to RM254.60 (about S$110.00). The adults enjoyed the meal, but I didn't. I couldn't wait to get it over and done with so I could go to the beach.

Immediately after lunch, we hopped back into our car and drove towards Desaru. We passed a big sign screaming "Ostrich Farm". Daddy turned into the farm and found out from the farmer that there were 300 ostriches on the farm, and there was a RM10 charge per adult for a tour of the farm, which included ostrich egg tasting. Grandpa Eddy said he'd rather spend the money on another lobster instead. Spoken like a true foodie.

As soon as Daddy got back into the car, big, fat raindrops started coming down. Daddy tried to drive as quickly as possible towards Desaru, but we couldn't "outrace" the thunderstorm. It was one of the heaviest thunderstorms I'd ever witnessed, and it washed away all hopes of playing at the beach. What a disappointment! :(

Mommy then suggested that we catch the ferry back to Singapore from Tanjung Belungkor. Years ago, Daddy and Mommy had caught a ferry from there and they had seen cars being driven onboard the ferry to be taken across to Singapore. Daddy thought it was a good idea. He'd do anything to avoid being stuck in jam at the causeway. So we drove 30 km to Tanjung Belungkor. Turned out to be a poor decision after all. We missed the ferry...... by 10 years! Yeah, the ferry service which took cars onboard was terminated about 10 years ago. Double disappointment!

We left Tanjung Belungkor at 163o hrs. We didn't want to be stuck in rush hour traffic in Johor Bahru like last week, so we decided to drive across the state to use the Second Link instead. It was a longer drive from Desaru and toll had to be paid, but boy were we glad that there was absolutely no jam at the Johor customs! We were congratulating ourselves as we drove across the causeway when we saw the pileup on the Singapore side. Three letdowns in a row!

Tuas Checkpoint is a large facility with Block A1 and Block A2 dedicated to cars and motorbikes. Buses, lorries and other vehicles have to proceed to other blocks to clear customs. Tuas Checkpoint is well-equipped to provide clearance in an efficient way, but the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority decided to shut down Block A1 as well as half of the booths in Block A2, leaving only 7 lanes passable to cars. We were stuck in a jam for 1.5 hrs as a result. Such a shame that something like that be allowed to happen! Surely, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority should know by now when peak and off-peak periods are and utilise their resources accordingly?

We finally made it into Singapore at 2000 hrs, and had a simply divine dinner at Raffles Marina, where Ah Gong, Ah Ma and Sri Che Che had been waiting patiently for us.

DAYTRIP TO THE FISHING VILLAGE OF KUKUP (19 NOVEMBER 2008)

Kukup is a rural fishing village located about 40 km southwest of Johor Bahru, Malaysia. No one in my immediate family had ever visited Kukup, and since I didn't have classes today, Mommy decided to organize a family outing to Kukup.

We started our drive to Kukup at 1030 hrs. Grandpa Eddy, Grandma Nancy, Ah Gong, Daddy, Mommy, Ning Che Che, and Su Ann were in the car with me. Ah Ma was at work, so she couldn't join us on this adventure.

We took the Tuas Second Link to get across to Malaysia, then exited at Gelang Petah. We drove through Pekan Nanas. "Nanas" means pineapple in Bahasa Melayu and we saw many roadside stalls selling pineapples and other fruits in this area. Pineapples are probably grown in this area, though we didn't see any pineapple plantations. Oil palm plantations were aplenty though. We then travelled along Highway 5 and Highway 95 to get to Kukup at 1245 hrs. Daddy had driven at a leisurely pace, and we had made a toilet stop at a petrol kiosk.

Kukup is a one-street village with a handful of seafood restaurants, provision stores and a bunch of houses on stilts. We drove to the end of the street, then turned right into the carpark of High King Seafood Restaurant. Mommy had read online reviews that the food there was delicious, and that the restaurant organized guided tours to a "kelong" (fish farm on stilts in the sea) for RM5 per person.

The online reviews didn't warn us that the restaurant was also the capital of houseflies though! The restaurant sat on stilts above the sea. The restaurant was laid out in such a way that customers had to walk past its food preparation area to get to the dining area. Women were shelling prawns in the food preparation area, and we could see swarms of houseflies buzzing around and covering the raw food and food preparation area in jet black dots. The flies were also busy attacking the uncleared tables in the dining area. We had all been very excited about a seafood lunch, but were suddenly not hungry...

Since having seafood was a quintessential part of any trip to Kukup, we forced ourselves to put aside the fear of cholera, selected the cleanest-looking table and sat down to study the menu. Mommy ordered butter lobster, steamed live prawns, crispy baby squid, sambal mussels, sambal kangkong, mee goreng and fried rice. Total bill (including drinks): RM134 (about S$60.00). Verdict: The food was tasty, but once is enough. Not worth the risk of food poisoning.


After lunch, we watched the local fishermen load their wooden boats with bait and fish feed. Grandma Nancy bought tickets for us to go on the guided tour of the kelong. We were taken by boat to a kelong a short distance away from the restaurant. A little boy was our guide and he showed us round his kelong with great enthusiasm.


First, he introduced us to his school of spitting fish. After he placed small pieces of bread along the edge of a pool, the fish took aim at the bread by spitting water at the bread. They would then gobble up the pieces of bread which fell into the pool. Bravo!


Next, the little boy showed us a king crab. Daddy said that king crabs have blue blood, and that scientists were studying the use of their blood for medicinal purposes. I didn't know that!


The little boy then hauled up a nurse shark from a pool and asked us to feel the rough texture of its skin. He also handed Daddy a yellowish seahorse, and Daddy let me hold it for a little while.

Grandma Nancy bought some fish maw from the kelong, before all of us crossed the rickety planks to get back to the boat. The tour was about 30 mins long, and we were back at the restaurant by 1500 hrs.
Opposite the restaurant, a narrow alley led us to a maze of houses on stilts. According to our boatman, these houses accommodate Kukup's 2,000-strong population, most of whom were ethnic Chinese from the Hokkien dialect group. Some of the houses were also rented out as holiday homes. We walked past a lady selling wanton noodles. The way she mixed the noodles with the chilli and other sauces made Grandpa Eddy and Daddy salivate. They were so engrossed they seemed oblivious to the ever-present flies. They wanted a bowl of noodles when we were done exploring.

We found a Taoist temple at the end of one of the narrow passageways, and Grandma Nancy lit some incense there. After that, we re-traced our footsteps back to the noodle seller. Enroute, we spotted the FLOATERS in the water. No, not dead bodies in the water, but faeces. Yes, we're perfectly aware that human waste commonly goes straight into the sea at kelongs, but the thought of an entire community of 2,000 peeing and defecating into the very sea where our seafood lunch was just fished out of was just REVOLTING. We could feel our lunch rise up our throats. We hurried past the floaters. Any thought of tucking in a bowl of wanton noodles evaporated that very second as well.


We left Kukup at 1545 hrs. The plan was to head back to Tuas Second Link, but we missed the turnoff because of dubious signage and ended up in Johor Bahru. A huge mistake because the pile-up at the checkpoint was so bad we ended up being stuck in the jam for 2 hours. Fortunately, Su Ann didn't cry her eyes out in the car. Ning Che Che and Ah Gong entertained her with a bag of toys.

It was already past 1900 hrs by the time we cleared the Woodlands Checkpoint. We updated Ah Ma on the day's activities. Kukup is so close to Singapore, yet a world apart. It made a very interesting day out from highly sanitised Singapore. For those who haven't been, go, go, go!

MY VERY FIRST PERFORMANCE (13 NOVEMBER 2008)

Here are some pictures of my very first performance - The Coconut Dance at the GUG Concert & Graduation Party 2008.


My classmates and I had practised long and hard, and we put up an entertaining show. Everything went according to plan till right after our performance when I spotted Daddy taking pictures near the stage. I ran towards him, and my female classmates followed suit. Haha! Soon, we were chasing each other on the stage and treating it like our personal playground. Hahaha! We were laughing, squealing and having so much fun when a teacher halted our play and cleared us off the stage, so the next performance could commence. :(

Ah Gong, Daddy and Mommy paid S$105.00 in total to watch me perform. Dinner was included in the price of the ticket as well. Ah Ma was at work and Su Ann stayed home, so both missed the show.