I’ve been invited from my secondary school friend Azhar for
a ‘sawah padi’ (Paddy field) experience at his hometown in Sungai Nibong,
approximately 10km drive from Sekinchan town.
His In-law own a few blocks of paddy field in small vicinity
in Pantai Batu 23, Sungai Nibong (Parit 12, I think.. you may call it in a
conservative way).
I always wanted for a hands on and have a closer look how
exactly paddy look like in my naked hazel eye. At the same time, I need to
expose my kids to this new set of life (other than Ipad, android, games, social
media and astro).
The beach near the chalet. Not for swimming though
What can we do there? Can we catch a fish with our bare
hands? Or fishing? Or play in the mud? Or harvest the paddy itself? – my
questions to Azhar. He said “kind of” – meaning to say that the paddy has
almost reach its maturity stage and waiting for the harvesting process and we may have 'that' experience. Oh well, we just have to give it a try – in view that it was a end of year long
school holiday and feeling guilty of not having any plan for the kids.
On 30th November 2014, we head on to Sekinchan in
Selangor state, about almost 100 km from the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Before
that, I made an arrangement for accommodation with Pak Usop for a 2 night stay
(you may google ‘homestay in Sekinchan’, you may find his handphone number) –
by the way, Azhar know Pak Usop in person.
It is important to share for a good cause. The contact number of the establishment.
Another angle from the jetty
There are also room for let at RM60-00 per night
Grocery shopping ...we ran out of supplies
About 1km from the main road, that’s where the chalet is. We
arrived at noon and being greeted by the son of Pak Usop, Mohd Muzakir. The
chalet is a nice maroon, sturdy building. Half of it were build on a stilt.
We immediately settled down in our cosy, spacious room.
There is 1 queen bed and 1 single bed, - and the most important thing is, they
have this veranda overseeing the jetty! I never expected that!
At RM80-00 per night it was not too shabby and worth for the
money. Ample parking space, near to the eatery restaurant and its cheap!.
The spacious room
from the veranda...nice isn't it?
This is in front of our chalet, the eatery
The chalet entrance
The Small Fishermen Jetty
From the veranda, we can view the row of fishermen boats,
arranged nicely at the both side of the river. The river is heading towards the
sea about almost 1km away. The amazing part here is that there was no
unpleasant smell which normally derived from the river, the fish itself or
something has been decayed. Its absolutely an amazing view! It’s a slow moving
pace activities here during the day.
The mee udang specialist
Panoramic view of our chalet (at the foreground)
At night we had our dinner in one of the restaurant, just 20
steps from our chalet. Having ‘steam siakap’ (a popular type of fish) cooked in
lemon gravy was our scrumptious dinner for that night.
My my son, izz (11) and daughter (15) in front of our dinner spot
Half consumed steam siakap in Lemon gravy...yummy!
The signature dish of local community and part of Sekinchan town
They also have the popular mee udang, burger stall, ‘roti
canai’, satay and other fry cook dishes at this eating place. You don’t have to
travel to town for a nice set of meal.
The next day, we had our lunch of ‘mentarang bakar’ (a type
of shell – grilled) at popular eating spot named Faridah Mentarang Bakar
located 7km away (towards Sekinchan town). It’s so popular that at certain
times you need to queue for your turn. Faridah Mentarang Bakar had been
featured in one of the popular TV show specific for unique eating outlet a
while ago.
with shell-eating zombies
I'm not a shell eating fan...urgh...!!
How it's made
This is the mentarang - a plate of RM8-00. The taste? err...hmmm...
The Paddy Field
Later that evening, Azhar took us for a ride at his In-law
paddy field. That’s one hell of wide lush green paddy field ! The paddy field
were nicely taken care off as it need gentle touch (I think). It is time to
release the water from his part of paddy field to the adjacent stream. The area
need to be left dry before the harvest machine can go in. The water level will
subside in a day. We took this opportunity to swoop a fish or two using ‘tangguk’
(a type of net). Yes, my kids have their moment with this.
I can only see paddy field here...
with my longtime friend - En Azhar
Paddy field tour by En Azhar
The rain is coming...
Azhar had left to Kuala Lumpur that night itself. As for us,
we have another night to spent on. The next day, it is time to say goodbye to
the paddy field with unforgettable memory – the beach, the prawn noodle, the ‘siakap’
fish, and mostly, the paddy field itself.
With En Azhar's father In Law - the legal owner of these profit making paddy field. Meeting the experienced and the young entrepreneur.
En Azhar is using his fish charm skill
The canal at the right hand side is where the water will be disposed off
with my second son - the most stubborn and uncooperative lad
Finally I have my own space for selfie
In the foreground, the harvest machine in action.
On our way to Kuala Lumpur, we dropped by at this ‘Cendol
Bakar’ (sort of shredded ice with coconut milk). At this eating outlet, there
also have ‘nasi lemak’ (rice cooked with coconut milk), fried noodle, ‘keropok
lekor’ (a type of fish cracker), a nice coconut shake and also gigantic curry
puff. You should have it a try, relax and take a photo – you never know when you
are going to be here again.
Breakfast pit stop. Somewhere we belong
The holiday mode is on
The keropok Lekor station
Keep calm and have a cendol instead
mind my tummy and those oversized T90 pink black shirt
On top of Bukit Malawati - that once become our fortress
Overlooking the valley
With the monkey's food vendor
Observing the life of monkey, just like animal planet
Desperately need to get acquaintance
We took photo here at the same spot couple of years ago, and we came back
Until next episode.....
