Ride to Kuantan (Part II)

10 November, 2005, Thursday--Ride to Kuantan (Part II of II)

Today, we would leave Kuantan and head back to Singapore.

Kuantan is famous for its sea turtle lay eggs. Do I get a chance to see?

Alamak, the answer is no chance. Why?

Because if you want to see, must come during the period between early July and September. Now is November, the turtle's lay egg factory close shop liao.
And must go to Chendor Beach because the green turtles and giant leatherback turtles always return to the same beach to lay eggs. We are at Balok Beach, about 20km south of Chendor Beach.
The Kuantan beach no good meh? Why cannot lay eggs here? I didn't know the turtles are so fussy.

For more information on Kuantan places of interest, just search the web or later, you have time, go this link: http://kuantan.regency.hyatt.com/kuakt/location.html

If turtle not in, then Kuantan still got things to see meh?

Got. Later I show you.


Breakfast

The hotel provides complementary breakfast. Aiyah, actually anything complementary means you have already paid for it liao. Breakfast is buffet. Simple but sufficient.



We get to sit in the airy restaurant. Very nice ambuience.

We read the news paper there as we ate. You know what is the headline news that day?


The Malaysia jaen hu make the Malaysia police must wear an additional badge on their uniform.
The badge says "I am against graft".


Graft is not Steffi Graff, or some long-necked animal in the zoo. It also got nothing to do with art and craft. Graft is a nice way of saying corruption. Or in this case, take kopi money.

I thought only Giordano and McDonalds crew need to wear those round round badges on their uniform. Now Malaysia police also wear same round round badge.

Don't know the news zun (accurate) or not.

After breakfast, Spectrum and Eeie want to go walk walk around the hotel. There is actually a spa also within the hotel. I want to ta pian (make cake). So I returned back to hotel room.


After I am done with my business, I sat at the balcony and look see look see while waiting for Spectrum and Eeie to return.


After a while, I saw other tourists staying in the hotel start to climb onto our bikes and take photos of our bikes.

At first, I see children climbed onto Spectrum's Hornet. Eeie's Hayabusa also attracted a lot of attention because of many people there never see bikes with full fairing.

Then after a while, I start to get hurt. "How come no one like my Frost?"
Luckily, not for long. Then got young girls climb onto Frost also.
I and Frost felt better now.


After a while, I start to think, "How come this Spectrum and Eeie gone for so long?" The hotel not big until half-an-hour they still not back.

I wait some more at the balcony then a thought suddenly struck me. I had the only key to the room. Could the guys be waiting outside of the room trying to get in?

I quickly go and open the door. I saw Spectrum and Eeie sitting on the floor outside, like they trapped inside a lift for very long liao.

Morale of the lesson: Never leave the only key to the hotel room with a blur sotong.

Go See Waterfall, Caves and Old Mine

Lucky got Spectrum. His malay very good. And he had stayed in many hotels all over the whole.
Spectrum got go and ask the hotel staff, what else is there to see at Kuantan. The hotel staff tell him that there is this one place got a waterfall, cave and an old mine. The hotel staff tell him the directions and gave him a very valuable map of Kuantan town.




The place we are going, on this map, is marked Pancing Cave/Sg. Pandan Waterfall/ Sungai Lembing.

To go there, our route is from the hotel, go V, IV, III, II. Then straight.

After that, we will backtrack and go to I, which is the new E22 highway from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur. We would then exit from E22 to take Route 12, southwards to Segamat, then back to Singapore. Route 12, runs always parallel to Route 3, but it is in land. I never ride there before so is interested to see what the scenary on Route 12 is like.

It's time to say bye bye to this nice hotel.
And continue with our adventure.

To the Old Mine at Sungai Lembing

I am quite excited about this place we are going. How come got so many things there at one place one?

Got waterfall? Is it like the one at Kota Tinggi? Or big big one like Nigeria Falls?
Got Caves? Is is like those big big caves at Ipoh?
Got Old Mine? Is it like those in the Indiana Jones movie? Can ride the small cart on mini-railway track around inside the mine?

The map is very accurate. It even gives the distance from one check point to another. So just follow it and will reach II.

The road leading to Sungai Lembing is another trunk road. Something like the one we travelled on Route 3. Only that very few cars use it. Because according to the Malaysia map, Sungai Lembing is one spot deep deep inside a very forested area in Kuantan. There is no town, no civilisation, in the surrounding area of Sungai Lembing.

We were told that it would take about 20 minutes to reach the mine from II. But we ride and ride and ride. We see nothing but forests and palm plantations around us. It is like riding into the bowels of the earth like that. It looks like it leads to nothingness, the edge of the earth.

This country-side road actually stretched for quite a great distance. We actually clocked 25 km before we reached the mine. The distance is like from Orchard Road ride to Loyang

But the ride is also very pleasant. Because there are hardly any signs of civilisation along the way, it is also very relaxing.




You can see from this picture. An endless trunk road in the midst of green forests and plantation.











The scene of almost endless trunk road is broken by a herd of cows.

The cows looked very discipline. They all guai guai marched slowly in a single file together, keeping to one side of the road. They looked like army on a road march.

I stopped to want to take photo and touch them.




But the lead cow, I think is the OC (Officer-In-Command) or CSM, suddenly stopped at stared at me. The whole herd also frozed together with the OC cow. The OC cow got this buay song look on his face.

I think the OC cow would either order the whole heard to U-turn and run away from me or order the herd to charge at me.

I decided better leave the cows to their road march. Don't want to get charged and bayoneted by the cows' horns.


After the cows, I met another herd. This time is meh-eh-eh-eh, goats.

The goats are so small and looked so cute.
I thought of want to go and touch the goats also.

Then I thought of the look on the OC cow. Then I decided to better also not try my luck on the goat.





We continue on with our ride surrounded by nothingness and apparently leading to nothingness.





Then, out of the blue, the road opened into a small town!

An ancient Tin Town in the bowels of Kuantan.

How come so strange one? Why would any human civilisation want to build and live in a town so deep and remote from any other civilisation? Spectrum dismounted and go and jio jio the locals there to ask them where is the old mine, waterfall and cave.


This Eeie high tight. He went to find a loo. Later, he returned and found an interesting saying written in the toilet.

"Lai ye chong chong.
Qu ye chong chong."

If your mandarin no good, it is a famous chines idiom which means to come in a rush and to leave in a rush.

But found in the toilet this idiom takes on a pun of come that time flush flush. Leave that time flush flush.

This tin town people sure got a sense of humour.

Spectrum found out that the old mine, waterfalls and caves are just up ahead.

We rode on. Then we reached the end of the road.



This is the entrance leading to the an old tin mine.
















This is part of the remaining structure of the old tin mine.

The tin mine is already closed and no longer in use.






There is even a very nice museum just before the entrance to the old abandoned mine.
I am not interested in visiting museums. I think many Singaporeans also like me. That's why our national museum in Singapore empty empty one.

I think the story is this: Many many years ago. The British came. Together with the locals, they found tin here. The British very happy. So they take pictures. Some of the pictures can be seen in the museum. The tin mine was then started. With the tin mine, a small town was borned. Even after the mine was closed, the town remained.
And then one day Endlessloop came. And Eeie went to the town to siao pian and found an interesting saying.

So interesting in Malaysia. A town can develop because of a mine. Unlike in Singapore, the towns are all planned by HDB.

So where is the cave and waterfall?

Spectrum again go and asked the locals. A small road from the entrance of the old mine and museum, leads up hill to an open car park.

From this car park, we have to walk as there is no more road. Surrounding is thick forests and hills. The waterfall is about an hour's walk. The cave is nearer but don't know how far.

We gave up the idea of walking to the waterfall immediately because too far. The other problem is Spectrum got soft luggage mounted on his bike. If we hike to the cave, he got to carry his luggage with him. I don't have this problem because all my luggage are locked inside my hard saddle bags. This lesson shows the value of having hard luggage boxes over soft luggage bags.

So we didn't go to the cave as well. Because don't know how far it is, and after all the effort of carrying the bags, maybe the cave is just one small hole.

We decided to U-turn back out of the S Lembing. We did find the three waterfall, mine and cave. But we were not able to see them close in. There is another important place that we stumbled upon.

Hill with a Hole

On our ride out, we stopped by this place to take photo of an interesting looking hill that has got a hole on one side.















Fazer Hill (Instead of Fraser's Hill. Funny or not?)

This hill got an interesting shape. It rises out of nowhere and got steep edges.
Then in the middle of it, got this mysterious looking lobang (hole). The hole looked like got something insde. But don't know what is inside.
I was very intrigued by it.
But we did not go and explore because it looked quite far away and who knows if we need to spend another hour to climbed up its steep sides. We also got a long ride back to Singapore.


Only when back in Singapore, I found this description on the internet:

Charah Caves (Gua Charah The Charah Caves are roughly 25 km north-west of Kuantan at Panching, on the Sungai Lembing road. Formed millions of years ago, these limestone caves are the site of a Buddhist sanctuary which serves as a retreat for Buddhist monks. One of the caves houses an enormous stone sculpture of a reclining Buddha which is illuminated just once a day by a shaft of light from an aperture in the cave's roof. This is said to be the work of a Thai monk who made his home in the caves many years ago.

http://kuantan.regency.hyatt.com/kuakt/location.html

!!!! Could this lobang hill be the Charah Caves???

If it really is, then we had come so near to this mysterious cave and yet so far from it.
Now that I know this, I must go back to Kuantan and to this Charah Caves again.
I must go and find the reclining Buddha statue.
And when I find it, I must ask for a lucky four number from it.


As we are taking photos of the funny looking hill, I saw some school children looking at us with great curiousity.

I think in such a remote place, all the people have never seen people dressed like us and riding bikes like ours.

When we rode through the tin mine, I could see some of the adults see until their mouth open wide wide.


The children also. See until so captivated. After I took the photo, the teacher came out and scold them why never go back to class.

To E22 East West Expressway

We backtrack and head onto Checkpoint I on the Kuantan map.

This expressway is new. It cuts across the centre of Malaysia and allows people to travel from Kuala Lumpur to the east coast without the use of trunk roads.

It looked exactly like North South expressway when riding on it except that there are fewer cars and surrounding it are forrest and mountains.

We rode on it a short while, like 15 km, before we exit out of it onto trunk road Route 12.

Route 12

The ride through Route 12 will take us from Kuantan, southwards to Segamat. We will ride through Pekan, then Rompin, before reaching Segamat.

Route 3, which is always parallel to it, runs along the coast. Route 12, is inland. We expected to see mountains next to us.

But Route 12 has an interesting and consistent look-and-feel. Have you ever jogged through MacRitchie reservoir in Singapore? It feels almost like that. Both sides of the road are lined with neat rows of tree, so ride under the trees' shade along the way and is not hot. The road is straight almost all the way and has no curves.



Along the way of Route 12, we stopped by a petrol kiosk to fill up.

One of our bikes's chain is loose.

Teamwork.

None of us are mechanically well-versed. No where near Mokamoka's standard. But we all were willing to try our best, get our hands dirty to help solve the problem.

I realised on bike tours, it is not unusual for one or two bikes to encounter problems along the way. I am very fortunate so far that on each of these trips, there were always people who were very helpful. It is very different from other types of touring. One must be prepared to help out, be patient and cannot just I-do-my-own-you-do-your-own.




This petrol kiosk we were at has one thing interesting. Can you tell from the photo?

This is the only petrol kiosk I have seem that two different petrol brands (BP and Caltex) share the same petrol kiosk.










We stopped at Simpang P Manis along Route 12 to have lunch. It is another small hawker-centre type like the one we ate at along Pekan. Like many parts of Malaysia, there is nothing but a few stalls of nasi padang.






But this time, we smarter liao. We asked the Tua Chai Tao (Eeie) to go first.

After he picked his dish, we asked how much. The practice by this seller here is that you just pick your dishes, eat finish, then you are given the bill and you pay after that.
From our inicident at Pekan, we insisted we be told the price first. Eeie's is 5 ringgit. So it means that this seller is fair. Then one by one, we ordered after that. We all average around 4-5 ringgit.

Eeie has an interesting formula for drinks that is rather tasty. It is teh au with lime with ice. I don't know how you translate it to malay. He ordered it at Pekan and we drank it again here. The drink stall sellers all seem to understand and they all taste equally nice. Try it.

We reached Segamat around 3.00 pm. So what do we do next?

Instead of going by Route 1 which leads to NorthSouth highway and back to Singapore, I suggested that we try J41 out of Segamat, followed by J32 ending at Pagoh. From there, NorthSouth back.

When it is J-something, it means it is a smaller road than the normal trunk road (Route 12, Route 3).

Because J41 is a small road, the trick is to be able to locate it before we bypass it.

But with Spectrum leading and topoing, we got no problem.

This is how you can spot J41, from the direction of from Segamat, westwards, along Route 1, towards Labis/Keluang.

As you ride along Route 1 insdie the town of Segamat, you will see a 4-storey shopping centre with the big big word Fajah on it, by the main road. It is easy to spot because the rest of the town only got 1-2 storey. After you passed Fajah, you ride another 500 m or so, you will pass by a petrol kiosk. Then another around another 100-200m, you will see a sign on your right, next to a right exit from the road, which says either J41 or Pagoh.

So you turn right, off Route 1, into this J41. It will immediately ride over a railway track.

J41

J41-J32 are small roads passing through kampungs and villages.

The roads are slightly nearer than the normal trunk road. There is also much less to almost no traffic.

I would describe the place as ulu or sua pa (countryside).



This is an example of the sua pa lor (countryside road) of J41.

Got see any car or not?

The people there all ride their kup kia without helmet one.

Surprising thing is that the road is actually very smooth. Maybe because few cars wear out the road.


But you should not ride fast fast through J41-J32, even though you can, as parts of it has little traffic. It is like when you drink the ang moh red/white wine, you must not drink fast fast like you drink the au bit jiu (the black beer stout). Otherwise, you will not be able to savy its taste and bring out its flavour. So you should ride at a pace where you can see, observe and take in the rural life style.



One of the typical sua pa house there.
Don't need fence or fancy alarm. Not your usual 4-room, 5-room type.

Want to plant what tree also up to you. Don't need to apply permit.

Your garden how many square-feet?
Big enough. Want to stretch into the forest behind also can.



This J41-J32 is really sua pa. But I enjoyed the ride through it very much and like the place very much. Maybe because I grew up in this kind of environment.

I also wished to retire I this kind of environment. I not that kind that likes to go to Australia and retire. Then whole day got to eat kang tang (potatoe). I will go mad within 2 weeks.

Although this sua pa lor runs through a few kampungs, the road is actually very long. We clocked 55 km from Segamat until it finally reaches Pagoh. This means that this sua pa is even bigger than the whole of Singapore!

Initial D

The sua pa lor got some turns here and there. As I was riding along the turns and the hills, from my read view mirror, I saw a fast approaching white car from behind.

As the road was a bit narrow, I thought I better speed up a bit so that I don't hold up this car. Wah, but this white car really fast man.

I was riding at a stretch of road where there are no houses or people around it. So I decided to have some fun and ride faster a bit.

But no matter how I fast I ride, this white car still tailing me very closely through the twist and turn of windy sua pa lor. It is like this Takumi driving his white Toyota car delivering his toufu through mountain roads from the Initial D movie/manga.

I decided to give up and step to the side and let him drive past.

As he drove past, I caught sight of the driver. The driver is no Jay Chou.

He is an ah pek.





All good things come to an end. The J41-J32 sua pa lor ends when we reached the town of Pagoh.


The petrol kiosk at Pagoh where we filled up before the ride along NorthSouth back to Singapore.




Spectrum and Me

Many people like to ask me, "How I know Spectrum?"

Maybe they asked because I don't ride a Hornet. This Spectrum is very active in the Hornet's Nest group in Singapore. They have a forum for discussion at:

http://www.singaporebikes.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=36699

Some people from Hornet's Nest may call Spectrum the Public-Relationsh-Officer there, because he is very friendly and sociable. He likes to meet new people and will take good care of new and existing members of Hornet's Nest. Actually, he does not restrict his friends to Hornet riders only. Take me for example. I don't ride a Hornet.

I get to first know Spectrum from our common interest in motorcycle safety. Spectrum started this thread on motorcycle safety, called Street Smart:

http://www.singaporebikes.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=67876

Inside, he shares information on how to be able to survive while riding motorcycle. He also invites other people to share their knowledge and experience. I encourage all those who ride motorcycle, both experienced and new riders, to go read the Street Smart thread.

Because of Spectrum's generous spirit to help in other riders to be safe, and his efforts at the Hornet's Nest, I should also call him a guo bao. Guo bao means national treasure. It was first given to one of my favourite singers, Stefanie Sun Yan Zi.

There is also another Singapore singer who is very talented, but many people never call him a guo bao. Don't know why. He is Lin Jun Jie, or JJ Lin.

You should go buy his latest album, a Thousand Years.

When I first know of his name and people tell me his songs very nice, I don't believe. I listened already still think not nice. His voice not special at all what. He is a man but his voice not macho and powerful like Jackie Zhang Xuie You. Some more JJ's voice very high. Guys go karaoke cannot sing JJ song one because too high. Only girls and ah gua can.

But hear long already, then his songs start to be very nice. I would still say his voice not say very good. But it is the way his voice is combined and blended into the song, almost like his voice is one of the instruments playing in the song. So I would say his songs are nice.

I would describe his style is almost like Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson voice also very high right? Then he sing song, also cannot hear what the heck he is singing. But his songs still end up very very popular. So JJ Lin is a bit like the Michael Jackson from the East.

After I hear JJ Lin's album, then I realised he got another talent. All the song lyrics in the album are composed by him one! Including the very sentimental One Thousand Years (Later), Mummy (not mother but the egyptian one). I especially like Tomorrow, sound very hip and catchy.

He never compose the words because I suspect he is kang tang one: He was from Anglo Chinese School (ACS).

So this is my gift to Spectrum, for his friendship and generousity: