Selangor : Scenic Sekinchan Day 1 (Pt.2)

Monday, May 6, 2013

Selangor : Scenic Sekinchan Day 1 (Pt.2)

You are at - Jotaro's Blog / AhPek Biker / Cycling Malaysia / Selangor / Scenic Sekinchan Day 1 (Pt.1) / Day 1 (Pt.2) | Jump to Day 2
AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures

Selangor : Scenic Sekinchan - Day 1 (Pt.2)

Sungai Buloh to Sekinchan : 20th April 2013

Small Group Ride -

Day 1 : Sungai Buloh>Kuala Selangor>Sekinchan

Distance covered : approx. 76.71 km.
Time : 7:45 am - 5:25 pm
Time Taken : approx. 8 hrs. 40 mins. (including stops for breakfast, lunch, photo shoots, rest from heat, etc.)

Route Recommendations :
1. The weather does get very hot from noon to 4 pm. Do stock up with additional water to fight off dehydration.
2. The pandan coconuts are refreshing and very sweet.
3. Seafood at the Jeti Seafood Restaurant at Pasir Penambang, Kuala Selangor is cheap & really good.
4. The Durian Cendol is ok only, try it for the sake of trying.
5. Sekin Fisherman Village Resort & Hotel is well landscaped with comfortable rooms; do stay there even if you don't cycle there.
6. Don't miss the beautiful sunset at Sekinchan beach.
7. Seafood at Wan Lau Restaurant in Sekinchan is also Cheap & Good.

This is page 2 of a 3 page blog, click on following to go to other pages :
- Scenic Sekinchan Day 1 (Pt.1)
- Scenic Sekinchan Day 2

PRE-RIDE

Part 1 of Day 1 of our Sekinchan adventure ended with all us smiling after good lunch at Kuala Selangor.
We are ready to move on, what lies ahead? It's hard to say, but with the afternoon hot weather, we trust that everything will go smoothly. Did it? Read on to find out.

THE RIDE - Day 1 (Pt.2)

Scenic Sekinchan Ride Day 1 Route Map : Sg. Buloh>Kuala Selangor>Sekinchan (click for Map Link)

Our route so far has taken us from the Sungai Buloh KTM Station to Kuala Selangor. We will ride on a little further ahead for Durian Cendol and then continue onwards to the Sekin Fisherman Village Resort & Hotel, where we will spend the night.

2:10 pm - We left Pasir Penambang and headed out for the main trunk road Route 5, which will lead us to Sekinchan. Felix is still leading us.

Oon took his marshaling duty seriously, hardly smiling eventhough we know that inside he was happy as a lark being able to cycle with us.

Within half an hour we arrived at our next destination - the Borhan Durian Chendol shop.

Sitting ourselves comfortably, we quickly made our orders from the menu items pasted on the walls.
WHAT? Eat again?
Well, we are not on a race but on a bike-packing cyclo-tour. One should not just enjoy the ride but also experience the food & culture of the area that we pass by.
And what better way then to eat; and this is desserts after lunch.

The menu that's pasted on the wall. They also sell curry noodles.

The cendol that I had was one with red beans and corn. Not durian for me, i can't stand their smell or taste. And how's the taste?
The cendol jelly although having a nice panda green color, was too soft and did not have any bouncy bit. There was also too little ice and by the time served to us, hardly any ice could be seen. The coconut milk used was too diluted and thus lack that creaminess of thick santan.

Oh... well... cendol's not that interesting; might as well walk around a bit.
Over at one corner there were seafood products like prawn paste, salted fish, etc. up for sale.

In another corner, packed in banana leaves were "tapai" (fermented rice). This can be added to the cendol or eaten by itself. It has a sourish taste and a strong gluey smell - an acquired taste, if you ask me.

In yet another corner, were packets of "keropok udang" (prawn crackers) hung up for sale too. These must be a very sale-able item.

2:55 pm - Time to move on. The temperature indoors were around 37-38 C. Outside it must be well into the forties, very hot indeed. So we covered ourselves up as best as we could.
ROLL OUT! Hot or not hot! Roll out!

Under the hot, scorching sun we pedaled on. It was not easy, the heat zaps into one's core, but we pedaled on.

Cycling pass this "Bubble" car-wash shop, I felt like going in myself and immersing in the bubble wash. Very tempting indeed.

15:20 pm - We arrived in Tanjong Karang town. We are getting near; just about another 15 km. from Sekinchan.

Further on, we stopped at another Petronas petrol station. Relieved from the hot sun, Siew Yung & SuiT could afford to smile.

Kwan's rear tire developed some leaks. Having had several such problems before, he took to patching up the tubes instead of changing the whole tube. He was quite nifty going about it.

No pump? "Well, might as well blow the tube up with my mouth!" An amused Oon looked on as Kwan tried doing that... Nawh... Kwan was just joking.

A happy Kwan, after completing his puncture repair.

To offset the heat, we literally drenched ourselves under the taps Uncle Bil here drenched his whole head, while some of us drenched the top of our bodies; jerseys and all.

The ladies having to be more modest, just resorted to wetting their scarves and covering their head. Well wetted, we moved on.

Whoa! A traffic jam in a small town like Tanjong Karang?
We are riding at the bridge over the Sungai Tengi that leads into the town center. It's a good thing there's a jam; it will make our cycling safer.

4:15 pm - Only 10 km. to Sekinchan! So near but yet so far, as our cycling pace is slowing down due to the heat.

My baklava which I have earlier drench with water has dried up, the hot, shining sun can be seen reflected on my shades.

Half an hour after leaving Tanjong Karang town, we stopped under the shady shadow of an overhead pedestrian bridge. Phew!

Alex posing with one of the election flags.
Note: He's just posing (a photo opportunity), this does not necessarily reflect his political opinion.

We are now into the Rice Belt of Selangor; the bright green padi fields can be seen on our right.

But here the cross-winds are strong. At a Road Transport Department weigh-bridge station, old tires were used to hold down the orange road cones to prevent them from being blown away.

5:10 pm - Yahoooo! We have reached Sekinchan town.

After a left turn, we stopped at this entry sign into the Sekinchan Fishing Vilage for a last regroup.

Sekinchan is a fishing town, so it's natural they we passed by this place where they were drying out shrimps to make them into dried prawns.

Opposite the entrance to the resort, is a small estuary where fishing sampans and trawler boats are docked.

At the front of the Sekin Fisherman Village Resort & Hotel, we took a group photo. this is where we will be spending the night.
The camera was atilt so Uncle Bil suggested that we tilt our heads to match the camera tilt!

The hotel grounds are very nicely landscaped, simple but beautifully blending with nature.
There's even a couple of small estuaries.

Even the entrance to our rooms are so nicely landscaped, we do feel warmly welcomed.

The hotel rooms were surprisingly large, we could park our bikes and still have room to spare. Kwan is already very relaxed in the room.

Okay, so much for the hotel - time to have FUN!
Without even taking a bath, most of us went out to the beach.

At the beach, there's even a tree house for children to play in. But it's the adults who are the one who seems to be having fun there!

To one side, a rocky bund sticks out into the sea, this is to prevent erosion of the beach.

And the sea wind here is strong, very conducive for fling kites.
I just let go of my kite, and it started soaring upwards.

Suit also tried her hand at kite-flying.

As good as kite flying is here, the sunset at Sekinchan beach is lovely. It's is one scene not to be missed!

Hungry and stomachs growling, we cycled over to Wan Lau Restaurant for dinner. Spending much time at the beach, we had not even taken a bath. We were sweaty and smelly but HAPPY.

Again we started of with something healthy. A simple stir-fried Chinese Lettuce.

Nice and crunchy Deep Fried Baby Squids.

Salt-baked Large Mantis Prawns - This is an unique style and can only be done this way if the prawns are of a large size.

Deep Fried Grouper - with the generous garnishing of large onions, the fish can hardly be seen but it was very delicious.

The Saito Fish Ball Soup.The Saito fish always makes for good fishball as its meat exudes a good fishy flavor.

Lala Clams Omelet Fried With Starch. Another of my favorite.

Back at the resort, after a good refreshing bath, we climbed up the tall viewing platform to take in the sight of the surrounding area.

In the dark night, the was not much view of the sea, but the view of one of the small estuary with the lights of the town in the background was still a pretty sight.

At the coffee house below, we had some drinks, chit-chatted about tomorrow's plans, and then called it a night.
Selamat Malam!
(That's Good Night in Malay).

Tomorrow we will ride back to Sungai Buloh ( ... see more)

Related / Similar Blogs: