My recently retired senior friend, ZK, is now back in his hometown. He
repeatedly invited me to come over for durians and when he asked in early July
when I would be coming over, I finally decided I would take up on his offer. I even
went to Hentian Duta to enquire the bus schedules (only a couple of operators
and the service is not frequent) and also tried buying the ETS ticket online
before finally going to KL Sentral to buy the tickets in person.
So
in early morning of Saturday, 18 July 2020, I made my way to KL Sentral. The
train left at 07:05 and of course all passengers had to scan the QR code and
undergo temperature check before boarding the train. The journey was smooth and
I passed the time by reading my thick novel.
We
arrived at Kuala Kangsar train station at 11:15, about 10 minutes later than
scheduled. ZK was already waiting and before long, we were passing the Malay
College. ZK brought me to the Laksa and Cendol Foodcourt by the Perak River and
I had some prawn noodles. We then browsed the nearby shops selling handicrafts
before we left. We drove past the Ubudiah Royal Mosque (we thought of stopping
but there were police at the mosque entrance) and the sprawling grounds of
Iskandariah Palace. We then stopped at Perak Royal Museum (Istana Kenangan).
This was my third visit to Kuala Kangsar (the first when I was small, the
second time was during a Treasure Hunt where we were made to drive around the
town with no puzzle to solve) so you could say I really played at being a
tourist.
Perak River
Royal Museum
Fried laksa and Milo kepal
We
spent about half an hour at the Royal Museum. ZK then drove to Laksa Pak Ngah
where we had early lunch. I had fried laksa (love it! If only it was less hot)
and Milo kepal. I enjoyed my lunch very much. It was threatening to rain so
after our lunch lunch, we drove to Lenggong. ZK had booked accommodation for me
at Suka Suka Lake Retreat so after driving around the lake, headed for Kampung
Kelantan where the retreat is.
The
friendly hosts welcomed us and explained that the resort was built with Malay
concept in mind. Over some tea made from Garcinia atroviridis (your humble
‘asam gelugur’ or ‘asam keping’), Pak Aziz, the host, explained that he bought
Malay houses from all over and had them transported to their resort and
reconstructed. There are a lot of local handicrafts serving as decorations in
the main house. To give the Malay Cultural Heritage experience, guests can join
in cooking classes and local games. The hosts would also bring their foreign
guests around the village with the guests wearing batik and pelikat sarongs (they
get a lot of foreign visitors but this being in the time of COVID-19, their
guests are now mainly local). They had just reopened on 1 July 2020.
Just
before I was then shown to my two-bedroom chalet, Pak Aziz requested me to wear
batik sarong to dinner. Fret not if you didn’t bring any, they have batik and
pelikat sarongs for you to borrow. Back to my chalet, one room had twin beds
while the other had a queen bed and a single bed so of course I chose the room
with the queen bed. Both rooms were en-suite and there were mosquito nets over
the beds. There was no AC but there are fans and it wasn’t that hot with all
the trees and cool lake breeze to warrant an AC anyway. I rested and even had a
kip. Oh by the way, phone network coverage was bad over there. Celcom and Unifi
work best. I didn’t have coverage for my DiGi and was told there was no
coverage for Maxis either. The price I paid for my room included Malay dinner
and breakfast. I was told during dinner that if you stay for two nights, you
get lunch too.
Room which I chose with its queen and single beds
I
ventured out for an evening walk around the resort. I didn’t stay out too long
as the mosquitoes were out and about.
Shame that it was an overcast evening and we couldn’t sight the sunset
I
went for dinner at a quarter to 8 p.m. wearing a batik sarong which I borrowed
from the hosts. There was a family of five from Lumut and they sat with Pak
Aziz while I sat with Kak Asiah (Pak Aziz’s wife) and Azam (their son). Pak
Aziz and Azam wore baju Melayu with tengkolok. Dinner was excellent and I had
never eaten so much Malay dishes in one go before! There were two fish dishes
(we were told that they usually serve one fish dish so we were really lucky),
one prawn dish, one vegetable dish, chicken, sambal... the husband of the
family of wife even took some dishes from our side as the three adults shared
dinner with three small children (not that the small children ate a lot
anyway). After a very satisfying dinner, we excused ourselves and I went back
to my room to read and rest.
I
woke up early on Sunday and packed up. I went over to the living area at almost
08:00 but was told that breakfast wasn’t ready yet. I wandered around and
returned again almost an hour later. ZK arrived at almost 10:00 and after
thanking and bidding farewell to the hosts, we left for Rumah Sungai, which is
owned by a friend of ZK. Listed at no. 51 here, it had reopened from 18 June
2020 and is fully booked on weekends until end-2020. I had told ZK that I
didn’t want to walk in any orchard or forest for fear of creepy crawling leeches, darn mites and blasted mosquitoes (I had a very bad episode when I visited my niece and we went to a waterfall where I had mites entering my body and suffered severe pain two days later when I was back in KL. Needless to say, I had to visit Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital a few times because of the dang mites. It put a stop to my jungle treks and visits to my nieces when they were at the boarding school). Nature is fine and all but I would prefer the creatures in it to
stay in it (and I’m sure the creatures in it also prefer for humans to be out
of it too!) so ZK had his friend bring some durians and mangosteens for me. Oh,
the spoilt pampered city girl that I am!
The living area bathed in sunlight
The living area at Suka Suka Lake Retreat
Living area from outside
Bidding goodbye to the hosts and Suka Suka Lake Retreat
The river that runs by Rumah Sungai
The room rate at Rumah Sungai includes lunch for four. You can choose from three different sets. Each set consists of local salad, grilled fish with sambal and a vegetable dish
I
wasted no time and after washing my hands (yes, important!), I dug in happily.
I think the two men must be amused and amazed that little me was able to eat
durian non-stop, one after another. Continuously. I was popping them like happy
pills. After a while, I did stop, went to wash my hands and sat down again to
attack the mangosteen. I polished them effortlessly. Me, the champ! There were
some leftovers and we packed them up and being the city girl that I am, I
brought a canvas bag which fit the fruits just nice. I wanted to pay for the
fruits but ZK’s friend refused to accept any payment. He was bringing out lunch
sets and explained to me the three different lunch sets offered to their
guests. Simple but seriously appetising.
We
left and after a brief stop at ZK’s house to drop off the fruits, I persuaded
him to drive me to Lenggong Archaeological Museum (we passed my nieces’
boarding school along the way). We spent about 40 minutes at the museum before
returning to ZK’s house to get the fruits. We packed the durian in a container
and cleaned up before leaving for Kuala Kangsar.
Lunch
was had at a restaurant near the station and ZK dropped me off at the station
after we finished lunch. I had about 30 minutes to kill at the station before
the train arrived. The train arrived on time and we arrived at KL Sentral
around 17:10. This trip took place exactly 52 weeks after my train trip to
Taiping so perhaps my next visit to this region of Perak will take place during
the third weekend of July 2021 (or earlier if the durian season starts early!).
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