Wednesday, 21 August 2013

Selangor : Tanjong Sepat Treks Day 3

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Selangor : Tanjong Sepat Treks Day 3
: A Bike-Packing Adventure
The mangrove swamps of Tg Sepat (Photo by Robert)
Day 3 - Tanjong Sepat to USJ : 10th August 2013
Cycling Distance Covered : 75.4 km.
Time : 9:15 am - 3:45 pm
Time Taken : approx. 6 hrs. 30 mins. (including stops for lunch, rest, photo shoots, etc.)

Route Recommendations :
1. Expect cross-winds along the coastal roads.
2. The coastal roads afford little shade, so do cover up to avoid sunburn.
3. The mangrove swamps just out of Tanjong Sepat are quite picturesque.
4. When cycling along the motor-cycle lanes of the KESAS highway, do try to ride as far left as possible as motorcycles will come zooming by.

This is Part 3 of a 3 part blog, click on following to go to other pages :
Tanjong Sepat Treks Day 1
Tanjong Sepat Treks Day 2


PRELUDE

Two days earlier we had arrived at Tanjong Sepat after a close to 80km. ride from USJ (... see Tanjong Sepat Treks Day 1.


The previous day we took a day trip to Bagan Lalang and then onwards to Sungai Pelek for lunch...


... and returned to Tanjong Sepat to admire a beautiful sunset (... see Tanjong Sepat Treks Day 2).


THE RIDE - Day 3 (Tanjong Sepat to UEP Subang Jaya)

Tanjong Sepat to UEP Subang Jaya Ride Map (click for Map Link)
Ride Route : Tanjong Sepat>Banting>Jenjarom>UEP Subang Jaya.
After two days & two nights of fun with wonderful friends it was time to return.

Goooood Morning!
It's beautiful dawn in Tanjong Sepat  one of blue skies with the the orange tinge of the sunrise slowly creeping to wake us up.
Time to get ready and ride again!


With a tinge of sadness, we rode off from the Ganofarm Homestay. Was it because the place has kept us well; or was it because our biking camaraderie will be ending today? Probably it was a mix of both.


Seeing that it is going to be a long ride back and that we will be needing to burn more carbs, Andrew took us over to the nearby Yikee for a heavier breakfast. Yikee sells an interesting seafood version of Bak Kut Teh.


L-R : Kellie, Andrew, Chris, Shereen, Hui Min, Wai Keat, Crystal & Kim.
The nine of us (Siew Yung had followed Robert back the previous evening) really enjoyed this unique Bak Kut Teh.


"Bak Kut Teh" literally means Pork Bone Soup, so it was an irony when the first dish came. It was a fish soup - no meat at all; did I taste a hint of pork there, perhaps they use pork stock to make the soup before adding the fish. Still it was unique and nice.


The next dish that came was the whopper - it had slices of fish, loads of prawns AND SOME FATTY PORK!
The seafood added a flavor of the sea to the combo, it's the local version of surf & turf.


While waiting for the food to come, a few of us popped over to buy some of the renown Tanjong Sepat home-made fish balls & fish cakes from one cottage "factory". A word of advice : buy fish balls from these cottage industry places and not from the vendors near the market. Those from the market do not use good fish and also don't use filtered water which gives them the odd smell of the acrid water.


9:15 am - On this clear morning with clear blue skies, we rode of from Tanjong Sepat  it will be a beautiful day to ride.


Robert had given us a tip of an interesting place that he saw on his drive up here the previous day - some mangrove swamps just a few kilometres out from Tanjong Sepat  just past Kampong Batu Laut.

It is indeed a fascinating place; the dead mangrove trees sticking out from the sea made gave the place a mysterious aura.
Mysterious or not, these mangrove swamps protected much of these coast land during the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami; taking the brunt of the incoming waves.


The bright jerseys of Shereen & Kellie adding color to the mangrove swamp.
The unmoving trees being swept by the incoming breakers indeed did have a surrealistic air, not unlike a scene from a Alfred Hitchcock suspense movie.


10:05 am - Passing by the Batu Laut police station.


Just before Morib town we made a left turn into Jalan Tali Air.


At the lean-to shed at this junction we took a short break. Some just rested while others, contacted their friends on their smartphones - even now, the return to our mundane daily lives is slowly sneaking back.


A little bit further on, we passed by this cactus farm; I wonder what these cacti are harvested for? Some beauty products?
(Update: Ken, a friend of mine informed me that these are dragon fruit trees, and he is right ... see photos from the net.)


We are still near the sea, the coastal headwind blowing strong against us.
Oh-oh... do those look like rain clouds, let's hope the weather holds and no rain comes.


11:10 - Arrived at Banting town. We are averaging a fairly good speed of 15km/hr.


We only had a quick toilet break at Banting and headed straight on for Jenjarom.


Lunch were simple noodles followed by some good Goreng Pisang; huge ones made from the giant Pisang Tanduk.


After Jenjarom, rode mostly along the kampong roads.


Cutting through Kapmpong Batu 7, we made our way to ...


... Kota Kemuning and from there headed down to the KESAS highway at the Jalan Bukit Kemuning junction.


Cycling along the KESAS motorcylcling lane, we were were soon back at USJ 8
- and it's the end of a wonderful 3-days adventure with a group of beautiful people.


Many thanks to my friends who made this ride a memorable one.
L-R : Kellie, Shereen, Chris, Kim, Wai Keat, Crystal, Siew Yung, Hui Min, me, Andrew, Robert & Ian (who's not in the photo as he was taking it).


Special thanks to Andrew & Hui Min who had taken great effort in organizing this ride.


This is Part 3 of a 3 part blog, click on following to go to other pages :

Related Blogs :

You may also like:







You are at - Jotaro's Blog / AhPek Biker / Tanjong Sepat Treks  Day 3    | Jump to Day 1 / Day 2
If you like this, view my other blogs at Jotaro's Blog
(comments most welcomed below. if you like this pls share via facebook or twitter)

Tuesday, 20 August 2013

Selangor : Tanjong Sepat Treks Day 2

You are at - Jotaro's Blog / AhPek Biker / Tanjong Sepat Treks  Day 2    | Jump to Day 1 / Day 3
                          AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures                       
Selangor : Tanjong Sepat Treks Day 2
: A Bike-Packing Adventure
Day 2 - Tanjong Sepat to Bagan Lalang : 9th August 2013
Small Group Ride - Tanjong Sepat>Bagan Lalang>Sungai Pelek & back.
Cycling Distance Covered : 54.41 km. (From Tg Sepat to Bagan Lalang & Sungai Pelek; excl. night ride in Tg Sepat).
Time : 9:40 am - 4:10 pm
Time Taken : approx. 5 hrs. 30 mins. (including stops for breakfast, lunch, rest, photo shoots, etc.)

Route Recommendations :
1. Expect cross-winds along the coastal road to & fro Tanjong Sepat to Bagan Lalang.
2. The coastal roads afford little shade, so do cover up to avoid sunburn.
3. The beaches at Bagan Lalang are quite scenic, especially during high tide.
4. At low tide, the water-line here goes up till about 500 metres from the shore and the water comes in quite fast as high tide approaches. So if you don't swim well, don't go out to far lest you be caught by the sudden incoming water.

This is Part 2 of a 3 part blog, click on following to go to other pages :
Tanjong Sepat Treks Day 1
Tanjong Sepat Treks Day 3


PROLOGUE

The previous day, riding from USJ to Tanjong Sepat (... see Tanjong Sepat Treks Day 1) had been fruitful; we managed to harvest some durians along the way for a feast later ...


... and also enjoyed some freshly plucked coconut, full of invigorating coconut water and soft, slurpy meat!

Early in the morning Robert & Ian, two good friends, have driven all the way KL/PJ. They brought their bicycles along too so that they could join us for today's ride. We cyclists are avidly passionate about cycling. Others may call us crazy, but they don't know what they are missing!



THE RIDE - Day 2 (Tanjong Sepat to Bagan Lalang)

Tanjong Sepat to Bagan Lalang Ride Map (click for Map Link)
Ride Route : Tanjong Sepat>Bagan Lalang>Sungai Pelek & back.
This is a quick day ride from Tanjong Sepat to Bagan Lalang to smell/view the sea a bit, then onwards to Sungai Pelek for lunch.


Goooood Morning!
The skies are blue and tinged with a bit of rain clouds, just the perfect day to ride.


(Photo by Chris)
A happy Kellie jumping with joy agrees full-heartedly.
Whooopeee! It's time to ride!


(Photo by Robert)
And happy are the others too, wide smiles as we posed for a group photo at the beach.


A group photo beautifully taken by Robert, and we are ready to roll off.


(Photo by Robert)
First thing first - breakfast at a nearby coffee-shop, all of us still fresh and still all smiles.


I had noodles soup and this half-boiled eggs
- just nicely done and beautifully presented.
Slurp!


and.. oh... some of us bought lottery tickets.
Hopefully one of us do strike, then it will be a feast treat for us and definitely a new bicycle!


We are off on the real ride, cycling along the main coastal road heading for Bagan Lalang.


Robert, the avid photographer, was fantastic. He lugged his DSLR camera together with zoom lens all the way. Many of the nice photos here were taken by him and Ian.


Along the way, several rest stops.
The coastal winds gets pretty strong, it seems to be blowing right against us, taxing us.


The route down had very few trees that afforded us shade, but the cool blowing wind soothed us.


Time for some refreshment - coconut water at a way-by kampong stall.


12:15 pm - My bike with the Bagan Lalang beach & sea in the background. It was low-tide and the water-line was rather far away from the sandy beach - about 300-500 meter away.
This is the danger of beaches here, and also in Tanjong Sepat & Port Dickson. The faraway water line makes the strolling in the wet sand to reach it so inviting. But when high-time comes, the water swamps in faster than a person can walk in; there has been many a cases of non-swimmers drowning because they could not outrun the incoming water rush.


As lunch time was approaching we couldn't linger around the beach area for long. The girls were attracted to the stalls selling colorful toys, Shereen got this colorful toy windmill and attached it to her bike.


Our beach sojourn over, we rode off heading for Sungai Pelek ten kilometers away. Lunch is awaiting us.


1:10 pm - Reached Sungai Pelek Restaurant where we will be having our lunch.


How's the food here? Let's see...
Among the dishes we had was this Claypot Stewed Tofu With Mushrooms.


The stir-fried pork in dark soy sauce went well with the "Man-Tau" steamed buns.


(Photo by Robert)
Either we were very hungry or the food was very good - Andrew seriously reaching out for the food and Sheeren looking on earnestly - "Hey! Leave some for me!"


You have heard of line dancing, but have you heard about LINE MASSAGING?
That's us massaging each others back, after which we turned around and massaged the other way round.
Ouch!! but wasn't that good!


Exploring the town after lunch, we came upon this residential house turned shop that sels "Pau" steamed buns and also buns baked in a large earthen pot. From the long queue, the buns must be very good.


Riding back to Tanjong Sepat we were hoping that the morning headwind would become a tail wind as we are riding the other direction. But then it was fat hopes as the wind decided to change and to blow from the opposite direction - so more puffing while cycling against the wind.
Our wind-challenged ride back would have been quite uneventful until ...


... we happened on a rambutan orchard and were soon plucking away, harvesting the fruits.


It has turned out to be a fruitful ride after all.
Sweet.... so sweet were the rambutans.


(Photo by Robert)
Closer to Tanjong Sepat, the waves had started rolling in, making the mangrove swap rather picturesque beckoning us to stop, to admire and take photos.


Back in Tanjong Sepat, it was tea-time for us at one of the drinks stall in town. Tea was the pau we bought in Sungai Pelek (Yup! Crystal carried them all the way back) together with ice kacang.


... and also this nice colorful watermelon smoothie.
YummY!


(Photo by Robert)
What's coming to Tanjong Sepat without viewing the sunset here, so it was off to the Lover's Bridge, a nice place to watch the sun set.
We were there at just after 6 pm and the sun sets at 7 pm, so while trading bike talk and jokes, we waited... and waited ...


It's coming ...


Yes .... it's really coming.


and the SUNSET IS HERE!
Beautifully worth the wait.


After a quick bath and feeling refreshed, we cycled out again for dinner at a place recommended by Chief Sam Cheong of the Malaysian Foldies Group and the Samosaurus Chronicles.
It is a simple road-side place selling good char keow teow. Greedy me wolfed down two plates of fried keow teow mee topped with an extra egg.


There was no karaoke for us again tonight; but we did something even better -
we celebrated Chris's birthday.
No cake? Well, a muffin and a fish-cake will do.


Er.... no candles? Then a bicycle torch will suffice.
Puff! Click..... Happy Birthday Chris!


It has been a great day.
One of picturesque beaches.
One of a fruitful harvest.
One of surrealistic mangrove swamps.
And one of a make-do birthday party.
Goodnight.


This is Part 2 of a 3 part blog, click on following to go to other pages :

Related Blogs :

You may also like:







You are at - Jotaro's Blog / AhPek Biker / Tanjong Sepat Treks  Day 2    | Jump to Day 1 / Day 3
If you like this, view my other blogs at Jotaro's Blog
(comments most welcomed below. if you like this pls share via facebook or twitter)