Desaru Part 2: A different view

After one night in Tanjung Balau, we thought that we should be a bit more adventurous, check-out and go out for a night in a different resort. We’ve not made any reservation anywhere else, just daring ourselves to look for a better beach and hopefully a better resort too.

All packed up, we headed for the other side of town. This time, it looks a bit more promising. We kinda like this place called The Pulai. The entrance, reception and lobby looks more ‘professional’.

At the reception, we were hoping that there is a vacancy for us for a room facing either the beach or the pool (preferably on the ground floor so that we could easily jump out the door and straight onto the beach or the in the pool). Come to think of it, had we thought of tsunami back then, we would have opted for a different room. Anyway, we were sort of lucky that there was a room being vacated which is facing the beach. But it is on the first floor and located right at the end of the resort….. a fair bit of walking to do.

We walked into the room and whoaaaaaaaaaa it is soooo much different than Balau Room. This one is bigger and definitely facing the beach. Outside our balcony is actually a futsal pitch. There were some people playing there (both men and women) with skimpy clothing… Mat Saleh… what do you expect? Opah was not comfortable of this, but what to do? Buat selamber ajelah… luckily we were on the first floor so tak berapa nampak sangat.



The beach was sooooo inviting that we could not hold our excitement any longer. Immediately gear up for another excursion. This time it’s for real!!



Siapkan barang, letak bedak sikit….. ok dah!

Here we are!!! Barulah betul… Notice the background, it’s our room on the first floor leftmost side. Pssst don’t be naughty, opah could be watching!





One last pose before we get all covered with sand…



Kejaaaaaaaaaaar!! bola masuk dalam lauuuut…



Laying the foundation… macam orang buat kat rumah tok ayah tu…



Heeeeeeelpppp!! My sister lost her leg!!!



Oh no!!! Now my feet turn into some sort of a fish tail with slippers…



Le Chateu de la sands…



Umi lapar…



Opah couldn’t resist joining in the fun!



Wash up before we head back to the room.

Bandar Penggaram Local Delight

Nightfall and suddenly our tummy cried out for food. Pak Cik Amil took us to one of the (few) local restaurant available. The one that we went to had some cool gimmick. Apart from the many live fish tanks displayed there, there were also this "wall of fame" and "feedback from customers".





Looking closely at the feedback, most of them were satisfied with the food offered there (obviously). Praises on steamed patin, sotong goreng tepung and kangkung belacan were in abundance. We decided to check it out ourselves. There were also plenty of praises on the warm hospitality.

The cook came out and personally net the fish in front of us. IlinYaya shrieked in horror with the act. He quickly pop the fish in a pail and took it to the kitchen.

Legend has it that the cook is the grandchild of "Wong Ah Jang", a big taiko, long long time ago. They were in the construction business, but later on this guy embraced islam, separated from the family and specialised in gas piping (or something like that). He was doing plenty of maintenance work in big hotels. Mostly done in the kitchen. That was where he picked up the tricks on cooking from the many chefs he met. Now he ends up with a restaurant of his own, running the show with his wife.

And these are what we ordered.

The infamous steamed patin.



That's the cook in the middle and the wife next to him. The restaurant couple were really really friendly and sat down with us chit chatting with the grown ups.

After a quick piranha attack on the food, we were left sitting back on our chair licking our fingers and wiping our mouth. Opah got carried away and decided to make her own drink behind the drink counter.

And we decided to mark our visit as well with our own posting.


By the way, the restaurant next to where we were had a different gimmick of their own. They have a karaoke stage for anyone to sing their heart out. This is a really funny little cowboy town.

Master Pieces

Somehow our master pieces did not appear in the post below.

Here they are again...



Yaya with the finishing touches.



siap dengan gambar sekali...



Super Art Attack Style!

Trip to Desaru

We were invited for a wedding at Tok Lang's house in Felda Adela. It's quite a distance and we were not sure whether we are up to making the trip. However, we tend to look for opportunity to get away from the busy city. One time ago, Desaru (which is about 20km from Felda Adela), use to be famous for it's beaches. We are hoping that the beaches are still preserved, safe from any kind of polutions. Besides, Ilin & Yaya have already been to the highlands, now it's time to check out the beach...... imagine white sandy beaches and calm waves.

The journey down was really a long one. The highway was smooth. We took about 4 hours from Shah Alam down to Senai exit. After the exit, we started to travel along a narrower road, dual carriageway with a more scenic view of kelapa sawit, kelapa sawit and more kelapa sawit. All 2.5 hours of them.


Finally we reach the place. Pakcik Amil was there to greet us. He took us to a resort called Tanjung Balau Beach Resort.... (not the most glamorous name we thought). But the place was quite OK la... babah thinks that it is run by a government body Kejora or something. Can't expect too much.

We quickly settle down and after a quick wash, we were geared up to hit the beach. Ready or not here we come....


We ran and ran and ran all the way to where the beach is (penat lari 20 meter) ......... when we got there, this is what we saw:

teng teng teeeeng..... (to the tune of P Ramlee's horror sound effect).

We did not expect to see so much mud and stone beach. There was this loooong jetty though. We must be at the wrong part of the beach. I suppose this might be the place where the fishermen park their boats, safe from the strong tides and waves.

Alamaaaaak... there were plenty of 'belacak' too! Nope we're not going anywhere near them...


Luckily there were some sand. Not much of a 'beach' but enough to have some 'activities'. Babah immediately went to scout for some stuff... not sure what they were for until he came back. There was this blue thingy, of which he calls a 'shaker'. He puts some mixture of sand and stone and shells in it and shakes it. Out comes the smaller stuff and we were reminded of our glitter activity.

Umi, opah and babah, drew on the sand and we went on decorating them. Here are our master pieces....



p/s we learn the word t.o.m. y.a.m. along the journey. Immediately put it to practice and wrote on the sand.

Happy Birthday Sarah!!

This little fairy gives you cuteness,

This little fairy gives you kindness,

This little fairy gives you cleverness,

This little fairy gives you cheekiness,

But mama......... I just want a bicycle!!