Getting out of the controlled climate of their car at Petronas, Bandar Penawar, VT and Claudine immediately felt the actual onslaught of the North Easterly winds. Just by looking at the movements of the clouds was enough to gauge how strong the wind was, no anemometers required! However, Jason and Siew Hong who were tailing their car all the way from home were nonchalant, perhaps still new to the challenges posed by headwinds!
Before long, Bernie and Suzie arrived at the meet up point. They led us to Bandar Penawar's bus station where we found some good parking spots. All set up, we rolled out of town and headed for Batu Layar.
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| Dahon P8 leading!!! |
Once we hit Jalan Desaru, the rolling hills began....gradual but enough to start our body on aerobic respiration. Bernie was all eager to test out his Dahon Speed P8, speeding ahead of everyone. Speed is contagious and soon Jason left Siew Hong to give chase!
The junction to Batu Layar was a good 14km away. Midway, Suzie who was driving the support car stopped to take our photos. Her excuse for not riding with us on this first leg was, "Tak Nak Hitam!"
Once we hit the coasts, we all slowed down to enjoy the beauty of the sea. This morning though, the sea was a menacing body of water that pounded the beach relentlessly!
We found Suzie at the quiet car park near the Batu Layar Beach Resort. With the North East Monsoon nearing its tail end, the beach was almost deserted except for a handful of daredevil Indians who were bathing on red flag conditions. While we watched them, Suzie brought out our small picnic of curry puff sardines, sugar doughnuts and kuih keria, a malay doughnut made with sweet potatoes, all bought from Bandar Penawar.
After our snacks, we hit the road again, riding along the coasts and passing by many locally run resorts. Coming near to the junction to Punggai Beach Resort, we were all captivated with a giant cactus plant in full bloom. A little ahead was Kuala Sungai Punggai, decked with fishing boats and squalid homes along the river.
Soon, we came to the end of the coastal road and had to take on the main road again. The fields along this route were overgrown with lalang which can be beautiful on a sunny day. Bernie took us into the fields for a photo shoot but soon realized the road led to a dead end.
Reconnecting with the main road again, we made another go for yet another small coastal road. This second one led us right to the construction site of The Amerald, a high rise serviced accommodation by Amerald Land Pte Ltd, based in Singapore. Beside it was the squatter homes for the labourers.
Leaving the construction mess behind, we found a serene village surrounded by tall coconut trees just a hundred meters away. We crossed a wooden bridge that traversed a brook with dark, slow moving water. Beyond the homes of the villagers, the road diverged into smaller lanes overgrown with weeds and coming to a dead end once more!!!
Nobody dared to pass any nasty comments as we headed out to the main road again, dodging branches, weaving through rubbish and rolling over creepers. When Bernie, made his third turn for the coasts, everyone followed meekly as none knew the roads better than him. This time though, there were no more dead ends but one that led to the sea. At the far horizon, we spotted ships as rightfully this is the South China Sea, one of the busiest shipping routes in the world.
Heading out again, we coasts along the seaside. This time we were rewarded with views of barges and sand dunes in the middle of the sea. We then, crossed yet another small bridge at the mouth of a small river.
Before heading inland for Sg Rengit, we made another stop at Pantai Timur to take photographs of the barge docked by a construction site. Strange that the beach was cordoned off from the public perhaps of the close proximity with the sand dredging work.
Hungry, we pumped the pedals for Sg Rengit. The factories and orstrich farm was a blurry vision as we sped past. We spotted the small Chinese temple on a big open ground, an indication that lunch is near.
Before turning into Jade Garden Seafood Restaurant, we made a stop at the fishing jetty. This time, besides a view of ships, we also saw oil rigs bobbing faraway. With Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex nearby, we can't deny these ugly structures.
The restaurant was just opened for lunch when we arrived and the Captains were not as eager to see us as we were for their lobsters. We weren't fussing when we were told to park our bikes at the back of the restaurant with a seafront. But when the second Captain, the familiar lady that we meet on all our visits made nasty remarks over our lobster orders, we had to shrugged them off as spoiling their early morning naps!
The 3 lobsters we ordered made us RM360 poorer. Adding on a kangkung belacan, tofu and edible lemon chicken, the total bill was RM480. An expected price for a lobster meal on Chap Goh Meh and Chinese Valentine's Day!
Wrapping up our lunch, we headed back to base. The headwind we encountered was so strong we were barely moving even though we pedaled hard. When Claudine overtook Bernie, he blamed it on the lobsters ingested earlier!
Our initial plan to take the main road back was abandoned as the coastal road had more trees which helped to break the strong winds. When we reached Batu Layar again, the temptation to abandon the ride was too great. Everyone except Claudine, wanted a free ride home. However, the Collective Mind was too powerful. It broke down Claudine's resolve and in the end, she too climbed up the truck.
Coming near to Bandar Penawar, VT who rode at the cargo area banged hard on the roof of the cockpit. He cautioned the possibility of bumping into some law and order officers. It was then decided that we will not get a free ride all the way back to our cars but a little more pedal work was required!!!
Photo Credits :
Bernie
Suzie
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