Baby clams delight.......

Father and daughter bonding....

“Tomorrow , we will go to Pengkalan Balak and dig ourselves some baby clams, shall we ?” This was my invitation to SLing and SYuen on Friday night after planting our bodies to the sofa seat. To be exact, SYuen was excited while SLing was apprehensive because she did not like the sun and the sticky feeling after a day out to the sea. In our household, a consensus and a majority decision must be met before any activity could be carried out. So, once again, the plan for baby clam hunting was debated and as I presented my case in the usual fashion of enthusiasm and with great diligence, a democratic vote of triumph was attained! The rest was as usual; very close that is 2 to aye and 1 to nay! So, Baby Clam Hunting which is on Agenda No.4 on the Weekly Foo Family Parliament Session was elevated to Agenda No.1 on Friday night due to the urgency of the matter and was democratically voted and passed as law in the Foo Family Parliament! Yee haa! Cowboy session but who cares, right? Better than Agenda No.1 – Sleep, Agenda No.2 – Rest and Sleep More and Agenda No. 3- Watch TV/ Korean Drama!

 

Mom & daughter bonding....

So, with the promise of waking up early and getting all hyped up that we need to get nasi lemak, drinks, fruits, kacang putih and all the other goodies, we went to bed with enthusiasm and anticipation filled our hearts. That Saturday, alas, we did not get up from our beds until 10.30am and we immediately told ourselves that we would be in contempt of the Foo Family Parliament Session if we do not do our Baby Clam Hunting activity! So, we grabbed a quick brunch at ASV Restaurant in Malim and then headed to local store, Cowboy Superstore to get a picnic mat and then get some fruits before heading home to prepare our utensils for our quest.

Equipped with drinks, food and SLing made cut-containers and small shovel from used detergent bottles, we were off to Pengkalan Balak. SYuen was excited as usual and we had both hoped that we would get good harvest of baby clams that day. I must give honour to God as the weather was cloudy and really good. It was extremely good to know that the weather was like that throughout the day.

SYuen and I having a good time.....

Upon arrival at the beach in Pengkalan Balak, we picked a shaded spot by the beach and started unloading our goodies onto the picnic mat. Then it was time for me and SYuen to head out to the beach to look for baby clams. There was an elderly Malay couple who was very warm to us and we exchanged pleasantries. We came to know that they were from Bahau and they would be at the beach two weeks once just to get away from their work and also to enjoy some time together at the beach. The wife was picking out baby clams ( She later told me her mother-in-law loved eating the baby clams! ) while the husband was doing some net fishing nearby. I just enjoyed watching the two elderly folks doing what they both like at their age and still having a bountiful harvest from the sea. It was really a good acquaintance.

 

The colourful baby clams....

Soon, SYuen and I started digging for the baby clams. The moment I would cherished the most was the time spent talking with SYuen. It was a moment whereby she was all smiles and enjoying herself as we both dug for the baby clams. My small container seemed to fill up nicely as I used the rolling waves to my advantage as I sieved through the sands for baby clams. By half an hour to 40 minutes, I was already having about 1 kg worth of baby clams while SYuen was having about 500g of baby clams. We both laughed and had fun at the beach while the rolling beach waves hit us. SYuen looked so happy and I could feel her happiness while SLing was happily lying down on the mat and listening to some worship songs.

Occasionally, SYuen and I would get on the mat to get our food and drinks. It was a great time of fellowship for us a family. I have not had such a time for such a long time. It was really great being able to spend some time with SYuen and SLing. Yeah, I missed the presence of my son, Joa Wee too. It would have been good, yunno.  I also wished I had brought my portable stove so that I could cook the clams straight away but I was hesitant as I had brought many items to the beach that day.  Anyway, all in all, we had picked about 4 kgs worth off baby clams that day. It wasn’t about the weight or the quantity but the quality time I had spent with my family.

 

Enjoying the fruits of my labour.....

I guess, I will always remember this special time because the memories spent here would be just awesome. The setting of the sea which I loved a lot and also, as the sun goes down that day, it was just another awesome sight indeed. The baby clams were so colourful and so different in size and yet they really colour up the plastic container that we had. I could have sworn that it was as though I could hear the baby clams calling out “ Cook me and eat me! Eat me! Eat me! “ that day. Yeah, the clams looked absolutely good as they are fresh but I would have to soaked them up with some fresh water so that they could expel out grit and sand. We don’t want grit and sand in our meal, right?

Yeah, the colourful baby clams in the container that day tells us about our lives which could be technicolour at times but we just needed to stay strong and persevere through every difficulties and pain. I guess, in many ways, I really love the bonding that day. It was just great to be able to spend time with family without having to have anything in mind. Just pure rest, relaxed  and good times with family. Sometimes, we all need to do that – Just chill out for a day and do something together as family.

 

Yummy baby clams - my creation...

By the way, if you should want to know of what had happened to the baby clams, well, they tasted real awesome in my mouth as I prepared them for the family late tea fare later the following afternoon. 

A good shot of olive oil, some chopped garlic, some chopped ginger, a small cup of water and two bird’s eyes chillies ,salt, pepper and a dash of sesame oil does the magic for these baby clams. The taste is truly stupendously good, okay?  Go and get yourselves some baby clams and enjoy that special bonding with your family. It doesn’t hurt to get something going for the family and baby clams hunting is one fine activity to keep the family strong, bonded and uplifted in spirits too.  I might not be a brilliant brainy man nor a wealthy man but I know that family time does wonders to your heart, soul and the family dynamics. That outstrips the wealth and all possessions of this world! 

Water

Have you ever wondered and felt blessed that there is clean water running out of your water pipes each day? I must say to you that there are still places in our country whereby some communities did not even have water pipes running through their village and here we are running gallons and gallons of precious water down our pipe shutes each and every day without a care in the world. Isn’t it ironic that water in its purest essence is the most important sustenance for life itself? I am appalled that there are still communities and villages in our country who still do not get their clean water supply because of their faith beliefs and even pure evil discrimination. What attraction is there if one does the very opposite of the very faith one is trying so hard to get the community to embrace? Where is the beauty of such faith if one practises favoritism, unfairness and evilness? God is watching and God remembers. 

Anyway, last Sunday, I considered myself blessed to be in a team of great people to track for water source for an OA community village who had not had clean water for the past 10 years. I guess, only God knows their trouble and the silent pain they had to endure all these years. To me, I noted that the OA village and community consisted on the older folks, the middle aged and the young ones. It is extremely sad to see the young ones live like that. I really felt a tug in my heart every time I see their living conditions minus the clean water supply. About 20metres away, two families of different faith had the luxury of having piped water supply and two water tanks installed in front of their houses while another 6 houses whose occupants are different faith are to be neglected? I shudder at the evilness of men.

I found out that the community only water source is the bottom valley river and far too many people had been using these waters to wash clothes, bathe, clean themselves and drink the water. It saddened my friends and I upon seeing and realising their plight. So that day after service, the five of us ( Edwin, Gilbert, Errol, Josephine and myself ) together with our OA friends, Pak Panjang, Pak Yee, Ibu Leha, Tos and Rudi made our way to the nearby jungle to source a suitable water source to flow to the OA community village.

I must say to you that being 51 in human years, I do cringed at the thought of hiking up undulating terrains as the body can be quite fragile at this age. I could almost hear the creaks, tweaks and little butterflies in the stomach as I armed up for the hike. Looking at my fellow hikers, I just prayed that I would not collapsed in the middle of the hike to find the much needed water course and source. Earlier I was told that it would be a 2.5km hike and it would be quite easy. In the OA terms, quite easy and 2.5km can sometimes meant differently as it would easily stretched longer and the terrain is tougher for us, the urbanites , than for the OA people.

Anyway, equipped with a real burning desire to reach the water source and to see what could be done , we started out our journey through the oil palm plantation and cutting through the small creeks and rivers as we made our way further into the plantation. It started out fairly easy grounds and then it started to go uphill and then downhill and then up again. Thirty minutes in to the walk, we had to wade through big fallen tree trunks, fire ants, leeches , spider webs and sharp rattan plants. Though the creek and river crossing were interesting enough, the rain during the night earlier made the grounds slippery, wet and some beautiful natural environment for leeches. Well, as far as I was concerned , leeches were the least of my worries. I was more worried if I could withstand the long walk but I was surprisingly surprised that I could still walked on. I am ever so thankful the One Above for giving me the strength. Maybe the burning anger in my heart for the unfair treatment and the fiery desire to find a good water source were the motivating factors for me.  I know right from the start that the Lord will sustain me for if not Him, I would have fallen flat on my face as we walked on in the rather undulating and wet terrain.

There were so many incidences when I fell flat on my ass and the falls can be quite painful but I am thankful I was not hurt at all. Maybe a bruised pride for falling on my ass and for being not careful but I am most blessed that all the years in Royal Rangers Ministry had helped equipped me with the knowledge to fall gracefully and not hurt myself and for the endurance too. Honestly, I was more afraid of falling and mistakenly grabbed the rattan plant for support which could quite a painful experience. In fact that was what that happened. My scariest nightmare happened when I slipped, fall and mistakenly grabbed hold of a cut rattan tree. The thorn and spike tore in to my right hand last two fingers and it bled! I quickly rushed to take out the thorns and ensured that no thorns were left inside the fingers. That was one painful experience indeed! As we reached a river crossing, I quickly washed off the mixture of mud, dirt and blood off the right fingers. Praise God, everything is okay and I could continue my journey without any hitch thereafter.

But I must say that from here on, I felt as though my stomach, lungs, heart and spleen exchanged places so many times that I do not seemed to care which part is at which position anymore. tiredness soon crept in but not a waning spirit to locate the waters. Sure, it was tiring but as we pressed on, there was a purpose in our hearts that day. So, I pressed on and so did the rest. Along the way, Ibu Leha stopped us in our tracks and exclaimed happily that there was a patch of wild mushroom right for picking. We helped out in picking out the wild mushrooms for our friends. Ibu Leha explained to me that these wild mushrooms bloomed only once a year and they tasted real good. By the time she finished telling me, her young daughter had already picked out about 2 kg worth of wild mushroom. I helped Pak Panjang cut a small length of creeper plant so that he can fasten his patch of wild mushroom and he kept them lodged between some trees opening telling me that he will get them on the way back.

As we walked further on, there was another patch of wild mushrooms and Pak Panjang told everyone that we should pick them on our way back. This was agreed upon and not too long afterwards there was another patch of wild mushrooms hidden behind a big tree and Ibu Leha praised God for a bountiful harvest of wild mushrooms. For me, I am just so amazed that the jungle could provide such sustenance for these simple folks. Then Tos, Yee and Ibu Leha also picked out some leafy plant which Tos explained that the leaves could be eaten as a cooked dish. It was really very interesting indeed and I was really impressed with their skills at survival.

After some arduous trek and negotiating some rugged terrain, we finally arrived at the water source. What a beautiful clear water sight indeed! Every ounce of tiredness and pain that had crept in due to the trek were immediately diminished and dispelled as the cool and cold water was splashed on my face. It was truly refreshing. The team then brainstormed on how best to extract water from this place with the ideas input from everyone. It was just such a beautiful natural sight and I am so blessed to be alive to see it, actually.

 

We did not stay long as the golden rule of being in the jungle is to get out as early as possible as it gets dark quite easily. So, following a lifelong traditional lifestyle, we parted the place after we have had enough view of the place. On the way back, we picked up the wild mushrooms and leeches along the way too. To be honest, I realised that the leeches had had their feast with our blood that day. Anyway, after coming out from the jungle, I was glad that everyone made it out good. It was a good 5km workout for all of us and  as we did not want to soil Edwin’s car, we walked another 0.7km to our resting place that day.

Prior to that, we spoke to Pak Panjang, Pak Yee, Ibu Leha, Tos and Rudi that we would try our best to get the water poly pipes, accessories and fittings to channel the water to the community. There was such a hope on their faces and I really felt their anxiety. I guess, in many ways, a lot had been promised to them but things just did not start for them. At that moment, I really wish I had a magic wand to get the water apparatus to equip this village with water. There was just so much anticipation and hope on their faces as we spoke to them on our desire to channel clean water supply to them. I felt their heartbeat so much on this matter. Silently, I prayed that God would enabled us , His people to get the works done for this community.

As I bathed and washed off myself after the trek, there was still a few leeches at my feet. Although there was a trail of five bloodied trail left by the leeches but it didn’t bother me at all at that time. I had to use handy plaster to stop the blood trail but the trip itself was worth the blood spilled to the jaw of the leeches. I am not unduly worried of the leeches bites and so on. I knew GOD had a real purpose for us that afternoon - to flow clean mountain water to the OA community. I pray that GOD's purposes will be fulfilled upon this OA community! 

Kukup Retreat

Kukup, Johor has always been synonymous with rest, good food and retreat. I dare say that Kukup is one of the last bastion of a good destination for the wallet friendly people like my friends and I. I must point out that I have really lost faith in the local tourism as it can be quite an expensive affair for a family like us even travelling around in our own country. Sure, we have lovely places of interest, historical sites and other great attractions but they are not local friendly at all especially on our wallets as foreign tourist and tourist dollars are first priority. Yeah, it is like we are the second class citizens/tourists even in our own country.

Anyway, I must admit that after our trip to Kukup this time, I believe that my faith for fair price for local tourist had been given a tremendous boost but very much still skeptical of the fairness. Take a good hard look at the alarming exorbitant prices for Mt.Tahan, Taman Negara and even to Mt.Kinabalu including the islands....they ain't cheap for the locals..that's for sure. I know damn well what I am saying because I love travelling. I have seen how the landscape of places had changed tremendously over the years and the old rustic charm feel and people had given way to modernisation and unscrupulous price hike. That's another story, though.

Anyway, I must say that I have very good impression of Kukup and it still does retained it's lovely attraction of RFR - rest , food & retreat. So, when friends and families got together to plan for a family retreat, Kukup was the most obvious choice. Groundwork was carried out by our dear friends, Johnson & Tina and the unanimously agreed on the choice - Beijing Resort. Then the day finally came and we drove in four cars ( drivers were Dinesh, Fook Meng, Errol and myself ) to get to Kukup.  Johnson and his three children were to meet us there  between 11.00am to 12.00am that day. 

We started out with a good dose of Ipoh wan tan mee and some drinks at Ipoh Restaurant in Ayer Keroh Heights before hitting the highway to Simpang Renggam. We left exactly at about 8.00am and the highway was a little tight with plenty of Deepavali day revellers on the highway. We managed to cruise and weaved through the traffic at the highway and inched our way to the destination of rest. Rain started pelting our windshields as we reached Pagoh and as we headed towards Simpang Renggam before exiting the highway. It was raining cats and dog and dark stormy clouds started to gather successfully in the sky above signalling the imminent heavy downpour. But alas, it did not pour that day.

As we inched closer, we were informed by Johnson that we would have to park our cars at Udang Car Park. Yeah, a familiar name for me as the Royal Rangers commanders, Bachang cell group members and Kota Laksamana cell group members had parked there before during our earlier trips there. I must admit that my family and I must have visited Kukup 5 times prior to this trip and this one would have been my sixth trip. Anyway, I was looking forward to the sixth one as this was a different group of family and people I have come to regard as family. These are special people who really have touched our lives so much and I am just thankful being able to be with them. Credit must be given to Johnson & Tina for finding this place and making it such a wonderful trip indeed.

Nothing much had changed for the car park and its transportation to the town - same old no door vans! Hahahahhaaaaa.....that was really hilarious and crazy as Fook Meng, Dinesh and myself squatted ( no more sitting place in the van! ) in the van as Edwin caught hold of Fook meng's t-shirt just in ase he got flung out of the van during the horrendous driving of the van driver. Incidentally , the van was as old as the van driver, mind you! Hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.............  As I squatted with my fellow matey , I could not help feeling like some immigrant from the nearby country landing for first time on the shores of the promised land! Anyway, I eased myself out of the van after it stopped at one of the stops. 

I could immediately catch the fishy crustacean like pong from the nearby loading/unloading dock nearby. Still the same ol' pong that will probably choke your throat and filled your nostrils with nauseating permeation if you are not careful! Alas! It was lucky that Ah Wei from Beijing resort was at hand to guide us to the resort. The resort is situated at Air Masin Kukup section of the town- the newer place of accommodation. I kinda thought that it would be on the left side of the town but instead the resort is situated on the right side of the town.

So, off we go, trudging and eyes opening at the new outlet of Hokkaido Ice Cream outlet and other seafood stalls set up along the walkway to the resort. Finally , after some good 10 minutes walk, we had arrived at Beijing Resort. We were greeted by the ever smiling staff of the resort together with Ah Wei. We were told that we are to bunk in at the top floor for our stay while lunch would be served at 12.30pm at the nearby restaurant. 

I found Beijing Resort to be a great place for rest and relax. We had the entire top floor to ourselves and with a karaoke room to ourselves, it was time to freak out and let the hair loose. Never mind if we sang out of tune or shy to take the microphone to showcase our indepth talent ( bakat terbenam! ) at singing, it was the started of great great fellowship and get together. The children got their rooms ( double decker beds,actually!) and so did we, the adults. So, time to freak out and freaked out we did. There was just so much fun, laughter and teasing around. It was such a beautiful sight of pure happiness and great smiles all around. 

For me, I was rather waiting in much anticipation on how the parents especially the fathers are going to explain to their children that there is no beach in Kukup! hahahhahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa........well, the children took it well, I must say! Soon, it was time to get lunch at the restaurant. Johnson and the children had arrived on time for lunch! Lunch was a 7 dish course of steamed barramundi ( siakap ) in Nyonya hot sauce, steamed prawns, mixed vegetables, satay sauce strips of squid, oyster sauce chicken, sweet and sour crabs and fried sotong balls.

What a sumptuous meal indeed! Then , we walked back to our resort and on our way there, most of us decided to treat ourselves with Hokkaido ice-cream namely one big dollop of flavoured ice cream sandwiched between two bun halves! To me, it is just the extravagant "roti aiskrim kiap".  Then , it back to karaoke and some wonderful singing at the karaoke room. I believe that many wonderful and talented singers were unearthed during our stay at the karaoke room!

The worship team would not be lack of singers if these guys and gals are given the opportunity to sing lar! Yup, folks, bathroom singers and malu-malu kuching ( the shy shy cat - direct translation mah! ) singers shone brightly that day and made it through lar ! Love their guts and their bravery to sing, man! Everyone had a good time and then, it was a break for tea time at about 3.00pm. 

Tea comprised of prawn fritters, fried banana ( goreng pisang ), fried sweet potato ( goreng keledek ) chui kuih ( this one is nostalgic and humbling good ! ) and a pot of green beans, dark coffee and chrysanthemum tea.  The prawn fritters and their homemade chili sauce were absolutely delicious and lovely! Definitely a specialty in Kukup!

Then it was some time of ping pong and some exploration of the resort. For me , I went to the front open deck area and noted that the immediate neighbour on the right was a manufacturer of fermented shrimp or geragau paste ( belacan ) and budu ( fermented anchovies sauce ) manufacturer. Yeah, occasionally the pong of the fermented geragau does gets to the nostrils indeed.  The ping pong matches between the combo of young and old definitely made the stay such a great time. It was pretty amazing that no one broke their back, leg or neck or any of their limbs came flying off the ping pong table by the intense competition that was on-going. There was such a great ruckus of teasing and fun at the table! Smiles & laughter were all around as usual.

I guess, the trip would not be completed without the "sunset cruise" around Kukup Island which was part of our itinerary when one visits Kukup. It was such a fun thing for the children and the adults alike. The poor belangkas ( Shoe crab ), archer fish and puffer fish were on their best show for every freaking group of tourist who had dropped by at the floating kelong /fish farm. I could not help but feel that the wooden boat was somehow overcrowded with passengers that day but heck, if we are going down, we might as well go down in style,man! Hahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.......

After a good wash up, it was time for BBQ dinner and again our host did a pretty wonderful spread of food for us to enjoy. There were char siew sauce infused BBQ chicken wings, medium sized prawns on wooden skewers, chicken satay, otak-otak, green vegetables, a big bowl of clear soup of meat & vegetables , rojak buah, chili BBQ stingray and some steamed sweet potatoes. It was a hearty meal and we really enjoyed ourselves throughout the evening. We talked, laughed and had great fellowship together till late nite and early morning. Die hard MU fans such as Dave, Caleb & Fook Meng watched the MU Vs Burnley match as the others sang karaoke before being served porridge and sweet longan drinks for supper!

While others in the group are worrying about the calories, devout and die hard foodie fans like me would just enjoy the food as it is! Sleep came easy for me as I slept amongst the finest orchestral team of nasal equipment blowers as they did their own rendition of  S concerto in DS major a.k.a Snoring Concerto in Deep Sleep major ! Truly a masterclass act and master piece of nasal and mouth skills unparallel to geniuses of the modern bed times!  

The next morning, it was nasi lemak, bee hoon goreng, mee goreng, porridge, four types of Nyonya kuih  and green beans of breakfast spread awaited us at 7.30am. It was a glorious morning and greeted by a spread of food was special too. We decided to take a walk at the Kukup Laut area where we once rented there and we met up with one of the home stay proprietor, Mr. Lee Bok Piu. Still very much the businessman that he is and the good ol' proprietor. Errol and I spoke to him for a while and he told us that business had been slow but nevertheless, he was in his usual cheery - happy go lucky ways! I guess, that's the way it is in a small community based tourist industry.  

We were treated to another restaurant lunch before we headed home for the day. It was nice to be treated to two restaurant meals for our trip which I found to be worth it. I guess, competition had been stiff and it is still the survival of the fittest when it comes to running of such a business. I really like the hospitality, kind attendance to our enquiries and even the simplicity of hosting by our resort operator and his staff. Really thankful that Ah Wei & the staff who made our stay such a wonderful one indeed. I guess, we  weren't any fussy clients/boarders and that made their life easier in many ways. What I like most of this trip was the ability for each and everyone of us to open up to rest and relaxation, great fellowship, great bonding among us, great singing too and having a ball of time. 

I am indeed thankful for having spent such great times with great families whom I have come to love very much. Special people in their own special ways and I truly am blessed as they enriched my life and my family's lives with their steadfast friendship and caring ways. Yeah, I'll pick Kukup anytime if I am ask for a destination to relax. So, thank you very much, families, for  a great time!

Johnson - Crystal - Celine - Joel - Edwin - Lorna - Lara - Ethan - Fook Meng - Joo Li - Errol - Jessica - Josephine - Jocelyn - Dinesh - Abby - Dave - Caleb - Caitlyn - Ivan - SLing - SYuen.