Segamat @ 21 Jul 07

This was a trip that was almost cancelled. There were too many options with who coming later, who meeting where, who joining us later etc.. that I had felt that the trip was quite impossible. But PFs are full of surprises, and last minute, an emergency meeting was called at Kallang Mac. It was then unanimously decided that ALL would meet at 6.30am, Woodlands swimming pool. And the plan to was follow our Green Devil to Durian Land aka Segamat.

So, early the next day, all turned up. Black was a little late. But that wasn't a problem as the custom was smooth as silk. A very stress free experience to cruise through the custom. We made a turn, changed some money, and we were on the way to the fuel stop ie Breakfast.

I brought them to the "nice" place that I had promised over at Molek. All were quite delighted with the nice ambience and the good spread of food. After some chit chat and phototaking, we headed up to Tangkat at around 8.30am.

The way to the highway, was quite a convoluted one. I had to head back to the main kota tinggi way and to make an u-turn into the slip road to the NSH. But the U-turn was not allowed and I had to turn right into some small roads. I toyed around with my GPS *ahem* for this route, and managed to guide the whole convey through dirty muddy road kumpung roads just outside the highway. It was almost magical.

Drive up
Reaching TangKat


Green led the convoy of 7 cars up North at breakspeed and we reached Tangkat in a very good time of around 11am. However, it started to rain quite heavily and we hung around the small town, browsing through the stores selling cloth and other amenities. Some people got hungry (thot they just ate?) and we decided to have lunch there and then since with the rain, we couldn't head for the Durians just yet.

In TangKat
Tangkat fearsome security force


TangKat Line Dancers


In the Hong Kong Roast eating place


Outside the Hong Kong Roast eating place


Authentic Chinese Clan


Tangkat KFC


Around town
Durians at a Fruit shop


Giant Pineapple


Cloth shop


Katek Fire Hydrant (For short firemen)


View of Street with Mount Ophir at the backdrop (Gunung Ledang)


Tangkat version


Pica Frnz Private Parking Lot


We lunched mainly at a hong kong roast shop, while Green and family did their at the local KFC. The food wasn't too bad, and was a hearty meal. Around 1pm, the weather turned for the better, and we decided to go for the main course, Durians.

Green led the way back towards the highway, scanning through all the roadside durian stalls. But the one he was looking for was closed. He made a 1.5 point turn , and headed back the road to Tangkat. Midway, the whole convoy stopped abruptly in an attempt to make a right turn into a Durian plantation. The stopping was rather sudden, and as I was the tail man, I saw the incoming MY car slammed his brakes and skidded with a loud screeching sound towards me. Argh...my heart skipped a beat. The car behind him also did the same. But both slided a bit on the road without hitting any metal. Close shave! The irate driver filtered out and blared his horn at us.

At the Durian Plantation


I.WANT.MY.DURIAN!


Durian Plantation Pia Kia..Don't park properly, I scratch your car




Who prettier?


Quick! Let's go one corner to eat


When the whole team was safely in the plantation, it was time to feast. For some unlucky few, so were the mozzies. (not sure if got dengue or not?) The durians were ordered and open one after the other. Some were good, some were not that great. But overall, it was quite enjoyable. The man and wife team were quite friendly and chit chatted with us while we were enjoying their produce.

After having our fill. We next plan where to go. Our Yellow wanted to meet us back in JB in the evening for dinner. Through some miscomunications, we had thot to head for Moffiz. But since we were already here, we decided to visit the legendary Mt Ophir, which was just around the corner.

7 Pica convoy to Ledang


At Gunung Ledang
The Ledang acrobatic team


The audience


Out of the way...arrrggghhhh...


He was the fattest...and the Landing...splashiest


Hey, is that a dengue Mosquito?


Hmm...this angle nice. will send this to National Geographic


Ledang Terrorist Hideout


Resort


Ledang shopping


Ice Mountain


Green again led the way, and very soon, a large and tall mountain loomed before us. However, the place had been quite commercialized, and there were quite a bit of activities there. There was a bunch of young boys making a leap of faith into the shallow waterfall stream. It was good to see young free spirited boys enjoying themselves.

Serious Accident ont the other way


Around 4+pm, we made a move to head back to JB to rendezvous with Yellow. The speed on the way back was very fast. So much so that some of us had difficulties to catch up. Average speed was like 130km/h. Furthermore, with such a long convoy, it was hard to maintain rank and order. I thot it was quite foolish to take such a risk, especially since we were not familiar with the traffic polic activity around here. On the way, we saw an accident of a long container truck lying across the entire E2 highway on the other direction. The whole highway was locked into a massive jam.

Vicky at Moffiz


Moffiz


We touched down at Moffiz at around 7.15pm. Very good time. But alas, Yellow as waiting for us at Jusco instead. Darn. Anyway, it was a good chance for the newbies amongst us to look for accessories and parts.

Around 8+pm, we headed to Jusco to join up with Yellow team. Surprisingly, Red and Green left us without biding goodbye, leaving our poor Dark Blue to continue the saga with us. Road up to Jusco was pretty bad, and we reached Jusco with some difficulites. We splitted due to the heavy traffic, and my HP just died after sending an SOS to Black. Luckily Black got the instruction and managed to meet us at the Jusco Parking lot.

We had dinner at Kenny's and after that, some shopping time for the ladies. At 11pm, some of us still didn't have enough of the shopping and wanted to continue till 12am. Ok then, it was only Black and I to head back to Sin via 2nd Link. Little ducklings all grown up. I left Sin this morning with 6, and went home with 1.

It had been quite a tiring trip, spanning 2 days in the process. (I returned after 12am). But I was glad that the turnout was so good for a distance so far. The lure of Durian , a powerful thing.

Irene's secret friend secretly following us to Tangkat.

Small Durian Party @ 7 July 2007

Some of us were eager for fish soup at Semb Hill this Sat. In fact, this was to be like the biggest turnout ever. The 2 new girls were quite kaypoh and wanted to join us for the fishsoup that we kept talking about. Andrew and Elyn also dashed all the way for the 500 mile journey to join us in this strange PF ritual. The plan was to proceed later to Woodgrove to get our Durian Fix. But Vicky, Gary and Irene had some prior appointment and would be missing it.

Vicky "showed off" her poor scratched rims. But most of us thought it was quite alright. (Wait till it happens to us!). She got some sand paper to do some carpentry work to reduce the damaged look. Her BF would be in for some DIY duties.

We were a tad early for the Durians and had to do some waiting. It was originally slated for 1.30pm, but due to the rain and the Jam and falling killer branches, it would be at 2pm. It was interesting to see the Lorry load of pricky fruit arriving. The stall was a popular one and the minute the Durians were unloaded, it immediately sprang into business.

We duly got our styrofoam boxes of the addictive yellow stuff and proceeded to my home for the Party. All agreed that the Durians were good stuff and eagerly tucked into the succulent flesh. We ate till we all got too much of it, that there were quite a handful left that nobody wanted to touch. Talk about too much of a good thing.

The guys had fun with Burnout3 in the hope of burning some durian fats, and did some destructive driving. Hopefully on the way back, they could remember not to drive like what they did. Already Vicky scratching the rims was just a heart pain affair.

The fish soupers


Strange posters...Shermaine and Shan were here.




The "long" queue


I had never seen so much Durians in my life.


Burnout!

Mango Trip @ 17 Jun 2007

Kungfu Masters (TESTING)


As per tradition, a short writeup on the trip.

Day started later than usual. Being a Sunday, we could afford to take our time to strut slowly across the causeway. At 7.30am, the causeway was fairly jammed at the Singapore side. But after clearing it, it was smooth sailing all the way. Weather this morning was a little under, but it soon cleared up along the way. Actually, it turned out that the whole day was quite cool and pleasant.

We did a "compulsory" breakfast at Danga Bay at Vicky's request. However, there wasn't much to eat and everyone dug in into some pretty standard fare of Nasi Lemak. After filling our stomachs, we headed onwards to our first stop, Desaru Beach.

But one nitty gritty thing to settle first. Some of us had to change money. Luckily enroute, we had to past by Sentosa. There were shops aplenty there, and we came across a shop there opened early for the likes of us.

By then, it was already 9.30am. We had wasted quite a fair bit of the morning. By the time we reached the beach, it was already like 11am. The water there looked cool and inviting. P2 wanted to dive headlong into the sea, and had to be restrained with substantial force from doing so. We spent some time wading along the edge of the beach and generally had fun . Even though it was the late morning, the sky was overcasted and not hot at all.

After washing up and all, it was already 12pm. Naturally, it was food time, and we headed to Sg Renggit for some chow. Like we did the last time, we ate at the Lucky Restoran. But today, not too lucky, as the restoran was quite crowded. I think we waited like half an hour for the food to arrive. By then, anything would taste good. GG joined us here mid way .

By the time we finished, it was already 2.30pm. Goodness, not much time left. We had to cut short all the extraneous activities and just go for the important sights. The Ostrich farm was just a short 5 mins drive away. For RM8, it was a worthwhile experience. Certainly, we came out much wiser to the life cycle of a humble Ostrich.

Next, it was onwards to the fruit farm. (The grand purpose of the trip this time). Doubtless, it was Mangoes session alright. There were racks upon racks of mangoey smelling green thing. We the aunties and uncles were buying it by the kilos. Most definitely, the load on the car was much heavier than when we arrived.

At around 5pm, we started to head back towards Sin. QG had to be back by 7pm for some classes. Unfortunately, traffic was quite heavy today and we were quite delayed. At one point, GG got lost. With the help of my GPS *ahem*, I located him at one corner eating ice cream. Get back here, I commanded. Yes sir, he replied, and soon was galloping in the distance towards us. Pica7 shed a tear at the sight of a long lost brother coming back to the fold. *play sad music here*.

I think we touched down in Sin around 7.10pm. Sorry that QG had to be late for Whatever. The next meet, I will buy him "Anything" for his "Whatever". Thanks to RT&S for helping to lead the flocks. They weren't feeling too well but yet still tried hard to join us. Don't worry about GNH, I would be back next week for servicing. (and more mangoes). How many kilos you want?

http://forum.onemotoring.com.sg/mvnforum/mvnforum/viewthread?thread=3842#72798

Anniversary @ 19 May 2007

We met at Bukit Timah Hawker for a makan session. The anniversary was hushed hushed in the forum due to some of us not wanting Orange to join. Eric was finally meant to met Andrew and Elyn today, but turned out that they would come later. Eric unfortunately had to go back to work. So, it was a missed opportunity again.

Turnout was quite good with almost all of us, except for our Tek, GG and Su and Isham. Su seemed to have some difficulties with transport as Isham was away at Sentosa for an event. Gary was about to pick her, but her son fell sick and couldn't make it.

After our pleasant dinner, we moved on to Little guiLing for a get together place. Andrew and Elyn + P2 joined us later at our cake cutting there. It had been ages that I had been here, and it was nice to visit again. The place was rather dark and we hobbled under a cave like shelter. Water was very calm and looked tempting. Someone on a bicycle was going around fishing.

We were happy to have Shermaine joined us this round, and we officially made her a member there and then. She was quite surprised and took to our group very well. We all teased her about leaping over the water to demostrate some of her kung fu prowess.

We stayed till late and P2 was getting tired. Andrew and Elyn had to leave. The rest were stil full of energy and suggested to go Mac at West Coast. We hung around there for awhile, but XM was getting quite edgy due to her tiredness. After some drinks and kopi, as well as a few rounds of my Dopod golf games, we went home after an ev.
entful evening.

Secret Spot #2 @ 22 Apr 2007

Great to finally meet Vicky and Melody. Hope you all had fun at the Secret Spot and wasn't too shock in meeting the rojak people of the PFs. I didn't bring my trusty camera to take any pics, so will need to wait for Pica7 and RedTide7 to upload them.

Please put them here.

But meanwhile, I have some pics from my previous trip. Just to share with the others in the forum. See if you can see the birds and the bees.

Pengerang @ 18 Mar 2007

Last minute, speed and 7 couldn't make it and it ended up with only 3 cars. But nevertheless, we took off around 7+am and headed for JB. Traffic was smooth and we cleared the custom and decided to do a big breakfast at Carrefour. We had a hearty meal and had a good time catching up with every other.

8+am, weather was overcast. And it stayed that way, which was kind of nice. Mr Sun only came out after lunch. We drove up to Kota tinggi and turned out towards Desaru. Halfway there, I past by the fruit farm and decided to detour for an early look.

Farm was quite empty, the helpers were all too ha$p$py to see us. However, from the outside, we couldn't see much. There was an entrance fee to be paid to get the tour treatment. We ended up just shopping around the souvenior shop for some goodies. Mangoes were not in season, and nothing much worth buying, just some tidbits.

From there, it was just a 10 mins down the road to Desaru. Reaching there, the sea was really clean, nice and bluish. Lots of people were already there, swimming, and even a duo doing fishing from the beach. Shan22's boy couldn't wait to dash into the water. We spent like about an hour there swiming and kicking sand into people's face.

Moving out from there, it was already near to lunch. We thought it might be better to do the lobster lunch there and then. Driving up to Sg Renggit, we stopped by Redtide's fav shop and had a hearty lobster meal in various style.

After filling our stomachs, we drove further to check out the resort that red was talking about. It was quite a nice (though quiet) place. Good for some r&r. there was an interesting small fishing platform at about 100m into the sea. Looked like guest can take a boat out to fish from there.

Next, we stopped by redtide's some sort of uncle's place and had an interesting visit to an authentic fisherman kind of house. The backyard was a kelong type of platform out into the sea. Very windy and nice view of the ocean. Mahjong was possible here and it would be an ideal setting. Nothing like losing money in a scenic environment. We were shown various keepsake of interest, like a shark teeth skeleton which was caught many years ago, real bird nest and so on. Also, there was a arapaima and we were treated with a demo of how arapaima would feed on a dead fish. The xtreme power of the fish taking the dead fish out of the uncle's hand gave everyone a shock. It was really something. No one dared to stand near the well after that.

Next, was on to ostrich farm. On the way, I almost ran into a dog. Dog was standing on the side of the road. I gave a tap on my horn to get his attention. But to my surprise, after seeing my car, he dashed across the road. I did a quick swerve to the right and barely just missed him. From the rear mirror, he looked alright. But I think I scuff him a little, maybe on the ears or something.

Reaching the farm, from the outside, farm was quite misleading and we sort of couldn't find it when we were just outside of the entrance. The workers were kind of amused that we just drove past them. But the farm itself was really interesting and we were treated to be pecked by ostriches, feeding them, even sitting on them and also seen how the animal behave while doing it courtship dance and such. The egg itself, a human could stand on it and it would take his weight. Really was an eye opener. We were treated to the grand tour by a nice uncle as it wasn't crowded. The uncle really knew his birds and we could see his love for them. There was also this very naughty looking monkey, well, just monkeying around, and entertain us with all its antics. The time was getting late, and we missed running out to Sebana cove for good coffee. Instead, we headed straight to Jusco for dinner and some simple shopping and then back to brave the causeway jam. But surprisingly, the jam wasn't too bad, and I think we all cleared the causeway in roughly 45 mins.

All in all, a very good and informative trip. Kind of like a school excursion. Thanks to redtide for knowing the place so well. We certainly managed to cram quite a few activities in a short time.

http://forum.onemotoring.com.sg/mvnforum/mvnforum/viewthread?thread=3212#52487

Lovey Dovey (TESTING with <img src="...">)