So we had had enough of KL, and needed a change of scenery. Port Dickson seemed to be one of those places that wasn't to far and less on the popular travel map. According to the Lonely PLanet, it was a quiet Port town. We had no idea what to expect, this being our first smaller town on the Peninsula.
We took a train early in the morning, Kevin got a Dunkin Donut breakfast (Sunny Egg Sandwich). I had, I know, a Mc Donald breakfast. I got a sausage Mc Muffin, though I don't think it was made of Pork. I saw a sign that said "Hallal" which means its allowed food for Muslims to eat, hence it was not Pork. We just recently found out that it is illegal for Muslims to sell, and eat, anything that is not Hallal (this includes liquor). I was very surprised to find out about this. Anyhow, we took our breakfast and caught a train to Seremban and ate our breakfast on the train. I had asked the lady selling tickets if it was okay. People seemed to be looking at us as we ate, later we saw a sign just above our heads, as we finished eating, that said no food on the train. Oops! We guiltily packed our food away and hoped we would not get fined. If it was anything like Taiwan, we had better be wary.
After arriving we walked to the bus station and caught the bus to Port Dickson which arrived in town. We got off, and as the Lonely planet gave no directions to the Sunshine Camp hostel, we were completely lost. The town was very spread out. In fact, it was hard to tell when you had arrived in town. Houses and business seem to be spread all along the highway, making it a bit more difficult to know when you have arrived in a new town. We made a phone call, the lady told us to say Sunshine Camp. We told the bus driver and he know exactly where we wanted to go. So we took the bus and were told when we arrived at our hostel.
It was not the most welcoming, situated behind a chained fence, it reminded us of an army camp, but the Hindu Lady there was very friendly and the room was incredibly cheap. 25 RM a night! For a double room. We were not complaining.
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| The bed was beside Kevin when he took the picture. |
After settling in we walked to the nearest beach. We had to cross the busy road, so we made a fast dash when it looked like the right time, sometimes this is a bit scary, but the locals seem to do it with ease. We try to follow, but we almost always panic and burst across the road as soon as we get the chance, taking a deep breath and a sigh of relief once we're safely on the other side.
The beach, to our disappointment, was quite dirty and it was way to hot to walk along the water as there was no shade. We crossed the road again and looked at the first restaurant we saw. Unfortunately, what they had available seemed to have been the food for the flies as well. They were buzzing and landing all over the buffet. We politely declined and looked at other options. We found one place called "Tino's Pizza". We did not want Western food, but it seemed clean, so it won us over.
I ordered spaghetti, which the lady went out and bought after we ordered, and Kevin ordered pizza Margheritta. It was all very delicious. Mmmm, the pizza was loaded with garlic and fresh cheese. We thoroughly enjoyed it.
We made our way back to the beach and tried to lay on the sand, but it was too hot. So we went to the shade, but as soon as we spread out our sheet, the sand fleas decided to join us by jumping on it. They just kept coming, so with some gruffs and sighs we packed up our sheet and made our way to the picnic tables. On our way we saw a sign. Take a look:
So for all you couples out there, planning a romantic getaway, be wary of the Port Dickson Municipal Council.
When the sun went down we saw flashes in the distance, they remained behind the clouds, lightened them up in silhouettes against the dark sky. It looked like war was on the horizon. We sat and watched the storm. Later in the early morning we were awaken by a huge gust of wind, pelting rain, loud thunder and bright flashes of lightening. Finally we fell asleep again, after dashing to the bathroom in the next building, I always have to pee in the middle of the night. But then six o'clock in the morning came around and their was that familiar warble coming from the mosque.
That day we set out to the lighthouse. After a breakfast of Roti and Lemon tea, we caught the bus. However, our bus driver, who liked to talk, forgot about our stop and a lady had to remind him. She said we had to take the bus around to its final stop and them come back the other way. So we took a tour, but shortly after the bus driver stopped. "Break time", he said to us with a wide smile. He seemed too friendly to be grumpy with. We were kind of hungry anyways. So we ate some delicious food served to us by a very friendly lady. The bus driver, who's name we later learned was Bob, told us to try the "Sedap Tapai". It was a kind of fermented banana. They used yeast to make it puffy and somewhat watery. Kevin really didn't like it, but I quite enjoyed it. It tasted of yeast and somewhat alcoholic. He seemed pleased that we were eating it and then suddenly started telling us how people here used to eat it in WWII when the Japanese occupied Malaysia. He said it was cheap and easy to make. It was also the only thing really available to eat.
We got back on the bus and sat near Bob. He was very happy to talk to us. He had some Malaysian oldies playing on the radio. We drove down the country road, watching people ride by on the bicycles smiling and waving to Bob, and sometimes us too. The music played and gave us a sense of the old Malaysia, the time before it became so developed. I imagined this music traveling outside the windows of lazy homes situated between trees and farm field. People riding their bicycles and talking to each other.
We asked him about the music. He told us one of the singers name was Julia. She had won the Golden Record, which he said was very hard to get. She was the first person in Malaysia to win it. There was also the singer called B. Rumdi who was popular from around 1940-1960. A group of ladies came on the bus as we were talking. When I tried to repeat his name, the older lady looked at me and smiled so happily. She was so happy to hear me speak his name. It seemed to have brought back memories for her that had much pride and love. She was happy that we could say his name.
I hope when we grow old we will hold such fond memories. Though artist back then seemed to have been appreciated at a deeper level. Perhaps it was because it was a much simpler time and the lifestyles were so different. Maybe it just the fondness of memories that makes it so precious now. Still, I love hearing that old music. It fills me with warmth and give me a sense of richness to this place.
Bob also talked about snow and how he only had seen it in his imagination. He seemed to be dreaming as he spoke of it. He was quite content to talk about the weather and how Malaysia didn't really experience earthquakes, but they were near the giant volcano called Krakatoa that had once exploded. He said it was so big that the dust cloud reached Europe and beyond.
So Bob let us off to the road to the lighthouse. We said goodbye and hoped to see him again. He really made our day. So we hiked another 2km and reached the hill to the lighthouse. It cost 1RM now to get in. The trail was situated in front of a giant Hotel that had a swimming pool and extremely elegant reception/dining hall. We admired the beauty of it and imagined sitting in its elegant rooms with soft linen and light draping in.
So up we walked, till we came across some monkeys on the power lines. They were the Long Tail Macquaces and they stared at us as we walked by.
When we reached the old lighthouse, built by the Portuguese in the late 1500s, Kevin gave out a small laugh as he noticed the giant, modern, radar dish right next to it.
We walked around the lighthouse, it was not open to tourist, and in front saw the opening to the Straights of Malacca.
We had hoped to spot the migratory birds that made their way across the Straits of Malacca in this area, but we saw none. The view however was spectacular.
We found the trail that led down to the beach. On our way we noticed an old British man, he seemed out of breath, though he was in his late sixties. He had some binoculars around his neck and told us the beach was quite lovely. He was looking for birds as well. We made our way down the trail, it was pretty steep. We saw some big trees and heard lots of birds. When we made our way down we came to this isolated beach.
The water was cleaner, but we didn't swim as we had no water shoes, and it was quiet rocky. We chased around some hermit crabs after siting in the water to cool off. Kevin read the Lonely planet book and decided we had to go to Malacca ( he will tell you why). I took a nap.
As we were heading back up the path, and were almost to the light house, a big male monkey came running, past Kevin and straight at me. I knew he wanted the food bag I carried in my hand. I freak out and threw it straight at the monkey and accidentally hit him in the face as he jumped, like catching a football with you face, for my food. Once he caught it, he left us alone. Though I was a bit upset because now all the garbage would be in the forest, I had littered, but I had no alternative. Crazy monkeys.
After waiting for the bus for about an hour. Having people honk and say "hello", and one person yelled "Fuck you" from the window. "And you" we would have yelled back had they not been down the road by then. Some people are very strange, wherever you go in the world.
So after a shower, we went to the night market. We picked and chose so many strange things. Like neon coloured drinks, deep fried pancakes with chocolate and nuts, deep fried Roti wrapped around veggies and beef, corn on the cob with mayo, a strange sandwich and other things. We tried again to cross the road without getting killed and ate it on the beach, producing a high amount of trash. It really makes you think when you can fill a bag with plastic and garbage when you are only two people eating one meal. This is one thing people could try to improve on, the level of plastic they use to package food.
We slept well that night and forced ourselves to wake up early. As we walked to the bus stop we saw the bus pass us by. According to the Lonely Planet they come every hour so we decided to walk. It was only 7 KM after all. But as it got hotter, and our bags are not exactly light, we began to regret our decision. In fact we just remember how the lady said, it was miles not km and then we even further regretted it when we saw a bus go by. So much for only once an hour. So we walked, and walked. Finally we must be almost there, then we saw another bus, but this time it was Bob. He honked and waved. We smiled and waved back. This cheered us up and we walked with more strength and energy. Finally, after about an hour and a half we made it.
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