Merdeka Day Photos

As promised, here are some photos taken during my one day trip to Pulau Ketam (Crab Island).

We drove to the jetty in Port Klang. Alternatively, one can take the KTM to Port Klang. The jetty is right next to KTM station. Parking is limited. We had to park at the road side opposite the Polis station because there were many who arrived much earlier since it was a public holiday.

When we reached the jetty, a woman stopped us and asked if we are going to Pulau Ketam. There was a air-conditioned boat waiting but she stopped us before we could walked on further and told us to wait there.

In the end, we boarded a boat run by some fishermen establishment. It was an opened air boat with wooden seats. The ticket is just a piece of sticker with some letters written on it. We paid RM30 for 2 return tickets. Children gets free ride. The sticker had to be kept until the return trip. So I was walking around with it the entire day. Greg’s sticker was on his watch because the lady did not tear it properly

It’s a strange experience because the lady kept stopping people from going to the air-conditioned boats. We boarded the boat but was kept waiting until more people came on board. During that time, the boat was moving in and out of the jetty. We had a lousy driver who couldn’t park the boat properly several times. The lady… irritate kept shouting through the loud speaker.

However, if you want to take some nice photos and enjoy the sea breeze, taking the fishermen establishment’s boat is a good choice. Just look out for this lady who keeps screaming, shouting and singing with the loud speaker. Honestly, we were all terrified of her.

The journey took about an hour. They never fail to surprise us. We stopped at some old looking jetty instead of the new jetty further up. The lady told us to come back at 4pm or 6pm for the return journey.

The population on the island are mainly fishermen. There is no car, only lot and lots of bicycles. Visitors can rent bicycles too (Rm5 each). The roads were not nice to walk on a public holiday because there were too many ‘traffic’. It is not nice to ride on a bicycle either because some paths are narrow and uneven. One needs to push the bicycle along. It is very dangerous to try using the camera while on a bicycle in this kind of situation.

There are a lot of dried shrimp, salted fish, dried scallops etc on sale near the main streets. One of Pulau Ketam’s specialty is Lala Chien. It is very similar to the Oyster Chien commonly found in Malacca, Penang and KL. The dish uses mini lalas instead of mini oysters. No wonder it is so hard to find mini lalas in our markets. My family happens to like these mini lalas. We cook them in spicy soy sauce. The meat is very sweet. A serving of Lala Chien for 2 person cost RM7.

There are many restaurants serving very fresh seafood dishes.

There are a few Chinese temples on the island.

By the time we finished eating and shopping for some local produce. It had passed 4pm and we could not make it back to where we landed. I thought that we could go to the new jetty, pay for another ticket and board one of those air-conditioned boats.

Surprise, surprise… we saw the boat we came with at the new jetty!! How were we suppose to know we should be boarding the boat at the new jetty? They didn’t inform the passengers.

We hopped on the boat and waited for a long time again. They took us for a ride along the coast but came back to the jetty again so more people will board the boat.

The lady started to sing and dance again… she has a scary laugh like a horse! I actually got that on video. I have to figure out a way to upload it somewhere before I can share it here.

On the return journey, we took some nice pictures when the sun was setting.

So… air-conditioned or opened-air? It is partly luck and partly choice. Look out for the lady with the loud speaker but be prepared to put up with her shouting, singing and dancing.

Angels & Demons

Finally I watched the movie last night. I could only remember bits and pieces of the story because I read the book a few years back. However, I remember all the scenes clearly. I want to go back to Rome!