29-04-06 Kukup (1)

On the 29th of April (Saturday), armed with my 3250 (the canera in my phone lah), I went to Kukup with da da and all his maternal family members. That makes about 26 of us. It was really quite fun. There are loads (and I mean loads) of things to talk about, so the trip will be in two, or maybe more, separate entries...

Early in the morning, most of us were only half awake. As told, Kelvin and I spent the night at da da's place, because we had to leave very early in the morning, from Bedok. Da Da and his brother, Daniel, still stoning early in the morning.

Kelvin, also looking blur...

These two photos were taken on the bus, on the way to the Woodlands Checkpoint.

After entering JB, waiting for the bus after we have checked our passports..

After entering JB, the uncle brought us to a placefor breakfast, where we had lots of interesting food. They had stuff like kway chap, but instead of the normal soup, there was curry for soup (in case you don't know what "kway chap" is, look here..BUT COME BACK!!!) They had wantan mee, which according to da da, was quite good. I had the chee cheong fun (the rice roll), which I personally thought was the best I have ever had. This is the second photo. It was really chewy, with the OOMPH. I loved it. Of course, they had the char kway teow (the first pic)

The chee cheong fun was very interesting. This is the stall. You could just take a plate, and then pick whatever other finger food you wanted with either the chee cheong fun or the yam cake, and then you tell them what sauce you want with it. They have the "normal" sweet sauce and chilli, and they also have curry with your rice roll. Yum!



We boarded the bus at 6:30, and then we arrived at around 11:30, even with all the jam, time for breakfast, and stuff. It was not really that far from Singapore. As we were walking towards where we stayed (the picture below), I realised that there were actually many such resorts, but the one we stayed looked the best, and after staying a night there, I guess, IS the best that they have in Kukup, the small town and fishing village.

The name of the resort that we stayed in is called "The Mangrove floating chalet". It's the best in Kukup. And actually quite cheap. The whole trip, including the meals and stuff, only cost $65 per pax.

This was the inside of where we stayed for the trip. The whole resort had several units like this, ranging in sizes. The one we stayed was huge by my standards. This is the hall. There were 4 different rooms, and each of the rooms in the unit has 8 beds. I "wowed" when I first heard it. I thought the room would have to be HUGE. Ha ha. When I saw it, I laughed... See it for yourself.

The living room area was reallly huge, and it was fully air conditioned. The first thing that I heard one of da's relatives said was "wah, this place, want to put 4 or 5 mahjong tables also no problem..." Ha. I guess it's the gambler's syndrome.


This is our bedroom. See how cramped it is? Da da is standing in the middle of the two "bunks", and he can hardly walk.. ha ha

The beds were really like how you see the bunks in camps...hee

After dumping our bags, changing into our shorts and taking a breather, we set out for a short boat trip to a fishing village, and also for our lunch.

The boat took us to a fishing kampong, and they showed us several stuff. I was also told that they bigger the fishes that they sell, the less money they get. this is because the fishes' meat is very tough, and therefore not as palatable.

They also showed us a HUGE jellyfish, and also horseshoe crab. This is the first time that I have seen them so up close and personal. Big!!!

Daniel and da's parents on the boat...

The had puffed up pufferfish for sale there! Can you imagine...haha..

After the short trip, the boat took us to a seafood restaurant for our lunch. Nothing spectacular about that. Just ordinary fare. After lunch, we walked along the roads, and shopped at some of the stalls there. They were just very simple stalls, and apparently there were nobody there on the weekdays. It was only on the weekends that there was some business for the shops there. However, we bought something that you can NEVER find in Singapore. Wanna take a guess what it is?? (Hint: It is NOT chewing gum...)

Yup. The Pop Pop. I don't know how many of you actually know this, it's my generation playstuff. The kids were very excited when they saw it. For me, it was reminisce...Come to think of it, the kids nowadays are very deprived of such fun stuff yah? To think, in the past we always played this. When thrown on the ground, they will make a "pop" sound. it's actually stone grains inside, and a small metal thing that contained gun powder. I guess that's why they banned it in Singapore. It could be deadly when landed in the wrong hands.

Together with this, we also bought about 50ringgit worth of fireworks. Not the type we can get in Sinapore. I mean FIREWORKS. Those types that people will start queuing at 1 in the afternoon just to see it when they show it in SIngapore. Those types that they let go during NDP every year. We planned to play with them after dinner...

I also saw cigarettes that were way cheap. These big packets of L&M only cost $4 Ringgit! Can you believe it? 14 sticks for only less than S$2!! Bleah. =P

So, we walked back to the chalet, and rested until about 7 for dinner. The people of course started the only hobby that they could find there. Mahjong. Da da and I, together with Daniel, Kelvin and one of da's uncle, went to play billiard. It was only 7 ringgit per hour. I think it's quite cheap. I suck at it.

Below are some random shots taken while waiting for dinner...

This is the view from the entrance of our chalet. A rare scene in Singapore. Or rather, an extinct scene in SIngapore.

The walkway...

The scene out of the room. Haha..how interesting. Look how muddy the water is? Near the mangroves...the water is always this muddy... There is also a great diversity of living organisms in the mud. There are LOTS of mudskippers, and some of them are really huge...There are crabs, and I saw some blue and orange ones. There are lots of hermit crabs, and also not to mention rats....yucks.

The beautiful sunset...from out of the chalet...wow. It was in this beautiful sunset that we had dinner.

The dinner was ala-carte buffet, with a wide spread of food. There were fishcakes, rice, sweet potatoes, fishballs, and barbecued chicken wings. The uncle just stood there, and barbequed when you ordered. Hmm...There were also satay, sting ray, prawns, and sotong. Their service was really good. The person will just keep coming to ask you "What else do you want to order"? There was also free flow of coke and coffee...I love this place! For the food..haha

Our table sat about 7 people. The total damage:

10 plates of chicken wings
5 pieces of sting rays
2 plates of fish cakes
3 packets of sotong
2 packets of prawns
1 plate of sweet potatoes
1 plate of fishballs
1 plate of satay
1 huge bowl of rice

After the delicious dinner, it was already about night, and it was fireworks display time. Seriously, it was really the firs time in my life being so close to fireworks. It was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!! I have never had so much fun..However, it is sad that I had so much fun that i forgot to take photos. However, I took several videos, which cannot be put up here...hmm..

We had so much fun, that we went to buy another $160 ringgit worth of fireworks, and played again. Just these fireworks alone made the trip worth it. Whoo!

Ok. That's it for the day. After dinner, we went back to the place, and...Did I mention it? I finally learnt how to play mahjong! In the least expected place..in Kukup. Haha. I am now addicted to it. And so is Kelvin....

Alright. *pant*. I am tired from writing so much...Till the next entry, nightz!!