It has been a while since we last blogged, 3 months to be precise. What with the end of the EMCO imposed on our condo, and coping with the new normal, planning and making a trip anywhere was the furthest from our minds?
August is a special month for us since it is the month when Brendan was born as well as the month we got married. As is always the case, we usually plan for a trip in the month of August to celebrate these joyous occasions.
We have never been to Sekinchan and have always marvelled at its photos posted on the internet. Barely 2 hours drive away from KL we have always wanted to go but never had the chance. Things would be different this time around.
We left home at about 9.35 am and arrived in Sekinchan exactly 2 hours later. Bearing in mind Brendan has had allergic reactions to seafood in the past, we decided against a seafood restaurant for lunch. With that in mind we ended up at
Restoran Hui Siang, a Bak Kut Teh restaurant.
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first order of the day
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| a non-seafood restaurant, a rarity here |
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SOPs observed!
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hard at work
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putting the kettle on
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your customary utensils
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condiments of choice
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| we are Malaysians, after all |
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herbal goodness
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worth another shot
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with extra broth, to boot
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time to dig in!
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The meal cost us RM40, which is way cheaper than the going rate in KL. With lunch out of the way we then headed to
Mango King, a place that we have often read about online.
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popular in Sekinchan
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you won't miss it
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power outage at the time
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these were not served at the time
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freshly plucked white guava
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RM25 per canister, but well worth it
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home grown mangoes
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take your pick
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we got 2 kilograms worth
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in hindsight we should have gotten more
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not too busy
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sweet potatoes as well
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don't mind if we do
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we got a canister of dried banana fritters
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not his 'thing'
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wonder that these are?
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Mango King apparently had a power outage, and the heat was overbearing. Hoping to cool off, the birthday boy asked for refreshments and after a quick check online we headed to
Mamawe Café.
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in the heart of Sekinchan
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seeking refuge from the heat
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in the shade at last
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all manner of refreshments
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I was distracted...
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waiting for his ABC
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Brendan's comfort food
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Cat's mango bingsu
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while Brendan and I...
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both had the air batu campur (ABC) i.e. ice shavings galore
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time to put the phone away
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and enjoy all that iced goodness
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Again, with all the ice shavings ordered the total cost barely came to RM20. A definite perk of living in a small town.
With time to burn till we check into our hotel we headed to the beach coincidentally called
Pantai Redang (or Redang Beach). Being a Terengganu lad the word Redang is more easily associated (in my mind anyway) with the island off the coast of Merang in Terengganu.
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Redang beach
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posing with their 3-ply masks
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unlike its namesake in Terengganu
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it was a very hot day
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very very hot indeed
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we were driven into the shade
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and continued taking photos
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out of the sun
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the new normal of sightseeing
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face masks and all
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checking Mom's handiwork
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The extreme heat eventually dissuaded us from spending more time at Pantai Redang, and in a few short minutes we were checking in to
The One Boutique Hotel.
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fairly new
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in full compliance with SOPs
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one of the tallest buildings in town
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let's get into the shade
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We booked two Superior King rooms with a balcony, and yes, that means birthday boy had a room all to himself.
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clean and spacious
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with its own balcony
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adequately equipped
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view from the balcony
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the new overpass cutting across Sekinchan
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along Jalan Balai Polis (and we don't wonder why)
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| the only other tall building in Sekinchan |
The sun was blazing outside, and we took a long afternoon nap, eventually waking up in the evening. When in Sekinchan seafood was inevitable, so armed with antihistamines we made the short drive to
Loong Hua Seafood Restaurant.
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ample parking for its patrons
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| but come early or risk not being able to find parking space |
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along a very narrow lane
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we came pretty early
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the usual
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room with a view
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the view can be very distracting
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he was having nothing of it
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To be honest we chose this restaurant solely for its view of the canal and the surrounding fishing boats, so we were pleasantly surprised by how good the food here was!
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a pill before, a pill after
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dining on the water
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authentic fishing boats
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lifeline of the town
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never ceases to amaze us
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absolutely distracting views
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waiting to dig in
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Another pleasant surprise was the entire meal of sweet and sour pork (for Brendan), steamed fish, kung pao fried squid, salted vegetable soup and a large omelette cost us less than RM90.
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salted vegetable soup
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steamed fish
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omelette
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sweet and sour pork
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kung pao squid
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and all that for less than RM90?
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Thus ends our first day in Sekinchan, as we cast our final glance at the setting sun over the canal.
