Unplanned Visit to 'Pulau Ketam'

It was last Saturday, when my maid prior scheduled to take a day off. When the helper is not around, the lazy parents will get headache.

"Lets go somewhere. Get ready you'ol"

"Where to?"

"Err...emmm.. anywhere!"

"I wanna go PD (Port Dickson)"

"Yes, lets go to PD"

"No, lets not PD again"

"Then WHERE!?"

"Melaka! I want to se A-Famosa"

"No, too hot(weather), and you have seen it before"

"How about Cameron Highland? Its nice and cooling.

"Yeah...! Cameron"

"Thats too far. Tiring"

sigh....

"OK, we go somewhere we've never been to, like....eemmm......... I dunno..."

"So, Mama, where are we going?"

"Good question...emmm..where can we go....emmm.....ok, we go to......... Pulau Ketam"

"HAHAHAHA..... !!"

"ok, I give you'ol a choice, London, Paris, PD, Cameron or.... 'PULAU-KETAM'..?"

"!!!PULAU KETAM!!!..HAHAHAHAHA!"

That was our early morning discussion a.k.a argument. No joke, Pulau Ketam where we exactly headed with an open mind, on the next half hour.

Driving north-east passing Klang town, we felt so tiny being squeezed in between lorries, trucks and trailers carrying gigantic container. The kids, as usual would find anything to argue about, while in the car.

"This might be not a good idea", I told my hubby.

"Anyway, lets proceed", I determined. We continued our trip.

Not too far from South Port of Klang town is where the jetty is located. Its also reachable within 45 minutes by KTM Commuter train from Central KL, all the way to the jetty. What a beautiful sight of the South port, we saw.

The supposed-to-be 45minutes drive took us 2 hours, including twice U-turning, and 3 stops asking for direction and 15 minutes walk from the parking lot to the boat. Adri and Nadia ran out of arguments.

"We should have taken the train instead", I suggested, when I saw the nearby train station. The jetty is within a walking distance from the last station of the Commuter Train. Our tiresome vanished as soon we sighted the boat. Excited to board.

The boat ride costs RM7 (USD2)/pax. Air-conditioned and complete with life jacket, above the head compartment. You need to figure out how to put on the jacket yourself, as nobody bother to explain. I took some photos of the interior. It was almost fullhouse, and as noisy as the fish market. We sat separated from each other. I befriended the Chinese lady next to me.

She talked loud and continuous, over her mobile phone. Happily she was willing when I asked permission to snap her image, that was the only time she stopped talking. We didn't bother all the havoc though, as the exciting part was the boat ride.

The ride took about 45 minutes, including a 5 minutes stop at one part of the sea village, before we reached the island jetty.

Our first sight out to the jetty was a sea village. We passed by a couple, fishing crabs at the jetty. It was low tide and we could see lots of crabs crawling on the muddy water under the jetty.

As we walked towards the island, less and less sea to see, as the walkways were fully covered with concrete pavement, eliminating the sight of wet muddy land down under.

The residence were 99.9% Chinese. If you wouldn't eat Seafood, this might not be a right place to live. The main transportation were bicycles and feet. Nadia excited to notice the sign 'Bicycle for rent'. No, not now dear.

It was past our lunch time, so first, we decided to satisfy our hunger. Pulau Ketam means 'Crab Island'.

Mama Mia!! Guess what was the first dish came out of my order?

Bicycles were available for rent for RM5/day only.

After lunch, we cycled through in between the shop lots. It was just one stretch of shoplots and we covered the town within a minute. We then turned towards the housing area, the fishermen village.

I caused traffic jam along the narrow walkways and almost collided with an old lady on the bike. So, I decided to stop cycling. Its not easy to ride a bicycle after years without practice.

The houses were nicely arranged in terrace. I noticed few sub-jetties in between the residential area, which were accessible and interconnected through slim rivers. We stopped for my kids to enjoy the unusual view.

2 hours later, we were ready to head back to the jetty. But wait a minute..! Bird's Nest. Its been so long since the last drop. The nest is made of bird's saliva. Yuk! but AH..! what a cooling drool.... Thanks birdies.

My kids and I love Bird's nest. Our expenses there: RM25(USD8) for a tiny bowl, RM10(USD3.50) for a glass, and RM75(USD25) for a piece of unprepared nest. The owner proudly showed us the poster of her bird's house, built by her husband. Very profitable niche business.

Finally, we boarded the last boat at 6pm. Dusk were approaching when we touched the other side of the mainland.

50 minutes later we were home, just in time for me to finish my sketch of an old abandoned boat by the side or Klang river which captured my attention, earlier. The great journey, the seafood, the island, the beautiful view, the bicycle, the Bird's Nest and the boat ride were still in our mind. It was worth the time.