Lumut Vacation without luggage

 

Our recent weekend journey was unusual.

Visiting Nadia, my daughter, at her boarding school wasn't unusual, but the last minute decision to put a night stay in a hotel, unplanned, was.

We reached her hostel at around lunch time. Upon her request, we drove out of the school area to look for exciting place to adventure.

 

I guess the name Bukit Tempurung(Tempurung hill) is named over its look, which resembles a coconut shell. Tempurung is a Malay word for Coconut shell. There is cave there.

Yes!! Gua Tempurung (Tempurung Cave) sounds exciting, its not too far from the hostel. But then we had a 2nd thought because it was raining. How about Hot Spring?, yeah.!

Where is it? none of us know where to find the so called hot spring. Up ahead, a sign board ‘LUMUT’.

Fine.! Lets go to LUMUT, where the naval base is. Lumut is where the jetty  going to Pangkor Island located.

It took us about 1 hour from Gopeng, to reach there. By then, lunch time was almost over.

“Come back in the evening”.The friendly restaurant owner said. Great!

     

Off we left the place. We just missed his local dishes.

It was drizzling adding more butterflies in our tummies. My loving son, Adri helped to protect his mom from the rain. Thanks boy.

At last, we grabbed whatever served at one of the stall. Fried rice with salted fish, Laksa (fish based noodle soup), Fried noodle, Cendol (coconut milk based desert) and young coconut drink it is.

    

After lunch we made a few circles around the tiny downtown. Lumut is a cute little town.

My son wanted a fishing rod. He got his wish approved by his father, while my daughter and I waited in the car wondering what was his fishing plan.

Shops selling dried seafood, among others, are everywhere. Its a widely commercialized small town. What a nice place to visit.

                

Next…..Now what.?

“Can we stay one night here?”

“OK, lets check in to the hotel”.  “YEAH…!!!!”, the kids and I were excited. Never come across our mind, that my hubby would agree to such impromptu journey. Checking in to hotel without luggage? hemmmmm.. I know its weird, but its fun though.

The Orient Star (or Star Orient) Resort Hotel. I forgot the exact name of the hotel , but I will never forget the picturesque view seen from the room’s balcony.

 

Following the order of the earlier restaurant owner, we returned to his restaurant for grilled seafood dinner. It was not bad.

After dinner, we stopped by the night market.Nadia and I, of course, LIKE…!!.

Spoons made of sea coconut trunk, swords, sun glasses, T-shirts, watches, many more are sold there.

          

When we returned to the hotel, both my men went fishing by the beach. To be exact, they went to feed the fish. Their bait kept on missing. Not a single fish got hooked. Waaakaka….!!

Nadia and I played with the torch light and seashells. It was too dark to capture a photo.

In case you are wondering….. yes we didn't have any extra clothing. No slippers. No tooth  brush. No facial cleanser. No lotion. No toiletries. For those items that we could live without… we spent the night without them, as for others, we bought them there and then. Shopping is always fun especially to us, ladies.

The next morning, we spent a couple of hours by the beach. The beach provides a nice view, somehow, its a regret to see rubbish on the surrounding.

       

Adri and I found no edible shell.

12 noon.Time to check out from the hotel.

On the way out from Lumut, we stopped by a durian stall. Yum….yum…. even a lizard was enjoying the fruit (you will notice a lizard sitting on the Durian peel, in one of the photos).

 

An aunt of mine taught me the tips on how to get rid of Durian’s pungent smell from you hand. Wash you hand by water flowing from the peel. Believe me, IT REALLY WORKS .

 

After 3 durians, we drove Nadia back to her boarding school, and  we continue our journey back to Kuala Lumpur. Another 2 hours drive. Bye girl.

Ops.. I almost forgotten to tell that we also found a stall by the roadside, selling pillows stuffed with natural cotton, gotten from the cotton tree planted by the stall owner. I bought 2 of the pillow with a price of RM25 (usd 8) each.

 

The cotton tree found in Malaysia is tall and huge. I tried to capture the tree but, my hubby was driving too fast for me to get a clearer picture.

Back to my story about our journey back to KL, it was raining heavily throughout our trip. As we reached the house, the rain stopped. We were tired, but, it wasn't time to rest yet, as we had another gathering to do.

We had a quick shower and went to my inlaw’s house, invited by my sister inlaw, Tuty, for another Durian treat. Wow…! HAPPY DURIAN DAY.!

I love glutinous rice eaten with Durian gravy. I learned eating this from Kedah state, long ago.

However, since I just had durian in Lumut, I could not eat too much, this time. I chose to have more noodle, instead.

It was actually a birthday treat for Zulaikha. Happy Birthday Laikha…!!

It was only 8:30 in the evening when we reached home. And we were exhausted. For the first time in many years, our house were quiet by 10pm.

I had a chance to say good night to all my Facebook friends before retiring to bed. (YAWN..!!!)