mujitaiping: January 2017

An old school-mate, Roslan Aris, invited us friends to his son’s kenduri in Ayer Tawar, Perak. The kenduri was to be held on Saturday 14 January 2017. I have not been to Lumut area since 2009. I took this invitation as an opportunity to re-visit the town. I made the necessary reservations at Swiss Garden Damai Laut Resort. This would be my first time to stay there. Previously, I used to stay at the Orient Star Lumut.

I left KL for Lumut on Friday morning at 10.00 AM. The drive along the PLUS Highway was smooth and traffic was light. While driving, I was still thinking of the options where to exit the highway to head towards Lumut. There were 4 options – exit via Sungkai, Bidor, Tapah or Gopeng. I decided to exit via Bidor interchange and use the road to Teluk Intan. After that, I took the road to Bagan Datuk and followed the direction to Manjung/ Lumut.

It rained when I reached Teluk Intan area. Fortunately, the rain stopped after I crossed the bridge over Perak River, where I stopped at the BHP petrol station at Matang Guntong Baru for a toilet break. The drive to Manjung and Lumut was pleasant since the rain had stopped.

At the Lumut Waterfront.

I arrived Lumut by 2.30PM. Even though it was cloudy but the air was warm and humid. I stopped by the Waterfront to take some pictures. After enjoying the breath-taking view of the Manjung River, I went to the bazaar nearby to buy some snacks to bring home. After the purchases made, I headed to Damai Laut Resort, which is the opposite side of the Manjung River from Lumut.

I passed near Sitiawan, then, took the road towards Pantai Remis. The road passed a bridge over Manjung River. The scenery along the way was some shipyards, swamp areas and palm oil plantations. There was a new housing project being build. Since it rained earlier, the road was slightly muddy from the rain water flows. There were several lorries on the road so I was extra careful.

Upon entering the road towards the Resort, there was a sign warning all drivers of the many road bumps ahead. As I drove along the road, I understood why. The road was has many s-bends and the road bumps were to encourage all drivers to cut speed before the taking the corners. At one point I saw a Brahminy Kite (a bird of the Eagle family) perched on an electrical cable pole by the road side.

I reached the Resort by 4.00 PM. I saw several other guests arriving and checking in. Apparently there were two big groups that were arriving here that afternoon. After receiving my room-key, I headed for my room. It has a view of the sea and the gardens. The room was also near the Garden Terrace coffee house.

Window view. Pangkor Island in the distant.

I was tired to drive out to town for dinner. Therefore, I ordered fried rice and a fruit platter. I slept early after dinner.

Saturday morning, I checked out from the Resort at 10.00 AM. I headed to Lumut town again to buy some more seafood snacks. After the purchases made, I went to Ayer Tawar. I used the road that by-passed Sitiawan town center and followed the direction to Ipoh. The kenduri was held at a local hotel at Ayer Tawar town. I reached the venue by 12:15 PM. Car park space was limited, so, I parked my car by the padang at the housing area a short distance behind the hotel.

As I approached the hotel entrance, I saw the host, Roslan Aris. We shooked hands and were glad to have met after over 30 years. Roslan informed me that several other schoolmates had already arrived. I walked towards their tables where they were seated. Those who have already arrived were – Jamaee, Ramli Yusof, Rozi, Azman “Iban”, Mas Kamaruzaman, Shaheri and Ahmad Salleh. A while after, Hanafiah, Razif, Mahyuddin, Mohamad Shah, Dzulhanan and Dr Noor Azmi arrived. The last to arrive that day was Ahmad Khairuddin. Amongst those who were present, several also I have not met for the past 38 years – Mas Kamaruzaman, Azman “iban”, Ramli Yusof and Rozi. Rozi participated in the karaoke, rendering 2 Malay oldies. We schoolmates cheered Rozi for encouragement. Hey! Rozi sang really well.