Pengerang – Same Old Place, Brand New Route

Date of Trip : 28 June 2014, Saturday to 29 June 2014, Sunday

1 night Accommodation at Let Seng Hotel (Sungai Renggit) : RM 60 triple-share room
(would have costs RM 50 for a twin room, but they had ran out of twin rooms.)

Long distance cycling in Pengerang has become almost like a ‘weekend retreat’ for Darren and myself, popping over to Sg Renggit whenever we ‘feel like it’. Although it has been a good six months since our last trip there (due to my poor friend’s unfortunate arm injury at Batam a couple of months back), nothing much has changed ~ we were still very much looking forward to the cycling expeditions! We simply couldn’t wait to devour the lobsters and to savour the nature on our route.

This time round, we met up at 9am at the Changi Ferry Terminal, but soon realized it was a tad too late. We only managed to get onto a boat at 11.40am and arrived Sg Renggit at 1pm.

Why am I headed to? *Confused*…

Whilst waiting at the ferry terminal, two ladies came up from behind and asked, “Are you guyz bloggers?” We were in for a surprise and muttered a sheepish “Errr… Yaa..”. “Ohh.. We read your blog posts on Pengerang and we are heading there today!” Woww… That really came as quite a surprise for us to meet someone who had read our blog posts and were inspired to go on the same journey.

As we continued chatting, Poonam and Jacintha (pic as below) shared with us that they had printed out the Pengerang map that Darren had put up on his blog, took notes, brought along their own bikes and helmets and were going to cycle from Tanjung Pengelih to Sg Renggit town, stop for lunch at Straits View Restaurant (as per our last recommended) and then head on to Desaru for the night. Boy, that was quite a distance that they’ll be covering and no mean feat for a first-timer!

These two pretty ladies, Poonam (on my left) and Jacintha (on Darren’s right) came up and asked if we were bloggers. They had read our earlier blog posts and were going on their maiden long distance cycling trip in Pengerang. Good job ladies, keep it up…!!

Tanjung Pengilih (the jetty that we will be arriving at) to Sg Renggit town was about 18km (about 2.5 hours on our leisure cycling mode). Sg Renggit town to Desaru was 30km with about 10km of ‘killer stretch’ going up and down never-ending slopes. It usually takes us about 4 hours to cover this distance. We were really glad they took on the challenge and did the entire route. Good job guyz, we’re really proud of you! If you happen to see this blog post, please give us a shout-out and share with us your amazing experience. The two gals and their guy friend left on an earlier boat whilst we got on an 11.40am boat and arrived Tanjung Pengelih at about 1pm.

The sleepy heads on our boat… Hahaa… It usually gets quite drowsy with the heat and warmth on the 1 hour+ boat ride.

We got into Sg Renggit town close to 1.30pm and popped over to Straits View Restaurant. One of the staffs recognised us immediately and ushered us to a table. Her son was surfing the net one of the days and came across our blogs and showed it to her. Although our pictures were not prominent, she could remember us at an instant. We were really heartened.

This time round, we ordered a salty yolk lobster 550gm (RM 88), a Ginger Wine Egg Soup ~ which we loved the previous time round (RM 6), a curry brinjal (RM 10) and a Xiao Bai Cai (RM 8). The salty yolk lobsters came in this very apt shell-serving-plate. It was quite yummzz and we almost licked up the entire plate of the sauce. The staffs could even re-use it without anyone knowing!! Hahaa… 🙂

The ginger wine egg soup tasted just as good as we had six months ago. I love the xiao bai cai best of all. The cooking time for the dish was just perfect and that it remained crispy and juicy upon the big ‘umm’. Darren loved the curry brinjal for its strong fragrance and texture although it reminded me very much of curry Twistees.

Salty Yolk Lobsters 550gm RM88, Curry Brinjal RM 10, Xiao Bai Cai RM 8, Ginger Wine Egg Soup RM 6, 1 rice RM 1. Total bill : RM113.

By the time we ended our meal, it was close to 2.30pm. It was time to hunt for our accommodation… We had tried quite a number of accommodations in Sungei Renggit but have yet to try Let Seng as it was always “Fully Booked”. This time round, we were lucky. We managed to get a triple room at RM 60 (all their RM 50 twin rooms were fully taken up). The room was quite huge with a Queen and a Single bed. Although the mattresses and pillows were not comfy and the toilet reek of a weird smell, the wifi-connection was the strongest amongst the so many hotels that we had stayed at, at Sungei Renggit town.

Had tried so many accommodations, finally got to try Let Seng Hotel.

After dropping off our stuffs, renting a bike from Mr Soon and slurping down an ice-kacang and a chendol, it was 3.30pm and we were all ready to set off for our cycling expedition. Gosh… This has got to be the latest time we set off…

Showing off my new cap-helmet and having an ice kacang and a chendol to cool off before we even started !! Hahaa… 🙂

Trying a different route this time, we ventured from Sungai Renggit town to Tanjung Pengelih jetty. The journey was 18km one way. The initial segment of the route was heavy traffic with huge construction vehicles, treating our faces to dust facials as they went past. The road shoulders were wide enough but most parts of the road shoulders were lined with sand and gravel making it slippery and prone to falls. I had a couple of near misses and could now fully understood how my cycling buddy fell the last time round.

Most parts of the road shoulders were lined with sand and gravel making it slippery and prone to falls. Really gotta be extra careful when cycling on this route.

We passed by a Kuan Yin temple. It was a small temple but the figurines were very well done and intricate. There was even a flagpole at the front of the temple.

Kuan Yin Temple which we passed by.

We took a left turn on one of the roads and came to a beachside temple and this short jetty. There was nothing else on this jetty and … … … <there we go again!>… … Sometimes, I really take my hats off us. We have to be the most crazy peeps for we can be camwhoring on literally anything and everything; drains, urinals, escalators, walls, construction sites and even this very nondescript jetty.

We spent almost an eternity cam-whoring at this jetty and never did get to Tanjung Pengelih jetty.  We started our journey back to Sungai Renggit town.

The warm rays of the setting sun started beating down on us as we cycled past a mosque and a carpet of a lalang field. The smell of the rustic villages, the vast fields of nature and the amazing creations of Mother Nature reminded us that it is scenes like these, that have been spurring us to continue coming back here, time again and again… experiencing a new adventure each time.

 

Apart from our love for nature, our tummies couldn’t hide our gluttony for the lobster meals that we yearn for.

Jade Garden which was once located at the restaurant stretch had moved and we decided to go check it out. It has grown from a seafood restaurant to a ‘resort’ overnight, owning a huge piece of land at the fringe of the town. The 4-storey building comprises of a hotel at the upper levels and huge ballrooms on the first level. The ballroom could accommodate more than a hundred tables. Venturing around the grounds, we reckon they were preparing several lobster or prawning ponds.

Restaurant on first level and hotel on upper levels. Gotta try this accommodation the next time round. Hopefully, its open by then…

Banquet setting with huge tanks of live lobsters at the new Jade Garden Resort.

Back at our dining table, the menu itself was quite a heavyweight one too. It is made from thick solid cardboard as heavy as a lobster!

Really ‘heavy weight’ menu! And they even have desserts now too…

Without us knowing, we placed our order, a Marmite Lobster (RM 86), a Cabbage (RM 10), a Fish Maw soup (RM 25) and a Deep Fried Baby squid (RM 18) with the lady boss of the resort. Only upon my comment on the menu, did she give the slip that she was the boss of the resort. Haha… 🙂
The Marmite Lobsters were HUGE but a little too sweet for a Marmite rendition. The fish maw soup and cabbage were quite tasty. The deep fried baby squid got cold after our incessant shooting. We ordered “small” servings for the dishes, but the “small” servings felt very much like a “medium” serving that could serve about 4 paxs. It got a bit too much for both of us and we eventually had to ‘tar pao’ (pack) the Deep Fried Baby Squid and have it for supper (which we unfortunately did not consume…). Our bill came to RM 164. It was relatively quite cheap considering the huge, small portions that we had.

Looking at the scale and progress of this “Jade Garden Resort”, this may very well turn into the next ‘big thing’ at Sg Renggit / Pengerang, serving both locals and out-of-towners with banquet style restaurants, high rise hotels, resort facilities etc. We are excited and looking forward to its progress and can’t wait to make our next trip there.

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