Suddenly Sekinchan

On a whim, KH and I decided to go on a road trip to Sekinchan, with my mum in tow. Being the first day of Raya Puasa, the roads were quite clear. Mum suggested our first POI-- Kuil Sri Maha Mariamman, a Hindu temple at Bukit Rotan. Unlike the the typical Hindu temples, this temple is not painted in multi-coloured hues. Everything is in a pale yellow. In the evening, the spotlights are switched on, and that gives the temple a golden hue. Even in the day, it is beautiful with its intricate details. During our visit, a Hindu prayer ceremony was ongoing, and in the background, a Raya Puasa sermon was blaring from the surau beside it. A few doors down, was a Methodist church. 

At around 10 AM, we had arrived in Sekinchan. Looked for a breakfast spot near the morning market. Restoran Sing Ming Kee looked really popular among the locals. A hot mess. Unfortunately for KH, the curry noodles was sold out. We settled for some wantan noodles, and fish head noodles. Nothing to shout about. Good thing was that it was walking distance to some paddy fields which were away from the tourists areas, so we could get some clear shots in peace. Beautiful swathes of green as far as the eye can see. 

Next was the Paddy Gallery. Really a tourist hot spot. The narrow roads were all jammed up due to the high volume of visitors, and haphazard roadside parking. The merchandise shop was swamped with customers buying loads of rice. That was about all we wanted to see in Sekinchan. Gave my cousin a call, and he invited us to visit him at Bagan Sungai Burung since he was not out at sea. My cousin brother treated us to a scrumptious seafood lunch of crabs, calamari, and catfish at Restoran Tien Yin. 

When offered with a spin on his fishing boat, we immediately agreed. Don't believe I have ever boarded his fishing boat. His younger son also joined us. In just three years, his son totally transformed from rambunctious to the strong, silent type. The short cruise was fun with lots of heron sightings. Black-headed gulls would follow our wake stream, looking for prey. Out at sea, he brought us to see Kelong Paradise, a fishing station for avid anglers. Back on land, my cousin prepared a box of seafood for us to bring home. He grumbled that we should informed him earlier so that he could have kept some large fishes.  

It was time to go home, but not before we stop at Route Five Cafe at Bagan Sungai Yu. The journey there was a tad scary because Google Maps navigated us to an off-road adventure. The gravel road was one-car wide with overgrown reeds on both sides. It snaked along the Selangor River. Seeing how gung-ho we were, two cars behind us followed our lead. When we arrived, we realized that there was a much more civilized route. Anyway, the cafe was nice, with a great sunset river view, but their operations was seriously f*cked up. One adult assisted by primary school kids.  

Arrived home pretty late, but mum still had to settle the box of seafood that my cousin gave us. There were a lot of flower crabs, and the best way to keep it was to cook it before freezing. Mum just started frying a bunch of them, and boy the aroma was amazing. Fried crabs for supper, amazing. Zero seasoning required because it practically had the flavour of the sea. We practically had crabs for days after that. Not complaining!