The day started early, at 6:45, with my brother's text message arriving 15 minutes prior to the logical time for my phone alarm to beep me up. He was badly sick, and would have to skip the fun with us. I managed to tap a reply asking the sickly man why he would want to torture a girl by texting her 15 minutes before she was supposed to wake up. Come to think of it, it was highly inappropriate, wasn't it?
Anyway, I managed to arrive at the first meeting point before the agreed time. A few minutes were spent watching people get ready around me: make-up, hair, hat-trials, shoes... and finally, we set off to Klang for Bak-kut-teh breakfast. Before breakfast, we stopped by Miss Chin's place for a change of stallion. She probably does not trust that her ~20-yo 4556 can take a >50km challenge well. We met her parents, and they had Miss Chin bring some tealeaves for our breakfast. Apparently Bak-kut-teh places in Klang sell tea at a price (or quality) many thought better if they brought their own.
I was starving! But there were many who rose earlier and had their first breakfast. The Bak-kut-teh shop owner was ignorant, probably because she was extremely busy, although the shop wasn't really full so I see no reason for her constant need to rush and offer of rude acknowledgements. "We have not Yaw-zar-kuai, Yaw-coy, something, something else, some other thing else also we don't have." She threw that snappily at us sideways when Miss Lim waved her down to ask for the all time favourite side to Bak-kut-teh. She also threw intestines into out pot when she specifically confirmed that we do not want any internal organs. Miss Lim's explaination for her poise was stated above, much to the disagreement of most at the table. Overall, though, it was an edible and (not-overly) filling meal if we simply adopt the ways of the Buddha and pardon the rudeness with great karma. Mr. Wong ended up having mostly only tea, but he really doesn't eat much usually anyway so I don't believe he minds.
After breakfast, we stopped by Miss Lim's place because she forgot her ID card. We met her mother, who looked as if she knew everyone of us when Miss Lim made the introductions. It seemed to me that Miss Lim has had a lot to say about us to her mother. I would not say I've said much about my friends to my parents. They probably would not know the difference between a friend and an acquaintance of mine. I wondered for a moment if it is better this way.
At that, we began the long drive towards Sekinchan. It took about an hour or more, but I enjoyed the ride with Mr. Lee and Mr. Wong probing the limits of Doris's patience with questions, comments and suggestions for her private affairs. I tried hard (but naturally) to stay very much out of it, only contributing giggles when appropriate. I would imagine it was a torturing ride for Doris, although I chose not to let my pity for her run over the brim and say something to her rescue only to bring the arrows to myself. I would pretty much say I've been a selfish brat the entire drive. But, honestly, I don't think it's that bad. No physical harm was inflicted, and people who knew Mr. Lee and Mr. Wong would've gotten used to it already.
The exploration of Sekinchan started with a fishing village, which looked much more attractive and interesting later when we were on the beach. The trail was short, and not much could be seen. People minded their own business and did not mind the group of us walking and taking pictures. Fishing boats were much more colourful than I had imagined. There was a boat in building at the very end, and I had some degree of interest in watching people weave or repair fishing nets. But, all in all, I would say nothing held my interest longer than the discovery that each house on the trail had a "Poh-Tsu" calligraphy inked over red paper hung above their door. I wondered aloud and Mr. Wong (who I've always respected for his broad knowledge in the fields that I know not much of) said that it's probably a name for the village their ancestors come from.
Shortly after, we found our way, after a fair amount of inquisitions, to the Redang beach. This particular beach is laden not with sand but with shells. Shells were abundant and most of them were still perfect, so I don't think they were naturally swept in by the waves. I was strolling with Mr. Wong when I had wondered this aloud, so he offered his opinion that it would most likely be discarded by fishing boats on their way back. As mentioned before, the fishing village looked nicer from the beach, probably because it had a nice viewing angle from the river-mouth, so our gaze could follow the river in parallel towards a horizon with boats and jetties lining both banks of the river. The beach was lined with huts and tree houses made of leftover wood and fishing nets. They thought it artistic and different, so here the first cam-whoring session begins, where group photographs were taken under the sun as well as the shades.It was a surprise that Mr. Lee announced his hunger at this time, as it would be his third meal of the day. But it was already 14:30 and lunch is way overdue. Lunch at a local shop was the best-tasting meal of the day, with generous exchange of fun and laughter. We ate and then sat a little longer to wait for Mr. Ng and wife. Later, because they were stuck in a jam somewhere and because we seems to be the only customers left at the shop, we left for the paddy field and Miss Chin sent them GPS coordinates so they could meet us there instead.
The paddy field was the highlight of the day's events. Here, the cameras clicked till some were drained. The great contrast between the blue of the sky and the green of the crops drove many to the edge. I could not put much of the feeling in words, but we did enjoy ourselves very very much. It was also very nice to meet Mrs. Ng again, and see that she still do enjoy our company as much as she had in the past.I think we must've spent at least two hours at the fields. My shoulders were getting reddish and some parts are probably even stinging a little without my noticing it. It was time for dinner again. We were to have seafood in Kuala Selangor, and we did. Dinner was disappointing, although I think Mr. Khoo and Mr. Wong had claimed to have eaten there before. Sadly, I couldn't remember what we had except for crabs with a sauce a little too runny and a Wan-tan-mee taste-alike Hokkien-fried-mee. The Wan-tan-mee taste-alike was entirely me, I believe, as nobody seem to agree.
After dinner, the immediate destination was Firefly resort, though there were some getting lost involved in the process of getting there. As usual, this dedicated GPS sometimes malfunction a little at night. We paid an unfair price for entrance, boat ticket included. The fireflies reminded me of Owl City, but not very much of my childhood, as those I saw back then were much bigger as I recall. I think I thought so sometime in the middle of the boat ride: "This is Nature's gift to us. And it should've been free. What happened to the world? So that now every gift of Nature are costing us?". And then I felt a little sad, as I know for a fact that it's not as easy for me to see fireflies back at home as it used to be before.
It was near 22:00 by the time we got out of the Firefly resort, but more than half claim to still have energy and are interested to go to i-City. So, we went. It's seems a little ironic, to me, to leave a sight of lights prepared by nature and head for a sight of artificial light. And of course when we got there I didn't think it was at all comparable, but that probably was due to the fact that I'm not one of the still-energetic half of the group.We finally arrive at the initial meeting point at 01:00 of the other day. And although I thought I would bath and sleep immediately, I had enough energy to work through the uploading of photos up on Facebook. And that, ended a day that gave me mixed feelings about many many things.
