Mbah & Atok go to… Temerloh - Day 2

Day 2: Temerloh - Janda Baik - Kuala Selangor

Sunday 18 February 2024

This is Mbah’s and Atok’s weekend escapade to Temerloh, Pahang on 17-18 February 2024 originally published in Mbah’s Facebook (some editing and formatting modifications made to suit this blog’s display). You can read the rest of her postings (and the originals in Facebook) here: 


<< Day 1: Kuala Selangor - Janda Baik - Mentakab - Temerloh <<


Sunday

Celik mata. Lapar. Where to go for breakfast. AK was still in his rhythmic mode, though not for long. Once wide awake, he said breakfast is to be kocok with sambal. Kocok? Never heard of this. Intriguing. The rumbling stomach continued but kocok is only opened at 8 00. In the meantime, scrolling took place. 8 05 on the bike. 8 15 arrived at Paksu and Maksu stall (@ Kedai Cakoi Pakcu & Makcu). Written on the menu cakoi/kocok. 


There you go. Local name for cakoi. We could not see the kocok and the adik at the store said that it is still not ready yet. Maybe another 10 minutes. So we ordered nescafe tarik kurang manis and a mug of hot water. Another scrolling took place. 

Then came Paksu with 4 pieces of kocok and the Sambal. True to the 3 or 4 websites reviews, the kocok is simply divine. The size is rather big and long, crispy outside and tender inside. They were still piping hot when we got it. Cicah pulak dgn sambal tumis. A must repeat. We talked to Paksu for a while. He mentioned that we must be visitors for locals would know that the kocok would only be ready at 8 30 or so. He said that Maksu learned how to prepare the kocok from a class that she attended 30 years or so ago and they have been in business since then. Started way back in 1990. We were in our third year. How time flies.


4 was not enough. We got another 4. Dah baca Bismillah but I said I would like to try the nasi lemak with sambal sotong. It turned out that it was sambal sardine. Nasi lemak sambal sardine then. The nasi was simple but the sambal sardine was good. It’s has just enough spiciness to it but the added potato made it lemak. Nice. Simply nice. Alhamdulillah sungguh. The price was good.

One of the local said that if we go ahead and turn left, we would be at the back of Temerloh sign which many can see from the esplanade. We were at the other side of the river. The local also suggested for us to visit the vanilla farm (@ Amani Vanilla Temerloh) but we were more interested to go to the Pekan Sari. What a better place to walk off the thousands calories consumed.

Off to Pekan sari. Another 10 minutes ride. Temerloh Pekan Sari is acknowledged as the longest Pekan sari in Malaysia. By the time we arrived, the jam has started. Many people have thronged the place. Since we were on our bike, manoeuvring and finding parking was rather easy.



In we went.

Rows of shirts and textiles.

Rows of fishes and seafood.

Rows of fruits and local produce.

Rows of food and drinks.

Rows of toys and knick knacks.

All types of people - the not so wee and the wee ones.

All were interspersed.



To us, three things caught our fancy.

The first was seafood. The squid was really fresh that they were still transparent. The Udang galah was big and transparent too. The price - cheap for those two items.


The second was the knick knack. One seller specialised on items sold while we were kids. There was tikam-tikam, patung baju kertas, yo-yo, pistol belerang and kapal enjin minyak masak. Nostalgic. They invoked many happy childhood memories.


The third was tikar mengkuang. Many designs and sizes. All beautifully made. I was taken by this but no cannot. Klu naik kereta mmg dah bawa balik satu. Next time perhaps.

There were many other things too but too many to mention. If not for anything else, come and visit this Pekan Sari for the experience. Playing tourists. It’s a nice break from the mundane things.

3730 steps (rough estimate) within that two hours at the Pekan Sari. At least part of the breakfast calories were shed off. Phew.

Check out time. Don’t forget that. Went back to pack and another round of shower. Even I could not stand my own smell. The sweat mixed with all those smells while walking - nothing more should be said.

Lunch. Another culinary spot. Ikan patin asam pedas claypot Potrodong (@ Restoran Potrodong Claypot Patin Tempoyak Temerloh). The asam pedas was delicious, with a stronger taste of serai, daun kesum and lada hitam. A slight difference from my Batu Pahat hometown asam pedas. The patin was belemok, succulent and fresh. AK was taken by it. Me, the kuah and the bendi only.



The ride was to be for another one and a half hour. Decided to stop over at Kopi n Kraf KopiNKraf again. This time for iced coffee and red velvet. Calories lost in the hundred, calories added in the thousand. How lah nak jaga gula ni. Spent about an hour here.




Continued the journey for another one and a half hour. The weather was rather cloudy and true enough it poured about 45 mins from home. We decided to just bulldozed our way without stopping to wear our raincoat. We are heading home anyway. The rain stopped not long after.


Puteh strutted to welcome us home. Alhamdulillah. Temerloh weekend break.



P. S. If you noticed, there were a few 10 minutes mentions. A blogger said Temerloh is a 10-min town. You can get anywhere around town within 10 minutes. Try lah. 



Where to next?

Night2 kids.

Night2 everyone.


<< Day 1: Kuala Selangor - Janda Baik - Mentakab - Temerloh <<

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