Food on the Kaleebso

First of all.... where the magic happens: Aunty Mary's little kitchen on board the Kaleebso.

First up: Assam laksa with all the proper condiments

Fresh catch that we bought from a fishing boat on the way to Pulau Sembilan. About RM100 for 2 buckets worth of crabs, prawns and squid.

One of the meals was teochew porridge. Light, simple home-cooked goodness. Pictured below are the condiments.

We also ate balitong.... Here they are in the kitchen sink, waiting to be cooked.

The balitong was cooked 2 ways: one was kung po style....

... and the other was with mashed sweet potato.

There was also grilled lamb...

Wow, I'm full just looking at the pictures! I guess we over-ate (again).

Life on the Kaleebso - Part 2

More pics from our recent Kaleebso trip...

Group pic! (L-R): Nicole, Uncle Peter, Aunty Josie, Aunty Pat, Uncle Aaron and Aunty Jackie


Family pic. (L-R): Ivan, Aunty Jenny and King Julian!

Me on top of the boat while waiting to set off from Hutan Melitang.

Rommel testing out his sea legs...

Of course, I brought along some knitting to keep me occupied during the 2 hour ride from the mainland to Pulau Sembilan. That's Uncle Loh, the captain, in there btw.

Assam laksa to feed the famished. Unfortunately, it didn't sit well with those prone to seasickness.

Pa's looking cool because he took his seasick tablets beforehand.

Rommel's hanging off the front of the boat while I sat in the "watcher's chair". That's my pale thigh. Despite my initial joy of finally getting a tan, I received some comments over the weekend on how I still look so fair. :(

King Julian smiling smugly and bravely.... while his brother Ivan took a longer while getting used to standing at the front while the boat was in movement.

Life on the Kaleebso

Imagine waking up to such a view....
(your own private beach.... private island in fact since it's uninhabited)

* Pulau Lalang, part of the Pulau Sembilan islands.

What do you do if you're out at sea for 3 days?

Do you take the sampan out or go fishing?
* This is the little sampan that takes us to and fro from the beach.

Or perhaps clock in some dives?
* I miss diving already. These waters off Pulau Sembilan were surprisingly clear when we were there and one of us even managed to see a seahorse!

Do you talk about your great underwater travels the moment you get back from a dive? Here Pa is describing the size of some of the barracudas we saw underwater. Nothing big, not compared to the ferocious-looking, 4-ft long ones we caught at night.

Do you sit and contemplate life while enjoying a cuppa?

Perhaps some music for entertainment?
* Pa and Uncle Max kept things interesting with their music.
One fishing success....
*Apologies for the blur picture. I ran in to get my camera which was in an airconditioned room and so it fogged up when I brought it out.


And finally, some weird looking fruit that Uncle Loh plucked from the island. Some of us tried chewing on it and the fruit had mixed reviews. Most people did not like it though but some (like Pa) thought it was not bad.

3 days spent on Kaleebso. Memories to last a lifetime.

Piggin' Out: Restoran Suang Le River, Tanjung Karang

Restaurant: Suang Le River
Location: Bagan Pasir, Tanjung Karang
Contact: 019 690 6788, 019 233 5296
Other reviews: All About Food, Precious Pea

On the way to Hutan Melintang to board the Kaleebso, we stopped by Tanjung Karang for a seafood brunch. Restoran Suang Le River was recommended by Kaleebso captain, Uncle Loh and Pa had also tried out the place a few weeks earlier.

The nondescript entrance...





The yummy food...


The loo.... This was really amusing, especially for us cityfolk.... Here's Uncle Peter taking a peek in it.


The view...

Overall, the seafood was fresh, the cooking simple, homecooked and pretty good. Unfortunately, we ate at around 10.30am and most were not that hungry so it was a pity that I did not enjoy this meal as much as I should have.

Would I go back? Yes if I happen to be in the area.

Sunburn, heatstroke, dehydration...

... but thoroughly enjoyable!

Back on Monday night from our boat trip on the Kaleebso. Took us almost 5 hours to get home from Hutan Melintang, Perak (somewhere near Teluk Intan) because of a bad jam. Madness.

Spent yesterday in bed because the whole room was swaying and my whole body just ached. It was like as if I'd done a 3 hour workout with my personal trainer.

And the cause of my misery? 4 dives that I managed to clock in over the weekend.

In my previous post, I initially had reservations about diving during this trip since I hadnt done it in years and I didn't think that the waters of West Coast Malaysia would be worth seeing. After all, it is much murkier than the East Coast so visibility would have been naught.

But I was proven wrong. Within minutes of arriving at Pulau Sembilan (translated as Nine Island - because there are nine islands in this little archipelago), we changed into our swimwear and jumped straight into the water.

The water was so warm and inviting in the evening sun (we arrived at the islands after 3 hours on the boat). The colour of the water was really, really amazing - clear emerald green. I've never seen anything like it. The waters off the East Coast are usually blue, never green.

Through our snorkles, we could see large schools of fish swimming below. Unable to resist, we got back into the boat, scrambled to sort out our diving gear and the 4 divers and 1 instructor jumped back in for our first dive.

Sadly, we only last 15 mins before I had problems with my Octopus - I had trouble breathing through it and so I panicked and had to surface. That's what you get for not diving in 3 years. Also, the sun was starting to set so there was barely time left for another dive. (unless one wanted a night dive but I still have a fear of night diving).

The next morning, I was up early and went for my first dive with Uncle Loh the captain and Joey his niece who was also the dive instructor on board. Managed to clock in 2 more dives that day and even got Rommel to go on a Discovery Scuba dive. He didnt seem too keen on it at first but I hope he enjoyed it.. Our last dive was on Monday morning just before heading back to the mainland.

So, for someone was unfit as I am, my body did not expect all that stress. My lungs now ache slightly when I take deep breaths, my shoulders ache and of course my legs have no energy. My head is perpetually spinning.

But would I do it again? Without a doubt, yes. I've been bitten by the diving bug again. Now it's time to plan my next trip. Anyone interested?

P/S: Pictures of the lovely scenery and yummy food to come. I just couldn't stare at the computer or the tv yesterday. Like I said, everything was spinning. Also, not much knitting done over the weekend since I was too tired by the end of the day.

And guess what Shen..... I'm darker than Fatteh!!! Imagine that! After all these years, this is the first time I've got a tan! SUCCESS. And the secret... I didnt put any sunscreen because there wasn't much sun and so I literally slowly baked in the low heat sun. (sounds like I was baking myself in an oven). Fatteh's almost the same colouring as Ma btw. I told him he better get a tan soon or he'll look too sissyfied.

Kaleebso

I can't wait for tomorrow to come.
Because tomorrow, we'll be going on the Kaleebso! Boat trip!!

The Kaleebso belongs to Uncle Loh, my dad's colleague. He runs this dive boat more of as a hobby and due to his love for the sea, rather than as a money-making venture (although making some extra cash on it does no harm!).

Some facts about the boat (taken from their site):
-Length at 75 feet
-Beam is 20 feet at its widest
-Hull made of chengal wood
-One 9 pax open cabin
-Three 3 pax cabin with one double bed and one single bed
-One 4 pax cabin

What I love about the boat:
1) Aunty Mary's cooking - really, whatever she cooks, I eat! From the cheese curry at dinner to the teochew porridge at lunch and the beef satay in pita bread for breakfast..... even if you dont want to swim/dive/snorkle/fish, you'll want to eat her food! You would think that with all the diving and swimming we do on the boat, we'd lose some weight but my experience on the boat tells me that I usually ended up with a few extra kilos instead.

2) It's got sufficient space for everyone and the rooms are clean and air-conditioned. In other words, comfy and feels like home on water. Why, my dad even gave one of our massage chairs to be placed on the boat so at the end of the day, we can relax and get a massage.

3) You can sing karaoke all night in the middle of the sea with no neighbours to tell you to shut up. You might just scare away all the fish so whoever intends to fish that night might not be too happy. That's what we did on one of the trips where we had a bunch of fruit and veg sellers from Selayang market on board with us. We just sang cheesy Chinese karaoke classics and it actually turned out to be a really fun night.

What I plan to do for the next 3 days:
1) Catch up on sleep - Sleep has become a luxury to me and so at every opportunity I get, I'll sleep as much as I can.
2) Eat. As mentioned above, Aunty Mary's cooking is just so good!
3) Knit - am planning to bring Juniper Syrian lace shawl with me.
4) Suntan - I really need a tan. Really. Last weekend at Pangkor Laut did nothing for me except about half a dozen sandfly bites which are still itchy and red til today. I can suntan while knitting/sleeping.
5) Dive/swim - not sure about this yet. Am somehow not in the mood to dive and my last dive was 3 years ago at Tanjung Jara. Will need a refresher course me thinks.
6) Go fishing - however, my last attempt at this was ages ago and I've never really caught anything worth mentioning.

I've been on this boat only 3 times and the last was at least 3/4 years ago before I started working! I've been meaning to bring Rommel on the boat (I've been telling him about it for ages now) but we never found the right time or the right group of people to go with.

So, looking forward to tomorrow!