Wednesday, September 14, 2011

An Unexpected Find

In the course of her work, Mama gets to travel to uncharted territories too, sometimes. Well, in this case, it was uncharted as we don't usually stay at a hotel or resort when we visited her maternal village. Somehow, this time, we did. Thanks to Uncle Google, we found this hitherto unknown (to us) beach resort that was pleasantly nice and clean. It's called Dorani Bayu Beach Resort in an area called Sungai Besar (literal translation: Big River), in the district of Sabak Bernam, about half an hour's drive from Mama's village. We don't know the GPS coordinates but in Google Map, look for Sungai Dorani near Sungai Besar. (sungai means river in Malay)

Anyway, no website but they are listed under the Sabak Bernam District Council list of places to stay. The resort does belong to the council but managed by a private company.

We get to choose between sea view or village view chalets, there are also bungalows and apartments on offer. The resort offers a restaurant as well as a paintball arena. There's a fishing jetty nearby so you can guess what are the main dishes on offer at the restaurant. There was a makeshift market along the small village street leading to the resort, with some hawkers proudly displaying "free wifi zone". Oh yes, compared to Australia, Malaysia is generous when it comes to broadbands and wifi services. Many eateries, big or small, offer free wifi to their customers. In comparison, you get free wifi at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport but have to pay AUD$4 for an hour at the Sydney or Brisbane Airports.

Oh, but I digress. So, there we were, with a village view chalet as everything else was fully booked. The chalet was clean though Mama was not so happy with the torn pillowcases. And there was no in-house telephone, which we thought was funny! Yeah, there were three mobile phones, one iPad and one Galaxy Tab among us, and yet we still wanted a house phone as it was a long way to reception to complain about the pillowcases. Cheapskate, Mama!

I enjoyed going around on a shooting spree (of the camera kind, not with guns) and managed to capture the essence of this place, I hope. So, here they are.

Ours was the one in the middle. It was very airy as it has many windows. But you can turn on the air-conditioner instead if you don't fancy salty sea breeze.
The porch leading to the reception area. I don't fancy them cacti.
Sea view on the left, village view on the right.
Fisherman at work, apparently looking for clams and cockles... I love zooming on far away objects like this.
Resident cat inspecting the landscape. At first glance looks like me except for the short tail.
Another resident cat, a tortie, snoopervising the rock works.
Third resident cat was in charge of parking, I guess.
I wonder what he'll do if we don't pay up....scratch our car?
Activity at the fishing jetty. I heard you can hire boats and guides for fishing as well.
By the power of the zoom lens....come to Angie you juicy birdie!
This must be Dad's favourite photo as he looooves young coconut juice. This variety is called kelapa gading (kelapa = coconut, gading = ivory tusk). 
Next time we'll try paint-balling here, eh?
View from the sea view chalets...it was low tide so....hohummmm...
Whereas from the village view chalet, we could see this mangrove patch. There were some regeneration efforts going on as well....yeay!!!
Angelina's note: Dad said we must come again to capture the sunset scenery here. We couldn't do so this time around as we had to be at an iftar event that took place at dusk. It's a promise, right Dad? purrr....meow!

33 comments:

Katnip Lounge said...

We think it's fun to see Cat Jobs in other places!

rohaizahabas said...

jom pergi sama2

Cat and DOG Chat With Caren said...

this looks like it was soooo peaceful and relaxing!

Did those "resident cats" turn up because you were there?

Love the one on the roof of the car lol!

you were lucky that cabin had air conditioning, often they don't!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Katnip Lounger,
They all look well fed hence my assumption that they all earn their keep through honest work. purrr...meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Ezza,
Jom! Bila nak pergi? purrr...meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Caren,
I wish we had stayed longer. The chalet is quite spacious, can easily accommodate six felines. purrr...meow!

Kama At-Tarawis said...

cat - pak abu, although born in pahang, was raised in sungai besar since age 2. thus sungai besar is kampung to him. he was surprised to know of the development here... we are going to check this out soon.. TQTQ..

meowwmania said...

woww santeknya tmpt ni...

Angelina bila nak blanja aunty g jenjalan :D

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Puteri,
After all the be'wahs, you'll need a break. And it won't break your wallet too. purrr...meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Meoww,
Anytime! Nak bawakkan Abang Epi sekali tak? purrr...meow!

The Island Cats said...

What a great place!! We hope that one cat doesn't try to drive off in that car!!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Island Cats,
That ginger was quite cheeky. Thank God the car isn't ours. purrr...meow!

ninotaziz said...

How lovely...

Al-Manar said...

The Big River seems a interesting place. Perhaps one of these days we make a trip there to watch the sunset for a change.

Is there any more weddings to attend, perhaps somewhere you can watch the sunrise?

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Ninot,
Mama suggested this place for the reunion but nobody else seems interested. purrr...meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Dear Pakcik,
We haven't received any more wedding invitations for the time being. Perhaps the next school holidays, if the weather permits. purrr...meow!

Pi Bani said...

Apasal Angelina tak berenang to catch that birdie?

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Very picturesque place! Oh, we DO fancy salty sea breeze over the air-conditioner, anytime! I love the resident cats. All of them are beautiful. The tortie is a darling.

amanda said...

wow what a pretty place. Rio from Barcelona

LP said...

Beautiful place and worth coming back to! What are wifi services?!
Looks like the resort cats had full time jobs! :)


the critters in The Cottage

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pi,
Sebab Angelina tak pandai berenang! purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

CO78,
And it's not far, now that there's a new expressway - LATAR - took us less than an hour, if we didn't stop to buy mangoes, cat grass, kerepek, ikan etc etc by the roadside. purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Rio dear,
We love travelling and discovering new places. purrr...meow!

Unknown said...

I love the ginger cat visitor.. he obviously decided he wanted his five minutes of fame and therefore had to get your attention!

Tamago said...

It looks such a nice place!! I would love to visit there some day.
I'm sorry about the torn pillowcases, but it does look really nice and clean. I love all the photos Resident kitties must be having a good life :-) Juicy birdie photo is so beautiful (and yummy looking) too!! I hope you can visit there again soon to see sunset. It must be really gorgeous!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Cottage Felines,
Wifi is wireless internet. It's very convenient when you're travelling or don't have you own broadband modem. Especially for a blogging feline. purrr...meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Kitcaboodles,
Gingers are gorgeous, aren't they? purr...meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Tamago-san,
I'd love to photograph the sunset there. Would you talk to my Mama? purrr...meow!

Pat said...

Thanks to you and your pix, I enjoyed a lovely visit to Sungai Besar, in Sabak Bernam :)

Thank you very much!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pat,
The pleasure is mine too. purr...meow!

Sandy said...

Hey, that looks like a really nice place :D. The cacti though.... they remind me of this bobcactus -.- ouch ... http://theoatmeal.com/comics/bobcats_cactus

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Tante Sandy,
Hmmm...may I take your pawrents there instead? Since you haven't bought your tickets yet. purrr...meow!

Sandy said...

lol yea +_+ hahaha