Going to the Chapel (PD to Janda Baik)
So I wrote the whole post on my iPad, stopped to attend a meeting, and came back to.... nothing.
Therefore here I begin, again.
Woke up bright and early - 730am, and with the alarm clock set - at Avillion Port Dickson. It is a great hotel in the sense that it is incredibly peaceful and quiet at night. This is despite the hoardes of families vacationing here for an extended Raya, and also the tourists that come by the busloads and spend hours taking selfies.
My sleep was less than ideal. I was in bed at 10pm and had already had three nights' worth of uninterrupted sleep. I'd expected the jet lag from being away for two weeks to be completely gone. I found this to be untrue, as I woke up at 2am and could not get back to sleep again until 5am.
Went down for breakfast and to my utter disappointment (again at this hotel), there was no nasi lemak! This is my key criteria for satisfaction at any local hotel; the availability of nasi lemak as part of the breakfast. Never mind the fancy beef or chicken rendang, but the coconut rice, ikan billis (fried anchovies), peanuts, sambal (spicy sauce), half an hard-boiled egg and a cucumber slice or two for a balanced diets are - to me - absolutely essential.
They almost made up for this with an excellent lontong, of which I had two bowlfuls. After two cups of coffee and a shower, I was dressed, checked-out and ready to go by 0845.
I was slightly worried about this leg, as I had no clue where Janda Baik was or what the roads were going to be like. Also, this ride was going to take me through Kuala Lumpur - at least on the outskirts - and it was my first time riding through the big city.
I opted for the highway this time; it was a 2 hour ride compared to the 3-hour "country roads" option, but I had to be at the wedding at 5pm and could not afford to get pleasantly lost for 7 hours.
So, out of Avillion, a right turn, a stop for petrol and to stock up on cigarettes, onward to the next junction and a left onto N8, and filter left onto the E29 (Seremban - Port Dickson highway) about 3kms later. Everything nicely signposted so far.
A brief note on cigarettes. If you are a smoker, you've probably noticed how non-smokers/social smokers suddenly turn into social smokers - nay, social chain-smokers - during social events. Weddings, company functions, funerals, you name it. And as they've probably never bought a pack of cigarettes in their lives, they expect to live off the ones that do smoke regularly. Now, I have no problems with handing out cigarettes, what pisses me off tremendously is running out of cigarettes in the arse-end of nowhere. Having experienced this too often, I now carry two packs of cigarettes to any event. Half a pack for me (I smoke a bit more when I'm drinking alcohol) and 30 cigarettes for the leeches.
But I digress. On the E29 I quickly realise where I'd gone wrong the previous day. I also probably won't be able to correct it in the future, but I have remembered more town names which will help steer me in the right direction.
After about 24kms I followed the signs to filter left onto the E2 (North-South Highway) heading to Kuala Lumpur, and this ride was a lot more pleasant than expected. I had only done short stretches on the North-South, and at the Johor end of things. Here it was a 3- sometimes 4-lane, and at this time on a Saturday morning there was light flowing traffic of all kinds and at all speeds. I quickly got up to 110km/h - which was the highway speed limit and only now within my comfort zone - and gained some much-needed experience positioning and passing while keeping a 360-view going for all the crap that happens on these highways. Retreads unravelling off buses or lorries travelling above the speed limit, flying rocks and stones from gravel trucks, people falling asleep at the wheel. I enjoyed it. And I have to say my past 23 years of experience as a driver does help.
Went past the Sungai Besi toll, about 3kms later filtered off onto the exit that said Kuantan, merged onto the E5 and from here I have to say it was easy-peasy; I just had to follow all the signs that led to Kuantan. Made a brief stop for petrol at one of the MRR2 highway petrol stations (I unfortunately missed the one that had a Starbucks drive-thru, I was yearning for proper coffee) and carried on my merry way.
Approximately 24kms after that first turn off near Sungai Besi, the highway merges onto the E8 (KL - Gua Musang Highway) which for some reason then morphs into the Karak Highway. There's a toll booth, after which was the most lovely ride I did not expect.
I've been up and down the Karak Highway loads of times, but never on a motorbike. It is a hilly area which leads into the Genting Highlands, and the highway has some steep grades and tight curves. It's always fun in a car, but there's usually traffic in the way. On a bike, less so. The other thing I never realised before was it was high up enough for the air to be pleasurably cold at 0930am in the morning. Even the purr of the engine seemed to smooth out in response to this. The things you miss inside an air-conditioned car!
This stretch of the ride was just too short at less than 25kms. But before coming to my exit I did have to go through the Genting Sempah tunnel which burrows through the mountain (part of the Titiwangsa range) and takes you across the border from the state of Selangor to the state of Pahang - my home state. In here, I lifted my visor so I could listen to the growl of the engine echoing off the walls.
This brought back a memory of my late Uncle Mike, coincidentally the father of the bride. I was first introduced to the Genting Sempah tunnel sound effects by him. I was a bout 5 or 6 and we'd been driving to Kuala Lumpur in his maroon Daihatsu Charade. As we were passing through the tunnel he said, "Dxxxx, listen to this!", wound down his window, revved his engine and tooted his horn to provide me with a full demonstration of soundwaves in the tunnel. Here I was, doing the same thing. It made me smile.
Immediately after the tunnel is exit 308, Genting Sempah. The exit brought me to the rest stop, and after meandering around a bit and going past the McDonald's, I found the road that brings me out at the rear end of the rest stop. The t-junction was also signposted (Port Dickson can learn a thing or two from this hole in the highway), and a left turn took me onto the road to Janda Baik.
From this point in, the road was extremely narrow, windy, with grades of varying levels of steepness and potholed, with puddles, pebbles, branches and algae in abundance. Not difficult, but definitely needing care. I could go up to third gear at the most, and very slowly around corners. My principle for taking corners and picking up girls in a dark club is the same; if you can't see it, don't take it. Might turn out ugly later.
Once I was on this road, I just followed the signs of hotels that I recognized when I was searching for a place to stay. There were no road signs, but the hotel indicators sufficed. I eventually came to the Tanarimba Pine guardhouse on my right, and wasn't really sure if this is where I needed to go. I stopped to check my phone and yes, it was. I was a bit lucky here; apparently most of the hill has no mobile phone reception.
After the first guardhouse was the wedding hall. I stopped here and chatted to friends and relatives and had lunch and two hours later headed on again to find my accommodation for the next two days. I am glad I stopped off here and got directions; after this point, it is truly a maze of roads.
So to get to Harmony Valley Retreat (where I was staying), I passed the second guardhouse and went straight on for quite a distance until I saw a turnoff to Jalan Sum Sum 2 on my right. Then I kept going until I saw the sign saying Lot 345, which led down the steepest slope I had ever seen into the front drive of the hotel/retreat. I made it safely. Again, a motorbike is thankfully very different from a bicycle.
Harmony Valley Retreat is a beautiful place. It is effectively a 3-storey house with 10 or more rooms, all nicely spaced out and furnished. There were a few quirks to the way things were built, but nothing that took away from it. The place was mostly used for retreats, and the staff were well versed in different aspects of natural therapy from homeopathy to osteopathy. The staff were welcoming, obliging and tolerant of this big group of wedding-goers who took over the whole place and created a slight ruckus late into the night (there were no other guests there).
The retreat also had its own garden next door, and most of the meals prepared - including the breakfast that was included in the room price - came out of this garden. And I have to say, both my breakfasts were yummy!
I had two main worries; FIrstly, I'd booked an extra night here so I could recover from a potential hangover before riding back into KL, and had no clue what I'd do to keep myself occupied. Secondly, whether my bike would make it up that crazily steep slope that led out of the driveway and back onto the road.
But hey, these were worries for a different day. On to the wedding!
Therefore here I begin, again.
Woke up bright and early - 730am, and with the alarm clock set - at Avillion Port Dickson. It is a great hotel in the sense that it is incredibly peaceful and quiet at night. This is despite the hoardes of families vacationing here for an extended Raya, and also the tourists that come by the busloads and spend hours taking selfies.
My sleep was less than ideal. I was in bed at 10pm and had already had three nights' worth of uninterrupted sleep. I'd expected the jet lag from being away for two weeks to be completely gone. I found this to be untrue, as I woke up at 2am and could not get back to sleep again until 5am.
Went down for breakfast and to my utter disappointment (again at this hotel), there was no nasi lemak! This is my key criteria for satisfaction at any local hotel; the availability of nasi lemak as part of the breakfast. Never mind the fancy beef or chicken rendang, but the coconut rice, ikan billis (fried anchovies), peanuts, sambal (spicy sauce), half an hard-boiled egg and a cucumber slice or two for a balanced diets are - to me - absolutely essential.
They almost made up for this with an excellent lontong, of which I had two bowlfuls. After two cups of coffee and a shower, I was dressed, checked-out and ready to go by 0845.
I was slightly worried about this leg, as I had no clue where Janda Baik was or what the roads were going to be like. Also, this ride was going to take me through Kuala Lumpur - at least on the outskirts - and it was my first time riding through the big city.
I opted for the highway this time; it was a 2 hour ride compared to the 3-hour "country roads" option, but I had to be at the wedding at 5pm and could not afford to get pleasantly lost for 7 hours.
So, out of Avillion, a right turn, a stop for petrol and to stock up on cigarettes, onward to the next junction and a left onto N8, and filter left onto the E29 (Seremban - Port Dickson highway) about 3kms later. Everything nicely signposted so far.
A brief note on cigarettes. If you are a smoker, you've probably noticed how non-smokers/social smokers suddenly turn into social smokers - nay, social chain-smokers - during social events. Weddings, company functions, funerals, you name it. And as they've probably never bought a pack of cigarettes in their lives, they expect to live off the ones that do smoke regularly. Now, I have no problems with handing out cigarettes, what pisses me off tremendously is running out of cigarettes in the arse-end of nowhere. Having experienced this too often, I now carry two packs of cigarettes to any event. Half a pack for me (I smoke a bit more when I'm drinking alcohol) and 30 cigarettes for the leeches.
But I digress. On the E29 I quickly realise where I'd gone wrong the previous day. I also probably won't be able to correct it in the future, but I have remembered more town names which will help steer me in the right direction.
After about 24kms I followed the signs to filter left onto the E2 (North-South Highway) heading to Kuala Lumpur, and this ride was a lot more pleasant than expected. I had only done short stretches on the North-South, and at the Johor end of things. Here it was a 3- sometimes 4-lane, and at this time on a Saturday morning there was light flowing traffic of all kinds and at all speeds. I quickly got up to 110km/h - which was the highway speed limit and only now within my comfort zone - and gained some much-needed experience positioning and passing while keeping a 360-view going for all the crap that happens on these highways. Retreads unravelling off buses or lorries travelling above the speed limit, flying rocks and stones from gravel trucks, people falling asleep at the wheel. I enjoyed it. And I have to say my past 23 years of experience as a driver does help.
Went past the Sungai Besi toll, about 3kms later filtered off onto the exit that said Kuantan, merged onto the E5 and from here I have to say it was easy-peasy; I just had to follow all the signs that led to Kuantan. Made a brief stop for petrol at one of the MRR2 highway petrol stations (I unfortunately missed the one that had a Starbucks drive-thru, I was yearning for proper coffee) and carried on my merry way.
Approximately 24kms after that first turn off near Sungai Besi, the highway merges onto the E8 (KL - Gua Musang Highway) which for some reason then morphs into the Karak Highway. There's a toll booth, after which was the most lovely ride I did not expect.
I've been up and down the Karak Highway loads of times, but never on a motorbike. It is a hilly area which leads into the Genting Highlands, and the highway has some steep grades and tight curves. It's always fun in a car, but there's usually traffic in the way. On a bike, less so. The other thing I never realised before was it was high up enough for the air to be pleasurably cold at 0930am in the morning. Even the purr of the engine seemed to smooth out in response to this. The things you miss inside an air-conditioned car!
This stretch of the ride was just too short at less than 25kms. But before coming to my exit I did have to go through the Genting Sempah tunnel which burrows through the mountain (part of the Titiwangsa range) and takes you across the border from the state of Selangor to the state of Pahang - my home state. In here, I lifted my visor so I could listen to the growl of the engine echoing off the walls.
This brought back a memory of my late Uncle Mike, coincidentally the father of the bride. I was first introduced to the Genting Sempah tunnel sound effects by him. I was a bout 5 or 6 and we'd been driving to Kuala Lumpur in his maroon Daihatsu Charade. As we were passing through the tunnel he said, "Dxxxx, listen to this!", wound down his window, revved his engine and tooted his horn to provide me with a full demonstration of soundwaves in the tunnel. Here I was, doing the same thing. It made me smile.
Immediately after the tunnel is exit 308, Genting Sempah. The exit brought me to the rest stop, and after meandering around a bit and going past the McDonald's, I found the road that brings me out at the rear end of the rest stop. The t-junction was also signposted (Port Dickson can learn a thing or two from this hole in the highway), and a left turn took me onto the road to Janda Baik.
From this point in, the road was extremely narrow, windy, with grades of varying levels of steepness and potholed, with puddles, pebbles, branches and algae in abundance. Not difficult, but definitely needing care. I could go up to third gear at the most, and very slowly around corners. My principle for taking corners and picking up girls in a dark club is the same; if you can't see it, don't take it. Might turn out ugly later.
Once I was on this road, I just followed the signs of hotels that I recognized when I was searching for a place to stay. There were no road signs, but the hotel indicators sufficed. I eventually came to the Tanarimba Pine guardhouse on my right, and wasn't really sure if this is where I needed to go. I stopped to check my phone and yes, it was. I was a bit lucky here; apparently most of the hill has no mobile phone reception.
After the first guardhouse was the wedding hall. I stopped here and chatted to friends and relatives and had lunch and two hours later headed on again to find my accommodation for the next two days. I am glad I stopped off here and got directions; after this point, it is truly a maze of roads.
So to get to Harmony Valley Retreat (where I was staying), I passed the second guardhouse and went straight on for quite a distance until I saw a turnoff to Jalan Sum Sum 2 on my right. Then I kept going until I saw the sign saying Lot 345, which led down the steepest slope I had ever seen into the front drive of the hotel/retreat. I made it safely. Again, a motorbike is thankfully very different from a bicycle.
 |
| the view from the balcony at Harmony Valley Retreat, Janda Baik |
Harmony Valley Retreat is a beautiful place. It is effectively a 3-storey house with 10 or more rooms, all nicely spaced out and furnished. There were a few quirks to the way things were built, but nothing that took away from it. The place was mostly used for retreats, and the staff were well versed in different aspects of natural therapy from homeopathy to osteopathy. The staff were welcoming, obliging and tolerant of this big group of wedding-goers who took over the whole place and created a slight ruckus late into the night (there were no other guests there).
The retreat also had its own garden next door, and most of the meals prepared - including the breakfast that was included in the room price - came out of this garden. And I have to say, both my breakfasts were yummy!
I had two main worries; FIrstly, I'd booked an extra night here so I could recover from a potential hangover before riding back into KL, and had no clue what I'd do to keep myself occupied. Secondly, whether my bike would make it up that crazily steep slope that led out of the driveway and back onto the road.
But hey, these were worries for a different day. On to the wedding!
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