2014 TRAVELOGUE - KUKUP ISLAND.
Monday, March 03, 2014
March started off with a blast because I went for a mini getaway on 1st of March! Getaways are good because it can make you recharge and feel better to start off the month! The last time I went for a holiday was in October last year. I went to Bangkok and that's like the furthest place I have ever been to. (or that I can afford! Haha!)
We had planned three weeks in advance for this trip for a mini relaxation + family bonding time and also to celebrate James' cousin's 21st!
We contacted someone who owns a resort there and asked for the pricing to compare. We had different quotations that ranged from $80/pax to $95/pax. Of course we took the cheaper one!!
$80 was pretty reasonable because we were provided with 2D1N lodging, 6 meals, free Kelong Tour and free use of their facilities like karaoke! Also, transportation from our place right to the Kukup resort was provided! (To and fro)
There were 19 of us and the owner came with a mini bus and a 7-seater car. The mini van we took on the way there was all right but the one we took for our journey back to Singapore was quite bad because the air-con ventilation in it was sucky! But, the weather recently has been crazy as well so I cannot totally blame the air-conditioning in the mini bus. 35 degrees, what the heck!
This photo was taken during high tide. The pollution there was really quite bad because I saw uncles sneezing their mucus into the "water" and also some aunties who cooked and threw the "soya sauces" right out from their windows. The place isn't very well taken care of but that is the uniqueness of the island I guess?
There are a lot of resorts found there! Most of them own the resort and their own home is just beside the resort so they earn their upkeeps by renting out the resorts and business is mostly good on weekends! You can do your comparison with different resorts before heading here! I'm sure you'll get a good price!
Our accomdation for the day! The owner is a nice aunty who cooked meals for us.
Just look at the hallway from the living room to the kitchen. It would be tiring to stay in a place like this but I wouldn't mind owning a place like this to house wayward children!
The owner is the aunty in yellow! She is really kind and motherly!
Bunk beds in the rooms and this room could fit 6-7 people! Perfect for a family!
Come, start training our vocals now!!
Those who didn't really like singing went to walk around the place and rented electronic bikes to tour the place and it costs 15 ringgit per hour. It was fun because we could ride around without any helmets or gears. However, I dare not try because I was afraid that I would fall into the murky waters! And I didn't know how to swim!
There was a mini playground around there so kids have somewhere to play if the adults were busy singing or gambling.
There were a few temples there too so for those who would like pray for health and luck, you can visit these temples!
"There's a child in all of us when we see swings!!!"
James ferried me around on the electronic bike and we had a good time dating! Haha!
Some of the houses there were literally kampung slums but there were also those beautiful huge bungalows like the one below! Regardless of what kind of houses they live in, all of the residents there were very friendly and nice!
I could barely open my eyes cause the sun there was just scorching hot!
This was the restaurant!
After lunch, we went for our free boat ride to visit the Kelongs there! Click on this link to find out what - Kelongs, are!
Baby Delrico stoning on the boat ride!
Our young guide is a hilarious little boy who tried to separate the poor creatures below while they were mating. He is an intelligent boy that was really good with words! We had a good laugh there but the boy looked really sian with us laughing at his jokes. I guess that he literally repeats his words 50 times a day so nothing was funny to him anymore! =(
First pic fail.
Goodies that we brought back to Singapore! They are as good as they look!
And a really hilarious signage that I saw!
Hot weather calls for some shaved ice but we were disappointed by the first stall that we visited because the shaved ice did not taste good at all.
And me, just posing with some foreign workers photobombing me!
Some scenery for you guys and look at the muddy water when it was low tide!!! Super yucky!
There were a few primary schools there at Kukup. If the children graduates, they would have to travel to Pontion, Johor for secondary school. This was told to us by the guide who took us on the boat ride.
I forgot to mention that we had tea-time as well and the aunty fried some awesome prawn cakes with "tau pok"! We were literally eating all day long!
Satisfied with dinner, all of them!
This was how Kukup looked like at night and it somehow looks like the streets of Bangkok at night! Ahhh, I am missing the land of smiles!
We literally had a blast with firecrackers on the rooftop of the resort! We even got scolded by the neighbours because she was afraid that we would burn down her roof! Haha!
*inserts photo of Baby Delrico before his bath*
This was the first time I withessed firecrackers! How wonderful! We can never experience this in Singapore. All of us had fun screaming our lungs out and laughing so heartily!
And this was Baby Delrico after his bath! He was constantly annoyed when I forgot to turn off the flash before snapping a photo of him.
Look at how he was bullied by James! I worry for the safety of my children in the future! =|
"Hey, enough with the flash!" exclaimed Baby Delrico.
"Great, you turned it off!"
"I'm happy now!"
We tried to surprise Jeanne we failed badly because she saw that the "Happy Birthday" song was ready for her on the television. Meh.. But still, she was happy!
Day 2!
We were awake by 9am ready to munch on our breakfast!
The nasi lemak came in a small portion but the chilli that came with it was super shiok! The aunty cooked noodles, some "kueh" and dough fritters for us. The dough fritters tasted really crispy! If only there was some soya bean drink to dip into that day! *GreedySnow*
James and I went for dessert after breakfast and we had shaved ice from another stall. This tasted and looked much better than the previous one. Shiokness overloaded!
We went shopping after that but there wasn't really much to buy. Kukup was a small place with only 1000 overheads in their population. 80% of them were hokkien lang, bo pian lang. (Sorry, had to cue this in because the guide said this and I found it really funny!)
The best buy of the day was this passport holder! I super love it! I love anything that has the piglet cartoon actually and James has already banned me from overloading our future home with it. How sad. BUT!!!!! Who cares! That is my house too. Hahaha!
We were brought to a restaurant for our last meal of the trip which was located at Pontian, Johor. Address will be revealed in the below photo later on...
Here it is!
I didn't take photos of the food because my camera ran out of space but we had seafood again and the food was delicious! Try the fried baby squids when you are there! They are one of the best I have ever eaten!
Beautiful scenery to end off the trip!
And a romantic filtered photo to go with the beautiful scenery...
Kukup is a good place to go to for a short getaway to be recharged and to relax. Don't go there if you are looking for adventure but go there for pure rest and relaxation and to enjoy the slow-paced life for awhile. In my opinion, 2D1N would be ultimately enough because us, who are used to the busy city life will find it too dull if we stay there for too long... There would be nothing else to do if you don't fish, play mahjong or sing Karaoke. There were also massage parlours there but we were all too sticky and tired to actually patronize. We will give it a try the next time we are there! Maybe next year?
And till the next post, let's end it with a beautiful.... :X erm... Person's face?! Haha, I am kidding. Please don't puke.
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for the next post!
Labels: Family, Getaway, Kukup, Love, Malaysia, Travel, Travelogue. Holiday
