Yesterday (6 June 2011), we did some of the silliest thing ever: drove to Kuantan for a day trip just to buy fresh seafood! Actually, it wasn't that crazy because now there's a highway that only takes about 2 hours plus one way...After breakfast, we went straight and were already there by late morning, circa 10 plus. Not knowing what to do, we headed to Cherating for a drive and also to check out some of the beaches there. I stayed in Kuantan from 1985 - 1990 but the Kuantan today is very different. I like the old one better - less chaos and dirt flying everywhere. Even the beaches were better but I suppose everything has a price, and this is what we paid in the name of progress or development. Most distressing is the fishermen market where fresh catch of the day is sold, albeit lesser and lesser these days. Gone were the days where fishermen sold loads of colourful catch. You'll be lucky to buy some nice snappers and garoupa these days (if you can afford them first!). Thinking that there will be two arrivals of catch as usual, we went to the market at Balok, Beserah and Tanjong Api only to find out that there's only a single arrival per day or sometimes late arrivals in the afternoon, we had to be content with a few tiny spiny lobsters (thank God they still exist) and 2 kgs of squids. The stalls were mostly empty or sold out - not much to sell these days....
Homestay on the beach at Cherating. You can drive directly onto the beach.
All calm and serene under the blistering heat of the sun.
The beach was quite empty for the holidays season.
Interesting restaurant by the sea - the Duyung (Mermaid)
Further down, the beach was practically abandonned. Absolutely beautiful but scarred by littering by a very uncivic-minded public.
Observe the speckled green: plastic bags, styrofoam boxes and empty drink cans littered the beach like seashells once did in my youth. Utter sadness.
The sand is still very inviting if you don't mind passing the rubbish first...and this is supposed to be some of the very best of beaches around here.
Lavender-coloured waxy flowers of a common shrub found on sandy beaches.
Trying to show some beautiful angle - this time just the casuarinas and sandy beaches...
Post card from the past: palm fringed wooden houses by the sea
We went all the way to Beserah for lunch at Pak Su, a popular tourist haunt if you will. The food here is fine in term of taste. Some comments though, too many flies everywhere (an indication of cleanliness, or rather frequency of garbage removal), poor service and too many lame excuses for a restaurant. We ordered some of their signature dishes like baked oysters (oven broke down) to stuffed crab (we don't make them anymore!) plus there were lots of very unhealthy crustaceans in their aquariums...My personal recommendation - avoid this restaurant if you're not used to abuses.
The fried squid was very fresh and succulent.
As they only have two options for oysters - live or garlic steamed, we order the steamed with garlic as the sight of their oysters in the poorly maintained aquarium did not look very ensuring for live oysters. Should have given it the miss.
Salted egg crabs - I didn't eat this but my wife commented that they were good. I'm allergic to crabs. Tant pis.
Romaine lettuce stir fried with fermented bean curd. Taste was fine. I saw the waiter almost dropping the plate and had the sauce all over his hand on the way to our table. He feigned ignorance and never even said anything...as if we never saw it...
To make our experience worse, a couple sat in front of us, blocked the seaview, and started smoking (both of them) - the smoke came our direction as the wind was blowing our way. They nonchalantly continued their smoking despite my sneezing. This is all too common in Malaysian restaurants...
Crab shells being recycled and dried in the hot sun - no stuffed crab in the menu mind you...
The canal outside the fish market in Beserah- plastic and litters every where.
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