Little Getaway...Part 1

We got quite a bit to chew during the last 2 weeks and we wanted to do a quick getaway. We did the craziest thing like driving to the East Coast, about a thousand Kilometer for a day trip. We packed up some stuff and our little girl Xiao Mei (a Shih Tzu) and drove away in our little SUV!

This blog is going to be quite lengthy but we have placed it in two parts. Promises plenty of interesting pictures of food, drink and places! Enjoy!

KEMAMAN




Took a crazy day trip up to Kemaman, Cukai in Terengganu exactly last Sunday. It was a long drive on one of Malaysia's new Expressway. The round trip took 12 hours.

The last time we were there was about 10 years ago, on a Treasure Hunt Trip. Way before that,about 30 years ago, it was our meeting point for Deep Sea Angling in the South China Sea.

Boy, this little port have changed. Really Changed! Those days, there were only a row of wooden shops, a Government Rest House by the jetty and a row homes of ship stevedores and chandlers' warehouses. Also along this narrow main street, were many chinese restaurants and quaint little kopitiams. We would sleep on the floor of one of these till we board our fishing boat in the morning. The drive from KL would usually take seven hours!!!!

Last week, we left Klang at 9am. The new Expressway was good and fast. We arrived Cukai in time for lunch. We had our long awaited favourite Baked Crabs and Coffee!
You see, Kemaman is famous for this style of baked crab.

The ones found here is the original and is made from the deep sea 'blue crab' (aka. Blue Manna.. ref.Australian..) Ketam Bunga (Mal.), Chiik(Hokk.). Unlike the usual "muddies", this crab is big and the taste & texture of the meat is different..

The way they prepare it, according to the oldest restaurant, the Restaurant Malaysia Seafood, is that all the flakey meat is cooked, removed and onions, garlic and seasoning are added before being placed back into its shell. It is then coated with egg white and left to be baked. It is served with a special chilli sauce. It used to be RM3 each but now, it is RM7 a piece!
Yah! This is the Best part! Adoh! Wah Korh (Teow.)!
Yummy! Special Chilli sauce! Sedap nya!
Other time tested dishes from this restaurant are also available. We tried the Garlic Fish and it was great! Fresh steak of a large Garoupa (Sek Pan in Cant.) are deep fried and served with sliced garlic which is also deep fried and served without sauce.

This shop IS historical and the Original.

How to get there.

There are also four other shops offering baked crabs.

Of course, the other main attraction here in Kemaman is its coffee. The famous Hai Peng Coffee.

....on to Part 2 tomorrow!