trip to pontian kechil

finally accomplished what i had set out to at the beginning of this year: that was to go with shin huat to his hometown. could not make it during the first part of the year because he was attending the ddm course. heard so much about the fresh fish that could be bought off the trawlers. actually, i was not very keen on buying fish; i was more interested in seeing the place.

started off from woodlands at 6.30 a.m. there was no jam on both sides of the causeway. there was the usual commuter traffic on the way to pontian. reached pontian kechil at around eight o'clock. pontian kechil, about 62km from johor bahru, is a small town after pekan nanas.

shin huat's parents and the helpers were busy processing and packing the cuttle fish and sea cucumbers. for breakfast, we had bak kut teh at a nearby makan shop. everybody in this place seemed to know everybody. the predominant dialect group here is teochew.

drove to the reclaimed area to have a look at the sea - 'the straits of malacca'. the shops were still not open as it was only 9.30 a.m. according to shin huat's mother, a lot of locals and visitors flocked to the area fronting the sea in the evening to drink and enjoy the sea breeze.

had tar mee for lunch at another nearby shop. started off from pontian kechil at about 1 p.m. made a toilet stop at a 24-hr macdonald's along the scudai-pontian road. there was some delay at the malaysian side of the causeway because of some construction work at the check-point.

(evidence of my being there: my car parked in the compound of shin huat's house)