Amy suggested a ride to the paddy fields around Sekinchan. To keep the ride length reasonable, we met at Bestari Jaya. Which meant a 50km or so drive from Kuala Lumpur for the fourteen of us.
It was misty during the 17km ride along Jalan Raja Musa.
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
The first 25km was through palm oil plantations.
Photograph courtesy of Martin Low
We got our first glimpse of rice paddies after we made the right turn onto Jalan Sekembang at the Seri Tiram Jaya rice mill. The rest of the way to Sekinchan was through rice paddies, shown in pale green below.
Map courtesy of Ride With GPS
The narrow rectilinear roads separating the rice paddies are excellent for cycling on.
Photograph courtesy of Martin Low
We had breakfast in Sekinchan. Then stopped on the way back through the rice paddies for a group photograph.
Photograph courtesy of ZeusPhotograph courtesy of Zeus
We were back at Bestari Jaya by 11:30 am. Thankful for the overcast sky throughout the ride.
The day started with breakfast at a reasonable hour. There was no cycling done this day.
Photograph courtesy of Hsing C Pai
We loaded the vehicles, checked out of the resort and drove to the Boh Sungai Palas Tea Centre.
Photograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of Chan Chee Leong
After some tea, sausage rolls, chicken pies and sardine puffs – a typical light Malaysian snack – we all drove back to Simpang Pulai. TH had left his car at the Mornington Hotel.
We split up at Simpang Pulai. Kelin was already on his way back to Kuala Lumpur. Kenix, Pai and I were also heading back to KL.
The rest drove to Penang. The Germans would spend the last few days of their visit in the food capital of Malaysia.
Photograph courtesy of Ralf Hamberger
Safe in Penang.
Photograph courtesy of Marc LinkePhotograph courtesy of Marc Linke
Beer – what else? – @Chulia.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Dinner was another new experience for the first-timers to Malaysia. Banana leaf rice.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Day 8
The tourist in front of @Chulia before heading off to see the sights of Penang.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
The first stop had to be for some Penang laksa.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Then it was out and about in the markets. This chicken might have been too fresh for Patrik’s tastes.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
There was a funicular railway ride up Penang Hill.
Photograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH Lim
A walk through a fishing village.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Visits to temples.
Photograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH Lim
On behalf of everyone who went to Brinchang and Penang, I must express our appreciation to our drivers Kurma and Vemam. They looked after us while we were riding, and ferried us to massages, dinners and around Penang. Our adventure would not have worked without them.
Photograph courtesy of Dieter Fecher
The day closed with a steamboat dinner.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
And gifts for the Germans. Zaryl kindly brought them with her from KL. The T-shirts, not the beer!
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Day 9
The last ride in Malaysia was around Penang island. Ai Lei and Bin Soo had also driven up from KL to join Zaryl and the others on the ride.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
A Penang exclusive is the availability of outriders to guide and help you ride through junctions. TH arranged for two outriders to accompany the ten cyclists.
Photograph courtesy of Ralf Hamberger
The clockwise route runs past the Penang Bridge.
Photograph courtesy of Chan Chee LeongPhotograph courtesy of TH Lim
There are the climbs up to Teluk Bahang Dam.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
And a ride through Batu Ferringhi.
Photograph courtesy of Chan Chee Leong
There was a quick stop at @Chulia for a beer or two.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Then it was time for the beach party.
Photograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH Lim
Of course, with lots of beer and wine. I don’t know why they wasted space bringing a Coke.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Day 10
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Sunday was the day that Dieter, Marc, Matthias and Patrik flew back to Germany. Ralf flew back to Hong Kong.
Photograph courtesy of Chan Chee Leong
The Germany-bound four flew from Penang to KLIA. The flight from Penang was delayed but not enough to stop them from catching their connecting flight to Frankfurt.
Safely in KLIA.
Photograph courtesy of Marc Linke
And back in Germany. Looking cold!
Vielen Dank für Ihren Besuch. Wir haben es genossen, Ihnen ein bisschen Malaysia zu zeigen. Bis wir uns wieder treffen.
There were two items on the itinerary for Monday. A road trip to Melaka and Leonard’s 3-in-1 party.
The road trip started with a bak kut teh breakfast at Restoran Ah Hei Bak Kut Teh.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Once on the road to Melaka, it became clear that the Jalan Alor food stalls and/or alcohol had claimed one victim. Luckily a nap and some non-alcoholic Malta drink rejuvenated Matthias.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Pai and TH took the Germans sightseeing in Melaka.
Photograph courtesy of Hsing C PaiPhotograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH Lim
Lunch was at Restoran Seng Kee.
Photograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH Lim
I don’t think the Germans remember much about the drive back to Kuala Lumpur.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Leonard’s 3-in-1 party was at the Grand Imperial restaurant in the Bangsar Shopping Centre. 3-in-1 because 1. the Germans were here, 2. because he recently scored a hole-in-one, and 3. it was his birthday later that week.
Photograph courtesy of Leonard YeePhotograph courtesy of Leonard YeePhotograph courtesy of Leonard Yee
I must say Ralf was resplendent in his lederhosen. Doing it “My Way!”
Photograph courtesy of Leonard Yee
But he sometimes runs out of steam.
Photograph courtesy of Leonard Yee
Leonard was a wonderful host. He does talk a lot though 💬💬💬.
Photograph courtesy of Leonard Yee
Day 5
The Day 5 ride was 115km from Tanjung Malim to Simpang Pulai.
Some bikes went into Amy’s truck. The other bicycles and people went into three other vehicles.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
It took about an hour to drive to Tanjung Malim. We parked beside a Shell station and got ready to roll. The entire ride would be on Federal Route 1.
Map courtesy of Ride With GPS
It was 31ºC when we got to Sungkai. We stopped for drinks and ice-cream.
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
Zaryl had a more urgent reason to stop. Her saddle had come off her seat post. It was Patrik the mechanic to the rescue.
Photograph courtesy of Hsing C Pai
12km further up the road, we arrived at a fresh fruit stall. Iced mango tastes very good when it is 35ºC.
The heat didn’t bother Marc though.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
We made another drink stop at Tapah.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
We had lunch at Kampar. We were 85km into the ride.
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
That is when Patrik discovered his souvenirs from the Hyatt House Hotel.
Photograph courtesy of Hsing C Pai
Pai dressed for the heat when we left Kampar.
Photograph courtesy of Dieter Fecher
At 2:30 pm we were in Gopeng. The air-conditioned KFC was closed for renovations. We had drinks in the open-air Alif Cafe instead.
I had a puncture 4km from our destination 🤬.
Photograph courtesy of Hsing C Pai
I must admit that one flat tire among twelve cyclists riding 115km each is good going.
Happy to be at the Mornington Hotel.
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng KengPhotograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
After a shower some of the group went for a massage. Starting with the feet.
Photograph courtesy of Hsing C Pai
Then it was dinner time. The restaurant TH chose for us was hosting a wedding that night. I think the wedding party was a bit worried when our scruffy group walked in the door.
We were seated upstairs, though. Out of sight of the wedding guests.
The highlight of the meal was the steamed grouper head. Which was something out of the ordinary for our German guests.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Day 6
Our Day 5 ride had been our longest. Our Day 6 ride would have the most elevation.
We checked out of the Mornington Hotel and rode a few kilometres to breakfast at Restoran Nasi Kandar Pulai.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
The road is fairly flat until the PETRONAS station about 5km from the Mornington Hotel. Then it starts to rise. Gently for 7km, and then more sharply to the border between the states of Perak and Pahang.
Map courtesy of Ride With GPS
The road was relatively quiet, and it was cooler than it was the day before.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
It wasn’t long before we were spread out along the road.
Photograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH Lim
That sign reads “Heavy Vehicles Keep Left.”
Photograph courtesy of Hsing C PaiPhotograph courtesy of Chan Chee LeongPhotograph courtesy of Chan Chee LeongPhotograph courtesy of Chan Chee LeongPhotograph courtesy of Chan Chee LeongPhotograph courtesy of Chan Chee Leong
Thank goodness for our support vehicles. They created a buffer between us and what little traffic was on the road.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
And were on hand when there was a puncture and a floor pump was needed.
Photograph courtesy of Chan Chee Leong
The support vehicles waited at the 43km point in case any of us wanted water, or in the case of the Germans, beer.
Photograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH Lim
The Waterfall Café is 6km further up the road. We all stopped there for a rest, a drink, and some roasted peanuts.
The state border is 4km from the Waterfall Café.
Photograph courtesy of Hsing C Pai
It is another 30km and 800 metres of climbing from the border to Brinchang. There is some relief in the form of a 9km descent from Blue Valley to Kuala Terla.
Kampung Raja is roughly halfway down that descent. We stopped for lunch at Restoran Lai Ki in Kampung Raja. Lemon chicken, batter-fried squid, fish in oyster sauce and fried greens hit the spot.
The virgin jungle between Kampung Raja and Brinchang is gone. Vegetable farms, tea plantations, and hotels and restaurants have replaced the trees.
Map courtesy of Ride With GPS
There were no more tree-lined roads like this for the last 20km to Strawberry Park Resort.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
There are potholes and patches on the road from Kampung Raja to Brinchang. We had to be careful on the fast descents.
Everyone got to Strawberry Park Resort safely. TH’s suite was the hangout room of choice.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Patrik lit a fire.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Some serious rehydration happened in front of that fire.
Kelin drove up from Kuala Lumpur to join us for barbecued steaks, lamb and chicken accompanied by sweet potatoes, sweet corn, potato salad and green salad.
And pasta. TH demonstrated his chef chops by cooking two versions of spaghetti Frutti di Mare. With marinara sauce and with alfredo sauce.
TH also provided a soundtrack via his Bluetooth speaker. Hits from the 80’s and 90’s.
The evening ended with dessert and wine. A lot of wine.
In October 2018 a group of R@SKLs had a wonderful time cycling in Germany. Thanks to excellent arrangements made by Ralf from Hong Kong, and Marc and some of his friends in Germany.
Being polite Malaysians, the grateful R@SKLs invited the Germans to visit Malaysia. To their surprise, the Germans accepted the invitation!
Not only that, they booked flights and would arrive in Kuala Lumpur on 1st November 2019 for a ten-day stay.
After several discussions over teh tarik, thosai and roti canai which began in mid-September, we had a plan. Which was a good thing because Marc, Patrik, Matthias and Dieter did board their flight from Frankfurt to Kuala Lumpur.
We didn’t realise it at the time, but this photograph was a clue, or more accurately a warning of what the next ten days would entail.
Photograph courtesy of Marc Linke
Day 1
Ralf had arrived one day earlier, and together with Chee Leong and Pai was on hand to welcome the others to Malaysia.
Their first stop after leaving the airport was Pegasus Cycles. CK and Danial reassembled their bicycles. Bike cases were loaded onto a truck and shipped to Penang.
Photograph courtesy of Hsing C Pai
You should already be getting a sense of the logistics required for our plan to work smoothly.
Getting bicycles assembled was important. More important was to introduce our guests to an essential part of Malaysian culture. Food.
TH took them across the road to the Grand Imperial restaurant in Plaza Damas for a dim sum lunch.
Photograph courtesy of Ralf HambergerPhotograph courtesy of Ralf Hamberger
After lunch, we took the guys to the Hyatt House hotel, which was home for the next four nights. They soon discovered the infinity pool.
Photograph courtesy of Dieter Fecher
The last logistical piece for the day was to load the now-assembled bikes into Amy’s truck. Amy would take the bikes to the start of our Saturday ride.
Photograph courtesy of CK Lim
Day 2
We picked up the Germans at 6:30 am from their hotel and drove to Bandar Rimbayu. Our ride through the kampung roads to Bukit Jugra started at 7:30 am.
Map courtesy of Ride with GPS
It wasn’t long before there was a puncture.
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng.
A stop after 14km was a bit sooner than expected.
Photograph courtesy of Ralf Hamberger
There was another mechanical problem soon after that, so we had another wait at the 7-Eleven in Jenjarom. Fortunately, that was the last forced stop for the day.
Photograph courtesy of Marc Linke
The highlight of this ride, or lowlight, depending upon your point of view, was the climb up Bukit Jugra to the lighthouse.
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng KengPhotograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
We spent twenty minutes enjoying the view over the Langat River. Then it was time for food at our favourite Jugra ride restaurant.
Photograph courtesy of Ally
After a meal of rice, fish and vegetables we pedalled back the way we had come.
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
After crossing the Langat River we stopped at Cendol & AC Santan Sawit Ross. It was time to introduce our German visitors to cendol.
The guys made a few new friends.
Photograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH Lim
Everyone finished the ride safely. Back at Mont Kiara, the guys demonstrated an essential part of German culture. Beer.
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Heng Keng kindly hosted dinner at his home. Complete with roast suckling pig.
Day 3
The first and third Sunday of each month is KL Car Free Morning. Roads in the city centre are closed from 7:00 am to 9:00 am. It seemed like a good idea to do a city ride.
CK and Danial mapped out a 35km route which would take us past some city landmarks.
Map courtesy of Ride with GPS
The Germans rode the short distance from their hotel to Pegasus Cycles, where about twenty other cyclists were waiting.
Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee
We rode from Pegasus Cycles to Damansara Heights.
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
Then we stopped at the main entrance to the National Palace, which is the official residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia.
Photograph courtesy of Lai Voon Kiat
Our next stop was at the top of the climb up Changkat Tunku, which is popularly known s Mayor’s Hill. There is a good view overlooking the city.
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
We rode back down Changkt Tunku and into the Lake Gardens. The Tugu Negara (National Monument) is there.
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
We then rolled through Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square). To the left is the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, which used to house the British colonial government offices.
Photograph courtesy of Lai Voon Kiat
Next on the itinerary was the KL Tower. It is a 421 metres tall communications tower. It is the 7th tallest freestanding tower in the world.
Photograph courtesy of Lai Voon Kiat
Photograph courtesy of Lai Voon Kiat
The last landmark we visited was the PETRONAS Twin Towers.
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
We had ridden about 25km. It was time for thosai, roti canai and fried noodles with chicken. All washed down with fresh coconut water.
Dieter was suspicious of the fresh coconut 😆.
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
We finished the ride well before noon. To keep the Germans entertained, Pai took them to Batu Caves that afternoon.
Photograph courtesy of Hsing C Pai
Pai dropped the Germans off at the Pavilion shopping mall. They found a German bistro that serves everything from pork knuckles and ribs to cold cuts and sausages. The place must have been a dream come true for our five visitors 🇩🇪.
Dinner was close to the Pavilion, at the food stalls along Jalan Alor.
Photograph courtesy of TH LimPhotograph courtesy of TH Lim
Unsurprisingly, the Germans ended the night in a bar 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺.
Old Roots, New Routes 