Malaysia: My Selangor Story 2013 (10) - Bukit Malawati and Kampung Kuantan Fireflies

From Golden Palm Tree Iconic Resort & Spa we drove to Kuala Selangor. After about 2.5 hours of driving, we stopped at Cendol Bakar stall in Kampung Assam Jawa, Kuala Selangor. It was my first time ever hearing about cendol bakar and my first reaction was, “Huh? Cendol? Bakar??” (Cendol? Grilled??) From our bus, the place appeared to be quite popular just by looking at the full car park, RELA security guys controlling the traffic and… the long queue for the drive-thru.

Long queue for what?! Yes, for the drive-thru. It’s possibly the only food stall in Malaysia that has a proper drive-thru system.

Needless to say I was filled with curiosity.

There was a long queue too at the stall but our tables had been reserved by the owner and the staff took our order there. There’re 6 types of cendol being sold. They are Cendol VIP, Cendol VVIP, Cendol Tapai, Cendol Pulut Tapai, Cendol Durian and Cendol Durian Pulut. Cendol VIP is the cheapest one at MYR2 per serving while Cendol Durian Pulut is the most expensive at MYR3.50.

Believe it or not, they actually offer free refills and also free servings to the poor and disabled. Bless them.

My Cendol Durian Pulut 

It turned out that the "grilled" part of the name came from the fact that one of the main ingredients for cendol bakar, i.e. gula merah or brown sugar, are heated in order to get the liquid version of brown sugar.

After the refreshing break, we continued with our journey to Bukit Melawati in Kuala Selangor. There are plenty of historical attractions here but the main attraction has to be the ever playful and cheeky silver-leaf monkeys. 

The tram to get up the hill at Bukit Malawati

Peace...!

A silver-leaf monkey welcoming the MSS2013 group

We had early seafood dinner at River View Seafood Restaurant just in time to enjoy the view of sunset over the riverbank.

Photos first, eat later

From there we went straight to Kampung Kuantan to take a boat to see the fireflies.

Watching the flickering lights emanating from possibly thousands of fireflies was priceless. It was like watching Christmas light strewn all along the riverbank in the still of the night. The dark sky and the moonlight further enhanced the experience. Initially I felt very frustrated for not being able to capture them in photos but I let the frustration pass and decided to just enjoy the view quietly. It turned out that nobody from the group could actually capture anything.

(The best that I could do from a moving sampan *sigh*)

Some memories may not be captured in photos but they still remain in your heart and mind forever. 

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