This idea was mooted after our highly enjoyable trip to Tanjung Sepat and Sepang Gold Coast.
After some planning and research, 3 families (SP family, Lee family, and my family) had finally agreed to participate in a road trip to Sekinchan and Kuala Selangor last Sunday. In total 7 adults and 5 children.
We set out at 10am after breakfast. J and K were excited that they woke up by themselves. After about two hours of slow driving, we finally reached Sekinchan from Petaling Jaya via Sungai Buloh. Now that we had arrived in this small town – known as the rice bowl of Selangor – all that’s left to do was to savor its fresh, delicious seafood.
Lunch at Kim Kee Restaurant
Whenever I go about, I would try to stay away from high profile restaurants that are popular among tourists. If given a chance, I would like to patronize what locals recommend when I pay visit to a town. In other words, I prefer to go where the locals go, not where the tourists (out-of-towners) go.
I am lucky to have found a restaurant which is located in the heart of Sekinchan town (most tourists would go to its fishing village called Bagan for seafood adventure) – from an article on NST Online. The restaurant serves authentic local cuisine and fresh seafood. And most of all, at highly affordable prices.
My wife called in right before we reached Kim Kee Restaurant for fear that the place would be full when we were there for lunch. Later, I called in for directions after my attempts to locate the restaurant failed. To the shock of my life, the guy (later I found out he was Mr Loo, the owner of the restaurant) who answered my call offered to come to my rescue. He asked about our location and he told us to wait for him to be led to his restaurant. I was shy and hesitantly agreed as I didn’t want to let him down. This is definitely a big plus point for the restaurant.
Once we reached the restaurant after tailing his motorcycle, honestly I was a bit disappointed with the façade of the eatery. It was not what I expected: nice, beautiful, air-conditioned, sexy waitresses and all. It is just a simple looking ordinary Malaysian kopitiam (coffee shop). We were the only customers there at the time (about 12.30pm).
We braved ourselves to sit down and gave this no-frills restaurant a fair try. We ordered shark soup (this place is famous for its shark dishes), fried mantis prawns, Teochew style steamed Hong chou fish, clams (big la-la), tofu with minced meat, and fried sweet potato leaves.
How’s the food? I was very satisfied with the food there. I especially loved the mantis prawns. Unlike other restaurants, my wife found out that Kim Kee doesn’t use any coating when they fry mantis prawns – which explains why the mantis prawns are tender, sweet and tasty while the original taste is maintained.
Besides, the fish was fresh and tender. I didn’t quite like the shark soup though as I expected it to be something different. Maybe I should try shark porridge next time I come.
The bill came to RM90 – which was super-duper low. When we left, the restaurant was already full.
Overall, I give Kim Kee Restaurant a rating of 4.5 out of 5.0 for food and 5.0 for price.
Kim Kee Restaurant
Jalan Pasar
Sekinchan
Telephone: 6012-236 9960 or 6012-312 5725 (Mr. Loo)
Opening hours: Open daily from 11am to 2pm, 6pm to 11pm.
A walkabout tour in Sekinchan fishing village – Bagan
After having a satisfying meal, we went to Sekichan fishing village for a walkabout. The place is called Bagan and it is just a stone’s throw away from Sekinchan town. If you come from Kuala Selangor, take a left turn at the traffic light in the town (right before police station). Bagan is also the site for other famous seafood restaurants.
We wanted to show our children in real life what it was like when fishermen came home after their fishing trips in deep sea. This is only possible if we go there at the right time. According to locals, fishing boats are back at about 2pm. If we happen to see the catch, we can buy direct from the fishmongers.
At 2pm, the weather was hot. We toured around Lorong 3 on foot after we parked our cars along the main road. We didn’t have a chance to check out the catch as we were told it would be late (about 3pm) due to low tides that day. Instead, we just took the kids to tour around the jetty, take a closer look at stalled fishing boats, and visit a boat making plant which is located at the end of Lorong 3. Later, we drove along Lorong 4. It looked more or less the same as Lorong 3.
It was truly an educational trip for the children and they can’t get this first hand experience from textbooks.
Talking about real life experience. Figure what the picture below is all about:
Can’t get it? It is a toilet. An architecture that is so hard to find in modern world. Output will go directly into the sea. No flush is required.
A treehouse expedition to Redang Beach
When we made our exit from Bagan, we stopped at a coconut stall to quench our thirst. The coconut drink seller suggested to us to check out a beach nearby, nicely named as Redang Beach. Everyone agreed that was the best thing to do for our kids because kids love beaches. And it was also for us to take a look at the place since no one had mentioned anything about it on the blogs.
Later, it turned out to be the best decision as many children on the trip liked the beach very much. That’s the beauty of free and easy trips as we can change the itinerary as we wish.
To get to Pantai Redang (Redang Beach in Bahasa Malaysia) from town, turn right when you reach T-junction in Bagan. Drive all the way (passing through fishing village, Jiann Chyi and Guan Hwat restaurants, a Chinese temple on your left) until you see a sign says Pantai Redang, turn left. The left turn is right before a Malay eatery. Follow the road until the end and keep right. Then you will see Pantai Redang.
Before we reached Pantai Redang, we made a stopover as we noticed some fishermen were unloading, sorting, and weighing the catch of the day at the jetty. We asked if they were selling the catch and one of the men said yes. My wife, ML, and CC started to pick their choice of seafood to bring home. My wife bought some big prawns (RM26 per kg), a fish (I think it’s mackerel – RM20 per kg), and some squids (RM12 per kg). As expected, all produce looked very fresh.
Back to Pantai Redang.
The beach has nothing to shout about as it is full of broken sea shells and it is not a long beach. However this place is worth a visit. What I like about the beach is the strong wind and a treehouse. You can just relax sitting on top of the wooden treehouse with seats made from nets. The children (as well as adults) were having a good time there as junk food ruling was relaxed and they could have chips and other forbidden foods to their hearts’ contents.
SP brought along a kite and flying a kite at Pantai Redang is effortless as the strong wind will just take your kite as far as the string can go in no time.
A paddy field tour
Besides famous for cheap and fresh seafood (both cooked and uncooked), fishing village, mangoes, sweetcorns, and swiftlets, Sekinchan is also popular for paddy field.
In Kuala Selangor’s direction, we took a left turn to Site A, where many huge and beautiful bungalows can be spotted. We kept driving until we got to a place that was perfect for photos. We stopped our cars right next to the paddy field. The time was right and it was about harvesting time. The paddy field was truly beautiful with its golden rice beckoning visitors. Some were already cut and sent to factory.
We were having a very great time snapping pictures in front of the paddy field.
I showed J and K where rice came from, right in front of their eyes. Another highly educational tour indeed.
We left Sekichan and on the way to Kuala Selangor, we stopped by at one of the roadside fruit stalls to get some fruits. My wife bought 10 sweetcorns at RM13.00. There were mangoes available, ranging from RM5-7 a kg. We didn’t get mangoes as they were not any cheaper than what we could get at a local market.
Not a “happily ever after” ending
Dinner
We headed Bagan Pasir, Tanjung Karang to find a restaurant that we planned to have dinner at. Tanjung Karang is about 15 minutes’ drive from Kuala Selangor.
Based on the recommendation of a blogger, we picked Suang Le River Restaurant for dinner. But the place was a total letdown. Not only is the restaurant filthy (the restaurant is on tilts and one can find tons of rubbish floating beneath the restaurant), one of the staff who attended to us was not at all friendly. To make things worse, the teacups were oily because they were not properly washed.
If that is not enough, we ordered a kilo of flower crabs but it turned out to be 1.7 kg (we didn’t order crabs as the restaurant had run out of stock). We asked why and she said it was not possible to get exactly a kilo of crabs. Full of crap! Why not slightly less than a kilo but more? And why such a big difference – a whopping 700 grams?
The prices were not cheap either, as claimed by other bloggers. For example, prawns at RM55/kg, crabs RM36/kg, fish RM50/kg.
However, the food was generally okay except the fish which was not fresh and rubberish.
What is even more disturbing is that we saw with our very own eyes, after cleaning up tables, the staff conveniently threw food waste into the sea (or is it river?), right beneath the restaurant. What an eyesore! The place is definitely not child-friendly. If you are not careful, you can fall into the sea because the walkway is not fenced up.
This restaurant has lost our trust instantly and we vow not to go back anymore. There is nothing worse than a restaurant with dishonesty and filth come together.
As you can see, I don’t recommend this restaurant at all! Try it at your own risk.
Firefly
After Sekinchan, we planned to go Kuala Selangor. The last item on our itinerary to Kuala Selangor, which was also the highlight of the day trip, was to bring the kids to witness one of the world’s biggest nature’s wonders: the fireflies. There are two places where you can see fireflies (they light up trees just like Christmas trees).
We went to Kampung Belimbing. Unfortunately, it was raining that night. Fireflies (or kelip-kelip in Bahasa Malaysia) are not visible when raining. So we decided to cancel our boat trip though the kids were not happy about it. We plan to make it up for the kids in our next trip since Kuala Selangor is within an hour’s drive from our home.
We reached home at about 10.30pm.
Firefly Park Resort (Kuala Selangor) Sdn Bhd
Jalan Haji Omar, Kampung Bukit Belimbing,
45000 Kuala Selangor,
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Tel: 603-3260 1208
Fax: 603-3260 1234
If we go Kuala Selangor again, we shall also visit Malawati Hill and Kuala Selangor Nature Park.
See Also…
Family Weekend Getaway: A Road Trip To Lumut
A Family Day Trip to Tanjung Sepat, Bagan Lalang and Sepang Gold Coast
