Along the shopfront in the sleepy town of Kuala Kubu Bharu.
Kuala Kubu Bharu, locally known as KKB is practically half my hometown. Though born in Kuala Lumpur, I spent most of my early childhood days with my maternal grandparents who were my caretakers until I was at least 4 years old, when my parents were working. My mom grew up in KKB. I always loved to go back to KKB whenever I have the chance.
The chance came when my mom booked a one night homestay in KKB town. On the 5th day of the Lunar New Year, which was a Saturday, my family with my mom, her eldest sister & son and my sister's family went in two cars for a weekend getaway.
Day 1 - Depart for KKB
We decided to leave KL at 10am in order to reach the famous Chilling Waterfall early for the kids to have some fun. On the way to Chilling, we stopped at Sungai Selangor Dam. Told the kids that's where our water come from.
My aunt told us the story of the white crocodile which was killed and because of that the old dam broke and the town was flooded. So KKB is a new town. The old town used to be called Kuala Kubu, now known as Ampang Pecah (ie broken dam). You can read all about KKB's history in Wikipedia.
At the dam's information office, we were told that Chilling Waterfall is closed. So, we had to change plans to visit Sungai Pertak instead. To reach the river, we had to go through the Pertak Orang Asli Settlement and pay a fee of RM 1 per person. There were lots of people there by the time we arrived around 11am. Cars were parked along the sides and at every nook and corner where a car could fit. The road gets narrower as the river go upstream and there were several camp sites with campers all set up. The river was cool and welcoming. The kids had a great time. There is a waterfall but one has to climb uphill a bit to reach it.
We left Pertak and head into town for lunch in Yogi Cafe. The cafe serves a wide range of local and western foods. The prices are reasonable for holiday makers but not for the locals there I think. A bowl of noodle is RM 6. A bowl of the same noodle is RM 6.50 where I stay.
After our meal, we checked in Home@KKB and rested until about 6pm we went out again. We had the whole floor to ourselves. Located on the 1st level in one of the shop lots. Below the homestay is Yogi Cafe. The place was beautifully decorated and have a very homey feel to it. It has 3 bedrooms, enough to fit all of us.
A video of the homestay in KKB provided by the homestay operator to promote it. Click on the above picture to watch the video.
There was a small 'pasar malam' (night market) just outside. The sight and smell of satay and other foods made us all hungry.
My mom had an agenda. She wanted the kids to check out the evening CNY event organised by the town council. There was to be a contest for CNY themed bicycle decoration, a lion dance, an appearance by the God of Wealth, CNY themed dance and mandarin orange giveaways.
The old cinema no longer in use
All of us had a good walk about the town because we were looking for the exact location of the event. It was a very small town square. Well maintained, wide and clean roads made for easy walking. The number of cars passing every other minute was less than I can count with one hand. Most of the shops were closed. Only one Chinese restaurant was opened for business and it was of course, packed.
After about 30 minutes or so wandering around with no event activity in sight, we decided to just sit at a mamak shop next to the cinema and fed the kids first. Coincidentally, the event location was right in front of the mamak, at a cross junction less than 100 metres away from where we stayed. We had drinks and some food while we watched the organisers set up. Soon, the police came to cordon off the area from passing vehicles.
Watch @davidke20's video here
Watch the videos I posted on my IG here.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtqQaDenWGW/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtqRtZCHorz/
After the event, we went back and feasted on more food we bought from the 'pasar malam' 😋 - 'mee goreng' & 'kuey tiao goreng' (fried noodles), chicken and beef satays, deep fried chicken skins, deep fried small crabs and 'apam balik' (sorry, there is no translation for this awesome snack). And no pictures because we were busy stuffing our faces. We went to sleep with our stomachs filled.
Day 2 - Depart for KL
(Picture taken from Footsteps - Jotaro Travels)
The next morning, we went for local Chinese coffee shop breakfast at Yoot Loy. The 'Teh Si' (tea with evaporated milk) is nicer than the 'kopi' (local coffee with sweetened condensed milk) as the sweetness was just nice and the tea was fragrant. The curry noodle and the prawn noodle were nicely done with a local taste. I learned to eat and love curry noodle since I was 5 because of KKB curry mee. An aunty who used to sell curry noodles in town would always give me a small bowl for free. That morning, I ate only 1 slice of toasted bread because I wanted to have a nice lunch later at our favourite shop in KKB.
After breakfast, we went for a short walk. My mom went to say hello to an old neighbour across from Yoot Loy. My aunt stopped by and browsed a CD shop specialised in oldies. They chatted with the owner who went to school with them. Before we left KKB, we hang out in the homestay, watched tv while the kids played and leisurely packed our belongings.
As with most of my travels if not all, I will visit a local Catholic church and pray for blessings. So, @davidke20 and I went for a brief visit to a very nearby Catholic Church - St. Paul's Catholic Church.
After saying my prayers, we left the church and I took a short ride down memory lane to have a look see the house my grandparents stayed in, then we returned to the homestay to check out.
We headed to our favourite eatery in KKB - Teo Kee. We patronised this shop since the current owner's father's time. When I was growing up in KKB, it used to be under a big tree and was more like a stall. The owner is already very old. One of his sons is already helping him cook their famous dishes. We ordered our favourite dishes comprising 'mui choy' with pork belly & boiled egg (usually comes with tofu but they ran out that day), tofu & fish and 'fu yong' egg omelette for the kids.
The most memorable thing about the shop was their herbal tea. They used to serve their herbal teas in whiskey bottles and would be super cold and nice as they came out of the refrigerator. The adults would always make jokes that we were drinking whiskey and we'd pretend we were just for laughs. Those were the days and I wished they'd go back to using glass bottles instead of plastics.
After lunch, we departed from KKB for home but made a stop at the World of Phalaenopsis - Ulu Yam to check out their orchids. I'm not a good photographer but here are some of my best shots using my handy Samsung A500.
There is a cafe inside the farm but we didn't patronise it.
I think we all enjoyed the trip. My kids especially loved the Pertak outing and the homestay. I was happy and grateful to be able to go back to KKB and reminisce my time with my late grandparents.
If you're looking for a peaceful and amazing weekend away from KL city, KKB is definitely the place to go.
Disclaimer : Unless stated otherwise, all photographs posted in this blog are owned exclusively by Frances Aw.
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