Kukup Trip

Came back from a 2D1N Kukup trip today! It was pretty fun and I must say that it was above my expectations. Mum was telling me the place is dirty and food isn’t nice. However, the $85 I paid for was worth very cent!

The mini van came to pick the 9 of us up at our designated location and we left Singapore customs at about 4pm. Customs was smooth on a Friday afternoon. It took slightly more than an hour to reach Kukup. Mr Lim (our host) was already waiting for us there! We got down the mini van and he walked us up to an air-conditioned restaurant for our seafood dinner. It was already getting dark at 6pm and tide was low. We could smell the sea and the buildings are just by the sea. Mr Lim helped us take our wine and beer to his resort to chill while we settle for our dinner.

It was okay only. Not very impressed with the tastes. The prawns were a little small, and the crab wasn’t the meaty Sri-Lanka crabs. The tofu dish and fish were good. Perhaps expectations were a little too high for this meal as I’ve heard people telling me how good and fresh Kukup seafood is.

Day 1 Dinner

After we finished our food, Mr Lim came to pick us to his resort. It is actually one of his houses and turned it into a homestay experience. Actually there are many such homestay in the same area. [contacts of home stay are at the end of this post] Mr Lim led us in on his bicycle. All the residents there either cycled or rode on motorcycles.

The sky was dark and we were walking on narrow walkways that did not have any barricades. One could easily fall into the mud during low-tide and into the waters during high-tide. In case you are wondering, the houses are build on concrete poles on the seabed. So when the tide is high, the water is just below the house and when it’s low-tide, you could see all the mud and everything underneath the house.

It was a confusing way to walk in and hence we didn’t venture out after we reached the house. I was totally impressed with the cleanliness of the house and the facilities! It provides everything a house has and was air-conditioned. It was so comfortable and cosy, you would be quickly feeling at-home.

Through the big porch into the gate, it was a big living room. The two mahjong tables and tiles caught my attention when I stepped in. There were 3 doors to the bedrooms along the hallway. The first two bedrooms had 3 to 4 double decker beds and the third bedroom had only 1 double decker bed with a space to lay mattresses on the floor. The guys took the first room (for security reasons) and the ladies the second room. We left the third room empty. Then it led to the dining area. Adjacent to the dining area was one seating-toilet, one squating-toilet, a bathroom and two external basins. There was a back door that led to the kitchen and a balcony.

Mr Lim then showed us how to turn on the TV, karaoke set and briefed us on some safety issues. He left us and said he would be back at 830pm for BBQ. Before we could really settle down, another man walked in. This man was selling firecrackers! He had 2 pieces of chart displaying the pictures of the various types of firecrackers he had. We bought a box of crackers (60 sticks), one 25-shot fireworks and 3 Kong Ming lantern. It cost us a total of RM$100.

We settled down and played Monopoly Deal and before we knew it, Mr Lim had already starting BBQ-ing and called us to the balcony area for another round of feasting! This time, the food was really good. But I was already full from dinner and there was a lot of leftovers. Mr Lim cooked the chicken wings really tender and the Muar otak, sambal sotong, sambal stingray and prawns were really delicious. The prawns were huge! I really enjoyed the prawns. We poured out the soft drinks prepared by Mr Lim in the fridge and put in the ice. Everything was already prepared and we felt so pampered. After the soft drinks, red and white wine came. (We bought it in JB after the customs.)

Mr Lim kept away the food we couldn’t finish and said we can use the heat from the BBQ pit to heat them up if we wanted to eat later in the night. Eventually all the food was finished up by the guys at midnight. After BBQ, we had a lot of fun with our firecrackers at the balcony. Mr Lim even had bricks prepared for the firecrackers! Then it was shower and KTV time! We slept at about 3am.

Next day, we woke up at 830am. Mr Lim had already prepared breakfast for us! There was milo, kopi-O, nasi lemak, kueh-kueh and dough fritters. We took breakfast, washed up and then it was time to visit the fish farm. He guided us on this bicycle again to the jetty. This time, he detoured to the jetty, walking along the inner part of the Kukup Laut to show us the people and temples. We took a boat out to the fish farm that took less than 10 minutes.

At the fish farm, we walked along the shaky wooden planks. There was a guy telling us the fish farm is worth a few million ringgit. Then he scooped up a baby shark, a horseshoe crab, puffer fish and a archer fish mini “show”. We stayed there for about an hour before taking the boat back. We went back to the house to pack our stuff and checked-out. Mr Lim’s wife was already in the house doing the cleaning up and there will be another group arriving at 2pm. He mentioned that the place is usually full over the weekends.

We then headed to the restaurant beside the jetty (non-air-conditioned). This time, I thought the food was much much better! The prawns were bigger. However, there was so many houseflies, we were busy fanning them away.

Day 2 Lunch

After lunch, Mr Lim got the mini van to pick us up for our departure. We thanked him whole-heartedly and left the place feeling refreshed and happy! Mr Lim’s service left a good impression on us! Highly recommended to relax and spend time with family or friends.

Homestay contacts:

The first row was our host – Mr Lim Eng Seng.

The rest are other home stay contacts I took while walking.

November 13, 2011 | Categories: BBQ/Grill, Outside Singapore, Restaurants | Tags: kukup, seafood malaysia | 1 Comment