Kuala Sepetang, Kuala Sangga and Pantai Remis *** 十八丁，老港，班台 ( 1 )

18-4-2009, My weekend rendezvous.

A weekend.
A group of friends
A small Island.
A boat.
A fishing enclave.
A church.

With these ingredients, it promised to be a wonderful weekend rendezvous. However, the weekend was not planned based any one of the above.

It all started with 2 invitations.

First, a birthday invitation from my god-daughter Selina of Pantai Remis, Perak who is now working in Singapore. She called to invite me to attend a joint celebrations of her grandmother's 70th and hers 19th birthdays to be held at her home in Pantai Remis on 18-4-09.

Second, an invitation from Sr. Theresa Chew to a folks music concert at Sg. Buluh on the same date. I told Sr. that I was not able to go because of the above birthday invitation. I told her also of my intention to visit Kuala Sepetang since I am going up north. Kuala Sepetang was a hotspot in the recently concluded Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election and I considered it a place of interest. Immediately Sr. Theresa told me I must visit a historical small church on an island across Kuala Sepetang.

I called up my good friend Peter Cho of Ipoh for more information of the small church. He too expressed his interest of going to visit the church and would undertake to make all necessary arrangement for the visit.

On Saturday, my wife and I met up with Peter at Ipoh. Nine of us - my wife and I, Peter and son Andrea, and five BEC friends, left for Kuala Sepetang at about 10:30 am in two cars and arrived 1 hr. 15 mins later.

Kuala Sepetang, a small Chinese coastal fishing village with many old wooden houses and shops perched on the river side. Many are used as jetties and business premises mainly for the collection and distribution of sea harvests. We saw many colourful boats coming in to unload their catches in plastic containers.

It was noon so we decided to have lunch at a restaurant on the first floor of a concrete building where downstairs is the jetty.

The seafood dishes were fresh, tasty and........pricey too. We ordered fish, prawns, squids, la la, crabs... We got a good view of the village and surrounding mangrove swamps from the restaurant.




18-4-09， 周末约会。

一个周末。
一群朋友。
一个小岛。
一艘船。
一个鱼村。
一间教堂。

这样的条件，肯定是一个奇妙愉快的周末了。但这个周末的起因，和以上的因素毫无关系。

它的缘起，是因为两个邀请。

第一，我在星加坡工作的乾女儿欣茹，来电邀请我出席18-4-09，在她的家乡班台（Pantai Remis) 举行的生日庆祝 - 她婆婆的七十大寿和她的十九岁诞辰。

第二，周丽娜修女邀请我出席也是在18-4-09假双溪毛儒举行的乡音考古音乐会。我告诉她不能出席，因为我已经答应了出席乾女儿的班台生日庆祝。我也告诉她，既然北上，我将会到十八丁（Kuala Sepetang) 看看。十八丁在最近的武吉干当国会议席补选时，成为了一个万人关注的焦点。周修女马上提醒我，记得到对面一个岛上的小教堂参观。它充满历史及传奇，值得一走。

我联络了怡保的好友朱兴文，要求他提供更多的资料。没想到他也表示有兴趣去参观这件小教堂，并答应安排到岛上的一切事宜。

就在星期六，我和太太到怡保和兴文会合。我们一行九人 - 我和太太，兴文及儿子安德鲁，加上他BEC的五位朋友，在早上十点半，共乘两辆车，朝十八丁出发。在一个小时十五分后，我们就抵达目的地了。

十八丁是一个典型的华人渔村，有许多木材房屋及沿岸建立的商店。它们除了用来做生意之外，也是小码头，供收集及分发鱼产之用。我们见到许多五颜六色的鱼船进 、出，装载着他们的收获。

适逢是 中午，我们决定先吃午餐。我们找到了一间楼上的餐馆，它的楼下是收集鱼产的小码头。这里的食物美味可口，特别是海鲜，新鲜又甜美。我们点了鱼 、虾 、螃蟹 、啦啦等，但价钱就不那么可口了。。。。

从这楼上的餐馆，我们可以鸟览了这个渔村的景色及附近的红树林。