Trip to Tanjong Balai, Pulau Karimun, Indonesia

Woke up relatively early (anything before 10am) for a Saturday morning. Today I was following Dad to the 2nd Overseas Run organised by Hash House Harriers Batu Pahat (HHH--it's a club for running enthusiasts). Went to fetch "Cikgu Lee" and another HHH friend before going to Kukup. Stopped at Pontian Kechil to have some breakfast. We arrived there at the supposed time of assembly, but due to technical problems, we only left Kukup jetty an hour or two later. Met up with "Uncle Singh" and his wife. Too bad Miss Teo didn't come.

The boat ride was OK... I didn't exactly felt comfortable though (i.e. slightly seasick). It was an hour's journey before we arrived at Tanjong Balai town on Pulau Karimun. After the immigration stuff we were brought to our hotels via trishaws. I was slightly shocked at how large the town was, because I had expected the island to be littered with villages.

The road seemed to stretch on indefinitely

We were ushered into the hotel by a Kompang troupe. I forgot to mention that the Head of Tourism, Art and Culture Office of Karimun Regency was personally there at the jetty to meet us. Seemed like we were big shots. Heh heh. After a slight siesta at the hotel and a light lunch we were off to conquer Gunung Jantan ("Male Mountain"). As we were at the south end of the island while the mountain was on the north end, we took buses there. Not the common buses you see in Malaysia. The interior looked like this:

We all had to squeeze inside... and we had to be careful not to knock our heads against the ceiling.


Along the way we saw many shops selling petrol in cooking oil containers.

Soon we arrived and were on our way up Gunung Jantan. HHH uses paper shreds to mark the path. It was easy at first, but it became harder as we ascended... I swear the angle of the path was 60 degrees to the horizontal at certain parts... Sometimes I end up "climbing" my way up. It was that steep. And nearing the top there were also lots of huge boulders obstructing the passage.

After climbing for dunno-how-long, I reached a tower encompassed by a high wall. I had to make my way around the wall to continue on my way. It was a bit scary as a single slip might've made me tumble a great distance down. Anyway, the tower was located right at the top of Gunung Jantan, and I was greatly relieved that I didn't have to walk/climb upwards anymore.

The rusty tower atop Gunung Jantan.

The way down was much more boring than the way up. The reason being that there were steps and concrete paths leading down the mountain. On the way down I chatted with Mr. Lee who came from HHH Yong Peng. We kept talking until we reached the finishing point. I was ahead of my Dad! Hahaha... It was the toughest mountain trekking in my life (so far). Now that I've boosted my confidence maybe I can climb Mt. Kinabalu soon (seriously, I want to do it).

After bathing etc. the dinner ceremony began. There were speeches, dancing, singing and lots and lots of beer drinking. But the most hilarious (or humiliating) part is the forfeit. People were called to, literally, sit on a block of ice and gulp down a whole glass of beer. The beer was "on the house" by the way. A local merchant sponsored us). Had my first taste of Heineken Lager Beer and Guinness Stout. I've got to admit I like Guinness more. Hahaha...

The next morning my dad and I woke up early so that we could walk about the town. We bought lots of Petai and other stuff from the local Pasar Pagi (morning bazaar).

Give me all of those!

After putting our groceries back at the hotel, me and my dad went to have a traditional whole-body massage. It was quite cheap, only Rp30,000 (approx. Rm 12.50). It was soothing... and it was also the first time I felt so naked in the presence of a stranger. Lol...

We continued walking around the town afterwards. The Chinese community seems to dominate business here, as does it in many other places in Indonesia. My dad and I had Bak Kut Teh for lunch. We left the island around 12.30pm local time, which means 1.30pm in Malaysia.

I didn't do much for the rest of the day. Went online as usual at night, and I was so overwhelmed dumbfounded shocked that Pn. Goh (my upper secondary school English teacher) left a note in my blog's "chatterbox"... Am I getting famous or what? Muahahaha...just joking. Anyway, thanks for the compliment Pn. Goh!