Kuantan Joy Ride (part 3)

It was a short distance from Pekan to Kuantan but it took me sometime to reach there due to the heavy traffic and the new road construction. A very long stretch of newly constructed road was of the single lane and to make thing worst they separate the two lane direction with barricade and tape. This make overtaking on the right very risky and I chose to overtake on shoulder.

When I reach Kuantan, my first impression was the city looks very neat and it also feels very similar to Penang... maybe because of the mountain view and the beach?

The State Mosque along the Jln Mahmud on the way to Teluk Chempedak beach. I love the pastel colour theme of its building, very lovely.

I reached Teluk Chempedak at ease with my GPS. It was almost noon liao so I quite hungry and anyhow found a place for lunch there. There is one mamak stall under the tree behind KFC which is popular with local, so I just gave it a try.

This is my order, Ikan Pedas Asam (Spicy Asam Fish). I wanted to try something special in Kuantan and it turns out to be very appetizing as well.

After lunch, time to explore the beach. It is a tourist beach and can see lots of angmo walking around. Things are also quoted in US dollar in some shops. But the place is also vibrant with local families and quite similar to our East Coast Park. But since the beach line is quite long stretch so you wont find it very crowded with people. So actually its nice to spend your weekend with family here.

Have McDonald n KFC and alot of makan shops here.

The beach is very nice cos the sand is white powdery type, even nicer than our Sentosa. This is what I called the Beach... haha...

It is a very leisure walk on the beach and very comfortable on your feet. Although its noon but the sun is not that strong so it is still quite relaxing. But strange enough, beach ball or bikini babe are not popular here. So all I can see are only those family outing, play sand, soak in water only.

The beach is quite long stretch and some spot are quite secluded. I am sure if you want sun bath nakedly is still possible...

I saw on some blogs and seems that this pose is quite popular and swee so I gave it a try too.. nice? (but the malay gal who helped me took photo seems quite frightened and quickly ran away)

Now is monsoon season so the wave is quite strong... but also very windy sia.


This beach got its name because of these rocks which look like chempedak fruit...

Actually there is a broadwalk which can link to the other side of the beach. But I was too shack and lazy so I just hang around the beach to blow wind. I stayed there until 2 plus then decided to go other places.

Plot on my GPS shown some parks and beach such as Belesah. But I guess the beach should look more or less the same so decided to hit for some shopping centres to chill out. Hang around the town centre, went Berjaya Megamall and Kuantan Parade. For the Berjaya Megamall it is actually not mega at all and quite smallish.

Then saw one A&W along the way so went in for dinner. It was about 5pm when I done and it's getting late so better go back home.

And I actually wasted like half hour on the journey back because the GPS kept suggesting me a longer road via route 2 then NSHW to go home, which total will be about 500km+++

So by the time I realised it have to U turn back to route 3... and jam at the construction again.

Anyway passed Pekan about 6+ and towards Rompin. This stretch of the road is coastal and the most scenic in my journey. You really can see the sea at your side and enjoy the wing blowing at you.

You can actually stop at any place and go down to the beach. I found one stretch which is very nice and stopped for rest. It actually has a small dirt road leading to the beach.


This beach is really natural and not maintained. But surprisingly the sand was very fine and good quality. It is very powdery and like a wood dust.

I later found out that this beach is called as Rompin Beach on the map. It is definitely a nice beach to come if you are nearby Mersing cos its actually quite near. But what I don't understand is why the beach at Pahang can be so nice but those at Johor one all muddy type?

It was about 7pm when I left that beach and it is getting dark. A nice trunk road in the morning now has become very tricky and dangerous to navigate due to the dark. Most of the time it was so dark cant even see my own hand and my headlight at most only can shine 20 metre in front of me. And I have to reply heavily on the yellow sign or the taillight of the vehicle in front of me.

And it is very dangerous to travel on trunk road at night. I have to be careful with the road as well as the vehicle overtaking me. The last leg of route out of Mersing was also quite dangerous. Although it is mostly all the way straight, but it has alot of steep slope and due to the poor visibility I could not be sure if the front is bend or straight, so my speed has to be very slow. By the time I reached JB it was already 11pm... it is very stressful. Maybe this will be my last night riding because I find age maybe catch up with me. Now I lack of concentration and the eye sight also not very good with all the glaring headlight. Totally exhausted when reached home.

So trust me, it was not fun to travel on this type of curvy trunk road at the total darkness...

But do I enjoy the trip? YES! Absolutely.

Actually in Mersing, I told my friend that I hope to get out of my usual cave and go explore. That's the reason I got the GPS. I found that most of the time, by human nature we tend to visit places we familiar, eat the food we comfortable about, stay at those places people say good etc etc. So much so it become a habit to do the same thing again and again. Fear of getting lost, get rob, or many factors strengthen our habit to be inside the comfort zone. This habit happens not only to newbie, even to the seasoned tourer... ever wonder why our fellow bikers keep going to the same old restaurants at Bamboo JB, Zai Lai GP etc etc? Those list seems to be just recycling cos the first time try good, then keep going back... habit...

I don't want to be like that. I hope with my GPS, I can just anyhow go any place anytime I like. Be it solo or in group... and be it nice food or bad food it will be a new experience for me in every trip.

(end)