Updated: Oct 14, 2003 by Yiling
Jack?s Place
A home away from home.
Well furnished, cosy single-storey terrace house with 3 bedrooms and spacious living space nestled in a friendly suburb of unassuming (town of) Tangkak. Comes with free flow of freshly harvested durians, 24x7. Gracious host, Jack, is pure bonus. Able to accommodate up to 25 guests. Erm, towels and blankets not provided though.
Getting There
There are no direct buses to Tangkak so be advised to provide your own transport (note: 4 wheels better than 2 wheels). Us? We managed to beg/steal/borrow 6 vehicles. And a long and dreary journey became a 205km, 4-hour long car rally beginning at kranji @ 930pm and finishing in the middle of Tangkak by 130am. There were lots of speed work, tailgating, getting lost and one birthday celebration (Hak Loon-18 Jul).
Birthday Boy
Thankfully, all guests reached Tangkak in good time, in 1 piece and in high spirits. Kudos to our expert drivers. They had to keep awake the whole night while acquiescing to requests for song-changes, enduring non-stop chatter (sometimes hyena-like laughter too), unmelodious snores and people munching on titbits the whole time.
Things to Do
First, sleep out the wee-hour thunderstorm. That was easy. Our snores would have been louder than the tempest.In the morning, wake up to the mouth-watering aromas of thick bakuteh (pork ribs) broth and dim-sum as you ponder over the drizzle. Will it stop?
Breakfast Point
Dim Sum, Yummy!!
Then, slowly and patiently, shift the whole ging-gang 25km north-east to the foothill of Mt Ophir. Take a brisk stroll up to the waterfalls and gather for a group photo before deciding whether to try for the summit.
Group Photo at Foot of Ophir
Appoint an expedition leader who has trekked up to the summit recently. If not, pass the reins over to the most confident-feeling person and hope for the best. The trail is pretty clear up to the square pool. After that, it split and meanders. Along the way, be prepared to tackle steep, slippery inclines and tricky rope works. Those who suffer from vertigo should just stay put at the lower pools.
Rope Works
While waiting for people to catch up, smell the fresh air, look around for brightly coloured fungi and admire the luscious ferns and flowers.
Mushroom on Ophir
If you can and the pace permits, sing some tunes to entertain your group. Bring lots of power snacks and water and enough food. Do not follow our example by trying to scale the summit with only 18 packets of chicken rice, 10 bottles of water and the shirts on our backs. We reached the cold, misty top looking horrible - wet, hungry, bedraggled- and at the very late time of 330pm.
At the summit, take lots of pictures. Because you never know when you?ll come this way again. Who knows, you may need to produce these ?evidence? to satisfy your grandchildren.
Yes, we made it!!
From the summit, you can choose to backtrack down the same way or haggle protractedly with the power station staff for a pickup to send you and your friends back to civilisation via the plantation route. Knowledge of Melayu is very useful here. This will set you back RM100 but save you 4 hours of arduous legwork. We ran out of time so we chose the latter option and had to endure squeezing 20 full-size bums into a feisty pickup over > 20km of bumpy, pothole-littered road. A pretty respectable bargain, actually.
Back in town, dig into a sumptuous dinner @ a roadside chi-char store then continue your eating revelry at the very massive pasar malam selling all sorts of local delicacies and other knick knacks.
Local Delicacies - Amy Yip BIG bao!!
Or head back to Jack?s place for durians. All, to make up for the shortfall suffered earlier in the day.
The next day, sleep out your fatigue till you can sleep no more then head back to town for delicious beef noodles. You may want to supplement your palate with their local version of the fried carrot cake and pancake.
Yes, yes!!Carrot cake
Beef Noodles!!
Straight after, head to their local durian plantation for a durian banquet and sample Tangkak durians @ their freshest.
Busy with Durians
When you have stuffed yourself and your vehicle with enough durians to last 1 whole month, evacuate from Jack?s place (after scrubbing it clean) and head north 38km to Melaka for their famous chicken rice balls and shopping. Visit 3rd uncle?s shop for the best tau sar pia (bean paste pastries) or pop into any one of their shops @ the Mahkota shopping centre for cheap bargains.
Then, as dusks fall, organise the entourage back towards Singapore, durian stench and all.