It’s important that you have the right type that promotes healthy living.

No way! You actually believe that!

Forget about that. It was not what I meant.

That is not the case but somehow something happens to our family that made me realize how big the influence of what we teach to our children.

The story goes like this:

Two days ago, we started a minor renovation for our kitchen. We have to replace old tiles that were falling off from the wall. It took two days to complete (plus painting work too).

Hence, we couldn’t use the kitchen to cook.

These two days we had no choice but to eat out: lunch and dinner.

It has been more than 2 years since we adopted a plant-based diet for the family. And I will make sure I cook most of the time.

After this diet change, J and K are always overjoyed when I decide to dine out instead of serving home-cooked food. This only happens once in a while.

Back to renovation. Since we had to eat out due to the closure of kitchen, I was surprised to know that J and K were actually prefer to eat in than out.

If given a choice, they rather eat home-cooked food. It’s not from me but that’s actually what they said.

Now how would you feel if your child said that? Feel good, right?

I felt proud as they know instinctively what is good for them as far as what they want to put in their stomach.

I wouldn’t have found out about this if there’s no renovation.

What I have done paid off. To achieve this, it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes baby steps, one step at a time.

Of course, to start off, you must have a diet plan and the “right” knowledge. If you don’t have one, you can refer to ours here.

For more of other healthy eating tips for kids, check out my “The Nonconformist’s Guide to Parenting.” More details at:

The Nonconformist’s Guide to Parenting

Photo Credit: M&Co

J and K love animals. Dogs especially.

They have been bugging me to adopt one since a long time ago.

But I turned them down. Reason: too much responsibility.

Their life took a turn for the better when our neighbor brought home a Rottweiler puppy last February.

J and K immediately befriended the neighbor with the intention to get to play with the dog.

When you put kids and puppies together, exciting things happen. They mix very well because both are playful.

That’s almost how J and K spend their evening ever since.

But there’s one problem though. They are so excited playing with “Happy” that they forget to go home for shower and dinner. Things would get out of hand if you let them.

It’s time for me to lay down the rules. I have no objections for them to mingle with the black puppy but they have to come home by 7 pm.

The first evening after the rules were announced, J and K were very punctual. I thought my trick worked!

It didn’t. When second evening came, they got too excited again and forgot about time. They gave all kinds of excuses: no clock, we forgot, etc.

Naturally, being a hot-tempered father, I was furious that they didn’t keep their promise.

I tried to keep my cool and gave them another lecture with a stern face (I can look pretty fierce sometimes).

I told them if they want to enjoy the benefit of going over to the neighbor’s house and play with the dog, they have to come home by 7 pm. I didn’t force them to adhere to the rule. I gave them a choice to come home by 7pm or later.

However, if they choose to come home after 7 pm, I will go ahead with dinner myself – without them.

“Since dinner is the only time the family sits together and shares the day, I hope you will not want to miss it,” I continued, trying to get them over to my side.

I asked them, “Do you want to have dinner alone?”

Both J and K shook their heads together without hesitation.

I hope they see the importance of family dinner and keeping promises.

I think they do.

After the conversation, J and K never late for home. It’s even better for J, she comes home 5 minutes earlier.

It’s has been over a few weeks now since our conversation about the dog. And they never break the promise.

For more of other great parenting tips that work, check out my “The Nonconformist’s Guide to Parenting.”

More details at:

The Nonconformist’s Guide to Parenting

There are EVEN more tips on raising mature and discipline children.

There are rules that you can’t break.

Yes, even though it’s your baby but you can’t just name her/him as you wish.

And this includes promoting your baby to a higher ranking such as King or Queen.

According to the Department of Internal Affairs of New Zealand, it has released a list of baby names that put forward by parents but were rejected.

Reasons?

Too bizarre.

Too offensive.

Here are some examples of such names:

• Anal
• “.” aka Full Stop
• 4Real
• V8
• Queen Victoria
• King
• Duke
• Princess

Though you give birth to the baby but you have no absolute control on how you name him/her.

Sometimes, it’s for the good of the baby though. Here are a few names given by parents:

• Number 16 Bus Shelter
• Benson and Hedges (for twins)
• Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii

Next, for more parenting tips, goto:

The Nonconformist’s Guide to Parenting

In it, you’ll find more rules that are as important as naming your baby correctly.

It’s the election that I am talking about. Malaysians would go for the 13th election come May 5th.

Not that politicians are without jokes on normal days, but during election season, they are more rampant and daring to say and do things just to fish for votes.

They prompted me to write this post.

For the record, I refrain myself from touching on politics. If you notice, I have never written anything about it in the past.

It’s different this time. Because I have found some useful lessons parents can learn from our politicians… even though they are lousy!

I am not saying all politicians are the same but generally they are. I don’t know about other countries but I find Malaysian politicians are extremely hilarious. They can say things they don’t mean without blinking an eye.

Hilarious is an understatement. In fact, parents should do the opposite of what the politicians are doing to be on the right path.

Don’t believe me? Read on.

1. Sugarcoat everything. Especially during election, the politicians word their sentences just to please you. They can say different things to difference audiences. Whether they mean what they say is not important. As long as the voters are happy and hear what they want to hear, they can say anything – even they are contradicting with each other.

Do the opposite as a parent: Say what you mean and mean what you say – even though what you say hurts.

2. Making empty promises. The politicians often make sky high promises. And they don’t have the intension to keep them. They just want to look good and smart in the eyes of the voters. Once they are elected, they walk the other way round. They don’t even know what they have promised in the first place.

Do the opposite as a parent: Only make promises you can keep. If you fail to do this even once, your child will not trust you anymore. Trust is an important ingredient in parenting success.

3. Use money as the reward. This is especially widespread in this election. The government has given out goodies (read: cold hard cash) irresponsibly to as many parties as they like to gain support. It looks like they are a caring government but if left unchecked, it can have negative repercussions on the country. Money is important but it should not be used abusively by putting the country in financial jeopardy. There are many ways to convince people to vote for you besides money or materials.

Do the opposite as a parent: Don’t use money as the reward for your child to do something (ie: scoring A’s in the exams). Use internal motivation instead. Read more about this topic: How NOT to motivate your child during exams

4. Insist on doing something even though it’s highly risky / life-threatening. One recent example (there’s more) is despite strong objections from many parties, the government went ahead with setting up of a rare earth processing plant in Malaysia. I don’t know why they wanted to proceed and I don’t see any benefits out of it rather than it brings harm to the people nearby. It’s not that the country is so poor that we have to depend on this factory to boost the economy.

Do the opposite as a parent: Parents of course don’t do things that harm the child. But sometimes they do it unknowingly. When you see protests from the child, stop and re-evaluate the situation. Don’t be stubborn and ignore what your child is trying to tell you. Protests can be in the form of excessive crying, rashes on the skin, insomnia, stress, loss of appetite, and of course verbal protest.

5. Double standard. This has run through the government for a long time. For the same statement, if the politician is an ally of the government, you’re safe and not condemned when making an insensitive statement. But if the same statement comes from an opposition politician, you are criticized and sometimes be threatened with a lawsuit. Different treatment for different people.

Do the opposite as a parent: Treat fairly and equally to every child – not just the clever ones. Don’t be biased and if you do, your child can feel it. You don’t want to create unnecessary friction between you and your child and also among the siblings.

For more parenting tips that boggle your mind, goto:

http://www.parentwonder.com/nonconformists-guide/

By hook or by crook I had to bring the family somewhere. I have a list of “Where to Go” and Banting and Jugra are on the list. So that’s how our Banting road trip started.

I began planning the trip a week before and had a few items lined up.

We wanted to get more people to go but everybody was busy with their own plans.

As a result, only four of us embarked on the day trip.

Let’s go through where we went one by one:

Paragliding

Tell you a secret: What attracted me to go to Banting (Bukit Jugra especially) is paragliding. For some reason, I am very fond of this adventure sport. I did some research on this and until the last minute, I had not found any operators that I could make an appointment with. A friend luckily came to the rescue. He had tried it and gave us the contact of a paragliding instructor. And the price is highly affordable too compared to those offered by other sports operators.

Paragliding is foot-launched, motorless flying sport with the help of a nylon paraglider. Usually running off hills or mountains.

After making an appointment with the instructor and having a rough idea how to get there, we reached Bukit Jugra (Jugra Hill) at 11 am. The paragliding site is behind (or in front?) the famous Bukit Jugra lighthouse. You can drive all the way up there and park your car in the car park provided. But you have to walk to the site which is only a short walk.

Bukit Jugra is about 15 minutes’ drive from Banting town.

Our instructor asked us to wait for the wind. Since paragliding is dependent on wind currents, strong wind is necessary before jumping.

After one hour or so, I was told to get ready and given a harness to put on. By then, we were joined in by other enthusiasts, either solo or tandem paragliding.

If you are new and unexperienced, you can’t go alone and must be followed by an experienced pilot. This is called tandem paragliding which is what I did.

I was a bit nervous at first but when I was in the air, everything looked so calm and serene. And I was soaring like and with an eagle, literally.

The experience was awesome and I want to do it again.

J and K saw me do it and they asked if they could do it too, especially J. Since the waiting time is long and there were 3 more to go, I told them we could come again next time. And it’s only for them.

Bukit Jugra’s Beggar’s Chicken 叫化鸡

I remember I patronized this food outlet more than 10 years ago. That’s even before I got married! Since it’s still around and so popular, and coupled with the fact that we would pass it by, I decided to stop by at Restaurant Bukit Jugra for their signature dish Beggar’s Chicken.

What makes this dish exotic is the chicken is cooked with glowing ember and soil for 4 hours. The chicken is marinated and stuffed with Chinese herbs.

NOTE: You have to call in to make booking and order what you want one or two days before.

J and K don’t find the Beggar’s Chicken as intriguing as what others make it to be. Me included. The chicken is fine but nothing to shout about. To make it worse, RM48 for a chicken is overpriced.

Since it’s only four of us and we couldn’t order much. Besides chicken, we ordered a dish called Traditional Fish 家乡鱼 (RM35). The flesh is scraped and made into paste and deep fried. Then they are arranged again in such a way that it looks like a fish… again.

A picture speaks a thousand words:

I personally find the prices are on the high side and the dishes are average.

丐帮名菜叫化鸡
Restaurant Bukit Jugra (Banting)
Jalan Bukit Jugra
Permatng Pasir
Tel: 03-3120 2515 (Make reservation before going)
Opening Hours: 1 pm to 8 pm

Istana Bandar, Masjid Diraja Sultan Alaeddin and Makam Sultan Abdul Samad

Coming down from Bukit Jugra, which is not far from the Beggar’s Chicken restaurant, we made a quick visit to Makam Sultan Abdul Samad (Royal Mausoleum of Sultan Abdul Samad). There is a sign that clearly indicates the tomb which is located on a hill. (Watch out for monkeys!)

I was surprised to find out that a few visitors were there praying silently with beads. One of them told me you can make wishes at the royal grave. I was speechless. Making wishes at a tomb?

Anyway, Sultan Abdul Samad (Born 1804. Reign 1857 – 1898), the forth Sultan of Selangor, was buried in this mausoleum. Before Klang, Jugra was the royal capital of Selangor.

Istana Bandar & Masjid Diraja Sultan Alaeddin

Istana Bandar and Masjid Diraja Sultan Alaeddin are located in Bandar which is about 15 minutes away from Bukit Jugra. Bandar is a place which is not reflected in its name as it is a remote village with a small population.

Based on what I got, Istana Bandar (also known as Istana Alauddin/Alaeddin) is open everyday from 8 am to 6 pm. Entrance is free. But I went there, the gate was closed and there was not even one soul there. Later I spotted 2 workers there and they told me the caretaker was not around. What a shame that we missed this historical building. The 40-room palace looks majestic from the outside after some restoration works.

The palace was built in 1905 by the fifth Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Alauddin Sulaiman who remained in residence at Istana Bandar for 35 years.

Next to Istana Bandar is Masjid Diraja Sultan Alaeddin (Sultan Alaeddin Mosque). The mosque was opened in 1906.

Cendol Banting

After visitng Bandar, we were back in Banting town. In fact, we wanted to go to Kelanang Beach but we got to the wrong way and ended up in town. Anyway no regrets. As we were in town we spotted one of the 2 popular places for cendol. I was excited to have found Restoran Cendol Ibrahim Banting which is opposite the KFC Restaurant. It’s located in the alley with a roof over it. The best part of it is the seller still uses the traditional way to shave the ice. Though the ice is not as fine as machine-saved ice, the cendol turned out to be good – not too sweet. And the crowd says it all about the awesomeness of the cendol. The man behind the stall was never a moment in idle mode. He was busy serving his non-stop stream of customers.

How traditional it is? Check out this picture:

It costs you RM1.50 for dine-in and RM3.50 takeaway. The owner says the packed cendol is enough for two.

At the same outlet, one can order mee rojak or rojak from another stall.

Restoran Cendol Ibrahim Banting (opposite the KFC Restaurant)
Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad,
Banting

Kerepek House

Kerepek House which is owned by Fazz Enterprise has been in business since 1983. It’s in Kachong Darat, Banting.

As the name suggests, Kerepek House offer a wide variety of local crackers and chips. I notice the products there are fresh and they are affordably priced. For example, a packet of 250 g of dhall chips costs only RM2.60 or 500g meruku RM3.80.

Customers were streaming in continuously while we were there making our selection.

Kerepek House is located in a village off Jalan Cempaka. It’s not difficult to find this place as there are sufficient signs to guide you there.

Kerepek House / Fazz Enterprise
Lot 662, Jalan Cempedak, Off Jalan Cempeka,
Kanchong Darat,
42700 Banting,
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Opening hours: Everyday 8.00 am – 9.30 pm
Tel: 03-3181 3076

Residence of Sidek

If you are old enough, you’d have heard of the Sidek family. The brothers were badminton players of world’s standard. Guess what. Their hometown is in Banting.

To commemorate the contribution of the family towards Malaysia’s badminton, the government has put up a landmark in front of their old house. It’s not hard to find. The house is located at the junction of Jalan Sempadan and Jalan Sultan Alam Shah. Heading Morib, the house is on the right.

Pantai Kelanang / Kelanang Beach

K wanted to go to the beach no matter what. As a father, what choice do I have? I had to obey!

Heading Jugra once again but this time, instead of right, I made a left turn to Pantai Kelanang. As with other places in Malaysia, the problem of insufficient road signs is not unusual. I had to follow my instinct to get to Pantai Kelanang. Lucky for me, I didn’t make a mistake. I knew I was right the moment I saw the sign “Pantai Kelanang” right in front of the beach! How ironic!

(Let me make an appeal here:Can the authorities just put the signs leading to the beach for God’s sake?)

The beach is not clean but the sands are fine and white. It’s hard to find powderish sand especially for beaches on the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Pantai Kelanang attracts many beach lovers and children will love it as there’s a playgorund near the beach.

It’s not as popular as Morib Beach but Pantai Kelanang is worth a visit. But do set your expectations right before you go there.

Fo Guang Shan Dong Zen Monastery 佛光山东禅寺

Dong Zen Temple is famous during the Chinese New Year because the Monastery is decorated with beautiful and colorful lights.

Of course, when we went there, the lights had been taken down. Since K had not been there yet so to speak (for the first visit, he was in his mother’s womb), we promised to bring him there. We made a quick tour of the place since it was already getting dark when we were there.

There’s a koi fish pond and nice garden there besides the usual temple there. The compound is huge and it takes an hour or more to tour.

We just found out a little secret about the temple. Right at the end near the outdoor washroom, there’s a mini deer park – a heard of 5-6 deer altogether.

Of course, since it is a monastery, you will sometimes bump into monks or students there.

FGS Dong Zen Monastery
Jalan Sungai Buaya,
Jenjarom,
Banting,
Selangor, Malaysia
Phone: 03-3191 1533

Somehow the organizer was short of eggs, I guess.

Even though a “rule” was already in place – that each child could only get one egg – the shortage still occurred.

It was obvious that a significant number of children did not manage to find even an egg.

It’s easy to tell from the facial expressions of the children who did not find the eggs.

They looked so disappointed and depressed. Some at the brink of crying.

Poor thing.

To make it worse, every easter egg entitled each child some chocolate. Meaning kids without eggs took home nothing.

“The organizer did not do a good job.” I lamented to a friend, “A supposedly happy egg hunt has turned sour.”

My friend’s reply surprised me.

He said, “It could be a good thing that some kids can’t find the eggs.”

I immediately understood what he meant. I nodded in agreement.

In today’s world, everybody wants everything fast.

Not only that, they can’t bear the fact that they fail to get something.

Children included.

Patience has gone out the window and microwave oven mentality has taken over the world.

When children can’t get what they want, they fuss and they feel dejected. They are confused and do not know how to handle the situation.

For minor cases, they are sad. For serious ones, some commit suicide due to rejection.

It’s no joke that this is serious. Some teens resort to killing themselves when they fail to get what they want.

That’s why I agreed with what my friend said. The kids at the Easter Egg Hunt should take it as a lesson when they failed to find an egg. A lesson of dealing with dejection. Because you won’t always get what you want in life.

For more great parenting tips that challenge conventional wisdom, check out “The Nonconformist’s Guide to Parenting.”

More details here:

The Nonconformist’s Guide to Parenting

Are you kidding? A vineyard here in Malaysia?

That was my reaction when I heard about this. Having a vineyard is not possible in a tropical country like Malaysia – which is hot and humid throughout the year.

But time has changed. We have our very own vineyard in the northern state of Kedah.

It’s not hard to find the place and it’s located next to Beris Lake (Tasik Beris).

To get there, exit Gurun from North South Expressway. After toll at the junction, turn right heading Jeniang and Sik. The journey takes about an hour (Let me warn you: It’s a long and boring road but you have a chance to see first hand the village and remote areas of Malaysia). Beris Vineyard is located right before Tasik Beris, on the right. It’s right after Sik town.

The vineyard is of course not as big as what you see in the US or Australia. The purpose for this is to open to the public for educational purposes.

Only one section of the vineyard is open to visitors. The vineyard started in 2007 and the operator who runs the vineyard has another vineyard which is bigger in another location.

After buying the tickets at the Sales Gallery, you can get real close to the plants. But you are not allowed to touch and pick the grapes, of course.

Besides tickets, one can also purchase grapes from the vineyard, souvenirs from the Sales Gallery.

We bought some grapes and they tasted quite good despite they were locally grown.

There you have it. You don’t need to travel far to see a vineyard because you have it in your own backyard, so to speak.

Beris Lake Vineyard
Lot 264, Kampung Ternas, Ternas,
08200 Sik, Kedah Darul Aman.
Tel: + 604 – 462 0466
Fax: + 604 – 462 0611

Entrance tickets: RM4 for adults and RM2 for children.
Daily Operating Hours: Mon – Sun, 9am to 6:30pm

Map to Beris Lake Vineyard

Source: www.berislakegrapes.com.my

For bigger map, click here.

1. The venue is just 5 minutes’ drive from my home
2. It’s something I am interested in
3. And most of all, it’s free

I am talking about a parenting talk that came to my neighborhood last weekend.

I wanted to go but there’s a problem.

I don’t want to bring J and K along. Reasons being: they obviously are not interested and they would get bored and make noise.

My wife and I started our “negotiation” with the kids a day before. We didn’t want to take them to the talk. In fact, we could send them to their aunt’s house but she was not free.

So we suggested to them to stay at home alone.

I thought it would be an excellent idea as this is a good opportunity for J and K to learn to be independent and be “BIG” children who can take care of themselves.

J was able to take it in her stride and she did not have any objections to the idea.

K was the one who reacted more strongly. Maybe due to his young age.

But anyway, I tried to address his fear for not allowing us to go without them.

I asked K about his fear and he told us his concerns. I offered him solutions on what he could do when what he feared really happened.

The fear that K had was what if the house caught fire (duh!) and a stranger broke into the house.

I tried to teach him only when there’s a situation (that actually happens), he has to find a solution instead of fearing things that have not happened. That’s the key.

Still unconvinced, he was still very emotionally.

I asked him to at least give it a try and if anything happens, it’s just a phone call away.

Came next morning, surprisingly he was jovial and not as emotional as the day before.

We were allowed to leave the house without any fuss.

In the end, everyone got what they wanted. We enjoyed the talk. J and K enjoyed themselves alone at home.

The kids had so much fun that K even asked us to delay our time to go home. They needed more time by themselves!

When we were back, we noticed they did many things without the need to remind. Including they cleaned up after breakfast.

When a child is given assurance and encouragement with the right exposure, they can be as powerful as you want them to be… as long as you give enough space for him to experience it. Do not laugh at his fear no matter how silly it looks. This is a no-no.

You can find more of this type of parenting tips in “The Nonconformist’s Guide to Parenting.”

More info can be found at:

The Nonconformist’s Guide to Parenting

Sexy, tall, blonde, seductive, smart, splendid figure, beautiful?

Off all, one Bond girl caught my attention lately.

At least not from any recent James Bond’s movies.

In fact, I don’t really know her until I read an article about her.

Once again, not her half-naked picture that caught my attention but what she said and how she lives her life.

Not only about Bond girls, but almost all celebrities live extravaganza lifestyle.

But not for Olga Kurylenko.

Surprise. Surprise. This Bond actress that I think of so highly is no spendthrift. She is not the kind of girl that spends all her “husband’s money”.

The Ukraine-born beauty would not waste her hard-earned money on unnecessary things.

Here’s what the 33-year-old said, “I look at something and I think: do I really need it’ No. Do I want it’ Yes. I’ll have some friends who are like, ‘I’ll get this and that,’ and now they have zero in their bank account. How can that even happen’ I’m not that kind of person.”

Starring as Camille in 2008′s The Quantum of Solace, unlike other Hollywood stars, Olga finds that too many people in the movie industry lack “heart” and are obsessed with material things.

In fact, she shuns the showbiz lifestyle.

She acknowledged, “I don’t have that many girlfriends. I’m not friends with people from the industry; my friends are from when I was nobody, they’re not friends because I did a Bond film.

“True happiness is about nature and people who have heart and want to talk about stuff rather than buying bags.”

How true!

I think how she approaches life is what we need to teach our children. Not only that, Olga also has some pointers for parents:

She credits her hard upbringing with making her indifferent to materialism and she believes her background has made her tougher and more aware of the important matters in life.

Coming from a Bond girl, you have a very important role to play here parents! Teach these values to your child.

For other important values to teach to your child, check out my “The Nonconformist’s Guide to Parenting”.

Shoot over for more details at:

The Nonconformist’s Guide to Parenting

After almost 3 years since our first visit (you can read about it here), we made another trip to this authentic village that is full of local culture that is called Tanjung Sepat.

Since this trip is a sequel, hence it is called Tanjung Sepat Day Trip 2.0.

Compared to the last, this trip we were more prepared. We did some research. We even found a Tanjung Sepat map that highlights all the interesting places.

From our home, it only takes about an hour to reach Tanjung Sepat. Since we started our journey early in the morning, we still had time to try out the famous Seafood Bak Kut Teh for breakfast.

Seafood Bak Kut Teh

There are two popular places for bak kut teh: Yikee Seafood Bak Kut Teh and Ah Hock Restaurant. And they only open for breakfast and close at 11 am. If you want to try their famous seafood Bak Kut Teh, you must be there early.

Seafood Bak Kut Teh in Spicy Soup

This is the first time we tried seafood Bak Kut Teh so we made a mistake when we ordered. In fact, we wanted to try seafood in traditional herbal soup but the owner prepared one bowl of traditional soup with pork and one bowl of seafood in spicy soup respectively. To be frank, in my humble opinion, there’s nothing to shout about the bak kut teh.

Restoran Yikee Seafood Bak Kut Teh 裕记海鲜肉骨茶
Jalan Besar (Jalan Pasar), 42800 Tanjung Sepat, Selangor.
Tel: 03-3197 4907 / 019-351 8448

Coffee Factory

Fresh Coffee Bean

To make sure it’s open, we called the coffee factory before our visit. The “factory” is a small and is an extension of the owner’s home. The owner is very friendly and helpful in explaining the whole process of coffee making – from coffee beans to picking, from roasting to grinding.

The owner roasting the coffee

The owner explained that he sources fresh coffee beans from local planters. He has an open space opposite of his factory that is used to sun dry coffee beans. It takes a few days for the beans to be ready after the drying process.

Sun Drying Coffee Beans

Coffee Bean (left) with Outer Layers

After which, coffee beans are picked and only good ones are taken to the stove for roasting. The roasting takes up to 4-5 hours in an automatic stirring roasting pan fueled by woods.

While explaining, the owner also showed us a coffee tree that he planted behind his factory. He shared with us his plan to open a cafe cum coffee museum. His father has left behind some old but workable machines that he used to make coffee powder – which are no longer in use.

The factory doesn’t have anything to sell and it’s open purely for visitors who want to learn more about coffee making. Only after I asked, the owner told me that coffee powder is available for sale. RM6.50 / 250 g for Grade 2. I bought 5 packets for own consumption and gifts for friends.

Overall, it’s a highly educational visit for both adults and children. I recommend it.

Joo Fa Trading 裕发咖啡贸易
356, Lorong 5, 42800 Tanjung Sepat, Selangor.
Tel: 03-3197 4862 / 012-972 2886
Owner: Lim Seng Peng

Cracker Factory

I thought we could have a first hand look on how they make crackers but how disappointing. It has only one small section that is for public viewing – packing. This factory produces various types of crackers such as taro, sweet potato, pumpkin, and even dhall. Crackers are called “kerepek” by locals.

To me this is not a factory but rather a shop selling all types of crackers and local products. I find the staff there are unfriendly and impolite.

We left the place in less than 30 minutes as we are not interested in another shop!

If you are interested, the “factory” is located some 2-3 km away from the main road. To get there, from Tanjung Sepat town heading Sepang, take the left turn immediately after the bridge – which is not far from the town.

Arowana Malayan Food Industries Sdn Bhd
Lot 2926 , Kg. Tumbuk Darat, 42800 Tanjung Sepat, Selangor.
Tel: 03-3197 2888 / 03-3197 3888

Fish Ball Factory

Making Fish Ball

This shophouse cum fish ball factory is located next to the wet market (Pasar Baru) of Tanjung Sepat. The factory is not facing the main road and it is located on the second row (inner row). So you have to drive in to see it. When we reached, the lady owner was busy making a type of fish paste product. After getting the permission, we toured to the back of the factory to see how fish balls were made. It’s made with a machine. The place is wet and extra caution must be paid when touring around. We bought some fish balls and other fish-based products home.

Yek Loong Enterprise 裕隆鱼丸企业
No. 30, Jalan Bawal 1, 42800, Tanjong Sepat, Selangor.
Tel: 03-3197 2728

Ling Zhi and Mushroom

Back to Tanjung Sepat town. We heard of this place after our first visit here and this time we must go there. Sadly, the owners have moved their mushrooms to another location as we were told that visitors who refused to follow instructions by touching the mushrooms. This act affected the healthy growth of mushrooms. However there are still some mushrooms that can be seen by visitors outside the homestay and sales gallery.

Ling Zhi Mushrooms

Ling Zhi is touted as one of the mushrooms that has high medicinal values among Chinese. Besides Lingzhi, the shop also sells other types of mushrooms – fresh and dried.

The farm is started by a couple who hailed from Alor Setar.

Ganofarm
Lot 700, Jalan Laut Membiru, Taman Pelangi, 42800 Tanjung Sepat, Selangor.
Tel: 03-3197 5600

Lovers Bridge

Lovers Bridge in Tanjung Sepat

It’s the hottest moment of the day and there’s no better time to visit the no-frills Lovers Bridge of Tanjung Sepat. Jokes aside, please don’t visit the bridge during noon time as the sun is the hottest. The locals told us that it’s called Lovers Bridge because in the old days, this bridge was the only hangout place for lovebirds. Hence the name. The bridge is still in use today as I can see many fishermen frequenting the bridge to unload catch of the day on their self-modified motorcycle-driven “truck”.

If you are seafood lovers, there are 2-3 restaurants located at the beginning of the bridge.

Hainanse Pau

Making Tantalizing Pau

One of the Tanjung Sepat food that not to be missed is Hai Yew Heng’s Chinese steamed buns (pau). It’s famous for vegetable buns but I prefer its red bean paste (tau sah) pau.

Despite it’s humble shop, the place is filled with customers waiting in line to buy its freshly made and freshly steamed buns. If you don’t want to get disappointed, be there early (12-1pm).

Perniagaan Pau Hai Yew Heng 海友兴海南包
No. 19-20, Lorong 3, Tanjung Sepat, Selangor.
Tel: 012-272 9009

Late Lunch at Restoran Asam

Lotus Leaf Fish

Based on the recommendation made by a few people, we finally decided to have lunch at Restoran Asam Batu Laut. It turned out the food there is average. We ordered its signature dish which is called Lotus Leaf Steamed Fish.

Though the food is average but the price is very reasonable.

Restoran Asam Batu Laut
Tel: 019-384 4362 / 019-266 9953

Kuan Wellness Ecopark

The last stop in Tanjung Sepat is Kuan Wellness Ecopark. This is relatively a new tourist spot. It started off as a bird nest shop but now it has expanded to include an animal farm. The animal farm charges a nominal fee of RM1. The kids love this place very much. You can buy feeds to feed the rabbits there.

Kuan Wellness Ecopark is located near to Restoran Asam and it’s on the way to Morib.

Kuan Wellness Ecopark
Lot 408 Jalan Tanjung Layang, 42800 Tanjung Sepat, Selangor.
Tel: 03-3148 1126

Morib Beach

We made a quick stop in Pantai Morib. J and K played kites at the beach for a while before we headed home.

Note: Get Tanjung Sepat Map Here (Source: blog.nst.my)