PONTIAN = PONTIANAK?

Me and my chendol man

Chendol time to quench the thirst


Chendol selling like hotcakes on this hot day


Sg Pontian Kechil harbours many fishing boats



Local folks moor their boats here

Bought some slated fish from this shop keeper

Ikan bilis or dried anchovy in the background



Mackerel salted fish.

Customers stopped by to 'chendolise' under this tree

Hotel for the seafarers?

At a stall selling tidbits and fruits

Bought some scarfs from this shop

Aliff Restaurant faces the sea

The bunga tanjung tree lines the road

Casuarina tree along the beach

Hard engineering - stone revetments to prevent erosion

Too much tan for me that day

Crashing waves can dislodge the granite and sandstone

Shops and offices at this commercial area

Lunch was nasi campur

No durian stall outside this kampung house. Cry..cry...

PONTIAN DRIVE

I went crazy the other time we drove to Pontian Kecil because that was the first time I set eyes on a 'Kucing Tidur' (sleeping cat). It's not all about cats but a durian hybrid in which the durians inside the shell lay like a ball of cat curling asleep. The locals were selling their durians in front of their houses and that was when we laden our boot with kilos and kilos of durians. Imagine fantastic creamy and sweet yellow flesh durians going for RM5 a kilo.

I went berserk immediately and wasted no time squatting by the roadside and putting those heavenly creation into my cavernous mouth, relishing every creamy flesh that slid down my throat. I couldn't careless about those stares I received from the kampung folks. After all I did not know them and they did not know me. So what's there to be ashamed of? I would only end up as a passing visitor. My mind was preoccupied with the durians. I only knew that I must have those durians instantly!

Hoping for a repeat scenario, we drove to Pontian one Saturday morning. Luck was not on our side as the durian season was over and not a stall was at sight selling durians along the stretch of road leading to Kukup. Not wanting to come back empty handed, we stopped by at a shop beside Sungai Pontian Kecil and bought some salted fish, ikan bilis, dried prawns and keropok.

For lunch, we headed for Aliff Restaurant at the end of the road. The restaurant had a commanding view of the sea. Bunga Tanjung trees lined the five-foot path along the beach. You can hardly find these trees in Singapore now. I used to pick the tree flowers up on my way back from school at Bidadari Muslim Cemetery before. Old housewives' tales say that pontianaks love to make their home on this tree. I was not in the mood of confirming this and ushered my husband to leave before sunset.

Pontian Kecil serves mainly as a fishing village which has developed into a small town. Pontian is populated by Malays of the Bugis descent. You can stop by Kukup or Tanjung Piai for seafood. Tanjung Piai is the southernmost tip of South East Asia. A notable national park is also located here. Beware of the monkeys here though.

A bowl of chendol with rich gula melaka closed our Pontian Kecil drive that morning. My next visit here would definitely be during the durian season!