The sleepy town of Mersing was calling us. The winding and undulating coastal road would be a test for the driver’s dexterity on the wheels. Nothing concrete was planned so it was just a road trip for us to enjoy the view and the unexpected. A roadside durian stall forced us to apply the brakes of our car. They were real kampung durians, claimed Ah Lum. No hybrid of species. We tried the kucing tidur (sleeping cat) specie. It had reddish yellow colour with thick creamy flesh and flat seeds. I would not do any justice if I just say that the durian was nice. I understood immediately the true meaning of ‘heavenly’ immediately.
I saw them during my previous drive along the Kota Tinggi-Mersing Road. The pillboxes or bunkers that scattered around Kota Tinggi lines were constructed earlier before WW2. I believe they were built to improve Singapore’s fortress defences lines during 1937. There was quite a bit of fighting there involving mainly Malaysian, Australian and Japanese soldiers. Evidence of rifle shots and volleys of machine guns hit could be seen. One pill box had its top blown off, most likely by shells. It must be a nasty place to be in the bunker. Nobody could survive with such penetration.
Poor Zac, my nephew must have sworn to have this as the last road trip with me. He had an earful of live lessons from me on Geography and National Education, ranging from oil palm cultivation, river features, gabions, history of Johor Lama, the Japanese Occupation and the elusive Mawas who used to terrorise the Sedili-Mawai area.
Another stop was at the apam balik and fruit stalls. The fruits had just been delivered and the apam balik and the boiled groundnuts were tempting our taste buds. Our next stop was at a keropok lekor factory where we witnessed how fish meat was minced, kneaded, rolled out and boiled for making into keropok lekor. I bought a few kilos of fish cracker. The Tioman jetty terminal was our next stop. Like kids, we played on the swing, took horse rides and gave a go at the buggy along the sandy beach. By then the clouds were darkening and all of a sudden a small twister hit us. The force and strong wind picked up the sand quickly. The sand swirled around us, spraying it in our eyes, face and clothes. I almost lost my balance but managed to take refuge at the shelter nearby. The force died down as sudden as it had started. What an experience it was.
When the rain subsided, we drove to Air Papan Beach, passing by rice fields and home stay offers. We had teh tarik facing the South China Sea. Numerous chalets dotted the coastline. The trip would not be completed without a sea food dinner, with fresh catch from the sea. Two pairs of hornbills decided to add more excitement to our trip. They were flying around and perched on the casuarina tree in front of the restaurant. Since the Endau-Rompin reserve is nearby, they could have flown from there.
We had to be careful driving back along the Kota-Mersing Road at night. Some stretch of the road was pitch black with the trees crowning your car. We passed by a cemetery, the bunkers, an elephant crossing area and vast oil palm plantations. I wonder what happen to the motorcyclist who was hit by a car. The ambulance would take a long time to arrive. Our trip had been filled with the unexpected but was high in fun too.
