3D2N Sekinchan family trip

Imagine a Sekinchan family trip.

Golden padi fields stretching as far as our eyes can see, all ready for harvesting.

适耕庄 Sekinchan is such a piece of abundance. Infact, 适耕庄 (Chinese name) liteally means land-suitable-for-farming, 鱼米之乡.

Sekinchan is in Selangor, 1 hour North of KL. It is about 5 hours, 440km from Singapore (estimated driving speed of 120 to 140kmh).

 

You know you have arrived at Malaysia’s rice bowl when you spot endless fields of padi.

 

鱼米之乡
鱼米之乡

Our Sekinchan family trip was timed to see golden Padi fields, estimated around mid May/Jun and Nov.

We did say Harvesting right, seeing monster tractors in action were COOL!

Right photo below, the padi factory. You will also notice many high-rise buidings designed to nest swallows and their saliva (燕窝 bird nest)

Rice Factory GPS (3.520942, 101.128885)

There are tours to guide you about padi process, from planting to harvesting to packaging and buying of  by-products (photos at Google link)

(L) 南天宫 (GPS 3.523699, 101.142036 )

 

The other highlight for us at Sekinchan was our accommodation. We were staying in container boxes!

Farm Ville Cafe & Homestay (GPS 3.500811, 101.111003)

Pretty innovative and abstract right, there is a small pool too!

We had more details about containers in this post, but you can see photos at Google link. (Just take note that the boxes can be hot during the afternoon, full blast the aircon)

 

This is view from our window, Green and yellow!

 

Map of Sekinchan attractions.

Image credit http://sekinchan.org

If you like nature, old-town, and lots of seafood, try Sekinchan. There are enough activities for families to enjoy a laid back 3D2N.

Sekinchan family Trip
Sekinchan family Trip

This is the famous Beach at Pantai Redang (GPS 3.502855, 101.094474).

You can swim but do not expect white sandy beaches.At the canal entrance, you can spot fishing boats heading out to the sea.

We spotted many “tree-houses” along the coastline. This beach is popular for kites and fishing.

Next up, Dinner. There are many stalls next to the beach area. The stalls are a bit run down, do not expect food court hygiene hee hee 🙂

炸騙集团 caught our name! The shop name means “deep-fried syndicate” haha.

 

Our “seafood dinner” consists of fried squid, prawn (is it mantis shrimp?). Total bill was only RM40, we ordered a second plate of squid as it was good.

 

You will not miss this Coca Cola landmark. Folks would climb up to second floor for a better view of surrounding.

Cool refreshments are always welcome 🙂

Breakfast was a 10 minutes walk for us to Sekinchan’s town area.

You will find coffee shops, bike shops and a wet market. This place is very crowded in the morning.

We did pass by a popular old school coffee shop. (Kedai Kopi )

Wanton noodle seems to be popular with locals.

Bike shops all along this street (GPS 3.506692, 101.106362), prices start from RM30 to RM50 (Quad bike) for 1 hour (or is it 2?).

 

This padi stack (or roll) Ah Ma’s house (Grandma) is popular for photo props.

阿嬷的家 The House of Ah Ma (GPS 3.50760, 101.10848)

You can find nostalgic stuffs and food, popular with souvenir hunters. This egg crepe is their best seller. It may look plain but it is tasty.

Mango King (3.52782, 101.13948)

You will likely see tour coaches before the mango trees.

We had the sweetest mangos ever, and busloads of visitors kept popping up. Try to enjoy the mangos under the trees, for enhanced novelty feel.

If time permits, visit “fishy” Bagan fishing village (3.506837, 101.094621)

Trawlers are back in port, and fishermen busy repairing their nets. Try to spot eels and other local catch.

After seeing the seafood source, seafood restaurants for lunch.

No1 favourite would be 建旗海鲜饭店 (Restoran Jiann Chyi, GPS 3.504834, 101.099031), but queues can be up to 1 hour! We ended up with neighbour “Hai Kang” .

We enjoyed our seafood lunch although Google Reviews are less positive.

After lunch, there are some shops selling local goods (土产). Do buy the normal or coconut egg tart but skip the cendol.

 

Cycling offers a good experience to exercise off the seafood calories. Fresh air, green landscapes, but do avoid the huge quad-bike haha!

We struggled to sustain momentum for this bike over an hour and we got 6 pairs of legs!


Quad-bikes does looks cool for family portraits and Instagram haha.

 

There are minimum cars on the road but we must still exercise vigilance. Just stop anywhere and pose with the padi landscape.

 

More details can be found on Sekinchan website http://www.sekinchan.org

Do pop by our Facebook photos, Day 1 and Day 2.

This trip was taken in May 2016, we are two years late 🙂
More about our Container hotel at this link.

.. read our 2018 Sekinchan Padibox stay

ps.. We would like to highlight another Fun pace near to Sekinchan. Do Google for 天空之镜 Sky Mirror. I enjoyed my sand-bank and clams exploration with my boy, blog post below.

Sky Mirror in Malaysia is SUPER FUN

 

 

Hiking Broga Hill, Sunrise and Sunset with my boy

Hiking Broga Hill is on my wishlist (browse our Gunung hiking adventures here or Instagram #skbHiking), and to climb it with Boon Yee is a bonus. What Fun we had over 2D2N ! (photos link at end of this blog post).

Hiking Broga Hill
Hiking Broga Hill

The night before, I took no3 on a Father Son trip up North. Following tradition, one on one trip allowed me to bond and understand an individual “child” better, compared to a whole family outing.

The child cannot avoid me :p

(Read about Wei’s Taman Negara and Kang’s Koref Farm trip)

Our 爬山玩水 itinerary contains “Broga Hill, Blue Tears and Sky Mirror“, the last two items sound so Exotic! (Day 2 blog)

0530 – Hiking Broga Hill (GPS 2.939444, 101.903333). We took about 2 hours to scale the 400m Gunung, there are total of four summits.

I was panting, but Boon Yee kept dashing to the front haha. Broga Hill is only 400m but steep at certain sections. I would say the first “summit” is the toughest!

Caught the rays of Sunlight creeping over the ridges and illuminating the clouds. Amazing feeling to celebrate the Start of another day with my boy. Super proud of Yee’s adventurous spirit 🙂

The lalangs are taller than me, and we sometimes wonder whether we are on the right path. Take note the terrain is uneven and headlamp (not torchlight) is a must when hiking in the dark.

The last summit will have some HUGE boulders!

Nevertheless, Gunung Broga Hill is suitable for first timers and families, and you need not climb all the way to the 4th submit to enjoy Sunrise view 🙂

Celebrating another milestone with Yee.

 

Yee’s Bruce Lee” attire, Keep Calm and Climb On :p
He told me turn every corner also can see hills and town, Broga Hill does offer spectacular landscape views.

 

Quenched our thirst with coconut juice, the Auntie quite enterprising and business is good.

Refer to GPS above, there is a makeshift carpark (in the middle of palm oil plantation) and toilet at the trail head.

Quoting our Village Head Simon Chan: “We transit from Hikers to Tourists”. It roughly means time to EAT all the WAY!

Lunch at Garden Seafood (GPS 3.698333, 101.513333). Food is decent and we love the bun. This restaurant must be famous as I saw a photo of Malaysia PM’s wife.

We are all super hungry, so everything would be tasty :p

Finally, reach our chalet at Bagan Datoh (also known as Bagan Datuk). This area is a Chinese Fishing village, quaint old neighbourhood and coconut trees sway along the coastal road.

Relieved to stretch our legs, after the hike and long bus ride.

 

9 Island Agency (环岛)’s chalet GPS (3.976111, 100.707292). Their Facebook group highlighted below.

Family-run travel agency, the whole village chipped in to support the tourism industry. Our stay, meals and boat rides are all managed by them.

Simple accommodation with hot shower and aircon. Yes WIFI available!

 

10 minutes walk to the “restaurant” at the end of the walkway. As this is a fishing village, expect strong fishy smell 🙂

After a sumptuous steamboat dinner, we headed to the “jetty” to see a beautiful Sunset and take more wefies.

Tourists can do Karaoke at the dinner venue, spot a few fireflies (concentrated on one or two trees only), or simply enjoy the star-lit sky.

Ok, tram ride is also a hit with the kids 🙂

Image credit Adventures Village

 

We ended the evening with a boat tour to catch the Blue Tears (蓝眼泪). Magical experience to “sail” towards the Sunset and blue hour.

The usual island to spot blue Tears is Pulau Sembilan. But Perak Tourism has banned tourist from visiting the island, in the name of conservation.

Although we could only scoop out the blue tears (actual micro organisms, “bioluminescent phytoplankton”) from our boat, it was still a spectacular activity.

If we can go on the shore, and watch the waves turn blue, this is what you can expect! WOW!

Google Images for 蓝眼泪

From Broga Hill’s Sunrise to Bagan Datoh’s Sunset, I was Happy to spend a day of Fun with my boy. Together, we explored the rustic side of Malaysia.

Sunset at Bagan Datoh

That’s it for Day 1 of our Fun itinerary. Stay tune for Day 2’s highlight, LALA harvesting and 天空之镜 ! (Blog link here ). More tips listed:

*(Must See!) Do visit SengkangBabies Instagram Day 1 Video (link) and Adventure Village’s SUPER nice drone footage! (video link)

(Instagram Video Day 1)

-Broga is at Semenyih, Selangor, and no permit required for Hiking Broga hill

**Check out Broga hill and Bagan Datoh Day One and Two photos on our Facebook album. FUN is guaranteed!

-Our “2D2N Malaysia Unlimited” trip was booked with Meetup Group “Adventures Unlimited”, itinerary here . Join the Village (Facebook group) to link up with like-minded kakis

-Our Boat, chalet on Bagan Datoh is under 9 Islands Agency (9 Island Agency Sdn Bhd 环岛旅游有限公司)

-Why Pulau Sembilan is closed to visitor (The Star article)? We heard the islands will be transformed into a Marine Park

-Due to the sudden closure of Pulau Sembilan, travel agency is left with a lot of almost-new camping tents. All 50% sale, 2-men tent (or is it 4-men) only 80Rm

-Boat trip to Blue Tears is about 20 minutes, there are life jackets for kids

-Read our Hiking adventures on our blog (Gunungs, Panti, Belumut, and Instagram hashtag #skbHiking), not all are family friendly :p

-Check out some other bonding activities with my kids.
Boon Kang 3D2N (Farm at Koref), Taman Negara with Boon Wee, 2D2N Broga Hill and Sky Mirror with Boon Yee. 2019 Oct Taiwan cycling with Wei and Yee.

ps.. We would like to recommend Sekinchan 适耕庄 too, Malaysia’s rice bowl. From Google Map, it is only 1.5 hour south of Bagan Datoh 🙂

(Sekinchan Blog post)