4D2N Tour to Pulau Redang, Terengganu with Cheras Hokkien Association

A trip to Pulau Redang, Terengganu (登嘉楼热浪岛) cum a visit to Terengganu Hokkien Association (登嘉楼福建会馆) was organized by Selangor Cheras Hokkien Association (雪兰莪蕉赖区福建公会) for its committee members and spouses from Wednesday, August 9, 2017 till Saturday, August 12, 2017. (四天两夜热浪岛之旅暨登嘉楼福建会馆交流) 

A total of 30 people participated in this journey, led by Mr. Kenny Thong (唐金华) and assisted by the Association’s executive secretary Mr. SK Tan (陈绍金).  There were 13 senior citizens aged 60 and above (including me), with a good mixture of gender.  Among the participants were the Association’s newly-elected president (2017-2019) 钱锦发 (78 year-old), founder and long-time past president (1993-2017) 陈思添 (75 year-old) and his wife who is the younger sister of the president, and many other important office-bearers of the committee. 

Map of Pulau Redang

I was fortunate to be able to join the trip as the spouse to my wife Soh Ai who is a committee member. I am not a Hokkien and hence understand only a bit of the Hokkien dialect.  This is the 2^nd time I participated in Cheras Hokkien Association’s tours, the 1^st being a 2D1N visit to Hokkien Associations in Triang, Pahang and Bahau, Negeri Sembilan respectively just 4 months ago from April 15 to 16, 2017 (see my travelogue: https://taionn.blogspot.my/2017/04/cheras-hokkien-association-visiting.html).

The itinerary of our 4D2N trip

The tour fare was RM470 per pax.  It is understood that the Association subsidized RM4,000 for the rental of the tour bus (excluding RM200 for the driver).  The rate for 2N stay at Redang Holiday Beach Villa includes 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 tea-times and 2 dinners, ferry transfer from KT jetty to and fro Redang Island, 3 speed-boat trips for snorkeling (excluding RM30 per pax for the snorkeling equipments, i.e. goggles and life-jacket). 

Our 30-seater tour bus

At 8.00pm on Wednesday (09/08/2017), I drove with Soh Ai and my eldest son Wai Kit to pick up Mr. and Mrs. SK Tan (陈绍金 & 李秀美) in the nearby area.  We reached the gathering place at the basketball court of Batu 11 Cheras New Village at 8.30pm.  Wai Kit then drove home our car.   

Our luxurious tour bus was driven by 62-year-old En. Md Nor.  We departed from Batu 11 Cheras at 9.20pm.  The bus stopped at a few R&R stations (Kawasan Rehat) for toilet including Termeloh Timur and Paka.  

The route from Cheras to Pulau Redang

A stop for answering nature's all and a cup of coffee

At 3.35am, Thursday (10/08/2017) we made a stopover at Rantau Abang for half an hour and visited the pitch-dark beach hoping to find any egg-laying sea turtles but to no avail.

We arrived at Chinatown of Kuala Terengganu (登嘉楼唐人街) at 5.30am where we took our early breakfast at a coffee shop known as 茵茵面档.  A bowl of soup noodles with 3 pieces of yong tau fu costs RM5.00 and a cup of kopi-o RM1.40.

Terengganu Chinatown

Early breakfast at 5.30am

We left Chinatown at 6.35am and reached Jeti Pelancongan Shahbandar, Jalan Sultan Zainal Abidin  at 7.00am.  We boarded the air-con ferry of Sejahtera Ferry Services Sdn Bhd vide gate K5.  The ferry departed at 8.30am, taking 1 hour 15 minutes to reach Pulau Redang.  Along the voyage, I noticed the sea water really crystal clear and blue!

Unloading our luggage from the bus at KT Syahbandar Jetty

Ferry service counter

A pose in front of the ferry that took us to Pulau Redang

Crystal clear waters

The ferry took us to the Long Beach Jetty near Redang Beach Resort at 9.45am.  A beach buggy then fetched us together with our luggage in 2 trips to Redang Holiday Beach Villa.  

Arriving at the Pulau Redang Long Beach

Beach buggy ride to our hotel 

The Resort was where we landed but not where we stayed in

Since our rooms were not ready for check-in at that time of 10.05am, we loitered around the villa until 12.00pm noon when the buffet lunch was ready to be served.  The food comprised chicken, beef, vegetables, sausages, yellow beans and salad and the fruit was watermelon.  The taste of the food was so-so only.

Arrived at Redang Holiday Beach Villa where we stayed in

The cafetaria where we had our meals

My first buffet lunch at Redang Island

The itinerary displayed on the side wall of the reception counter is almost identical to our own itinerary

We checked into our respective rooms at 12.30pm, and I found my room (RH35) furnished with bare minimum, no TV, no kettle, no supply of shampoo, toothpaste and etc. There wasn’t even provision of towels which I found out later was available for collection at the reception counter after 4.00pm.   

The corner room for my wife and I

A glimpse of the room

Swimming pool

We went for our 1^st snorkeling (浮潜) at 2.30pm. A speed-boat took us to the sea somewhere near the island and stopped for one hour.  I had a good time snorkeling for the first time in my life and did manage to watch the beautiful small fishes swimming freely in the waters.  

Mr. SK Tan and I 

Waiting for the trip to snorkeling

Lee Siew Bee (pic left) and Soh Ai

As I was afraid that my smart-phone would get wet during the boat-ride, I didn’t bring it along but took a digital camera wrapped in a plastic bag instead.  Soh Ai took some photos of me snorkeling in the sea waters and those photos were the first of its kind in my life!

Precious photos of my snorkeling for the first time in my life

We returned to Holiday Beach Villa at about 4.00pm and tea-time was ready then.  Soh Ai and I decided to go back to our room to take a shower before taking the tea-time.  By the time we returned to the cafeteria, the only food goreng pisang (fried bananas) was all finished and only bubur cha cha soup was left for us!

At 4.45pm, I followed the energetic SK Tan, 陈思添 and two others to go jungle-trekking behind our villa.  We walked through trees and bushes, watched some squirrels hunting for food and water and admired at the sea view from atop.

Jungle trekking 

A pose with Cheras Hokkien Association founder and past president 陈思添

Squirrel looking for food

Queuing up for dinner food

My dinner

After dinner from 7.00pm to 8.30pm, Soh Ai and I followed SK Tan, his wife Lee Siew Bee and the Association’s treasurer陈振发to stroll along the beach.  There were more crowds on the beach in front of other beach resorts such as Redang Pelangi Resort.  A romantic “LOVE” framing was put up on the beach attracting many couples to take photos with it.   

There was nothing much to do at the villa at night except chit-chatting with friends and playing with hand-phones using mobile data (no wi-fi available).  I google-searched and found the sunrise time next morning to be 7.04am and planned to wake up early to watch.  I went to bed at 11.00pm.

Romantic frame on beach

On Friday (11/08/2017), I was awakened by my phone alarm at 6.30am.  Soh Ai was too tired and preferred to stay sleeping instead of going out to watch sunrise. 

As I walked out my room, I was a bit disappointed to find the sky already quite bright. Anyway, a brightly-lit moon was still visible in the sky and the sun hadn’t risen above the sea horizon.  At about 7.00am, the spectacular view of the sunrise was really eye-catching!

Early Friday morning before dawn

Moon was still visible just before 7.00am

Sun was about to rise at 7.04am

An appropriate Chinese poem to describe the beautiful scenery should be one composed by the 1st emperor of the Song Dynasty, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin (reign time 960-976):  “太阳初出光赫赫，千山万山如火发。一轮顷刻上天衢，逐退群星与残月。”(咏初日，宋 · 赵匡胤)

SK Tan and Lee Siew Bee

Beautiful sunrise overlooking South China Sea

Breakfast time

My breakfast

After breakfast from 7.10am till 8.00am, we went for snorkeling for the 2^nd time at 8.30am.  This time around it was a place called Marine Park Centre.  Admission fee is RM5 for adults and RM2 for children and senior citizens.  There was nothing special there except that snorkeling could be done next to the beach with sighting of fishes and coral reefs.  Over there we posed for the only group photo of all but 2 or 3 members.

Quite a number of snorkellers were stung by jelly-fishes near the bridge area but no major injury was reported.  There is a Marine Park Museum exhibiting replica of marine life. 

Waiting for 2nd day 2nd time snorkeling

Going for snorkeling 

Arriving at Marine Park Centre

Sk and Siew Bee geared up to go snorkeling

Our group photo on the beach of Marine Park Centre

The 31-year Chinese guide (hailed from Tmn Supreme, Cheras, KL) for our snorkeling trips earning only RM1,200 per month 

Marine Park Museum

Returning to Redang Island after snorkeling

We returned to our villa at about 10.45am and had our lunch at 12.00pm.  Soh Ai decided not to go out after lunch and took a nap.  The weather was very hot then, I too initially hesitated whether to go or not for snorkeling for the 3rd time in the afternoon. 

As there was nothing much to do, I changed my mind and decided to go for the 3^rd snorkeling (this time quite a number of our group members chose to drop out).  I didn’t carry my camera to take any photos.

I found my 3^rd snorkeling experience a bad one, although the fishes and coral reefs seemed abundant.  I somehow got drifted unknowingly by the undercurrent away from our boat, water went inside the goggles and caused me to swallow it a few times, briefly stepped on the corals on a few occasions.  I quickly swam back to the boat and waited there.

After snorkeling, we returned to our villa at 3.45pm.  I swam for a little while in the swimming pool, before going for the tea-time at 4.15pm.

The quiet Luna Bar attached to our villa

At 5.30pm, I followed SK and Siew Bee to walk along the beach to view the many activities of holiday-makers.  There was a “Help Save Sea Turtles” Campaign going on attracting a big crowd of bystanders.  We visited “More More Tea Inn” which was used as the main location for a successful Hong Kong movie “SUMMER HOLIDAY” (《夏日么么茶》) starring Sammi Cheng (郑秀文) and Ritchie Ren (任贤齐) and screened in all Asian countries in 1999. 

We also walked to Redang Reef Resort which is perched atop a rocky ledge amidst its serene greenery at one corner of the island.  

"Help Save Sea Turtles" campaign

More More Tea Inn 

《夏日么么茶》movie location

Redang Reef Resort

"Little Canyon"

Three of us returned to our villa at 7.10pm just in time for dinner.  After dinner, Soh Ai stayed back at the cafeteria with her friends while I returned to the room at about 9.00pm.  I was told the next day that many members consumed beers and chit-chat until midnight.  But I went to bed early at 11.00pm.

Dinner time

On Saturday (12/08/2017), I woke up at 5.15am.  We checked out of our room, left our luggage near the reception counter and had our last early breakfast at 6.00am.  We were fetched by beach buggy to the Long Beach Jetty at 6.45am.  From there a smaller ferry transferred us to a bigger one at 7.15am.  We departed from Pulau Redang at 7.22am and arrived at Shahbandar Jetty of Kuala Terengganu at 8.35am.

Luggage by the reception side

Early breakfast before departure

On the beach buggy

On the ferry returning to the mainland

KT Jetty

Our tour bus picked us up at 9.05am and took us to Chinatown at 9.10am.  We walked around Dataran Shahbandar, Jalan Kampung Cina and Pulau Warisan River Cruise area and noticed some interesting wall murals.  A few of us visited Pasar Besar Kedai Payang (a wet and dry market). I bought from a Chinatown local delicacies shop 3 packets of biscuits for RM20.00.  Some of us had refreshment in a coffee shop.

Our tour bus picking us up

Jalan Kampung Cina wall murals

A miniature house 

Pulau Warisan River Cruise

Market visit

Local delicacy shop

Coffee shop

The main program of the day was to pay a courtesy call to and have interaction with the Terengganu Hokkien Association at 11.00am.  The Association president and another committee member were so nice to come up to our bus to greet us before leading us to their premises at Jalan Sultan Ismail, KT.

Terengganu Hokkien Association committee members greeting us on the bus 

The premises of Terengganu Hokkien Association (THA)

View of KT town from the window of THA's premises

The interaction started at 11.30am with the welcoming address by the newly-elected (2 months ago) president of Terengganu Hokkien Association杜丕政at the meeting room on the 3rd floor. He was quite talkative and spoke for at least half an hour. As the speech was delivered in Hokkien, I could understand only a bit but nonetheless enjoyed the interesting part that I understood.  The most impressive point was that this association was a prime-mover for the formation of The Federation of Hokkien Associations Malaysia (马来西亚福建社团联合会，简称大马福联会).

Interaction of the two Hokkien Associations in progress

The next speaker was our tour leader Kenny Thong who spoke with great humor, arousing frequent laughter across the room, and introduced all those Cheras Hokkien Association committee members who were present.  He also emphasized the use of Hokkien as the medium of dialogue between Hokkien Associations as that would be most amicable. This forced the following speaker Cheras Hokkien Association president钱锦发to deliver his speech in Hokkien, which he said was the first time in his life as he used to speak in Mandarin in all social functions he attended.  Nonetheless, he did his part of the introduction of Cheras Hokkien Association very well.

Our tour leader Kenny Thong giving a light-hearted introduction 

The organization chart of the committee of Terengganu Hokkien Association

After that, we all proceeded to a bigger hall on the 4^th floor for a group photo session.  I was one of 3 photographers as SK Tan requested me to assist.  This was followed by the two presidents exchanging momentos and souvenirs before we adjourned for lunch at a nearby Restoran Uncle Ng at 12.50pm.  The sumptuous meal was hosted by Trengganu Hokkien Association.  They also gave each one of us a T-shirt showcasing the slogan of “Visit Beautiful Terrenggu 2017” as a gift!

A group photo of the two associations' committee members

Giving momento to the host

Reciprocal giving of momento

Exchange of souvenirs

Restaurant for lunch on the first floor

T-shirt gift from Terengganu Hokkien Association. Black for men, pink for women. 

We left KT at 1.30pm.  At 4.45pm, the bus stopped at Kawasan Rehat Perasing which was quite a new and spacious R&R Station where we took some refreshment. I bought packets of Kat-Kat roasted cuttlefish (RM11.50) and Cap Tiga Ikan keropok ikan segera (RM10.00).

At 6.00pm we stopped at Sri Jaya, Maran for dinner at Restoran Sin Tong Kok.  Former president陈思添had ordered beforehand quite a large quantity of pau or steamed buns, said to be reputed at this restaurant.  He gave some pau to many of us who didn’t purchase.  The dinner costing RM220 per table was supposed to be on our own expense but subsequently the association decided to bear the cost and treated us!

Restaurant at Sri Jaya, Maran

R&R Station stop before returning to Batu 11 Cheras

We stopped again at R&R Karak for toilet at 8.50pm and finally returned to Batu 11 Cheras at 10.30pm.  Wai Kit came to fetch us and we sent Mr. & Mrs. SK Tan home first before returning to ours at 11.00pm.  For the record, I spent a total of RM1,066 for Soh Ai and myself for this trip.

In conclusion, the trip to Pulau Redang and visit to Terengganu Hokkien Association was very enjoyable.  The cooperative and joyful spirit of Cheras Hokkien Association committee members is most remarkable and praiseworthy!

Below are selected photos shared by members of the tour group in the WhatsApp Chat Group to show how vigorous and youthful they are!

Cheras Hokkien Association president 钱锦发 (pic left) with committee members

What a super-heroine look!

陈思添 and his wife

The lady on the right is a 70-year old granny.  Can you not admire at her vigor? 

"Micheal Jackson" of the Cheras Hokkien Association?

老当益壮！

Tour leader Kenny Thong (pic left) and the president