3 Reasons We Love Selangor

Selangor is a great state to explore, with many hidden gems. We don’t always get the luxury of long weekends in KL, so when we do, we waste no time calling fellow monkey and adventurer extraordinaire, A lil Fat Monkey, to come with us on a scavenger hunt.

Undeterred by the haze and horribly muggy weather, we headed out to Tanjung Sepat. Tanjung Sepat is a town in Kuala Langat and is a typical Malay fishing village. It is located geographically close to Banting, Morib and Sepang. People ask us if it is really worth the two hours drive from Petaling Jaya, to this little town that is touted as a seafood haven, just for breakfast. The answer is yes.  Because along the way, you will no doubt discover a gastronomic adventure or two in the form of famous steamed rice buns, well cooked meals, road side stalls selling keropok, salted fish or seafood snacks, that characteristic smell of the straits and village life as we Malaysians know it. Yes, onward to Tanjung Sepat for breakfast we go. On the way, we stopped by Morib beach because we wanted to check out the changes since our last visit. We remember Morib being under some refurbishments a while back. We wondered if the changes would be noticeable.

1. Morib Beach

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As you can see from the photos this place has been fabulously spruced up and looks great.

Morib was formerly a popular beach located in Selangor, Malaysia. Morib Beach (Pantai Morib) is a quiet seaside tourist attraction which is historically noted for being one of the first landing points on the west coast for the British and Indian Army liberation forces during World War II. Morib beach is only 15 minutes driving distance from Banting. It may not have a beautiful beach, but Morib is definitely a place where locals who live nearby, like to hangout at, during the weekends. For those who are into history, Morib is also home to a wealth of historical sites. There are the ruins of old government buildings and the royal graves at Jugra, including an abandoned palace from the 1800’s. Allied Forces also landed on this stretch of beach in September 1945, marking the end of the Japanese Army’s occupation of Malaya.

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Cylists

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Photographers

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A bird or two..

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Modern and clean.. we heart Morib!

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low tide

Tj Sepat Jo

Morib has a spanking new look. We love the fact that kids can play football on the brand new sandy football pitch now. Very nice indeed.

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trying to hear the ocean

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Staying cool, in the heat


2. Tanjung Sepat, Fisherman’s Village

We arrive at Tanjung Sepat at around 10:00 a.m. This is what we see.

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The family that rides together, stays together

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Do it yourself, salted fish (kiam hoo)

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check out the ray-bans

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After our pit stop at Morib, we carry on till we arrive at Tanjung Sepat. We park our car and start our hunt for breakfast. Cumi was the first to spot Hai Yew Heng, a local pau or bao (Chinese steamed bun) producer. This bao joint is supposedly very popular, drawing in visitors from all over including celebrities as far as Hong Kong. The writings on the wall claim that the buns are so popular that a quota is imposed to just two pau per customers! Business owner Mr. Lee Chin Teck who inherited the business from his father explains that they do so in order to meet the high demand and every walk-in customer would get a chance to savour their specialty, especially during weekends and festivals where up to 50 tour buses would make a stop at their factory.

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Our motley crew stumbled upon the workers in the kitchen, busy preparing a humongous load of bao, stuffing them with a variety of homemade fillings, to be sold throughout the day. Hai Yew Heng produces a Hainanese styled bao, which are round, flat (ish) and larger than the Cantonese type bao. Although the primary dough is mixed by modern machines, they are still manually kneaded and filled with red bean, kaya, peanut, pork meat with egg (sang-yoke) or pickled vegetables and pork (mui choy chee yoke). The pork comes from the nearby pig farms, while the kaya is made from local chicken eggs and coconuts harvested from the surrounding orchards.

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We found the steaming hot buns to be chewy and fluffy with a great texture.. hard to find anything like this in KL now. Notice the pink chop on the bao – hardly anybody does it by hand like that, these days, anymore. The mark helps distinguish a certain type of bao from another. Actually the baos were pretty delicious but our favourite was the Mui Choy bao – fabulous flavour yet not too salty. The Kaya bao that had a nice eggy taste and a hint of ginger aftertaste was also a hit. The Sang Yoke bao was just so-so. Too sweet for our liking. These fat, fluffy baos cost about RM1.10 to RM 2.20 each, which is possibly more expensive than what you’d find in the city. Expensive or not, we felt it was well worth the money and one can actually take away the unsteamed version of the bao. We tapau-ed (take away) around 10 of these for a snack at a later time.. that good, yes!

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Add:
Hai Yew Heng
No. 405, Jalan Pasar
42800 Tanjung Sepat
Kuala Langat, Selangor Darul Ehsan.
Tel: +6012-272 9009
Operating Hours: Mondays to Fridays 1.00pm – 6.00pm
Weekends and Public holidays 10.00am – 6:00pm

Tj Sepat

L – R: Mui Choy bao, Sang Yoke bao, Kaya Bao

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We then found a place for lunch. Check out the fishmonger’s unlikely location, right in front of the coffeeshop!

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Coffee time!

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Noodles for lunch.. and we are good to go.

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Exploring the town after lunch

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Siva-scissorhands!

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A clinic with a basketball court, that sounds like a lawyer’s firm.

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Ye Ole Rickety Lover’s Bridge

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Monkey business on the deck

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Sail away

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All knotted up


3. Banting Cendol

Before heading back to KL, there was one more place we needed to check out in Banting.

Banting is really small! This town is in the district of Kuala Langat. Banting has only approximately 50K residents and is situated on the banks of the Langat River. It is a rest town on the old Federal route, since it is also located close to the historical town of Jugra, the former royal town of Selangor. We find what we are looking for in the form of a Cendol Stall called Cendol Banting Kamarudin. The Indian-Muslim guy who owns the place is really cool. He moves with lightning speed, shaving the ice, the old fashion way, never missing a beat in the noon day heat. Close by, the people hover, like parched vultures, waiting for a stray morsel to satisfy their throbbing cravings.

Oh yes, in the land of the thirsty, Kamarudin is King! He scoops red bean and sago pearls into a bowl. He then places that bowl beneath a prehistoric shaving machine and starts to move the block of ice back and forth over a sharp blade fixed to that wooden contraption, very quickly, several times over. White, fluffy ice that looks like snow, starts to fall into the bowl below, until it resembles a mountain of ice. Kamarudin then pulls the bowl out and ladles in a generous scoop of coconut milk with green strands of pandan-flavoured mung bean. This is what the folks standing about gawking, are here for. With a finishing flourish, he drizzles some Gula Melaka (coconut palm sugar syrup) right at the peak of the ice mountain and serves the best cendol dessert in Banting!

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shave away!

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Apparently the locals find this is the best cendol in Banting and I totally agree!

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Waiting patiently for Cendol Banting

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The fabulous Cendol. The green cendol strands are soft and springy with an intoxicating pandan aroma. The red bean and sago jelly go perfectly with the sweet and salty coconut milk – adding salt to the coconut is a must. It gives the dessert some dimension, and extra kick. Here is the shocker. This delightful thirst quencher in a bowl cost only RM1.00 per bowl. What can I tell you? You’ve got to love Banting!

Add:
Cendol Banting Kamarudin
Taxi Terminal along Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad,
Kuala Langat, Selangor Darul Ehsan.
Tel: +6016-6527456

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