two nights in patthalung

The original plan was to spend one night in Narathiwat, one in Patthalung and two nights at Pak Bara. The route would be KL-Buketa-Narathiwat-Patthalung-Pak Bara-Wang Klian-KL.  But, somehow or rather, this time around the designated organizers (most times its Rik & Idrus) made changes.

Day01: 1Feb2024, Thursday (Hari Wilayah - Public Holiday in KL)

440km from BhP Tol Gombak to The Tanyong Hotel, Naratthiwat.

More often than not, ✌I was the last to arrive at our meeting point, BhP after Gombak Toll. The agreed time was 8:00am, but I got there about ten minutes later. Still good timing for us to meet up with Ahjai in Raub (Kampung Jeruas) whom started from Kuantan.  

Five riders started from KL - Rik, Idrus, Bung Sharif & Suhaimi.  The agreed RV time with Ahjai was around 9.30 - and we got there well before the time.  But Ahjai was already there since around 9:00am!

The roadside stall along the main road where we had breakfast

The main attraction - nasi lemak with ikan tongkol.

 

Day01 - about 440km ride from BhP Gombak to destination

Finishing breakfast at around 10:00am, we headed to our next pitstop in Gua Musang at around noon - filling up the immigration form as well as fueling up our bikes.

About an hour later, we were already at the  Malaysia/Thai border in Bukit Bunga/Buketa. The crossing was smooth as silk for us, except for a small hiccup with Rik whom rode his newly bought GSA1250 (secondhand from his friend, of which Rik was denying buying and kept telling us it was only a loaner 😁) whose ownership transfer has yet being done. So, point to note for those crossing Thai border in Kelantan (Buketa, Rantau Panjang or Pengkalan Kubor); all vehicles need the original geran (registration card) and if its a loaner, you will need a consent letter duly certified either at a police station or by a notary/JP and such.  

At the Thai immigration - photo by Suhaimi. 

While Rik had the original geran and owner's consent letter, it wasn't enough.  Luckily (or not), this happen quite often at this border.  The Thai immigration staff  was able to direct us to obtain the verification/certification/sign-off on the consent letter at a specific location/place on the Malaysia side, just before the immigration complex. I believe it was a RM5 affair to get the letter certified by a notary.

And while Rik was getting that sorted out, the rest of us stopped at the roadside warung/stall for lunch. It was already past 2:00pm (Malaysia time when we finally lunched).  And, Rik joined us abaout half an hour later after finally got his bike's documentation sorted at the immigration.

After lunch, it was another hour and half or so for the final leg of our ride to reach our destination, The Tanyong Hotel in Narathiwat.

about 80km will take 1.5hours with Thai's road condition...

Entering Narathiwat... (8km away from the hotel)

In Narathiwat Town.. 3km before reaching hotel.

Day02: 2Feb2024, Friday

Narathiwat Central Mosque

It was a beautiful day! We checked out at around 7:00am and 400m from the hotel we found a makan place that served roti canai.  Grand!  Could not recall now the name of this restaurant, but its easily noticeable.

the seating layout are quite comfortable

We spent about half an hour at breakfast, then it tayar golek time.  Our route today would be towards Patthalung, with a solat Jumaat stopover in the plan. 

Though the google route indicated a two hour ride before we made our first pit stop at Café Amazon ปตท.ตุยง Tuyong, Nong Chik District, Pattani, it took us nearly three hours to cover the 96km - mostly contributed by the heavy traffic as we got into the Tuyong town.

Cafe Amazon break after fueling up at the PTT 

The masjid (Darul Aman Mosque Krong Itam  that we set for Friday Prayer was about 40km north of this Cafe with about 40 minutes of travel.

Prayer time was at 12:30nn or so, but we did arrive earlier as when we left the Cafe Amazon, it was around 11:00am. That gave us some time for another good leg stretch and a breather from the very hot day that second day of ride.

Not like most masjid in KL, the masjid here are not as full... Idrus and Bung...

Lunch was set to be at Haji Seafood which was about 4km South of the masjid.  Yes, its a double back trip but was well worth it!

The riders are:-

Sabri X-Adv / Rik GSA / Ahjai 1300GT

Idrus GSA / Suhaimi GSA / Bung Sharif Caponord 1200. 

Lean on...

"Jisab, kali ni karang citer panjang2 sikit." Zack blurted out soon after we placed our order at Restoran Mastan Ghani Teluk Intan.

At my age, writing which by the way I have never been good at is even harder compared to when I had more energy back in the day. 

It has been exactly one week since we went on this outing (on Saturday, 11th May 2024). Tried as I might, but words doesn't flow as easy as it used to be.  Too many things on my mind? perhaps.  That also I am not really sure.

Anyway, the "Four Brothers" have not ridden together in full participation for a few years now.  While Zack, Mzac and I have been making our same-o same-o brunch rides (not as often as we would like to), Waq has been in a hiatus for quite a while.  I could not recall how long ago Waq rode with us, but it is definitely has been more than two years.  For one, he was assigned on out-of-town works and also he was going through and managing some personal matters last year.

Waq really enjoyed the mentarang!

Well, the four of us is together again today.  Plus we welcome another old timer whom is also a part of our bigger biking fraternity,  SBM (SuperBikers Malaysia forum). Bung Sharif gracefully for the first time join our short ride activity today - and hopefully will for many more.

Bung Sharif - a living legend in the superbiking community 👍

Then there are the three of us - Zack, Mzac and yours truly...

 

Five blokes,  in our prime stage of life although two have few more years to go before they get entitled to 50% discounts on bus fares and such 😁, met up at Petron RnR Sungai Buloh Northbound as set, around 8:00am.  Our journey today will be Mee Rebus in Teluk Intan and Mentarang in Sekinchan on our return leg.

 The hiway was not as busy as we expected. And the ride was smooth all the way. Zack, Waq and Mzac was at most times far upfront beyond Bung's and my sight. Now and then we would catch up to them but they would sped off again in a split seconds.

When we arrived Teluk Intan, the small town was starting to swell with cars and whatnot. 

The weather was on the hot side that day, thus the first thing we ordered would naturally be cold drinks!

We originally wanted to go to Din Mee Rebus which is a few shops away from this Mastan Ghani restaurant; but it was not yet open (at 11:00am 😏.) 

Anyways, this place's mee rebus is okay as well.

We spent about an hour reminiscing about the good old days when were a bit younger and a bit more reckless 😅. A lot of exciting memories shared when track days were hip and mishaps at times do happen. Those were days when almost everyone were on sportsbike and topics of every ride-stops would be on how much lean they did at corners and road bends - or simply kona tegak 😅 , tyre's sidewall wear, overshot (or not, which is more preferable) as well as comparing bike aftermarket accessories and attires from helmets to suits & jackets and gloves & boots etc. Those were the days when most bikers care for safety.  Nowadays, we see many kids tend to ride without any proper protections!  

Well, when you reached a certain age in your biking life, the memories are sweeter - even the mishaps of overshot, spills and whatnots.  I guess, we will never get tired of reminiscing about the good ole' days.  Though we would not spend half a day talking about it ! So, at about noon, it was time for us to head out.

This was my first visit (ever) to Teluk Intan. Thus, a quick photo memory at the famous landing clock tower of Teluk Intan is probably a must 😁

.. and Mzac also did a similar memory although he has been here so many times before 😁

Probably that's how Mzac got separated from the rest of us as we headed out from Teluk Intan town. Instead of going straight at the Teluk Intan-Bidor junction, Mzac took the left turn heading towards Bidor. Anyway, we re-grouped again just about 20 minutes later nearby Grand Court Hotel. Note:  Mzac was somewhere near Lotus Teluk Intan when he decided to call us to find out where we were at.

 

Good thing there was a covered bus stop where we waited for Mzac.

Pak Din Mentarang has moved back to his original place (his home) from the restaurant (rented) that we last visited (quite a while back).  It was a bit confusing for Zack (and us) when we could not find his restaurant as we rode slowly along the Sunagi Besar-Kuala Selangor road.

Previously, Pak Din had a wooden shed between his house and the roadside stall that was the warung. Now, the porch serves as a makeshift serving area.

 

This is only temporary as Pak Din plan to built extensions like before between the house and roadside stall. At its current state, can probably accommodate less than 10 patrons at a time

Pak Din immediate neighbor.  If you are going to Pak Din's, please do not park in their compound... 😅

One thing that is still the same and did not change - the Mentarang Soup and Mentarang Bakar.  Still taste as good if not better.  And the size of that bugger, still XXL !!!  Price?  you pay for quality (for record, a bit lower than before since he's now not renting - at RM35 per halfkilo cooked.)

XXL

yum yum yummy - so delicious that Mzac & Bung "tapau"

Sampai terjelir lidah Waq  tak sabar nak meratah 😁

As we rode out of Pak Din's place, Zack was leading. And somewhere in Sekinchan town, Bung's side pannier's cover (where he put the "tapau" Mentarang soup) opened - probably not properly latched/locked.  Luckily the "tapau" did not fall out. As three of us stopped for Bung to secure the pannier, Zack was out of sight at the front.  We tried to catch him, but did not see anywhere.  As it turned out, he had stopped for solat in that town area. And we, thinking he was way upfront just continued riding.  The next stop we re-grouped again was at the Bukit Raja toll plaza. 

It started to drizzle as we hit WCE again.  Mzac took the LATAR hiway from there on, while Bung Sharif, Waq and I continued on E32, the recently opened WCE stretch from Assam Jawa to Bukit Raja Kelang - about 30km from toll to toll.  The rain became very heavy soon after.  When we stopped at Bukit Raja toll plaza, we were completely drenched!  This was when Waq got a call from Zack informing us that he was still behind. 

all wet in the surau...

It was already after 4:00pm when we stopped at the plaza.  There were still enough time for us to do our solat.  And when we finished, Zack arrived, soaking wet as well 😁.  The rain was not very kind to us that day. It continued to rain as we head out from the plaza to end the day's ride wet, but feeling awesome!

still raining when we headed out from the plaza...

Moa, Waq, Zack & Bung - all smiles 😄

Thanks guys for yet another memorable ride....

Riders:

Mzac on his Suzuki GSXR1000

Zack on his KTM SuperDuke1290

Waq on his Yamaha MT09

Bung Sharif on his Aprilia Caponord1200

Me on my Yamaha R1 tukun.