An Impromptu Trip to Kuala Pilah

As you know, Jonzz is a man of much boredom.

And boredom incites the desire for excitement and adventure...

And so on this boring Saturday evening, he and another equally bored kaki decided to venture to Kuala Pilah for some terrapin soup or ‘水鱼‘.

So after 4pm, I started the drive to Kuala Pilah.

For those who are interested, Kuala Pilah is a small town, about 30km from Seremban. The drive there involves passing through some narrow winding hill roads. One of the areas that you will pass through on the way there, is Ulu Bendol. There are many stalls on the roadside which sells various country products like local fruits, wild honey, petai, gula melaka, lemang and surprisingly, dragon fruit.

One new change I have noticed on the route to Kuala Pilah is the sprouting of various dragonfruit farms. They seem to have replaced various padi fields which still remain clear in my memory. I used to go to Bahau town during my childhood to visit my grandmother. Bahau is slightly further than Kuala Pilah.

Anyway, we reached Kuala Pilah. Much of what I have known has changed. There was much traffic and it felt kind of uncontrolled. We arrived at a busy hour about 5.30pm and there were many people buying food at the various food bazaars sprung up to accommodate the fasting folk's breaking of fast during this Ramadhan month.

Well, unfortunately for these two non-fasting folks, the terrapin soup stalls in the market were closed. It seems they open from morning til 5.00pm. In the end we settled for some Kuala Pilah cooking at some arbitrary Kuala Pilah restaurant.

So for your viewing pleasure, here's what we ate:

Fish slices with spring onions(bottom) and 'kung pow' chicken

Kangkung(water convolvulus) fried with belachan(Malay condiment)

After filling our bellies, it was nearly seven. Strangely, the traffic had all cleared. Most of the shops had already closed earlier. Doesn't look like there's much of a night life in this town. While taking pictures of the town, we were observed by an eccentrically dressed Malay man who seem quite tickled by our 'touristy' behaviour.

So at last, we bid adieu to Kuala Pilah. It had been a walk down memory lane for me today. I didn't know I was still had these nostalgic feelings. Guess I'm not yet detached beyond cure... yet.