Kampung Pendas re-visited

On 17th Oct 2014 (Fri), after our small windfall on 11th Oct 2014 (Sat) when my taxi hit the 2nd prize, Alan Taxi and myself decided to give our brethren at Blk 444 Pasir Ris Dr 6 a treat. Soon after that memorable evening, AT hit yet another time. This time, he won the 1st prize 4244 on 19th Oct 2014 (Sun). After that mini celebration, AT decided to place bets on 2444 since the two of us gave them a treat at Blk 444. He bought the 4 combinations and he hit the jackpot! Obviously, the stars in the firmament have aligned themselves and conspire to render AT his unstoppable winning streak. Yup, you heard it right, the God of Fortune is smiling at him. I used to receive such sms from friends. It seems so surreal.

财神老爷对你笑；
笑得胡子往上翘。
问你发财要不要？
享受富贵真奇妙；
钞票多多真有效；
看见什么都能要！
若问这天何时到？
读完信息就生效！

Our wise 444 member Datuk Lim had this to say, “真的过海过娇行好运!”

4244 cuz 2 of us gave a treat at Blk 444

Thus, AT sponsored a return trip to Kg Pendas in Johore on 22nd Oct 2014 (Wed). It is exactly one month since our last whirlwind trip to that place. I blog about it here. But I still can’t resist to blog again.

As usual, we left Pasir Ris for Kg Pendas on that day at about 0715 hrs after picking up Wilson. The same four of us except Red Bull joined us this time round replacing Encik who was then in the Land of the Rising Sun admiring Mount Fuji. He was lucky to be back yesterday cuz there was an accident involving Singaporeans in a tour bus there. Link

We arrived at our destination before 0830 hrs. The journey was a breeze compared to the last time. This time, we got our bearing right. Right after the Msian checkpoint, we turned into the 1st exit heading towards Tanjong Pelapas. Approximately 5km later, when we reached the traffic lights junction, we turned right all the way for another 15km approximately where Kg Pendas beckoned.

In fact, AT already called in advance to book with Machik some seafood and get ready for our arrival. On that day, Machik’s fisherman hubby supplied us more than 2kg of clayfish and more than 1kg big sea prawns. We bought another 2kg of flower crabs from the local fisherman there. It was Deepavali – also a public holiday in Msia. Machik’s lovely daughters were there to serve us. We brought along lots of chilli – bottled ones, fresh ones and my mum’s special home made chilli, bottles of lime juice, soft drinks and even soya sauce. I had my powerful JBL speakers – The Charge to create the perfect ambience for our seafood lunch there. Read the JBL review here.

I bought a longish flat 2.5kg fish – ikan Talang (Queen fish aka “Sam Po Kong”) from the local fishmonger at only S$11. Link It was cut to pieces with all the scales removed. Washed thoroughly and packed with lots of ice. I brought it back for my mum to cook. Since it’s already all prepared, just need to throw into the wok to deep fry it.

After it’s deep fried. Brought it for EM folks to try

We only had three items for the seafood lunch – clayfish, big sea prawns and flower crabs. All were alive and jumping fresh from the sea. We decided to eat them all steam befitting of the true connoisseur – not fried, no chilli or any another additives, definitely no formaldehyde where we pay dearly to the local fishmonger at the neighborhood wet market.

No wonder so many locals go all the way there. We met a middle aged couple living in Bedok. They brought with them three styrofoam boxes to store the tons of seafood they buy from the local fishermen. They come here regularly once a month to stock up their seafood for their own consumption. They have stopped buying from the local wet market.

Our host prepared a table for us at the stilted wooden platform just above the sea alongside the dense mangrove swamp. It was an idyllic environment with the majestic breath taking sea view lined with endless sampans. The loud oldies pumped out by the powerful JBL speaker embellished the ambience atmosphere without adding embellishments to the authentic live seafood!

The delicious fresh seafood steamed to taste in its original flavor, the rustic kampung set-up with the dancing waves undulating with the waving sampans beneath the dense mangrove swamp conjured up nostalgic images of a past era in our homeland bolstered by the powerful speaker playing evergreen oldies in the background all crescendoed our mood to the 9th heaven away from the hurly burly of mad city life. What a life!

Total damage for the seafood lunch including the cooking costs only RM188 (S$73.10)

Related article.

Wilson with Machik’s fisherman hubby

The chef with one of her grandchildren. She has 10 children with 21 grandchildren and still counting. Her hubby is 57 yrs old.