Wednesday, December 19, 2007

The Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan - Menara Condong Teluk Intan

The tale of two crazy husband-and-wife at the leaning tower of Teluk Intan. Nope, it wasn't the camera that made this tower looks 'senget' (slanting)

Finally, after reviewing so many oh-so-romantic holiday options, we settled for a day excursion to Teluk Intan, Perak instead. Why Teluk Intan, you ask? Well, blame it on watching LOTR 'The Tale of Two Towers' for arousing our interest in the leaning tower of Teluk Intan, also known as 'Menara Condong'. Hehe.

Let me tell you - Teluk Intan is worth a trip there :) So, let's go Cuti-cuti Malaysia to Teluk Intan!

Welcome to Teluk Intan, Perak. The town of fruits.

In a true fashion of ours (fashionably late, as usual), we set out of the house only to turn back because we forgot our camera. But after filling up the petrol, we were speeding non-stop to Teluk Intan via Kuala Selangor route. For those who are unfamiliar, you can check out Suami Terchenta's blog to look at the route.

It took only 2 hours to reach Hutan Melintang where we were supposed to meet up with Fysal at Petronas station. Fysal came and took over behind the wheel. Since it was noon already, we went to have lunch at a mamak restaurant before setting out on our Teluk Intan adventure :)

After Zohor prayers at a charming mosque in the town centre, we were off to firstly, check out the king prawns (udang galah) at the jetty. Unfortunately, the price was a killer or we would cart off 1 kg of the prawns to barbecue later. The finest grade of fresh udang galah costs RM48 / kg. Mukah is still the best and cheapest place to buy udang galah :)

Oh my yummylicious, udang galah tastes heavenly when barbecued, or fried in my mother's secret udang galah recipe!

It was the only time I felt disappointed that I was not pregnant - otherwise, I would beg and cajol Suami Terchenta to buy the udang galah because 'baby wants it'. Hehe.

Next, we were off to Menara Condong, which is just 5 minutes away (In a small, quaint town like Teluk Intan, anywhere is just 5 minutes away) from the jetty.

CLK, enter-frame. Look at the borderline of this photo, the angle shows that this is truly a leaning tower

My review, the tower is a charming architecture of wonder. It's actually a clock tower, and when we arrived, the clock chimed merrily to tell us that it was already 1.45pm. Originally, the 122-years-old-tower was built as a water reserve tank by a Chinese architect (thus, the Chinese architecture look). It has 110 steps, and 3 storeys.

Inside the tower, at the top storey

The Wishing Well. Some superstitious visitors throw one-cent coins in the well and make a wish. If I was them, I wish that all the coins in the well become mine. Muahaha!

Me, at the foot of Menara Condong

Next, we were off durian-hunting. We had Fysal to thank for his help as our local tour guide. He knows where to find durians in the remote kampung areas. After driving for half an hour, we stopped by the road side to buy durians:

The fleshy, creamy durian for RM8 per durian... Not bad.

3 huge durians later, we were feeling the heat and decided to stop by at another stall selling ABC (Iced Concoctions). The friendly and generous stall owners upon finding out that we are out-of-towners, welcomed us with another huge durian, on the house! Oh, our 'durian runtuh' day! :)

Makan, bang. Jangan tak makan...

Stomachs bloated from eating too many durians, we finally called it a day and sent Fysal to his house.

On the way back, we captured this replica of the Menara Condong, for fun:

They even made it 'condong' (leaning), bless them!

Tips for travellers:

Travel time: Approximately 2 hours from KL (using Kuala Selangor route)

Budget: Only for fuel (RM15 one-way, if using Kancil) and of course, durians (depends on the season).

Accommodation: Not necessary, since it's only a short distance away from KL. There are though, a few homestays along the way.

Local attractions: Oh goodness, just read the posting above! Or, you can check out Wikipedia.

Might want to check out: If you are using Kuala Selangor route, you will pass by Bukit Belimbing (or specifically, Firefly Park Resort) famed for the sight of millions of fireflies flashing in synchrony, often referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. A must visit place of interest in Malaysia and our next destination! :)