The beach

Went to Desaru on Tuesday.

Many people asked me what does Kota Tinggi have. I always answered "Desaru and waterfall". But, I've never been to Desaru for about 20 years already. I only know that people don't go to this beach anymore coz I heard that it had become dirty with rubbish everywhere.

Suddenly I had this feeling to find some tourist spot in Kota Tinggi to just walk around.

So, Desaru I went.

There are 3-4 different resorts or chalets. We went to this oldest one, the one I came 20 years ago -- Desaru Holiday Chalet.

On the way we saw:

You can see Oil Palm estate almost everywhere in Kota Tinggi.

Poor cows going to get butchered later.

The famous Sekolah Sukan (Sports School) in Bandar Penawar. Can't take the full view of the school. Too many trees block the view.

Cyclists along the road

And me camwhoring =P

Here you go! The beach!

And the beach is CLEAN! Only some (very few) traces of rubbish at the night tide mark.

But I wonder are all ocean waves bubbly like detergent water? Why Desaru ones are bubbly? And although the beach is pretty clean, the ocean water is murky.

At least some living things. I guess the water should be quite clean then. Or the plants are strong?

Abandoned slippers

Dead sotong (squid). I never seen such big squid before. Dunno why when there's this dead sotong, the ocean water was yellowish with bubbles as if it was toxic. Scary. I din dare to step on that part of water.

Another dead thing. I have no idea what it is. A sea urchin?

Pirate of the Caribbean returns! lol.. Lame..

Away from the beach:

It says "Beware!!! Attention to all visitors. Beach is closed due to monsoon season. Not safe for swimming. Swimming is at your own risks." It's March now, east coast is normally safe to swim during this period of time. I think the next picture explains it all.

The board says "Awas! Pantai ditutup. Tidak selamat untuk berenang." (Danger! Beach closed. Not safe for swimming). Actually the ocean should be safe enough. The tides were small.

I guess they put the board because there's not enough staffs there to keep an eye on swimmers. And not many visitors go there. So, it's quite dangerous to swim alone there coz no one can save you if you're in trouble.

Abandoned chalets. There are new ones behind these chalets.

Old bridge. See the gaps where the planks should have been.

Can see that there's no one else at the beach right? I told you no one wants to go there anymore. It's deserted, except the very few staffs who only sleep and some chefs in the restaurant who prepared some dishes. I wonder people go to their restaurant for food.

That afternoon, we felt like we had the beach all to ourselves. No need to squeeze ourselves with the crowd to share this beach. When we walked back to our car, we saw 2 Chinese guys walking towards the beach. Hmm.. There's still some who discover the beauty of Desaru.

Guess what time of the day I went to the beach? 11am!! We walked along the beach until 1 something in the afternoon. And the worse thing was that I forgot to apply sunblock! OMG! That's how I got my sunburn on my shoulders. Damn painful la my shoulder. Sob sob...

***************************

I made a prune cake after Desaru. Maybe I should call it Whisky cake. lol..

I soaked the prunes in too much Whisky that the cake tasted more like Whisky than prunes.

But, the cake became really watery. Bad texture. I tried to bake it many many times until the surface of the cake become charcoaled and some parts become crusty. (First trial: Bake 30 minutes. Second: 15 minutes. Third: 20 minutes. Fourth: 20 minutes. Total: 1 hour and 15 minutes). Yet, the centre of the cake was still lembik!! The soft texture at the centre was like thawed peanut butter. Eww!

After flipping over to a plate, the cake splitted into half because the centre was jelly-like. Urgh...

Mum helped me try cutting out the cake

Can't see properly?

See the zoom in:

This is a lump of shit, I admit. But a very tasty one. lol. Although it's all jellied up, the taste was superb!

I dun like alcohol coz it's bitter. But this piece of shit has the Whisky aroma in your mouth yet it is not bitter. But instead it was slightly sweet. The problem is only the texture - Too jelly-like. Next time (when I come back hometown) I'll give it another try with less Whisky. lol.

p/s: Know why I soak the prunes in too much Whisky? Coz the prunes absorbed all the Whisky. So I thought I should add Whisky until it stop absorbing. Bad choice. lol.