Loving Every Facet of Tanjung Sepat

          The state of Selangor lured us back. This time, we ventured further south to Tanjung Sepat, close to the Negeri Sembilan border. Lying at the coast, Tanjung Sepat is primarily a fishing town.

       

Hock's House…home away from home

We located our pre-booked accommodation, Hock's House, without any difficulty. This three-storey guest house has a charming story. The previous owner, Mr. Lee Nam Hock, who has passed away, had this house built in 1982 to give his 5 children a large family home. It has now been transformed into a home stay with an artistic atmosphere. The rooms are modern, clean and comfortable.

        If you are looking for delicious, fresh and cheap seafood, look no further. Tanjung Sepat boasts of several seafood establishments that draw visitors from near and far.

Named after Tanjung Sepat's famous icon

We decided to have lunch with a view at the Lover Bridge Restaurant (pardon the grammatical mistake). The eatery is aptly named because of its proximity to and undisrupted view of Tanjung Sepat's most famous icon, the Lovers' Bridge (more about that later).

Crispy calamari and yummy prawns

Oyster omelette

        It was a sumptuous seafood feast of oyster omelette, deep fried calamari and butter fried prawns. As there was a huge lunch crowd, the food took some time to arrive. But the taste sure did make up for the wait. 


        The Lovers' Bridge is a half concrete, half wooden bridge that leads out to the Straits of Malacca. Sadly, part of the bridge has fallen prey to decay of time and have broken off. This happened in June 2013. Therefore, you cannot stroll all the way to the end. From a photographer's point of view, this adds to the allure of the bridge. A romantic explanation for the name of this bridge is to commemorate the practice of the fishermen's wives who used to bid farewell to their husbands before they went out to sea and would wait there eagerly in the evening for their return. 

Tread with care!

Sad destruction

Another view of the length of the Lovers' Bridge

         Besides the Lover's Bridge, another attraction in Tanjung Sepat is the Qingren Qiao local products shop, which is right across the road from the bridge, hence its name. The Hong Kong actor, Simon Yam, is one of the VIPs that have visited the shop. You can find an assortment of reasonably-priced things sold here like dried oysters, anchovies, noodles and snacks. I bought a packet of ramen made locally as well as some birds nest vermicelli, both of which are very good. It thrilled me to bits to find some murals there too --- the Tanjung Sepat version of Georgetown's wall art.

Siblings On Bicycle

Siblings On Swing

Little Boy Reaching Up

       

Pensive lass

        We also dropped by at the Ganofarm, which will delight any mushroom lover. However, we were not interested in the mushrooms today but were only keen to check out the premises, especially the wooden huts and walkway on the sea. It was very relaxing to just sit there, gazing dreamily out to the sea with the cool sea breeze gently caressing your face.

        Dinner that night was at Ocen (yes, that's the exact spelling) Seafood Restaurant,

Ocen Seafood Restaurant, right beside the bridge

 right at the start of the Lovers' Bridge. It was swarming with people so we assumed the food would be even better. But we were wrong as the kung poh sotong, taufu on sizzling plate and steamed la la were not impressive. And neither was the service.
               
         For breakfast, we were advised to try seafood bak kut teh as Tanjung Sepat is reputed to be one of the pioneers of this Chinese herbal soup with seafood. The two big giants of seafood bak kut teh here are YiKee and Ah Hock, located on the main market street. But both of us did not fancy such a hearty meal for breakfast so we opted for a simple yet tasty fare of noodles at an unassuming corner coffee shop called Restaurant 2525.

        Besides seafood bak kut teh, visitors throng to Tanjung Sepat in droves for the famous Hai Yew Heng Hainanese pau, established more than 40 years ago. Only available from noon onwards, these fluffy soft buns with a variety of fillings are handmade and steamed fresh at the factory/shop near the main market street. I am not a fan of pau and hardly ever touch one but the raves on the Internet stirred my curiosity. I bit into the succulent and piping hot mui choy pau (bun with preserved Chinese mustard vegetable filling) and immediately understood what the fuss was all about. Hai Yew Heng pau…a big thumbs up!

The modern shop amidst village shops and houses that churns out such scrumptious paus

        
        Tanjung Sepat also has a local coffee maker, with the  small factory right in the town center. Joo Fa Trading

The smell of aromatic coffee wafted out from the factory

welcomes visitors, who can view the entire coffee making process and purchase some coffee too. The wondrous aroma of coffee envelops you as soon as you step into the village house turned factory. The friendly owner is delighted to explain the whole process of churning the beans into the magic powder. 

       

Freshly fried fishballs

Yet another attraction drawing in visitors is the Yek Loong fishball factory. Visitors have the chance to view how the fish paste is made, shaped into desired sizes, fried right before your eyes and then purchase bags of the goodies. One bite into the little tasty balls of 100% fish meat, you'll be hooked. Hubby and I departed from the factory with four bags of 20 fishballs each, gleefully sinking our teeth into the juicy fishballs as we left Tanjung Sepat.

        This short visit to Tanjung Sepat has left indelible memories. We truly enjoyed our visit and vow to return.