Happy New Year Everyone! On the first day of 2019, we made our way to Pulau Ketam with friends and families. It is super easy to go to Pulau Ketam. Just key in Pulau Ketam Ferry or Alibaba Pulau Ketam Cruises on Waze. It is about 35 minutes drive away from my house.
Before we went to the jetty, we had breakfast at Chong Kok coffeeshop, an old-school coffeeshop which dates back to 1940s and is famous for its roti bakar, kaya bakar toast and a very long-queue nasi lemak stall right in front of the coffeeshop.
After breakfast, we made our way to the ferry. It is about 15 mins from Chong Kok Coffeeshop. We chose Alibaba Pulau Ketam ferry to cross to the Crab Island. The ferry leaves every hour starting from 7.30am. The last ferry to leave Pulau Ketam is at 6pm. Remember to buy return tickets as they are cheaper (RM18 per adult) when bought together. We chose to sit at the upper deck as it was cooling and breezy.
This is the Pulau Ketam fishing village. Most of the houses are painted in vibrant colours.
The huge K E T A M signboard greeted us once we stepped into the island. This photo is all the adults in our groups. There are 4 teenagers too.
As soon as we walked into the island, we were ‘welcomed’ by the honking of motorbikes and the ringing of bicycle bells. The bikes are the only mode of transportation on this island as the streets are very narrow. Tourists have to rent bicycles or electric motorbikes to go round the island. Walking would be quite exhausting because of the heat, unless you are there before 9am and cover the whole island by 12pm. We rented the bikes to go around.
It was a good exercise for all of us. A very fun day cycling around and stopping to take photos. That was until the heat becomes unbearable at around 1pm. We have to learn to balance ourselves while cycling on the narrow roads and make way for oncoming vehicles.
One of the many temples in Pulau Ketam. I believe the residents are Taoist judging from the many temples here.
These sculptures are at the last end of Pulau Ketam. We would love to stay longer to enjoy the view and take more photos but it was too hot.
One of the many colourful murals in the village. As you explore around this island, you will find quite a number of nice murals in Pulau Ketam but we couldn’t cover the whole place because of one thing – The Heat! It is hotter when you are at a place surrounded by the sea.
This is actually a place where the fishing boats come back to unload their catch. It is also next to an airbnb with an open kitchen. We took a rest here to have some cold drinks.
The rustic charm of Pulau Ketam is pretty unique. This village is very clean and I am glad that we did not see any rubbish like what was reported here. However, the toilet is still something that we cannot get used to. I am not going to post any photos of that here so if you want to know, you got to go find out for yourself *chuckle*. Overall, it was a fun and tiring day for us. A good experience for everyone.
