This place was made popular via an Islamic-theme Malay soap drama ‘Nur Kasih”, aired on TV3 back in 2009 (watch here: nurkasihtv3.blogspot.com). Kg. Sg. Hj. Dorani is where Adam (hero), Aidil (Adam's big bro), Nur (heroin) and Sarah (Nur’s little sister) spent their childhood. They meet again at this beautiful village as grown ups. The scenery was so mesmerizing, portraying closely the mood of every scenes of the drama. Romantic, sad, happy, well basically the venue really compliments the whole drama! My bff suggested spending a night at Dorani Bayu Resort (http://doranibayuresort.blogspot.com) which is a floating chalet facing the sea.
Well, not the open sea but more to the estuary actually. She had booked a room with the best view (so they say) which was only available after waiting a few months for it. Mind you, it’s not cheap. 1 night stay (meals excluded, only coffee & soaps) cost us RM160. But of course, I still agreed to it. We often goes to the beach or big cities for a getaway, so a trip of ‘balik kampung’ would definitely be a change and exciting. Hey, come to think of it, I hardly say no to any of my friend’s suggestion. See how kind I am! :0
So, we began our journey on Saturday morning. My bff drove her car and another friend joined us from KL at the resort. Approaching Hutan Melintang, we were greeted by a beautiful scenery of the green paddy field, bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds. How delightful!
It was a smooth drive (I wasn't the one driving though), however the signboard to Dorani Bayu Resort was not very clear especially for a first timer like us. We had to make a few U-turned here and there but we managed to reach the place safe and sound. It was a hot day, with blazing sun above us. Luckily the strong sea breeze cooled us off. There are 3 types of rooms available here; 1. floating chalet 2. dorm type 3.apartment type. This 'port' is a meeting place for anglers. Usually the men will leave their wife and kids at the resort before going for their fishing trip during night time. Here, they also offers paintball, archery, motivation camp, street soccer, and others. But we didn't try any of it as our main purpose was to enjoy the Kg. Sg. Dorani itself.
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| Floating Chalet |
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| To our room |
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| Outside Lobby |
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| Lobby |
Our room was the furthest of all the floating chalet terrace. We were so tired but had to drag our stuff (read: self!) to our room. But the view was superb! The room was comfortable and clean too. We even have our own small balcony facing the sea and the mangroves. Oh! Yes. There's also mangrove (not mango, okehh..) trees on the right side of our chalet. It was indeed the room with the best view.
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| Our Sanctuary |
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| Ajie at the balcony |
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| Mangrove trees |
What we did here:
1. Window shopping at Sg. Besar town – well known for their wide variety of tudung, kain ela, baju kurung, etc. They sell very cheap if you buy in bulk. Me only bought a pair of black Arabian jubah.
2. Hunting for traditional crackers and Natta de Coco jelly – The small and traditional industries are very active here in Sg. Besar. There are many shops selling traditional goodies operated from their own house. I bought 3 container of Natta de Coco jelly with different flavours for RM10. Ajie and Kiera bought a few types of crackers too.
3. Cross country at Kg. Sg. Hj. Dorani – This village really wowed us! We were so captivated by the scenery. Green paddy field as wide as the ocean, nostalgic kampong houses on the sides of the road, local fruit trees here and there. Sudden thought of the drama scene where Adam told Nur that he had fallen in love with her, under the big tree near the paddy field. It was so romantic! Hihihi..What else can we do here except cam-whoring! Yippie! BTW, you can also experience the kampong life yourself by joining the Home stay programs here. Tourist shouldn’t miss it.
4. Window shopping (again) at the night market in Sg. Besar town. My friend Ajie, bought a weird looking hair band for me. ;)
5. Dinner at Nelayan Restaurant, Dorani Bayu Resort - The food was tasty but there weren’t any special menu we could choose. Just the usual Seafood Tom Yam, Grilled Fish & Prawn with tamarind dip and Fried Squid.
6. Bed time stories – We spent our time with girl talks and exchanging pictures from our cameras. You could actually hear the sea waves while lying on the bed. Oww..the sea breeze was soo refreshing!
7. Sun rise & Cam-whore – Woke up a bit late, but managed to catch a glimpse of the sun rise from our balcony after our Subuh prayer. Nice. Forgot to snap the picture though. We then took a walk along the shores and mangrove trees. Cam-whore time! I did read somewhere that you can search for cockles or clamps during low tide. Unfortunately it was high tide so we couldn’t get our hands dirty. By this time I could see a few men already started pulling their fishing thread.
Since this resort is quite far from food stalls or restaurant, we only had Maggie noodles and 3 in 1 coffee for breakfast. We checked-out before noon and drove to Bagan Noh Omar (BNO) to try the prawn noodles for our lunch. It was just so-so. Not to die for. But then again, the view was nice. We also had cold coconut jelly for desert, which was HEAVEN on a hot sunny day!
8. The star of the day: MENTARANG!! (a type of clam). We managed to find this creature sold just by the roadside. I never tasted it before, so I bought 1kg of it for RM20. Kiera bought 2kg (or was it 3kg??) because her mom loves it so much. (Verdict: I didn't like the taste. It got mushy once you cooked them.
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| Packing mentarang for us |
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| This is the 'mentarang' |
Overall, we really enjoyed the getaway. It was simple, light and easy. Try it yourself, peeps!
Till next time,
XOXO.
