Spring Festival or Chinese New Year this year fell on 14th Feb, Valentine’s Day. In the round up to Chinese New Year, we were busy with baking as well as spring cleaning. After celebrating with the family and visiting our elders yesterday, we started on our another of our well-deserved Malaysia self-drive vacations today, the second day of Chinese New Year, at 0700 hrs. Of course, we had our wonderful secretary with us, our Garmin global positioning system (GPS).
Our first stop was the petrol station to top up petrol and off we went. Reaching Tuas checkpoint, we cleared both customs and immigration for Singapore and Malaysia and were on our way for our Chinese New Year vacation by 0745 hrs. This was great timing as there were no queues at all at the checkpoint.
Bright and blue sky to start the dayClear coast at the Malaysia end of the 2nd Link 
As we began our journey into Malaysia, we could see the sunrise.
Sunrise images 
We made a stop in Kulai for breakfast. We decided to try some local food stalls along the main road, a one-storey building with green rooftop. Not many shops were open at that hour. The stall we patronized had no signboard, yet was pretty crowded.
Stall with no signboardYet with a good crowd 
Trying to get their attention from our seat was a futile effort. We finally decided to go to the stall to place our order. They served breakfast food of the Malay variety such as lontong (Asian dish of compressed rice served with vegetable gravy), nasi ayam (chicken rice) and roti canai (Indian flatbread). We entered the stall as we saw others doing and ordered the roti canai directly from the person preparing the roti canai. To our surprise, we were handed our breakfast immediately and not asked for any payment. We just had to help ourselves to the vegetable curry they had and not the usual fish curry that we were used to. At the same time, we also helped ourselves to the sambal chilli that they had and which tasted good. The roti canai was not as crispy as the other stall that we had tried before.
Roti canaiLeaving Kulai at 0900 hrs, we headed back to the North-South Highway and followed the directions from our Garmin global positioning system to Cherating. Going via Senai-Yong Peng road, we travelled 82 km and passed through Yong Peng and Segamat.
Passing through Segamat 
and various plantationsWe turned off to Route 12 and travelled another 147 km. Next we traveled 3.7 km on Lebuhraya Mec before exiting at Lebuhraya Pantai Timur. After 50 km, take ramp to Route 3 for a total of approximately 13 km before we finally arrived at our resort accommodation, The Legend Cherating, just before 1400 hrs.
Legend Resort Cherating
Free parking is available for resort guests. Although the check-in time is stated as 1400 hrs, the rooms were not ready and we had to wait for our room till 1500 hrs. There was a container filled with orange juice from which you could help yourself.
We were assigned Rom 348 which was a distance away from the Lobby. Upon reaching our room we were delighted to see that we had a nice little balcony from which we could enjoy the ocean view. After settling down, we explored the resort surroundings and acquainted ourselves with the various activity locations.
Jacuzzi, Sauna & Gym 
We were assigned Rom 348 which was a distance away from the Lobby. Upon reaching our room we were delighted to see that we had a nice little balcony from which we could enjoy the ocean view. After settling down, we explored the resort surroundings and acquainted ourselves with the various activity locations.
Jacuzzi, Sauna & Gym Self service laundrette 
Game for a round of snooker?After snapping some photos in the Cherating Legend Resort, we drove to Kemaman town, approximately 18 km away. As usual, we followed the directions from our Garmin global positioning system and ended up at Tunas Manja, a local hypermarket, approximately 25 minutes away from The Legend Cherating.
Tunas Manja 
Tunas Manja As it was still the Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year decorations were still up and mandarin oranges were still on sale by the cartons. Even Chinese New Year hampers were still being displayed for sale.
Chinese New Year decorationsHappily we started on our shopping spree at Tunas Manja. We started at the clothes section, Hari Hari, and were fortunate to find some very reasonably priced clothes and managed to purchase some casual wear at great prices.
After shopping for clothes, we headed to Tunas Manja hypermarket section and managed to shop for more items. We even bought their Kemaman Coffee to try. According to the cashier with whom we struck a conversation, this was quite popular as many people purchase this as well. At the same time, we asked her for directions to the Kemaman night market, which opens only on Mondays and Thursdays.
After shopping for clothes, we headed to Tunas Manja hypermarket section and managed to shop for more items. We even bought their Kemaman Coffee to try. According to the cashier with whom we struck a conversation, this was quite popular as many people purchase this as well. At the same time, we asked her for directions to the Kemaman night market, which opens only on Mondays and Thursdays.
Less than 4 hours since we arrived in Cherating beach resort, we had already done most of our shopping. We love shopping in Malaysia as we can get some great prices for certain items.
According to the cashier, the night market is close to a police post. As such, we checked on our Garmin global positioning system to direct us to our destination. Upon reaching the turning to the police post, we decided to stop at the Medan Selera Geliga by the main road to have our dinner since it was already 1900 hrs and we did not have a proper lunch.
Stall no. 5 in Medan Selera GeligaWe tried one of the Malay stalls, stall no. 5, and ordered the Nasi Goreng Biasa (ordinary fried rice) and the Mihun Goreng Mamak (Indian style fried rice vermicelli). Specially requesting for extra chilli, the dishes came freshly cooked, smelled good and tasted delicious too. Accompanied with limejuice, our dinner cost us RM11 (USD3.25), a great bargain.
Limejuice - great thirst quencher 
Mihun Goreng Mamak
Mihun Goreng MamakNasi Goreng Biasa 
After dinner, we again asked for directions to the Kemaman night market and were redirected back to where we were earlier. We decided to look for the night market one more time and fortunately for us, we managed to locate the night market this time round.
Look out for the brightly coloured lights and you'll know you are on the right road to the Kemaman night marketThere were many food stalls selling various kinds of local Malaysian food. It was a pity that we already had our dinner. You could find Malay kuih (cakes) such as onde onde (green balls of Malaysian cake filled with palm sugar in the centre and rolled in grated coconut), kuih salat (2 layer cake with glutinous rice at the bottom and smooth green pandan coconut layer on top) and other foods such as apam balik (a type of pancake), kerupuk lekur (a kind of fish cracker indigenous to this region), satay (meat on skewers served with peanut gravy) and many others. Drinks and desserts such as chendol were widely available too. You can also get clothings, shoes and knick knacks there.
MurtabakSpring potatoes 
Variety of Malay kuih
Variety of Malay kuihKuih Salat 
Drinks stall
Drinks stallBBQ chicken 
We decided to buy back some chicken satay to try. 3 satay sticks cost RM1 (USD0.30) and is accompanied by the satay gravy. Upon arriving back at our resort accommodation for the night, we offloaded our shopping packages, went back to our room and consumed the satay. The meat was nicely marinated, though a little tough due to being slightly overcooked. The satay gravy was quite diluted. It would have been better if the satay gravy were thicker.
Our satay supper
Next we took a walk around the resort. Walking along the beach on its soft white sand, you could hear the sound of the waves as the tide came in. Getting closer to Man Café situated between the beach and the pool, we could get whiffs of barbecued food. True enough, the staff was busy barbecuing the food. It smelled good.
See the waves from the South China SeaMan Cafe, outside barbeque 
Walking through the lobby, we could hear music. Tracing the sound to its source, we saw the trio La Quinta performing at the Cherating Bay Lounge. If you do not wish to sit at the lounge, you can still enjoy the music in the lobby from 2100 hrs onwards.
La QuintaLocated in the lobby is the X’pose, a karaoke cum discotheque. You can groove the night away here and the DJ will oblige with songs at your requests during the Karaoke session from 2100 hrs – 0100 hrs.
X'pose 
The Legend Resort, Cherating
It was a lovely start to our Malaysia vacation in The Legend Cherating beach resort. Although we took approximately seven hours to drive to Cherating from Singapore, it was well worth the effort during this Spring Festival. We are so glad for our Garmin global positioning system, without which all our Malaysia self-drive vacations would be impossible.
The Legend Resort, CheratingIt was a lovely start to our Malaysia vacation in The Legend Cherating beach resort. Although we took approximately seven hours to drive to Cherating from Singapore, it was well worth the effort during this Spring Festival. We are so glad for our Garmin global positioning system, without which all our Malaysia self-drive vacations would be impossible.
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