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Venue for socializing Temerloh In the central Pahang region, more passer-by are familiar with the town of Mentakab. This was because the trans-peninsula trunk road passed through the heart of this mid-way township. The lonely 'East Coast" road and extended driving time compelled most drivers and passengers to take a short break. Today, the new highway alters many habits including by-passing Mentakab. What has this fact got to do with Temerloh? Temerloh is the main town and much larger than Mentakab ! The town is neatly tuck away in a piece of land at a corner of the confluence of the Semantan and main Pahang Rivers. The Highway 2 conveniently scrap pass the fringe of town. Going into the town center would mean a detour. |
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Temerloh
is a fair size township by Malaysian standard. There are 4 main streets
arranged in a square, to form the commercial hub.
A view of the shop houses in traditional styling. Tall windows are consistently painted pink! |
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Away from this town square, the rest of the town's infrastructures radiate outwards. A pattern like, one route for the hotels by the river side, commercial banks on another links, then to the "old" township. |
| The "old" town
was a surprising and good find for us..
Looking at its geographical location, the "new village" must have been the settlement where Temerloh started. |
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The main street to this "old town" is long street is perching on a ridge of a low hill. This view of the street, reminds one of "high noon". Like all new villages, it is a settlement of wooden houses neatly arranged in a square. There is no night life in Temerloh! If you are yearning for that "karaoke" session, dropping by the local drinking hole or for a show- it is in Mentakab! The Resthouse Moving away from the commercial hub, traditional shop houses gave way to tall buildings. Such structures are normally associated with banks. Here, they dominates the scene of a road leading up to another low hill besides the Semantan River. |
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On this prime site on top of the hill, with a commanding view of the town and the river bank, the Resthouse seats. |
The road to the Resthouse goes uphill passing by the town's public car park
| This Resthouse
complex is made up of a couple of new detached buildings.
The view of the reception area with living quarters on the left and cafeteria on the right.. |
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The frontage is a lavish and paved car park. The Resthouse in Temerloh had earned its status through a good seafood restaurant. Makes the place, the center of social life in Temerloh. For example, the local chapter of the Rotary Club uses it as a venue for their meetings. |
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the other side of these buildings is another equally large
lawn.
It is well shaded. Although it is located on high ground, other buildings in the neighborhood have obstructed most view . |
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We have heard of the famous steam fish of Temerloh and yet to locate the shop that prepares this delicacy.
Well, forget about the rumors of the "shack" besides the river.
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According to the
cook at this restaurant, they served the best steamed "patin" or river
catfish.
This species found in the upper reaches of the Pahang River is successfully bred in cages on the river. |
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The niche of this restaurant comes from selection of catfishes caught in the wild. They taste better and retain the original flavor as compared to their farm bred cousins. |
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From the Seafood
Restaurant, this is the view of the Semantan River.
The tiny contraption at the river bank is actually a cage to farm catfishes. |
Mentakab Town
Mentakab is some 12 kilometers further west Temerloh.
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These days
travelers to the east coast can by-passed Mentakab without going into
town.
Those heading for the Taman Negara National Park can take a turn off that leads into Mentakab.. |
There is nothing unusual about Mentakab. Long ago, it had only a L-shaped main street. Today the area in the "L" is transformed into a square township. There are shops, plenty of them, for all goods and services. At night, apart from the regular night life, there is also a fair size open air night market. Good food and cheap VCDs.
Mentakab flourished in the 60s because of the logging activities. This town is the collection center for the harvested logs. Downstream industry such as sawmills, repair shops and supplies flourished.
At that time, there was the largest of the land development projects - Jengka. With forest opened up, very much less logs is available to support the industry.
Whatever is left of pristine forest are tightly controlled. You can still see a couple of these surviving industry.
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