p 12 – 13 - Selangor Times

travel
20 june 8 — 10, 2012
By all means, head
towards Klang and
partake of its varied
delights but if you
wish to explore a town
that sits comfortably
in its own natural
space, LIN ZHENYUAN
recommends Banting.
After making a planned trip down a
road less travelled somewhere in
the outskirts of Klang town where there was
an allegedly marvelous koay teow stall, the travel bug
in me went into overdrive.
I am unable to explain now why I suddenly
thought of visiting Banting. According to a highway
sign which I have seen several times in Klang town,
Banting seems to be only about 27km away.
So in a fit of motoring insanity, I put “pedal to
metal” and zoomed down the narrow highway after
making a wrong turn. I had earlier gone in the opposite
direction despite the presence of a GPS unit.
Klang is a beloved town for those who have lived
there for decades and know it well.
For me, it is just a town that is slightly famous for
its “cendol” and for its rows and rows of colourful
Indian shops, reminiscent of Brickfields.
After what seemed like a fairly long journey, a
town that has all the signs of robust development
loomed into view.
I had to ask several people walking in town
whether it was Pekan Banting.
Upon receiving an affirmative answer, I suddenly
recalled that I had made a pit-stop here several years
ago when I was on my way to Morib.
At that time, I didn’t bother to identify the town
because I thought it was Kuala Langat. As it turned
out, Kuala Langat is the district and Banting is its
main town.
With a population fast approaching 50,000, Banting
is situated on the banks of Sungai Langat.
There seems to be some truth to whisperings that
The best of Banting cendol
from one of the shops in town.
Banting springs
some surprises
Banting has got some
fine seafood restaurants.
Since my sojourn in
Banting was limited to
hours and not days, I
was disinclined to have
another meal. Earlier, I
had had lunch in Klang.
However, I did come
across a notable cendol shop that has options of
“Minum, Bungkus, Rojak”.
One of the workers who had a pleasant personality
told me that he wasn’t a Malaysian but he was
from India. So besides the shop’s “famous cendol”,
there were also “sup ayam” and “sup kambing”.
As if the management had a complete understanding
of the Malaysian culinary preferences, there were
multiple trays of Indian-Muslim dishes in the rear
section of the slightly decrepit building.
At 3.30pm, when most of Banting’s population
had retired indoors because of the enervating heat
and humidity, I was consuming rapid spoonfuls of
cendol.
Earlier, the cendol man had asked me if I wanted
my bowl of cendol to be “kurang manis” (less sweet).
I hastily agreed and regretted my decision later on
because the gula Melaka was clearly insufficient to
provide the much needed boost.
The ice shavings were obtained beneath a wooden
contraption that was clearly a product of a bygone
Cendol ice shavings extracted the old fashioned way.
The road sign leaves no doubt that you are in Banting town.
A restaurant worker proudly displays his teh tarik and the dishes
available.