"Don't worry, the contact will find you because you
guys are the youngest (among the sex tourists).", said
Pimp.
This was what "Pimp" told us when we were buying
our ferry tickets (Rm80/head for a return ticket) in Kukup,
Malaysia. The destination is Pulau Karimun's main town:
Tanjung Balai. The island is one of the many islands under
the Riau Province, Indonesia. Due to its close proximity
to Malaysia and Singapore, it has morphed from a typical
Indonesian fishing village into a sex haven catering to
mid-aged Singaporeans and Malaysian looking for a night
of cheap thrills with young Ceweks (Indonesian slang term
for young women).
If you sincerely believe that I belonged to that niche group,
I hope you will burn in hell. :) My cousins and me had planned
this for quite awhile and finally it was more of curiosity
rather than seeking the cheap thrill which many promised.
We were also hoping to have a good lunch and some cheap
beers. Sounds pretty lame but it was the fact.
We met our "contact" when we arrived at Tanjung
Balai 90 mins later. He told us it was disappointing to
know that we wasn't staying for the night but he will still
help us arrange something (for some administrative fee).
We kindly declined and moved on into town with a can of
Carlsberg (Rp6k) in our hands.
Someone actually shouted in Mandarin when we stepped out
from the jetty, "You all so young, come here to look
for chickens (prostitutes)?!". This actually kick starts
the 6 hours we had along the streets of Tanjung Balai. |
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(From
left) Me, Ben and Black. These are my cousins and partners
in "crime". We posed in front of a touristy signboard
for Kukup, Johor, Malaysia. It was given the status of Taman
Negara (National Park). But to the locals, it was nothing
more that a piece of smelly swampy land. |
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The
arm relaxes while a large ship strolls past the horizon. |
 |
First
sight of the "promised" land. Welcome To The Sea
Port of Tanjung Balai Karimun. |
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There's
always a time for politics. Ben and Black posing beside
the flags of Democratic Party of Struggle of Indonesia (PDI-Perjuangan),
led by H. E. Megawati Soekarnoputri.
|
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Some kind
of old van-looking alike bus that were used to ferry people
around town. Do we used to have these in SIngapore? |
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Rainy
Balai. A chinese temple right smacked in the heart of town.
When we were there, the weather got unkind for 20mins and
it rained heavily. |
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Bir Bintang.
Best served with friends! The gang with their Bintangs (Rp5.5k
~ S$0.96). |
 |
Ben with
his claypot pork porridge (Rp10k), his dark coffee (Rp3k)
and Bir Bintang (what the hell was it doing here!). |
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Enjoying
my Bir Bintang. Oh yeah! |
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Another
beer in our hands, as Ben and Black posed along the streets
of Tanjung Balai. We actually have difficulty finding Bir
Bintang as we walked back towards the jetty. Instead, we
found more Heineken, Carlsberg and Tiger. This is probably
to cater to the tastes of the sex-tourists from Malaysia
and Singapore. |
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