Pulau Ketam (Crab Island)

Hi, everyone. I am back from the beach and had a great time. I will blog about it later. I have some catching up to do first. Before I went on "sabbatical", I had visited a fishing village called Pulau Ketam which translates to Crab Island.

I took the train from Shah Alam to then end which was Pelabuhan Klang (Port Klang). My plan was to take the ferry from Port Klang to Pulau Ketam. Fortunately, a nice man asked me where I was going when I got off the train, and he pointed me in the direction of the ferry. Now, when I think "ferry", I think of the Staten Island Ferry: a large ship with benches to sit on inside and out. In this case, I expected a small version of this with covered benches to protect from the sun but the wind still whips through your hair. I walked the plank to the dock where I came across the freaking "Hunt for Red October". It looked like a submarine that had surfaced. There were no ticket booths or anything. Just a bunch of guys loading stuff onto the boat. I asked them if it was the ferry to Pulau Ketam. Before you get too impressed with my use of the local language, my exact words were "Ke Pulau Ketam?" and gestured animatedly to the boat. "Ke" means "to". Yes, I have mastered the Malay language.

The man nodded to a hole in the boat which I climbed through. The inside was sweet! It was like a train car. Air-conditioned, upholstered seats, storage for packages...And I kid you not, a big wide-screened tv in the front on which they were showing WWE (wrestling). Words cannot express my amusement at this ferry.

So the ferry takes off, flying across the water. After about twenty minutes, we reach a fishing village where all of the houses are build on stilts, and the ferry pulls up to one of the docks and lets a family off. Then two buildings down, the ferry stops again and lets another family off. I was quite baffled at more than a little worried that I would get in trouble because I did not have a specific house I was going to. Fortunately, the when the ferry stopped next, everyone piled out, leading me to believe that it was Pulau Ketam. Even more fortunately, I was right.

The village was great. It was a Chinese neighborhood. All of the signs were in Chinese. Every house had their front doors open, and they all had large alters to Buddha when you first walked in. Everyone was very friendly. I was filming with my camcorder, and the kids kept jumping up and saying hi.

Pulau Ketam is basically this small island packed with houses on stilts build side by side. All the houses are painted different colors which was fun. There are no cars or scooters. Just bicycles with baskets in the front and little bells. The homes are charming. The markets, restaurants, people, atmosphere...all charming. But filthy. The mud which the stilts houses are built on is covered in trash. I was walking along the sidewalk, and I saw someone stick their arm out of their window and throw their trash on the ground.

There were stray dogs everywhere. I had yet to see a dog until this trip. The crazy think was that most of the dogs either looked like Athena or like Lizzie. The first dog I saw was layng down, and she looked like Athena. I said something to her, and she stood up and trotted away. When she stood, I saw she was still a puppy, maybe 6 months old. She had retreated to the muddy haven underneath the floor. I looked down, and there were two more of them. One also looked like Athena. The other one looked like Lizzie. That more than anything else made me homesick. I probably saw a total of 10-15 dogs on

the island. Every female I saw had had babies. This made me thank the Lord for Bob Barker. Maybe they should start airing the Price Is Right here. Remember to spay and neuter your pets.

Aside from feeling as though I was in the Twilight Zone where everywhere I turned around I saw my dog and the fact that I was surrounded by enough trash to fill the Howard Co. dump, I really loved Pulau Ketam. I am from Mayland after all. How could I not love a place named Crab Island?