Pulau Aman 安曼島的馬來風光

If you're longing for a not too crowded, not too quiet place for a retreat, you may consider going to the "Island of Peace" -- Pulau Aman.

"Pulau Aman" -- the name that was planted in my mind since my teenage years. I used to cross Penang-Butterworth by ferry. When the ferry was departing, the captain would announce "Pulau XXX akan bertolak sekarang". The ferries were named after some of the famous islands in Malaysia, like "Pulau Tioman", "Pulau Redang", "Pulau Langkawi", "Pulau Talang-talang", "Pulau Kapas" and one of them was "Pulau Aman".

Kok Sheng, Hatta and myself made a trip to Pulau Aman last Saturday. We headed there off Batu Kawan by passenger boat at Batu Musang Jetty about 11.30am. The fair for a return trip is RM 6. The journey takes only about 10 minutes. Our sole purpose was to satisfy ourselves with the famous "Mee Udang" (Prawn Noodles).

Pulau Aman is an idyllic Malay fishing village with population of about 250, mostly elderly folks and children. You won't see a single car on this island. There are only 3 motorcycles! Ha! No worry for the traffic pollution. One thing worth a mention, this island is the only area with 0% criminal rate in the state of Penang. It's said to be the most simple and safest island in Malaysia.

There is a school providing education to the pupils with great convenience. Other than the beautiful traditional Malay houses, there is a government clinic, a sundry shop, a community hall, a mosque that takes care of the needs of the islanders. There are also few chalets available for renting to the tourists.

We wandered around the island and taking photos for about one and a hour hours and decided to have the must-try delicacy - Mee Udang. We had been recommended to have it in "Restauran Terapung" (Floating Restaurant) by the villager. Not bad, we satiated our stomach with Mee Udang and the coconut milk which cost RM6 and RM4 respectively.

In addition, you can buy the freshly harvested Udang Lipas (Mantis Prawn) and other fresh catches from the fishermen near the restaurant & get the restaurant cook/steam them for you. I didn't do that as I thought it was a less merciful thing to make some living creatures become a dish on the table.-

There are some local entrepreneurs promoting and selling the locally made products like “Kerepek Sukun” that made from "Buah Sukun" (Breadfruit), Pisang goreng, homemade Belacan and body lotion.

We departed the island in the late afternoon and moved ahead for other activities in the evening -- "A date with Nyonya Kuih" and D'Home Charity Dinner cum PCK performance. This marked the much enjoyable and fulfilled day for me. Thanks pals!