Southwestern Adventure - Riders' Lodge, Kulai

We decided to focus on the south western side of the peninsula to spend our December holidays ...departing on Saturday, 19 December 2009 and returning on Wednesday, 22 December 2009. Our journey took us another 1000 km covering Johor, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan.

We jumped onto the car at about 10am after fetching AP in Ampang, targetting to reach Kulai at about 2pm. What is there in Kulai???? We were heading for the Riders Lodge, a resort in Sedenak that offers horse related activities. We stopped for rests at Ayer Keroh and Machap before exiting at Sedenak toll then heading towards Kulai before turning left to Sedenak and eventually the lodge at around 2pm.

Our first thought....pretty nice, unique, surrounded by palm oil trees, frequented by mainly foreigners and Singapoerans and built for horse training and riding. It is owned by Australian married to a Philipino, very nice couple and personally entertain guests. The place is a big manor house with 27 rooms and is located next to the Legend Golf & Country Resort. Upon arrival, we checked in for a bed & breakfast package which cost us RM348 per pax. After a short rest, the kids went for their riding lesson for beginners. The lesson was for an hour and we were charged RM123.90 per hour. If you stay at the lodge, then you are entiltled for a 10% discount.

Dini was on Super Force but the horse was not in the right mood that day that she was asked to ride Sara Bego. Faiz and Thaqif were on Matilda and Impiana, both were nice to them. After selecting the horses, the trainer, Tara, an Irish began training the kids on how to handle and control the horses. It is not as easy as it looks. I used to ride when I was a kid, my father is a professional polo player with Pahang Royal Polo Club and I was taught how to ride when I was 10. After one hour on the horses, the kids learned how to ride. Tara told us that it would take a couple of lessons before they can learn troting.

That night, we went out to see Kulai. It's quite a big town and we were surprise to see two hypermarkets, Tesco and Giant. We were told that Singaporean shops at this Tesco. We had our dinner at Azlan Tomyam and it was satisfactory. When we return to the lodge, it was so quiet that we fell asleep almost instantly.

The next morning, after being served with farmhouse breakfast, IQ and Thaqif went for a ride. They have selected Impiana and Matilda. Dini and Faiz still suffered pain from their lesson yesterday. This time, they were trained by Sunnell, a lady from South Africa. Riders Lodge offers variety of riding packages. You can go on a guided trail ride at the palm oil plantation nearby or join their riding camps. That can be interesting. You can find out all about the lodge and the riding activities from their website http://www.riderslodge.com.my/index.htm.

We will definitely come back for more riding lessons. The place is nice and quiet, good for a short break. Thanks to Seanette and Agnes for their country home hospitality.