Terengganu: the Trip Home

May 31st, 2010

Aik, still not over yet. Well, we suppose since we came this far, why not spend some time at a beach resort.

Besides, Terengganu is well known for its long stretch of clean and beautiful beach, not to mention its mesmerizing island (Perhentian and Redang),of which the latter has fine white sandy beach with crystal clear water. Last i heard the state government is going to turn Redang into a rich man's island, with resort accomodation touching RM1500. Part of the objective was to prevent the natural beauty of the island (especially its corals) from being wrecked by the consequences of unscrupulous tourism.

We stopped to buy keropok lekor from one of the many shops lined along the road on the exit of Kuala Terengganu. Some were ready fried and some were raw, all of them home made and we can't really taste the difference. We usually like it fried crunchy but most of the stall sold it "lembik" ie soft. They also sell the ready-to-eat keropok in 1.25 ringgit package. 

Journey from KT to Kemaman (terengganu border) mostly consist of the coastal road so we could see the nice long stretch of beach and the south china ocean. There would be some playground, makan stall, malay hawkers and beach resorts along the way. Both sides of the road are marked by coconut trees and pokok ru among others. Traffic wasn't heavy and the weather was fine, which made it a pleasant drive.

Beautiful beach overlooking the south china ocean

The coastal road stretching along Terengganu

Then we arrived at the district of Kerteh, Kemaman. This well-known industrial place serves as the base of operations for Petronas in Terengganu, which oversees petrochemicals production and crude oil refining among others. Its location proximate to the port makes it convenient for exporting products.

The best time to pass by here is at night or dawn (eg. by express bus travelling to KT or Kelantan), when this whole stretch of industrial site is brightly lighted up by its power station, in addition to the bright flames burning from the multiple tall chimneys.

Kerteh, an industrial area for petroleum

Come here at night and this place would be as bright as day

1 of the river mouth with fishing boats

Aiyak, mami why take picture of me drooling over my double chin..

And finally we arrived at Holiday Villa, Cherating. 1 would think that Cherating is situated in Terengganu but its at the northern coast of Pahang just passed the southern Terengganu border. We got a spacious deluxe room at a promotional price of Rm180, probably because of off peak season, orelse the original price would be Rm320nett.

http://www.holidayvillahotelcherating.com/

Supposedly a 5 star beach resort, this resort has private villas, chalets, spa services, open-air jacuzzi, swimming pools, etc. Room is inclusive of complimentary breakfast for 2. Among the other activities you can find outside the resorts are beach walk, Elephant Sanctuary at Kuala Gandah, Cherating Turtle Sanctuary, Kuantan river cruise, etc, which we didn't indulge because we were tired and just wanted to slow down the pace. 

Mami, next time buy swimmingsuit for me ya~.(..bikini also can).

Wa~ so deep..but both papa mama here to protect me.

Fear me..i am the great white shark..de deng~ de deng~

Mami, see my hand is breast stroke but my leg is freestyle~ pandai le?

For the second time, Nana was put through swimming lesson. Really took to the water like a duck, except that Nana represented more of a great white shark. Most of the time she was simply amused at this new experience and would start to get excited and start paddling. 1 instance papa accidentally slipped and Nana's head submerged under water for a second, she cried a short while and after we consoled and gave her assurance, Nana continued her great-white-shark thing again. 

Papa, your skin so tanned from all the running..

Thank you so much mami~

This is why ppl say i look like a boy, cos i no hair~ :-l

Papa, next time i also want to swim butterfly~ whee~

Dinner was at the resort restaurant. Food in the menu was obviously expensive (at least for us), and nothing special actually. We ordered Tenggiri curry fish and chicken chop.

Later we drove out for supper, picked 1 of the malay shops along the road. To our shock 1 ikan bakar fish (grouper) was Rm60 per kg. Beats me how could they charge such a ridiculously extravagant price to a fellow malaysian. So many fishes were left there, are they gonna eat all these or sell them back at the fish market or worse still throw them away...Poor fishes, caught from the sea but not able to fulfil their purpose. In the end i just settled for a Rm3.50 mee goreng.

........

poor poor fishes~

Nana:..kah kah kah..poor papa didnt get to eat those fishes!!

The next morning we forced ourself up from the nice cozy bed and cool air-con room. Lest we could sleep beyond check-out time. We gently woke Nana up, she greeted us with her bright sunny smile, as always, and would sheepishly put her head back on the pillow. After mama fed Nana, we lazed around again, and finally enough was enough..off we went to the beach.

Aye aye captain! Where's the Black Pearl ?

Black pearl don't have, but i'm holding the Mother of Pearl

It was 8.30 am and the sun was quite high but still not too hot. The beach was clean, beautiful and peaceful. No one else was there except us. The beach stretches so long we could hardly make out its boundaries. The sea water was chilled and it was fun walking along the shallow, friendly waves. It must have been low tide since the sand still felt wet and compact..nice to walk on.

Nana played at her second beach and she enjoyed the feeling of submerging her feet in the sand.

What mother of pearl?...Great white shark! put Nana down so Nana can swim

The beautiful Cherating beach

The sun light shimmering over the crystal-like ocean

.

.

The happiest and sweetest moments i can ever have...

..is to see my wife playing with my daughter...

...makes me feel on top of the world..

...makes me strong..

..i can do anything for them..

..like a shadow that never leaves..

..so will papa always be there for you guys..

Then it was breakfast time. The best we have tried so far among all the hotels we have visited. A variety of western and malaysian breakfast made us went for round after round until we filled up our lunch portion. Nana was exhausted after playing at the beach and slept through breakfast, orelse she would stare intently at the food and reach out her tiny hands towards our plates..haha. Still miss the mango cordail, what a good way to start the appetite.

Um..um..um..faster eat before i eat yours~

Zzz..zzz. when my teeth gonna grow~

Around 1, we checked out the resort and really headed home this time. Cut through Kuantan for the 1st time to see what was it like. Passed by the turning into Tasik Chini but maybe next time we'll drop by. Smooth drive all the way with minimal daytime traffic. Christiana has gone through a lot of eye-opening experience throughout her holiday, and in her sleep won't be surprise she would be dreaming it over again. Well, sweet dreams Nana and lots of love from us~Mmmuuacks~

Clear blue sky..God is beautiful

The road back to Muadzam Shah

Entering Jempol, Negri Sembilan, numerous oil palm estates

Terengganu: Land of Origin

May 27th 2010

( Nana 4mths old)

Whee~ Botak Na going to Terengganu..where's that ah pa?

20 something years ago, i was born here. Spent up to 2 yrs of age playing with my 2 chindian cousin brothers by their beach-side house until our family shifted to another state up north to set up my dad's practice. So returning to Terengganu after all these years with my new family of 3 feels amusing and

nostalgic at the same time.

In Terengganu, but still have ~200km before reaching KT

An example of a river mouth occupied by fishing villages

Nana was definitely up for the travel. She has already travelled to more places than karling & me combine when we were at her age. The fact that she was obedient and always attracted to new surroundings made our long 6 hrs drive to Kuala Terengganu a hassle-free experience. After consulting a colleague, we took d trunk road which cut through Kuala Pilah, Jempol(Negri 9),Bandar Tun Abd Razak, Muadzam Shah and Gambang(Pahang) before entering Terengganu. We were met with heavy traffic all the way from Kemaman to KT as tomorrow was the start of the Wesak day long weekend, and the non-existence of a highway along the coast didn't help ease things up.

Mami, are u entertaining urself (because you're bored) or entertaining me.

Kerteh, Dungun- petroleum refining plant, the place is very brighly lighted-up @ night.

Arrived there before 8. We stayed at my ai pak's (father's eldest brother) house at Batu Burok. As we were all weary of the long journey, Ai pak brought us for dinner at KT's chinatown, situated by the mouth of Terengganu river opening up to the south china sea. There were quite some land reclaimation project going on therefore gone are all the private jettys belonging to the island resort agents at the back of their offices.

Wa~ Mami, so this is China Town Kuala Terengganu?

China town in a majority Malay populated state appears partially alive at night, unlike the the Jonker street in Melaka where the whole road is turned into pedestrian path on weekend nights. Over here, besides the few chinese restaurant and hawkers selling pau; lok-lok, all others shops closes latest by 8pm. Come back in the morning, you can find souvenir shops, sundry shops, island tour (Redang & Perhentian island) agents, antique, batik shop and even my uncle's clinic buzzing with visitors and tourists alike.

Not so busy on a weekday night but the best place for chinese food is here

Ai pak, the most well-known doctor in town, leads a very healthy lifestyle

 and treats us only to the best quality food.

Before ai pak brought us for food, he would ask whether we wanted good restaurant or good food. Apparently for local like him, he felt both doesnt come hand-in-hand. Anyway the place we went to, food was good: fried fish with black ketchup sauce was fresh, oysters for the " hao chien" (fried oyster omlette) were big, belacan kangkung was tasty, pork--nice, and the coconuts were tender. Ai pak is very particular about the freshness of the fish and he knows which restaurant "tauke" offers the best fish in town. Qualities of fish we deem fresh back in the west coast, ai pak demands better because he used to buy seafood fresh from the sea from d fisherman at their fishing village.

Me and my lao ai pak, isn't he handsome?

My lao ai pak has quite a nice cushion at his abdomen there~

Later we bought the best pau in town (also from chinatown) for breakfast. Ai pak's house still looked the same from how i remembered it. Every corner has meticulously decorated antiques ai pak has brought back from as far as China. The proud owner of this house used to be an antique collector and his big corner house could easily be mistaken as a museum hotel. At least thats how i like to think of it because of the warm hospitality ai pak's family has shown us everytime we spent our holidays there.

Mami, can i swim like a duck after wearing this duck shoe?

The next day mum and dad came over for a mini reunion, like old times. Nana got to know her grandparents better by playing with them. Lunch and dinner was great, nice chinese food with fresh fish and big succulent prawns. Only thing is not everyone's a fan of crabs. Since i wasn't competing (in sukan kementerian kesihatan malaysia) until tomorrow, ai pak showed us the way to the venue.

Ai pak, pa & ma @ Restoran Teck Lai, average place with good food.

"..Joy and Robin loves the food here whenever they come back."

Not fair, popo..why do i always have to sit & watch you all eat~

Behold, the collapsed stadium built for the last Sukma (sukan malaysia) games 2 years ago. Fortunately during the mishap no event was going on neither was there any casulties, according to the news report. In the same sport complex, there's a dome shape hall which was also specially built for the Sukma; and another mini stadium where my tracks and fields events are held tomorrow. Until now no repair or restoration work has been started due to some on-going investigation procedures, thats what i heard.

Kuala Terengganu sport stadium..what's left of it.

Looks like a war torn building eh?

Just go a few kilometres from here into KT town at Batu burok, you will find the state's grand aquatic complex, also built in conjuction of the last Sukma, where many games and national records were shattered during the meet. Many attributed the success to breakthrough technology in the aquadynamic swimsuits of Arena and Speedo, which provided a cutting edge to the wearer by reducing water friction and increasing speed. Or so they thought, until months later official news revealed the swimming pool was actually shorter than how it was supposed to be. Currently, the grand aquatic centre is closed due to leakage from the roof..with repair work still pending.

...Comments anyone? I shall reserve mine..haha.

1 of the popular tourist landmark in Terengganu, my opinion says we should preserve it that way.

Afternoon, all of us became cheerleaders at the state equestrian complex. Yeeling representing Melaka in the women's badminton team gave us a good show after being cheered on by the youngest member in the family, Nana. Despite some earlier set back, she went on to beat all her subsequent challengers in the women's single and help her team emerge 3rd overall. Bravo~after this can train Nana ya.

Hmmpph!! i'm not allowed to eat again :(

Dinner with the freshest seafood and vegetables in town. Ai pak prebooked the table and the

dishes the day b4 in view of the huge crowd on a friday night. This fresh fish head cost Rm75.

Hello there, you look so colourful..can we be friends?

The next day, was D-day for me..do or die. The last time i ran competitively was 6 yrs ago in Manipal intercollege meet. What the heck??!! I just realized i've aged so much. This old horse ain't gonna go down without a fight with those hotheels. Karling would give me a good physiotherapist massage over my right hamstring and calf the night before and post race. I had neuropraxia (injury to the nerve) during my overzealous centralized training. I haven't felt so nervous in a long time, this kind of thing is not for the faint hearted..i hope i can make it to veteran category in the future. So we qualified for the 4x400m final and i KOed in 400m semifinals. Still managed to match my personal best though- 58secs. I know, slow right? Never mind, i shall train earlier for the next Sukan KKM in Sabah in 2 yrs time.

Alamak!*#^ monitored on CCTV so that i can't run away

I'm glad that for the 1st time every1 saw me run, Neyney, Nana, including my parents (after all these yrs).

The tracks just next to the collapsed stadium

Evening, we went to Pantai Batu Burok, just a short walk from ai pak's house. That was Christiana's 1st time to the beach. It was quite late so we didn't like sun bath her or teach her to make sandcastle, or better still make her into a mermaid. Nana looked puzzled when we submerged her feet under the shallow waves, otherwise she just can't stop smiling at us taking her pictures. This was where pa and my uncles brought me to when i was 2 yrs old, its sad that as people pass away their names are forgotten like the countless sand. Which reminds me of a Bible passage, God promised the obedient Abraham to bless and multiply his offsprings to be as countless as the sand on the beach, which became true, interesting eh?

"Dear Christiana,

It has been a wonderful journey with you so far for the past 5 months.

You have been a pleasure to watch and have brought nothing but joy into our lives.

When papa look at you smile, i see the best of papa & mama in you.

Oh how u have grown since the 1st day u were born..and papa was there to welcome you.

You have stared intently into papa's eyes; 

you have lighted up papa's day when you see papa making funny faces at you;

& also you have broken papa's heart at times when you cry so hard when papa failed to pacify u.

Christiana you're growing so fast all your milestones are advanced...

& papa thought it was a good thing.

But all of a sudden your stranger anxiety sets in..

you don't smile that much to papa anymore,

Sometimes you stare at papa, sometimes you're not even interested when papa call you.

Still 1 great blessing papa truely count is,

Nana allows papa to hug you and hold you tight tight,

to feed you and to kiss you good night.

Papa pray hard to God that He will protect you in papa mama's absence,

and that Nana would never forget the person who loves you so much he refuses to use the stroller

but rather carry you everywhere he goes and everytime he eats.

...More than words can say how much papa love you, Christiana."

yours forever,

papa.

.

.

.

.

After a few hearty chinese meals, its (fusion) western food time. Ai pak and pa each finished

1 chicken chop and then shared 1 steak.

Kong kong..hold me tight tight, don't drop me ah~

.

.

On our last night, we dropped by to visit old college mates working in KT hospital

Aahh, jie jie so warm and so soft and xiang xiang~

Dr jie jie please don't prick me with needle ya~

.

.

On our way back to the mini stadium, lies the Crstal mosque left from the Terengganu bridge.

The Cystal mosque

After pa and ma left, we stayed back for our final race. The pulsating last event of the day and of Sukan KKM- 4x400m final. This time i volunteered not to be the 4th runner in the team. The noise from the spectators were pierching and eventually the host state emerged champion beating the favourites- a team of ex-Sukma runners representing KL. We tried our best and emerged 6th overall..oh well~~

My Kar Ling and Nana cheering for papa before the race

The Negri Sembilan contingent

Hope to see you all in Sabah 2012

The mini stadium after the dust have settled

The dome shaped multipurpose hall at the Terengganu sport complex

Just glad that its finally over and we can all go home now. We had our last meal back at china town. Drank to our hearts content big glasses of fruit juice cocktails. Not forgetting to buy some Terengganu T-shirts, we thanked ai pak so much for his love and bid bye-bye with heavy hearts, partly because of all the hearty meals he had treated us. On our way back along the coastal road, we bought raw keropok lekor to bring back and fry.

Last meal (..and drink) before leaving Kuala Terengganu

Guys, never fail to visit this shop which sells cheap, fresh and refreshing fruit juice cocktail.

.

.

The taste of Terengganu's delicious chinese cooking, Malay nasi dagang & nasi lauk still lingers in our taste bud, felt like still haven't had enough...till next time. Good bye KT:-)