Kuantan – Cherating – Kemaman
Our second day in Kuantan. Our agenda today is to visit the famous cherating beach for a taste of sea, sun and fun. Located 50km north of Kuantan, this place offers white sandy beaches with pristine, sparkling water. Most of all, it got its famed from being the first location of Asia's Club Meditranean (Club Med).
As this place is popular among the tourists, handicrafts and beach gears are easily acquired.
the vast, Cherating beach
Getting enough with the sea dip, we made a move about 8km up north along the coastal road straight into another state. You can travel further up north to the states of Kelantan towards the borders of Thailand.
Kemaman, is a district in Terengganu, Malaysia. It is situated on the coast of the South China Sea, about 25km from Kuantan. Bordered by Dungun to the north and the state of Pahang to the south, it is a home of the deepest seaport in Malaysia. More research reveals that this port-town has existed since second century B.C and known as Kole, as mentioned by Ptolemy, the famous Greek astrologer and geographer.
The landmark of Kemaman. The replica somehow reminded me of the USA Observation Tower that transform into alien ship as seen in the 1997 Men in Black movie (Inset is the actual landmark of Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, NY which the movie scene took place - image source: wikipedia.com). Is the resemblance intentional?
After wandering a while, we headed back to Kuantan
and stopped at this place just after bypassing the concrete signage
It is a one-stop-center that offers all sorts of the famous local-made fish crackers. Fish cracker is what Malaysia east-cost states are famous for. You could find various types of seafood crackers on sell, amongst the most common are made from the herring/dorab fish (ikan parang), ikan tambun (sorry I don’t know what it is call in English) and prawn crackers. It comes in three main forms; keropok lekor which is long and chewy, keropok losong (steamed) and keropok keping which is thin and crispy. It is frequently served with local-made dipping sauces that specially made to match perfectly with the fishy taste of the cracker.
This place offers variety of sea products
among others is the dried, salted spannish mackerel (ikan tenggiri)
dried, marinated squid
and also the red snapper (ikan merah)
Keropok lekor in the making
The finish product
Another Pahang's unique delicacy is the Sata, a fish meat blended with chili paste and coconut wrapped in coconut leaves and barbequed.
Makcik preparing the Sata
Not later after we resume our journey, my uncle made a slight turn at one of the local mosque for the asar prayer. As I was on my 'red days', instead of joining them in the holy commune, I take my usual stroll and scrutinize the area. Acha quietly followed me from behind.
the path lead us to a nearby village
I can't help myself from admiring the deep blue sky in contrast with the green coconut leaves
This is why I love Malaysia east cost; the beautiful sparkling beaches, green wavy coconuts and deep blue sky are in abundance
The next stop is this beach, the Pantai Batu Hitam (Black Stones Beach)
It is called Batu Hitam for its stretch of black stones at the otherwise white sandy beach.
the black stones, black is obviously the color of the mud
This place is also suitable for the fervent kite flyers
the symmetrical formation of the stepping blocks
Ahnaf and Acha enjoying the calm, sea breeze
and the colorful kites
It is already dark when we finally reached Kuantan. End of Day 2
>> to be continued…
Hey man, nice blog! I am signing up for the RSS feed.
Thanks Duncan