SIMPLY (t)RAVELLING » Kuantan

Kuantan, Final Day

Niza Zainal — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:52:30 +0000

: Our third and final day in Kuantan. After bidding farewell to my relatives that has been our generous host for these wonderful three days, we made our move back to KL. Before that, we have a stop at Kuantan town for the last look. Above is the Teruntum Complex, the first modern shopping complex of Kuantan and the tallest in the east coast.

The Sultan Ahmad Shah State Mosque

The Shahbandar Jetty. For a price of RM15/adult and RM8/child, you could hop on the boat for an adventerous river cruise. Night cruises are available only on Fridays and Saturdays evening. The jetty is reachable via the Esplanade Park.

The Esplanade Park, the waterfront promenade (or Benteng as the locals call it).

One of the River Cruise bypassing the Kuantan signage of the Pahang River

It is so easy to fall asleep here as the place is shady, breezy and cozy...

After waving goodbye to this good town, it is time to hit the road again. Hmmm.. which way to go?

Somewhere in Maran the road runs through these two stone walls. I bet it would make a very nice landscape shot when taken during the 'golden hours' as the sun rays reflected on each of its crevices and jagged faces, resulting to different hues and shades.

After two and half an hours driving, we finally saw this familiar landmark. Praise to god, we reached home safe and sound. The End.

Kuantan – Cherating – Kemaman

Niza Zainal — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 09:31:55 +0000

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…

Kuantan, Pahang

Niza Zainal — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:41:52 +0000

Last Chinese New Year, Mr. Hanif suddenly came out with this idea to visit my auntie at Kuantan, Pahang. Even though we got out early, traffics have already thronged the expressway due to the long holidays.

The Genting Sempah tunnel that divides Selangor and Pahang

Two and half hours later, we arrived at Kuantan via the Gambang exit. Kuantan, the capital city and main administrative center of the state of Pahang Darul Makmur, lies on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, about 170 miles east of Kuala Lumpur.

We stopped at my uncle's house in Taman Cenderawasih for some rest and refreshment before coming to this place, the farmer's market (read: Pasar Tani). Kuantanrians with their morning shopping. This market is held in the vicinity of the Stadium Darul Makmur Pahang every Sunday morning. You could find variety of goods for sale from farm produce, sea and river catches as well as local delicacies, local handcrafts and the usual daily needs. These products are fresh from the farms and sold directly by the farmers themselves with the help of FAMA (Federal Agriculture and Marketing Agency), the government agency responsible for marketing the farming products in the country.

At a stall selling some local-made munchies

Patin, the well known fresh water breed that is synonym with Pahang. This type of catfish is commonly found here, and when cooked with 'tempoyak' (fermented durian) is a local delicacy highly sought after in the country.

After some shopping my uncle brought us to this place for breakfast. It must be a popular eatery in Kuantan as the place has already flocked with people when we arrived. Sorry no picture of the foods as we were too ‘busy’ eating . I had laksam that morning. If you wonder how laksam looks and taste like, you can visit here.

Since it is still early, we made a stop at Kompleks Yayasan Pahang only to be transported back to the Jurassic Period. DinoTrek, the interactive dinasour exhibition organized by Petrosains Discovery Centre, is coincidentally in town. Their first exhibition was first open to public at KLCC in 2002 and is a major success.

cute baby dino

the vicious T-Rex

Young paleontologists at work

Ahnaf admiring one of the species that used to roam the earth during the prehistoric period

Enough with the beasts, we went to the nearby Teluk Cempedak (Jackfruit Bay?) for some time out before heading back to my uncle's house for our delayed lunch.

Later that afternoon, me and hubby went out again for some more photo hunting. The first spot we visited is underneath the bridge of Tanjung Lumpur. I immediately saw these two, abandoned mates resting fornlonly on the river banks.

To the owner it might no longer be useful, but it could be a nice resting place for others, these vessels.

While at the other side of the river, somebody is waiting patiently with the bait.

The view of the Kuantan jetty.

Another fisherman with the fishing gear. Silhouetted at the back is the Kuantan town.

Guided with only mobile Google maps, we leaved the crime scene to visit another spot.

It brought us to this spot, some 15km northeast of Kuantan town.

Pantai Balok, is a paradise for avid wind-surfers. It has in fact, been nominated as one of the ten best beaches in the world by the international wing surfing and kite-surfing sportsmen. This beach host the International Windsurfing Regatta, the Kuantan Challenge every year. I could not spot any wind surfers anyway. Perhaps it is not the time of the year.

my shadow on the white, fine sand

We spotted this viewing tower and decided to hopped on.

Our national flag bravely stand the gusty, South China Sea wind.

We caught sight of this biker being trapped by the sudden rise in tide

We waited for the sunset, but unfortunately, it came down on the opposite direction.

Frustrated, we made our way back to my uncle's humble abode. End of day one.

>> to be continued…