Trip Two - East Coast !!

KL - Kuantan (Feb 7, 2006)

Slept over at Fiona's the day before so woke up in an air- con room feeling excited and ready to go!! Picked her mom up after snacking and left heading to Karak Highway (*spooky music SFX).
Stopped by Bentong for a wan tan mee and some pic taking before hitting the East Coast Highway. :) Was fun, truly. Stopped by Gambang as well, a town with lots of restaurants and super old buildings! Reached Kuantan and did the hotel search thing after finding out that the hotel we booked was pretty horrible looking. Settled for Classic which had a very classical toilet that required us taking our baths on the balcony of the building. Duh, of course it was sealed up and the general public is kept from sight but you can listen to cars zooming by 24 hours. Wonderful eh? Btw, the street's name is known as 'Ham Yu Kai' - Salted Fish Street - busiest street of Kuantan! Took some pics and bought some stuff from famous 'ham yu' shops, met Fiona's friend for Malay seafood and took a glimpse of Hyatt and Teluk Cempedak. Blacked out early.

Kuantan - Kuala Terengganu (Feb 8, 2006)

After getting caught in the rain while completing Fiona's Kuantan research and photo shooting, we headed off towards Kuala Terengganu. Passed by interesting places like Cherating's Club Med, Kemaman, Kerteh, Paka and Rantau Abang. Kemaman has this coffee outlet 'Kopitiam' which is getting really popular everywhere. Started in 1940, the owned is already 90 but still alive and kicking. The aroma of coffee beans and mini 'Great Wall of China' was the highlight of Kemaman! Also saw a Sultan's cap or hat or something which was pretty big. :) Kerteh and Paka are where the Petronas villages and vast Petronas base are. Cool s***, no joke! Rantau Abang is of course the hotspot for turtles labouring. And the beach, tears brim around the eye lids just looking at such beauty. Found interesting food like Satar and air Nira. Satar's a type of fish and coconut while Nira's the juice for coconut flowers. Otak2 is known as Otok2 here. Reached Kuala Terengganu towards evening and checked into Seri Malaysia. After shooting at Chinatown which is pretty impressive, the shops (for a Pas place man!) we dined at a funny looking place that serves very good frogs and seafood. Oh yum. Sad news was that I received news that Dad needed blood. Fiona and her mom were squabbling so tension was around but I popped early.

Kuala Terengganu - Kota Bahru (Feb 9, 2006)

Covered K.T before doing some shopping. K.T's museum is big man and they've an impressive bridge that passes Pulau Duyong where they make boats and Pulau Besar which isn't that big after all. Drove north towards K.B passing places like Setiu (sounds like bad word le), Merang, Bdr. Pemaisuri and Besut. Merang's where you go to catch your transport to Redang. Besut's the producer of keropok. K.B's pretty impressive with square boxes as the town planning. We reached on a Thursday which is like a Saturday for elsewhere but there. Ate some yummilicious food and took the best shower ever. There are 3 shower heads with a strong water output giving the shower-er the best shower ever. Life's heavenly.

p.s Confirmation on going back to Kuching after this trip for a week.

Kota Bahru - Kuala Kangsar (Feb 10, 2006)

The sad thing about K.B is that the Chinese shophouses are no longer preserved. Camelia dresses were everywhere and a delight to purchase. Being a Friday many shops were closed but special weekend markets were opened. McDs and Xpax ad has Jawi writings . Coolness. Leaving K.B, I suffered from severe headache so I took a snooze. Btw, Fiona also bought some 'ubi' with shapes like the male private part. Aduh. Awaking from my lil nap I read a road sign that pointed right stating 'Thailand 5 km'. Was actually pretty shocked and worried that Fiona had drive to Timbuktu without her navigator's scrutinising instructions but was consoled when I read 'Gerik' as the foward sign. We went endlessly uphill with no civilisation around and clouds crowding near mountain tops. With bladders full, Fiona stopped for wee wee time. We were actually at the peak of Titiwangsa, back bone of West Malaysia. Moving on, we passed by beautiful mountains surrounded by lakes and greens. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Amazing. Reached Gerik late in the evening. Gerik was the gateway to the communists' base in the past. Kuala Kangsar was achieved late in the evening and we checked into a rather sad looking 'Rest House'. I guess you pop anywhere when you're tired, and so I did.

Kuala Kangsar - Ipoh - Home (Feb 11, 2006)

Left K.Kangsar early for shooting and to head to Ipoh to savour egg tarts that were deprived from us eventually anyway. Rushing to Ipoh, we found 0 egg tarts available to our despair!!! Settled for Aun Keng Lim's salted chicken and Tambun's pomelo lo.. :( Got back early, to PJ and was reunited with my love ones! Not for long.. Kuching's on the itinerary - Feb 12, 2006!