It started at Sunday night. Took a 9.30pm bus from Melaka to Kuala Terengganu. It was in the early 5am when I arrived.
So I pulled out my phone, turn on the map, looking for places I could go for the day. Then light bulb moment!I should totally head to the beach for sunrise. After an hour walk, reached Batu Buruk Beach. Even as early as 6am there are some youngsters gathering and chitchatting at the square. Not sure if they didn't sleep or woke up that early...
Feeding the ant with leftover apple bits.
However, one fatal thing was the public toilet would not opened until 8am so I had to walk all the way back to town to use the toilet.
With the problem solved, I walked around the town with no aim and suddenly stumbled upon this market. Seen it from TV program so when you see it for yourself it's ethereal. Pasar Besar Kedai Payang.
I believe once it was much more glamorous. Now the abandoned mannequin just waiting there to be consumed by the passing of time.
Had simple mee sup and coffee in the market.
Afterward walked out and discovered Chinatown.
It's a small and quiet place. A main street with a few lanes in between.
And before that, I was amazed how quickly the beautiful fence turn into utter crap, just after a few years. It's not only here, many Malaysian's public or tourist infrastructures suffer similar ill fate...and this one definitely can be blamed on poor construction. The metal bar is too close to the surface and lead to corrosion and rusting...and balls fell off as well...
And later I was walking all the way to look for keropok lekor.
When you see "Keropok Lekor" on the road sign it means it's definitely something big.
Imagine seeing Sate Celup or Chicken Rice or Coconut Shake or Cendol in Melaka's road sign.
After more than 45 mins walk I've come to this small little village in Losong with a few stalls selling keropok lekor. Being a novice did't really bother what kind of keropok I'm buying, I bought the steamed version. And it wasn't easy to chew down without putting much sauce to go with it...regret. Should've chosen the typical fried keropok lekor....
And then another 45 mins walk back to city centre. No chance catching this bus which was only scheduled for 5 trips throughout the day...never seen it in action, other than idling at bus station...
I was considering staying a night in Kuala Terengganu but by 1 PM I have explored most part of the town. Decided to head to Kota Bharu instead. But just to make sure I didn't miss anything I went to the tourist centre and got a map. Truth is, there's nothing much left in Kuala Terengganu.
Went up to Bukit Puteri to have a one last view of the city before taking 4 PM bus to Kota Bharu.
Here's the estimation of routes I have taken. Much more in the town not plotted in this map. Definitely walked more than 25KM from 5AM to 4PM.
With that. Departing to Kota Bharu with SP Bumi bus.
With no accommodation booked and no visual image of Kota Bharu, it must be exciting to land in a totally strange land!
And the traffic is quite heavy due to school holiday and Hari Raya Haji. It usually takes about 3 hours to arrive but this trip took more than 4 hours! I was lucky to meet Mr Lee, a salesperson, in the bus and he was going to stay in a hostel in Kota Bharu. It's an "unofficial" backpacker style guest house catered for their acquaintances, nothing fishy. Accommodation was settled. RM30 per night. Right in the middle of town!
What's for dinner? Thai + Chinese fusion dishes at Golden Flower Restaurant with Mr Lee and his friends. Then went to KB Mall.
The next day, woke up before the town has awaken. Had an apple, then off to explore the streets.
One destination in mind was Pasar Siti Khadijah. It was just a 10 minutes walk away.
I was going to walk in expecting to see this colorful market...
But instead, this appeared...under renovation
Then walked to Jalan Kebun Sultan for breakfast. Walked up and down hoping to find something unique but all I could see was same offerings like those in other places, wantan mee, porridge, chicken rice...So just settled with claypot yee mee.
One little surprise when the noodle was served. It has brinjal yong tau fu in it! It made my day :)
Then visited a few museums pretending to be interested in Kelantan royal families and heritage.
And met a retired teacher teaching arts in Handicraft Village and Craft Museum.
For a while, suddenly feel I am such a 文艺青年, very got 内涵.
Then went to Nasi Ulam Cikgu for a scrumptious meal.
Yummy!
Walked back under hot sun to hostel, had a nice shower, checked out. Then went through nothing-to-see-the-river-is-murky riverside walk and back to town for second helping of lunch, Nasi Kukus Zaeman. The rice was okay, but maybe it was over-hyped? Its chicken was just so-so.
Took a public bus to Wakaf Bharu to catch a 4 pm train. The train never come, the bus came...
So my first supposedly train ride in US was a bus (a.k.a. coach), now my first KTM train was also a bus...
Went through a 5 hours long bus journey to Gua Musang to take the connecting train to Gemas. The amazing thing was nobody in the bus, 40 of the passengers, including children, asked the bus driver to stop for toilet break. 5 hours, nobody wanted to stop for toilet. Amazing,
Boarded the train after having nasi kerabu for dinner.
I thought Amtrak train ride was not comfortable but KTM was even worse. Booked superior seating all I got was normal seating. Amtrak dimmed the light for night travel but KTM just kept the light on as bright as possible throughout the midnight journey...From 10.00 pm to 6.00 am all light on...I couldn't sleep well...
In Gemas, warmly greeted by Pn Tan and she brought me to her favorite noodle place again for breakfast.
9 am, took Southern Bus to Tampin, then Panorama Melaka back to Melaka town. Final stretch of journey was riding my motorcycle under haze...At this point, I could feel my body is already aching and giving me warning after a few days of crazy adventure. First thing to do back home was to have a shower then off to a good nap...zzz.
This was my little dream accomplished! Nothing was planned except to book the departing bus and returning train, and to meet with Pn Tan. A great journey.