The Cradle of Malay Culture

31 July-2 Aug - My next stop brought me to Kota Bahru, the capital city of Kelantan also known as the Islamic City of Malaysia. To me KB is one of the most intriguing cities in Malaysia. Why you may ask? Simply because this is the only state in Malaysia that has been governed by PAS (the opposition party) since forever and if you read the nation's newspaper about the "weird" laws that PAS has put in place, you will feel as curious as me to see what this is all about.

Coincidentally, Chee Ching aka Gwen, my fellow Pontian friend who works in Singapore was in KB on a business trip and I managed to persuade her to prolong her stay in KB illegally HAHA just so we could travel together over the weekend. Richard, another childhood friend of mine and future doctor studying in USM located in KB has also agreed to meet up. Meeting them in KB made my trip to this strange land seemed more friendly and welcoming.

Upon reaching KB through a 4 hours express bus from KT, I scouted around for a nice backpackers to stay. Unlike other smaller cities in Malaysia, KB is much more backpackers friendly and I had the luxury to compare prices and dormitory condition. Walking around town was not hard at all as people here are very willing to point you in the right direction with a big and warm smile too. At the end, I chose to stay in Zecks Travellers' Inn which is the furthest away from town but still within walking distance because of the superb environment, cleanliness and free WiFi. All this for just RM15 a night. Crazy rite?

After that, I went to meet Richard in town and I called Gwen to check out where she is staying. To my surprise, she was just staying opposite my place so we immediately went to look for her. How small world is huh!

We spent the rest of the day in the "Starbucks" of Kelantan chatting and "onlining" as Gwen is supposed to be still at work. HAHA. At night, we joined Gwen's local colleague for dinner and they even bought Nasi Dagang (famous local rice in Kelantan) for us. We spent a lot of time talking about politics as it turns out tht Gwen's colleague (a Chinese man) is the chairman of PAS backbencher's club. I was amazed by how open minded he is and his insight into Malaysian politics really opened my eyes.

The next day, Gwen and I woke up early to take a bus to Richard's university. Richard rented a car from his business minded uni friend for half a day so that we can go sightseeing around KB. One thing worth mentioning is that I can still drive a Manual car with no power steering. HAHA.

As Richard has been staying in KB for more than 5 years now, he naturally became our tourist guide. Our first stop was to go sightseeing in Pengkalan Kubor. Ironically, Kelantan which has the most number of Muslims is also home to some of the biggest and nicest Buddhist temples in Malaysia. The sleeping Buddha in one of the many temples here is also touted as the biggest sleeping Buddha in South East Asia. Most of the temples here are inspired from Thailand because of the close proximity to Thai.

Besides the architecture of the temples, the food in Kelantan generally are quite similar to Thai as well. For lunch, we had Thai coconut as well as Nasi Kerabu, another famous local rice dish. It is actually plain rice mixed with various type of minced vegetables and it is served with thin slices of fish. I don't quite like the taste of it because of the funny minty vegetables used in many Thai dishes but I gave it a try anyway. We also stopped by at the duty free market in Pengkalan Kubor but there wasn't much things to buy.

After visiting the 5 temples, our half day rental was almost up. We made one last stop at the Pantai Cahaya Bulan, a local beach area overlooking the South China Sea which is about 15km away from KB town. This is similar to Teluk Chempedak of Kuantan but it's nowhere near it as there's nothing much you can do here except for flying kites.

The next morning, we went to the famous central market (Pasar Besar Siti Khatijah) which is always featured in Cuti-Cuti Malaysia's (Tourism Malaysia) advertisements and postcards. After breakfast we parted ways as Gwen was heading for Tanah Merah, another town in Kelantan for work while I ventured alone to the Gelanggang Seni for free cultural shows. Here all visitors are treated to Gong performance, Silat demonstration, Top spinning, Kite making and Batik painting. If you are interested, you can also have a go at any of the activities as well. The concept of the Gelanggang Seni is commendable but the organization of each shows was in a mess and before everything ends, 3 quarter of the tourist had already left.

Overall my trip to Kelantan turned out really well because I had a great tourist guide and crazy friends and it quashed whatever misconceptions I have with Kelantan before this.