Date: 1st - 4th May 2014 (Thu - Sun)
DAY 2 (Friday)
A trip to Kota Bharu is incomplete without a visit to
Pasar Siti Khadijah. They've recently painted the walls. Cantik.
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| Colourful. Ceria. |
But I arrived too early. Maka we went 'pusing-pusing' dulu. Banyak jalan sehala (one-way street) sekarang. Drive punya drive, sampailah
Padang Merdeka which has
Tambatan Diraja (Royal Jetty) next to it. The place closes on Friday but I went to check it out anyway since that was the spot for nasi air once upon a time.
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| Climb up (for a nominal fee) for the view |
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| This space used to be medan selera. |
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| The car looks funny eh? Haha. |
Ridel Hotel Kota Bharu is right next to this place. Below is the walkway opposite the hotel.
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| Macam bot penambang in Pendekar Bujang Lapok? |
Oh ada kedai makan atas rakit jeti bot penambang ni tau. But I didn't try the food there lah. You can also take river cruise from here. Starts at 9 am according to a bunting there.
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| Jet ski? |
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| Walk, jog, crawl. Nice place to play Capoeira. |
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| Strolling along the river back to the tambatan |
Next, we stopped at Istana Jahar. There are a number of attractions in this area. All within walking distance.
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| Istana Jahar - close on Fridays |
Padan muka semalam tertidur petang and had to cancel the plan to go Bank Kerapu, Dewan Syurga and Istana Jahar.
Back to
Pasar Siti Khadijah, I skipped ground floor. Tourists might want to go straight to level 2 and level 1. Korang bukan nak beli ikan pun kan? Stairs are near the entrance. Tak payah susah-susah redah lecak ya.
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| Wet market |
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| My favourite floor. Level 2 selling clothes, batik, songket & many more. |
I like to start from the top floor. The kain here mostly belum siap jahit. Walk around and ask for price to get an idea but don't feel obliged to buy. Unless you've haggled and they've lowered the price by A LOT. Just say nicely, "Saya jalan-jalan dulu. Nanti datang lagi." No, you don't have to come again later unless you want to buy.
Got a couple of batik shirts for RM165. Supposed RM80 each but suddenly price changed. Oh well, she needs the money more I guess. Tourists, be cautious when you buy from a shop which is quite away from others. Masa I pergi tu Friday, banyak kedai tutup. Kedai ni jauh sikit so maybe tu pasal dia tak segan change price.
Yes, batik is pricey but if you buy online lagi expensive. Songket here can fetch to thousands of ringgit. It's great if you have a good tailor. Boleh la borong kain here.
Cerita dia, sebab excited nak pergi
Bazar Buluh Kubu next door, I totally forgot about the keropok (crackers) in level 1. Had to come back here after Friday prayer to buy RM120 worth of keropok. Think 3 huge plastics. Foreign tourists travelling by plane might want to buy the ready-to-eat ones and not those that you'll have to fry. They're so cheap and if you love crunchy food, PLEASE stock up! I also bought some packets of popiah simpul & mini popiah. Yummy!
The
Bazar Buluh Kubu is also known as
Bazar Batik. Don't be fooled by the name. Tempat ni bukan jual batik semata-mata. They have batik, crafts, gold, beauty accessories, tudung, salon & bridal boutique & beauty parlor. Most of the hair salon & beauty parlor are in the 3rd floor.
Unfortunately for me, it was Friday and most places in Kelantan are closed on Fridays.
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| Level 3 on Friday - empty, all were closed |
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| Cool way to decorate your closed shop :) |
Only a handful of shops were operating but I still managed to buy 2 pairs of GORGEOUS kaftan dresses for RM90.
***
At 3 pm we started heading towards
Pengkalan Kubor Free Trade Zone. I had trouble finding the place in Google Map. Heck, I had trouble finding many places in Kelantan in Google Map. Seems like Google Map don't register the smaller kampungs.
Anyway, search for Tak Bai or Balai Polis Pengakalan Kubor. It's somewhere there. The free trade zone is gated and you'll have to go through the custom building. But don't go towards 'Thailand'! The entrance is on the right after you enter the custom gate.
However, as I've hinted before, we've made several stops along the way. Did you know that Tumpat has more than a couple of interesting 'wat'? You know how people tend to equate Kelantan with Islamic? You'll be glad to know that other cultures also thrive here.
For a unique Kelantan trip, check out these places. I found
Wat Buddha Kelantan page very helpful. Some of the wat are situated near to each other so why not visit all of them? :D
I short-listed 3 wat that I really, really, really want to see. All of them are along the (different) ways to Pengkalan Kubor so I planned the trip as such - 2 wat on the way and a last one after shopping, backtracking a bit. The last one is nearer to
Sri Tujuh beach which I'd like to visit as well.
Wat Phothivihan
Kampung Jambu (search for Kampung Berok in Google Map)
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| The isolation area. Usang sangat! Anak nakal boleh tinggalkan kat sini :p |
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| The biggest sleeping Buddha |
Baca mitos menarik tentang Kampung Jambu
di sini.
Wat Machimmaram
Kampung Jubakar (this one is easy to find in Google Map)
Kalau tadi Buddha tidur, kat sini Buddha dah bangun. This is the home of sitting Buddha.
Luas tempat ni :)
Wat Phikulthong Vararam
Kampung Terbak (search 'Wat Phikulthong Tumpat' in Google Map)
Duduk lama-lama pun penatkan? Here you can find standing Buddha and a lot other statues. There's a pond in the area. Saw a big catfish in there along with a gang of tortoises who quickly ran into the water as I approached.
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| Keli goreng keli goreng~ Err... ke haruan tu? |
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| Nampak? Laju je dia lari. First I approached ada 5-6 ekor tengah lepak. |
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| Second approach. Yang lain masih menyorok dalam air. |
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| Ni Ganesh ke? Apa dia buat kat wat Buddha, I tak tahu |
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| Climb up the stairs a bit. Jangan malas! |
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| Elephant slim jaga donation box :) |
This is my favourite wat of all! Yang lain banyak anjing but this one macam tak ada. Don't worry, the dogs won't disturb you but janganlah you pergi belai-belai pula. Macam sakit kurap je kebanyakannya.
***
Selesai jalan-jalan tengok wat, bergegas (chewah hyperbole) ke Pantai Sri Tujuh konon-konon nak catch sunset. Upon arriving, I realised that it wasn't a good place to take pics of sunset because:
1. Too crowded
2. The sun sets on the other side where there's no ocean
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| Dilarang mandi tapi ada je yang berenang |
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| Horse riding is among the activities you can do here |
You can choose to eat here if you want. Seafood mainly. Mom said we've eaten here before but I couldn't remember. Perhaps it wasn't so crowded back then.
New resorts are in progress and there's a bigger beach nearby an area where people sells food, kain batik (yang nak buat baju tu, of all places tepi pantai!), etc. Maybe to cater the tourists who are staying there and don't want to travel to Kota Bharu.
***
Curiosity satisfied, we went to Pengkalan Chepa for what else, FOOD! Our destination-
Restoran By-T Laksam Special.
Taste - #iLike
Price - RM9.30 for 1 plate of laksam special, 1 plate of laksam and 2 drinks
Ambiance - Kedai atap zinc tepi jalan (by the roadside) tapi sebab datang malam, tak panaslah! Haha.
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| This is my no vege laksam. Don't judge. Sedap still~ |
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| and this is 'special' version with telur puyuh and serunding |
It is closed on Saturdays and operation hour is between 2.00 pm until 10.30 pm. If you got sesat because you kena #TrickedbyWaze like me, you'll ended up near a workshop. There's a futsal court signboard nearby. Keep calm and make a u-turn and go across the bridge again. Turn left at the first intersection (simpang empat) and look out for the restaurant on your left.
Baca review
Kedai Makan Best di Kelantan.
P.s. Right next to Restoran By-T Laksam there's another restaurant selling nasi kukus, nasi lemak and nasi kaumok (nasi untuk orang gemuk. I asked the seller but she couldn't explain to me so I don't care I'm making up my own story). Anyway, get the nasi kukus and ayam berempah. Dia punya sedap, I finished it before I could snap a picture :p
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