I just came back from my 5-day holiday from Malaysia - Pahang - Kuantan. It is the hometown of Ann Lee. She has been inviting me to visit her hometown since hmmm Poly? Since she was going back for a short trip, I think it's a good opportunity to take time off and relax. Hehe. (Also to escape from work)
She was going to study NUS soon so this trip back was to go back and relax before starting her new semester in August. SOOO GOOD! I WANT TO STUDY!!! (This is call PEER PRESSURE lol)
I think I will not be uploading the photos yet since Photobucket has been giving me problems now! Any recommendations to change to other free image hosting?
DAY 1 - Thur
Woke up at 7am in the morning. Left home at 7.30am. My father drove me to ICA Building where I will be meeting Ann Lee there. Took a short bus trip to the Bus Terminal where we were supposed to board the bus. The bus left the terminal at 9am. I can tell you that I've been eating junk food while in the bus. Potato chips, the famous fried Seaweed...my hotdog bread and ann's hot dog bread.
The bus stopped at a very old cafeteria for us to eat our lunch. I alight the bus and headed for the toilet! Haha. Ann lee and I decided not to eat at that place because the cafeteria looks old and dirty (who knows maybe you might get a stomachache).
The bus continued its journey. We talked, eat, read magazines and had a short nap to pass time. Finally we have reached our destination. It was around 5~6pm. Ann called his dad to come and fetch us back to her home.
Before we head for home, they went to a pasar malam to buy some food and had a cooling drink. Ann said the food was nice there. I bought Char Kuay Tiao for takeaway and Ann's mum bought Asam Laksa back for all of us to enjoy.
Ann Lee's parents look REALLY young. She said his dad was already reaching 70s. I was quite impressed that he's still as strong as 50s.
We reached Ann's home, dropped our luggage, had our food (it was definitely more tasty than Singapore)before heading for the beach which is only a 10min journey via Car. Ann Lee drove me there and I was so awed by the beach. The beach name is called "Telok Cempedak". It was sooo nice! (If you compare to East Coast Park, *shake head* it was sooo much beautiful there!)
There were monkeys loitering around that area and the place was so peaceful. I wish I could just sit there the whole day enjoying the ocean waves as if I'm in heaven. haha.
Ann and I was sitting on the bench, talking about what most of us will be discussing, our future.
Went back and had our dinner. Took a bath and stayed in the room with the fan facing me while drying my hair. We sort of stayed up until 12 midnight before heading for the bed.
DAY 2 - Fri
Probably it's because of the fatigue from the 7hr long bus trip, we slept until 12 noon before we woke up. Had some biscuits and milk tea for breakfast. After that, Ann brought me to a shopping centre to shop for some items for my "DEAR ORANGE". Bought earrings and a pair of sandals. Went to a shop looking for tops and I quite liked this long white and black striped sleeveless knitted cardigan sort. Was quite tempted to buy but after the shopkeeper told me is "89.90RM", I kindly told her "thank you" and passed the item back to her. Out of a sudden, the lights suddenly went out, probably an electric short circuit. It seems that only a few shops were affected.
Ann's mother went with us and bought a 912 sliver necklace and a pendant which cost around 100RM after bargaining with the lady.
FACT: All kuantan residents speaks Cantonese. As a Hokkien, most of the time, I can only guess what they are saying. But throughout, I'm sort of listening to 98% Cantonese and 2% Chinese. Of course if you speak to them in Chinese, they will definitely reply to you in Chinese.
It almost evening when we reached home from our shopping. I saw that there's alot of tents set up like a Pasar Malam around the vicinity. People were selling Ice Kachang, Bread, Snacks etc... Ann told me that the Pasar Malam was set up every friday. So I guess if you are lazy to travel very far to get your dinner, the Pasar Malam is just across the street for you to buy your dinner. Ann Lee and I toured around the Pasar Malam. Bought soybean drinks, almond jelly and a tapioca snack. It was so fun!
Pasar Malam which is just across the street. Shot using my k800i sony errisson 3mgp camera. Hehe.
After that, we went to Ann Lee's auntie house because her aunt was also selling food to earn some pocket money. She cooked curry, glutinous rice, noodle etc. It was so interesting. You do not need to pay any rental fee, you won't get caught by the police for selling food at your home. I wish I can also do that haha.
This is their food stall. So convenient!
Her auntie also sold this fried food called "Jiu Cai Gao". It was very tasty.
Frying "Jiu Cai Gao" just outside the porch. Not sure who she is. Haha. Probably is her auntie's relative?
Another close shot of her frying.
We end up sitting behind the food stall waiting for customers to come. People passed by, cars passed by. I told Ann Lee that it will be better if her auntie could put up a sign to tell people what we are selling since alot of people don't really dare to approach the stall unless you called out to them.
TO ORANGE: If you are wondering who Ann Lee is, you can see her in the photos. Hehe.
All of us sitting outside, waiting for customers. This is ann lee's side view ^^
To be continued.... (The photobucket is making my blood boil. Takes more than 10min to upload a photo!!!!!) WTH!!! Can anyone recommend a better Image Hosting Site?
CONTINUED
We ended up sitting outside until it was time for dinner. Ann's father drove us to eat their famous "Bak Ku Teh". The place was air-conditioned and clean. Wah, it was the tastiest ever Bak Ku Teh I've ever eaten. Even while I was writing this blog, I can still remember the taste haha. The broth was so nice!! And the reason why it's called Bak Ku Teh is because you drink Chinese Tea after eating! So many herbs and spices inside this broth. I can't help but keep drinking the soup haha.
After that we went back, took a bath and stayed in the room reading my comic book before going to bed.
DAY 3 - Saturday
Another day has passed. Ann's parents has already planned the trip for today. Woke up quite early where we went off again to eat some good food for breakfast / lunch (since it's already 10-11am). Halfway through, we stopped at a supermarket which sells Kuantan's localties, Cuttlefish for me to bring home. Ann recommended those that I should buy and I proceed to the counter and pay.
Something that bugs me is the worker in that shop keeps following me around whenever I go! It's so frustrating. Ann said it is normal here since they are afraid of you "stealing" their things *eyes rolling*.
The items total up to costs $43RM as so I've heard. Gave the cashier 50RM and she gave me back 30+RM. I thought I heard wrongly, it was maybe only 23RM? So I just took the change and went off.
Off we go to this Wanton Noodle Stall for our breakfast. The noodle was hand-made by the owner of the shop and it's really very different from what I eat in singapore. They called it the Fuzhou Wanton Noodle. Tasty!
Then off again we went to our next destination, the popular beach in Pahang, Cherating Beach. For those who are planning to coming Cherating Beach can consider the resort there called "Club Med".
Before heading for the beach, we went to this "Turtle Sanctuary" housed in a Malay House. We have to take off our shoes before entering the place. It was like a muesuem which told alot about turtles and how they protected the turtle eggs before releasing them to the beach. Interesting.
Ann's father wanted to help us take a photo at the place but the camera kept turning off when he pressed the shoot button. (Somemore the 2 AA batteries inside was newly bought.)
After an educational tour, off we went to the beach. Wow! Another beautiful beach. So clean and nice. The water is so blue and the sand so clean. I was awed by it. Because it was about noon so it was kinda hot and luckily I brought my re-movable shades which I can simply just slide into my specs. We were playing with the waters because it felt soooo cooling with the water splashing our feets.
One of ann's sandals got washed off by the waves. In the end, she was walking with only 1 sandal and the other bare-footed. After that we went back home to have a rest.
After having a rest, we went to a nearby hawker centre for lunch. Ate Char Kuay Teow and a cooling desert. After that, went back, rest again before heading to another shopping centre to buy Ann's Shoes.
The shopping centre was so full of Malays...The clothes and the Accessories were...Ahem..not really my taste. Ann and I was almost shopping from the 3rd level to the 1st level without finding any nice shoes that she wanted.
Finally we came across this shop and saw this pair of shoes which both of us were aiming haha (we sort of have the same taste). She tried it on, she thinks this is the best design we can find in this shopping centre so she bought it. She also bought a bag whereas for me I only bought so food at watsons.
Went back home, rest awhile and it's time for dinner! We are going to eat out. Went to eat what we call here "Zhi Cha (hokkien)". They have ordered 5 dishes for all of us (including Ann's auntie and husband) and again I want to reiterate, it was tasty! I think I'm probably tired of eating the food in Singapore.
I always told Ann, "In Singapore, YOU EAT FOR THE SAKE OF EATING, in malaysia, YOU EAT TO ENJOY. Haha, guys do you agree?
Wow. I was damm full with so many dishes to enjoy. Went back with a bloated stomach haha. Returned to Ann's room and rest. Took a bath before continuing reading my comic. How I wish I can do that in Singapore....Haiz...So peacful..No distraction...No Computer, no TV, just me enjoying my comic peacfully. Ahh..Lol
DAY 4 - Sunday
This is the last day where I will be staying here because I will be leaving on Monday. Ann's dad brought us to see Nature's creation, the Waterfall. I'm not sure of the name but it's definitely in Pahang. We went very deep inside the forest. It was like going for a hiking trip, so interesting. Finally, we reached the destination. We were shocked that there is an entrance fee of 4RM per person to enter. =.= What the... Nowadays, people are really good at earning $$$. Heard that last time entrance was free...
Parked the car and off we went to look for the waterfall, there are alot of locals who went there to play like you were going to the beach for picnic. After crossing the rocky path, we finally saw the Waterfall! What magnificent view God has created. Haha. (The photos were with Ann so I can't really post it). You really have to be there to experience it! We went closer and closer to the waterfall. People were wetting themselves below the waterfall. How I wish I can do that too because the weather was quite humid. But be careful, the water force can be very strong so you might not want to stand directly below the gushing water. (One guy did that and he quickly "SIAM" and he was showing expressions of pain in his shoulder haha)
I think this is the best part because I have not really seen a REAL WATERFALL BEFORE, considering that the waterfall at Jurong Bird Park was man-made.
After that, we continued our trip to a temple which Ann's parents said was very famous and it was sort of a tourist attraction.
Ok, we've reached the place and we saw this entrance with a very long path shaped like a dragon's body. We were now at the dragon's end. So we were supposed to walk this "dragon's body" to reach its "head" before we can see the temple. It was definitely a long walk, took us about 15-30 min before reaching the temple.
After that, we bought the joss sticks, incense paper and start praying to all the god statues around the temple vicinity. I was very very confused as to where I should start from. You can see my blur blur face there because I have not really done this myself before. Normally, I will just follow what my mum does. Now it's like I'm doing this on my own. Luckily I was able to complete everything with the help from one of the helpers in the temple haha.
Went back home, took a rest again before heading for the Telok Chempedak beach because I told Ann I wanted to take photos of the beach using my Sony Erricson k800i Cybershot camera (omg, haolian again). It was really a good phone camera which you are going to see now. (Please click to view larger image)
If you are planning to stay at a resort, this resort is a very nice place!
This is the artistic photo (yi shu zhao) that I took. I was quite happy with this photo haha. From this picture onwards, I decided to experiment with different shots haha to take nice "yi shu zhao". In the end, Ann and I was strolling along the beach, posing our camera here and there haha.
Haha. We deliberately stepped around before taking that photo!
Ann's new shoes and my the shoe I wore to Malaysia.
Another artistic shot. I collected the sand and some sea shells while strolling on the beach.
This is Ann at a distance. I took it without her knowing haha.
I really like this beach chair found at the resort so I took a photo of it!
As it was getting dark, we decided to went back home. After resting a while, we went to the hawker centre again to have our dinner. There's even a big projector screen showing the TV show (in cantonese) while we were eating in the open space. Nice!
After eating dinner, we went back home rest again before GOING OUT AGAIN HAHA. Because Ann is meeting her 2 friends at Macdonalds at Telok Chempedak Beach (we are back again) before we set off to Singapore on Monday.
They talked for about an hour plus. Most of the time her friend is talking NONSTOP about her work and office politics. I pity her when I heard that as a Programmer cum Manager her pay is only $2k plus (which converts to 1k Sing dollars). And SOMEMORE she only has 7 DAYS LEAVE working in a small company! And she said sometimes the company even DELAY THIER SALARY by only paying half the amount! .....Ok for this part, I think singapore is still the best haha.
Bid farewell before we went back home to sleep.
DAY 5 - Monday
I have made sure that I have not left anything behind. Took some photos of Ann's house.
This was taken on Saturday night. You can see all my stuff on the floor. Untidy right?
This is one of Ann's dad car (it's a honda city old model I think). They still have 2 more cars (1 proton wira and a jeep which his father used it to go for hunting.)
Brought all our luggage to the car boot and went to have breakfast. We had Pig intestine soup with kway teow. It may sound disgusting for some who don't eat pig intestine but the soup is really nice! I don't eat pigs' intestine too but I didn't know it's so tasty when it was boiled as a broth.
After that, Ann's father drove us to the bus terminal. A photo I took while on the bus. My Cawaii Magazine and my water bottle.
Oh yah, did I mention that a Monitor Lizard went inside Ann's house. It was quite big considering that the tail was very long. We all stood on the sofa and so terrified. Luckily Ann's dad was a hunter so this puny thing was nothing for him. He managed to grab it and drag it outside and erm..kill it. I was asking Ann that do we really need to kill that thing. Ann said she never in her lifetime living in this house saw something like this come in so she said I was very lucky. (erm lucky or unlucky I will just leave it aside, hehe)
I want to thank Ann's parents and Ann for taking care of me during the trip to Pahang. I have a very happy trip there!
P.s: Pardon my grammar and language I did not have time to check >.<
