Choo Chin Hin

I didn't know much about this bakery. But the facade was inviting. If I was in a group, I would have lingered around, talk to the manager and possibly took picture of the bakery in action. As it was, I didn't even carry the local accent. No chance of me slipping in. I was really keen to find out a bit more.

The bakery and the store sat next door to each otherEverything was freshly baked

Maybe when I returned to the hotel, I would Google the bakery. As for then, I went in, baught a loaf and snapped some picture. They didn't seem to mind.

* Ed - Googling done. Apparently the place has been up since after the war, and one of Tun Mahathir's favourite bakery. And he went on to start The Loaf chain. So, go figure!

The bakery looked like it was a throwback from the 70s. Even before noon, the place was already packed and some of the items were already sold out.

This lady sells fresh wet noodles at the shop

The half dozen slice of bread was already in my tummy now .......

More entries on the trip here.

A Walk in Town

The weather was nice and I have a couple of hours to kill. 10 am on a Monday morning and in was on leave. My camera was with me and Pasar Siti Khadijah was only 10 minutes away by foot.

Off I went without much hesitation.

The traffic in the morning was quite happy. I walked past the bus terminal, made a right turn and before I knew it, I was already at one of the entrances of the unmistakeable facade of the market.

It was the day before Aidil Adha, and I wasn't expecting the place to be crowded. But minis the crowd, I felt that place lost some of its photogenicity. I managed to squeeze out some decent photographs but ,in us the crowd people were aware that in was snapping at them.

I hung around for about half an hour, before deciding to head put to Bazaar Buluh Kubu next door. Again, my timing was bad. I was too early.

It was around 11 and only a handful of the shops were opened. Colourful, but again minus the crowd, I couldn't slip in to take photographs.

The sun was really high by now, and I took some time taking in the cityscape. They still have plenty of old buildings built after the war at the city center. Mostly built with art deco influence most needed refurbishments. The area around the bus terminal caught my eyes. And one particular bakery was calling me in.

More about the bakery later. As for now, let's just enjoy the snap and the ambiance.

Link to the photowalk slideshow can be seen here. More write-ups from the whole trip here.

A Look at the Pool

After breakfast, I decided to walk around the pool. I then realised that the hotel was actually quite small. They had a pool just by the coffee house where I had breakfast. And the pool was pretty big considering the size of the hotel.

From the 9th floor while I was waiting for the liftA long children pool separated from the main

It was just after 8 in the morning and already some family were already coming down to have a quick swim. My boys didn't bring their attire. I wasn't sure if they were keen to get wet later today.

The maximum depth on the adult side was 1.25m. The children area was more of a wading pool but it went the full length of the main pool. I reckon it must be around 25m from one end to the other. I was sure my boys would really appreciate it.

Nice deck chairsMore decks on the sideI doubt that many people were using the showerEven if the boys decided against coming down, I wouldn't mind going in there alone.

More entries here.

Breakfast Time

I had a restful night last night. The boys were already in bed by 10.30, tired of course from running around all afternoon. We took our dinner with relatives at the coffee house by the lobby, too tired to go out last night.

The boys became restless soon after leaving me having to babysit them at the room - they enjoyed the room. Anita spent some time with her family after dinner.

As usual, always the morning person, I woke up early and was among the first to turn up for breakfast. The breakfast was very decent. The chef - called Chef John, not sure if he's Malay or not - created a good spread. The omelette was great. So was the selection of pastries and Western hot food. But when it came to local selection - I tried the nasi berlauk - it wasn't pretty. In fact, best to avoid it.

Kelantan was always associated with their hearty breakfast. I reckon they should employ a local cook just for the local breakfast here. It would've made plenty of difference ....

More write-ups on the trip here.

Changed Gua Musang

Gua Musang had certainly looked a lot different from what I remembered going back 4 years. A lot of new development. Gone were the greeneries around the main town, now with new houses and shops being built.

The train station still looked the same. Getting into the town centre was difficult though. There actually was a long queue. Best to stop at the shops in the surrounding area by the main road. And that was what we did after struggling to find a parking spot in town.

The old train station remained the sameRows of new shopsAs customary in Kelantan, the food was fantastic. I was hungry as well as I had breakfast before 6 am. It was around 11 when we reached Gua Musang and I could eat a horse.

From the signposts, they would have a KFC soon. There was already a cpouple of 7-Elevens. The place had certainly changed .....

Links from the trip here.