KB Photo Walk

The famous Pasar Siti KhadijahOne peculiar thing about KB during my stay there was the gorgeous weather during the day, but it will start to rain late afternoon, making evening stroll during the golden hour a bit of a challenge. I decided to take my camera out during the late morning instead but unfortunately time was tight and I only had a couple of hours on my hands on the Monday morning for a walk.

There were quite a few places to visit reading through the various blogs. The ones I wanted to visit was definitely the famous Pasar Siti Khadijah - not for the shopping I must add - the War Memorial, the State Museum and Islamic Museum. Unfortunately time was tight, I plotted a round route taking me to the Memorial, Pasar then the State Museum.

Can't remember what this was called, but it was partially run down alreadyThe War Museum basically chronicled the struggle during the Japanese occupation. The materials were decent, plenty to read and ponder, even though there was not much in terms of exhibits. The ground floor was mainly on the World War while on the first floor, there were rooms housing royal mementos and the such. Took me close to 45 minutes to read through. Realising I was running out of time, I headed straight for Pasar Siti Khadijah.

Remember staying at this hotel during my first trip to KB back in 1988The Pasar - or market - was unique in the sense that it was under a big dome, and the majority of the sellers were Malay ladies. It has a central wet market, while the two upper floors mainly do packed food and clothes. If you were into clothes, you should check out Pasar Buloh Kubu next door instead. But be prepared to haggle. Make sure you have a local with you since the moment you open your mouth, people can tell if you’re from Kelantan or not - 50% discount if you were local trust me!

If you read websites or brochures about Kota Bharu, Pasar Siti Khadijah would definitely be a feature. From a vantage point on the second floor, you can see all the business taking place, a neat place to snap photos. It was too conspicuous of me to carry my dSLR walking around the market snapping picture on my own, so I stayed at the vantage point instead.

Puan Anita's favourite makan place in KB - Sun Two and Hoover

The Kelantan State MuseumNext was a quick stride across town to the State Museum, passing rows of old storefront, and Hotel Temenggung. I think I must have stayed there in 1988 on my first trip with my Mum to Kota Bharu. The hotel still looked the same. In front of the museum was a round-about with a newly built clock tower right in the middle. The museum was showing an exhibit on snakes - which was a hit amongst the local. I could see schoolbus-load of students coming through the entrance as I was making my way in. The locals - at least their children were pretty mesmerised by snakes. The exhibit was rather corny when I learned that part of the draw was a lady sitting in a glass room full of poisonous snakes - “Gadis dengan Ular Berbisa”. I switched off after that. I was hoping more on historical account of the state, wau bulan, gasing, wayang kulit and the likes.

My two hours was up. I had to go to Pengkalan Chepa for lunch right after, followed by a drive to Rantau Panjang for more shopping.

Grand Riverview

In the numerous occasion we been to visit Kota Bharu, we stayed at Perdana and Renaissance. This was the second time we stayed at Grand Riverview. The reason? They do a nice suite with a connecting door to the maids’ room. Solved a lot of the hassle. In terms of service, Perdana won hands down. In terms of food, definitely Renaissance - the do a grand breakfast spread and the Chinese restaurant, Four Seasons was not half bad, albeit on the expensive side. Apparently Perdana has been under renovation for the best part of a couple of years now. The last time we stayed there was back in 2005. Therefore the decision on where to stay was pretty straight forward.

The front facadeThe main sitting areaUnfortunately, apart from the generous room, the amenities were pretty basic. Room service menu were spelt out on a single sheet of paper. They have three main food joints - a lounge, a buffet restaurant (where breakfast was served) and a Chinese restaurant, which was a far cry from Four Seasons - yes, we ate there the evening before we left. My Dad-in-law invited his family for a meal. Suffice to say we were a tad disappointed.

From the bedroom, looking into the living room, then straight on onto the maid's roomIrfan with his tea - biscuits and honey - posh boy!Idlan by the sink the spacious bathroomBreakfast and buffet spread was adequate - if you know what I mean. They have a swimming pool, with a separate wading pool for children. There was a also gym - don’t expect me to check them out. But enough of the negativity. The room was very comfortable. The suite we had has a small dining area, a sitting area, connected to the room next door, where our maids stayed. Then there was the bedroom and a comfortable bathroom. The bedroom only had a king’s bed, which mean I’ll be either sleeping on the floor or the sitting room. TV channels - the usual terrestrials, plus ESPN and movie channel. There were also a couple of vision4 channels. Broadband? Apparently there are wifi, but I can’t get them to work on my Mac. Therefore I use my E71 as a wifi base station instead.

TV timeOrdering in some sweets - sea coconut and loghan in syrupIrfan doing some art. I ended up completing it for him.Location? The hotel is actually within walking distance from Pasar Buluh Kubu - as I will mention later on my bit about the walk about town. It was located as the name suggests by the Kelantan River Bank. Unfortunately, the river was being dredged and therefore was orange and dirty. As the rooms were facing the river to the west, the sunset were quite brilliant. Apparently there are occasional barbecue by the pool with the patron enjoying the sunset. Unfortunately that did not happen during our stay. The room fees include breakfast for two. Will we come hear again? If the room were maintained to the current standard, most definitely. You can always enjoy the food outside. After all, this is Kelantan, where the food were gorgeous if you know where to look. 

The picture will not be complete without the two boys running around in the lobbyIrfan enjoying some down time by the poolThe hotel is located Jalan Post Office Lama,  Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Tel: 609-743 9988. Website: http://www.grh.com.my/

Wedding in KB

The main event for the trip to KB was to attend a wedding. Wedding of Puan Anita’s cousin. Marrying another one of her cousin. Confused? Well, we were as well. The crowd had to be split into two, so that some remain at the house with the bride, while the other half with the groom!

This way

Anyhow, weather was gorgeous. Food was gorgeous. Bride was gorgeous. Everything went well. Irfan had some sniffles after the flight in, so we served him some flu medication. He was out for 3 hours while the wedding was going on. Less drama! The akad ceremony was held at the bride’s house earlier in the morning. After a short break, it was the actual wedding feast.

The Qadi doing the akadThe groom in Malay traditional dressLater in the after noon, the groom came for the bersandingThe bride at bersandingThe MC for the day belting out some local favouritesThe theme was blue, which was just as well as the boys were both in blue, so was Puan Anita. My batik had a shade - well, a couple of stripes of blue - so that was OK. There were a few tradition that I was not familiar with - we had Perak and Penang ceremony for my wedding. For example, rather than bertepung tawar, the visitors came over, dropped some cash on a collection vessel and embrace the host. The bersanding and all the rest were I was quite familiar with. Hmm! I should study more wedding I think - the real ones. The ones held in the kampongs with all the traditional regalia rather than the pseudo-modern ones held in KL at big hotels with Western-style reception. There’s so much to learn ….

KB - the flight out

Idlan at the loungeTruth be told, that was the boys first ever flight. We were all apprehensive. Puan Anita was not keen to endure the now -dreaded 10 hour drive from Kuala Lumpur to KB. By he time we reach Bentong, we were tearing our hair out already. A couple of our cousin’s were getting married - yes, to each other. Gulp! Therefore we had no excuse but to return to KB. It was doubly nice to make the journey to visit the extended family before Puasa as well.

Idlan with his Tok AbahGrumpy travellerAfter finishing my clinic on the Friday morning, I made the short hop to KL Sentral via taxi, checked the boys in, and took the ERL to KLIA. The boys were EXTREMELY excited. I sat with Irfan while Puan Anita had Idlan with her. My father-in-law also took the same flight. Weather was great. We got them stuffed at the lounge, and they had some more food and attention by the stewardesses on the flight. It was a smooth one. No drama. In fact, Irfan cannot stop chatting through-out. The whole cabin can hear his voice.

So, what was Adik up to? - Ferraro RocherHow about Abang? - More Ferraro RocherWe reached KB just before 4pm, and quickly settled into our hotel room. My mum-in-law came by road with the maids, and they arrived just before 5pm. Perfect timing. The boys quickly got themselves acquainted with the facilities. After tea, he went out later that evening for dinner at one of our auntie’s house. Food and Kelantan has always been great friends - so, needless to say, the food was gorgeous - we had nasi ulam that evening among other things.

Idlan with his first ever boarding passDid the boys retire early that evening? - No way!