Abah and Mummy had wanted to make a return visit to the Islamic City and when I heard of it, I decided to come along to ensure they are all right. So I headed back to Ampang on Saturday (but not before stopping en route at KLCC; it seemed as if the whole Klang Valley had descended upon KLCC that Saturday) for our flight out was on early Sunday morning.
I was in KB (it wasn’t a city yet then) last with my friends. We had just finished our week-long orientation programme at Seri Kluang Camp in Besut and decided to follow the majority of other fellow students to the Islamic City by bus and back to KL from there. I can still remember us arriving at the bus station and being approached by a cab driver. He looked at me (I had yet to don the scarf then), smiled and asked, ‘You want to go to town?’, yes in those very words. I stared back at him uncomprehendingly and wondered, ‘Why is he talking to me in English?’. As if he heard my thought, he repeated his question, ‘You want to go to town?’ I would have remained there confused until one friend replied yes, we did indeed want to go to town. She then turned to me and said, ‘He must have thought you a Chinese.’ I wasn’t insulted but I couldn’t help wondering why the cabbie specifically directed his questions to me when I was with my friends. And I hope it’s not the same anywhere else: that service providers don’t just single out those who don’t look local (even if they are) at the expense of the others. But we know some salespeople prefer to serve Caucasians (even though they are shabbily dressed) and ignore local customers.
Anyway, back to the present day. We touched down at 0830 (so imagine what time we left home for the airport!) and took a cab to our hotel. After dropping our bags at the concierge, we walked over to Laman Siti Khadijah for breakfast. Then we entered the Siti Khadijah Central Market and spent some time there. This central market is abuzz with local produce at the ground floor; dry food (fish crackers, dried fish, anchovies, meat floss, chicken floss, fish floss, dodol etc) on the first floor; and handicraft and clothing items on the second floor. The traders are mainly women and boy, are they entrepreneurial. It was also a bit hot in there so make sure you go there early to pick your bargains. And, yes, bargaining is a must!
We left around noon and went back to the hotel. Had lunch at the hotel and guess where and what we had for lunch. No, not nasi dagang (red glutinous rice served with mackerel dish and a mixture of vegetables), not nasi kerabu (multi-coloured rice dish served with fresh vegetables and fish), and not even laksam (rice flour served with coconut gravy and fresh vegetables)... but we had dim sum lunch at the hotel’s Seasons Chinese Restaurant! The dim sum was good though and our fellow patrons were mainly Kelantanese Chinese who speak very fluent Kelantanese dialect, that if you don’t look up, you’d probably think it was the local Malays conversing to each other.
After checking in, we rested before going out in the evening to get dinner. This time, we bought nasi dagang and also some local delicacies. It rained very heavily shortly after so we missed the sunset over the Kelantan River. I had to ask my mate to update me on the F1 and Arsenal-Juventus match as there’s no Star Sports in the hotel room. She replied to say it was good of me to visit KB especially as I supposedly always go abroad. Replied back to say that I had been to KB before besides Kuching and KK (I’ve covered all states in Malaysia, alhamdulillah). And KB is AirAsia’s eighth most popular destination after KK, Kuching, Langkawi, Bangkok, Jakarta, Macau and Bali; and it is more popular than Shenzhen and Phuket.
On Monday, we left the hotel after breakfast and walked to Buluh Kubu Bazaar (selling mainly batik materials). I detoured briefly to Bank Pitis at Padang Bank, near The Grand Place (Istana Balai Besar). Then I went to Istana Jahar (a traditional and cultural museum – I didn’t go in though) and Masjid Muhammadi (the state mosque). It was getting very hot already and it was only 10 in the morning! So I rejoined Mummy and Abah and we went to the Central Market (yes, again). I parted with quite a bit of dosh here today. We also had mid-morning meal and lunch at the food court of the market. Vegetarians would have problems finding food though as a lot of dishes have meat (or bones) in it. If you like rice, there are a lot of heavy dishes such as big, fried prawns and cuttlefish and animal organs. The drinks stalls do not sell Coke, they prefer Pepsi: the choice of a new generation (I was tempted to buy a can bearing Fàbregas even though I don’t drink carbonated drink). We had to take a cab back to the hotel (the driver was handicapped, he had a stump where there should be his left hand) because we’d really spurred the local economy today!
That evening, I walked around alone and took some pictures. There were quite a few Caucasians around the city and I was pleased to note that they were brave (or curious?) enough to explore the city (and I know some Malaysians who have yet to set foot in the state, what more the city!). After traipsing around, I headed back to the hotel and relaxed by the pool area with my novel. Wanted to catch the sunset but alas, it was a hazy evening.
On Tuesday, I made another trip to the market area, to pick up my bangle which I sent for repair on Sunday. If you don’t already know, there are a lot of goldsmiths in KB (as in KT) and the price of gold in the East Coast is much lower than that in KL. I understand this is because the two states have their own price for gold and they do not adhere to the price fixed at the federal level (so you can imagine how powerful and rich the East Coast goldsmiths are). And the repair cost me a fraction (15%!) of what the goldsmith at Ampang Point quoted me!
Rushed back to the hotel and checked out. Had lunch at a nearby stall... like I said, vegetarians would have problems eating in Kelantan! Then we relaxed at the hotel lobby before taking a cab to the airport for our afternoon flight home.
To the tune of Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Go West’:
(Go East) Life is peaceful there
(Go East) In the open air
(Go East) Where the skies are blue
(Go East) This is what we’re gonna do
So, what are you waiting for? Go pack your bags and travel! (And not just explore the travel brochures!)
I was in KB (it wasn’t a city yet then) last with my friends. We had just finished our week-long orientation programme at Seri Kluang Camp in Besut and decided to follow the majority of other fellow students to the Islamic City by bus and back to KL from there. I can still remember us arriving at the bus station and being approached by a cab driver. He looked at me (I had yet to don the scarf then), smiled and asked, ‘You want to go to town?’, yes in those very words. I stared back at him uncomprehendingly and wondered, ‘Why is he talking to me in English?’. As if he heard my thought, he repeated his question, ‘You want to go to town?’ I would have remained there confused until one friend replied yes, we did indeed want to go to town. She then turned to me and said, ‘He must have thought you a Chinese.’ I wasn’t insulted but I couldn’t help wondering why the cabbie specifically directed his questions to me when I was with my friends. And I hope it’s not the same anywhere else: that service providers don’t just single out those who don’t look local (even if they are) at the expense of the others. But we know some salespeople prefer to serve Caucasians (even though they are shabbily dressed) and ignore local customers.
Anyway, back to the present day. We touched down at 0830 (so imagine what time we left home for the airport!) and took a cab to our hotel. After dropping our bags at the concierge, we walked over to Laman Siti Khadijah for breakfast. Then we entered the Siti Khadijah Central Market and spent some time there. This central market is abuzz with local produce at the ground floor; dry food (fish crackers, dried fish, anchovies, meat floss, chicken floss, fish floss, dodol etc) on the first floor; and handicraft and clothing items on the second floor. The traders are mainly women and boy, are they entrepreneurial. It was also a bit hot in there so make sure you go there early to pick your bargains. And, yes, bargaining is a must!
We left around noon and went back to the hotel. Had lunch at the hotel and guess where and what we had for lunch. No, not nasi dagang (red glutinous rice served with mackerel dish and a mixture of vegetables), not nasi kerabu (multi-coloured rice dish served with fresh vegetables and fish), and not even laksam (rice flour served with coconut gravy and fresh vegetables)... but we had dim sum lunch at the hotel’s Seasons Chinese Restaurant! The dim sum was good though and our fellow patrons were mainly Kelantanese Chinese who speak very fluent Kelantanese dialect, that if you don’t look up, you’d probably think it was the local Malays conversing to each other.
After checking in, we rested before going out in the evening to get dinner. This time, we bought nasi dagang and also some local delicacies. It rained very heavily shortly after so we missed the sunset over the Kelantan River. I had to ask my mate to update me on the F1 and Arsenal-Juventus match as there’s no Star Sports in the hotel room. She replied to say it was good of me to visit KB especially as I supposedly always go abroad. Replied back to say that I had been to KB before besides Kuching and KK (I’ve covered all states in Malaysia, alhamdulillah). And KB is AirAsia’s eighth most popular destination after KK, Kuching, Langkawi, Bangkok, Jakarta, Macau and Bali; and it is more popular than Shenzhen and Phuket.
On Monday, we left the hotel after breakfast and walked to Buluh Kubu Bazaar (selling mainly batik materials). I detoured briefly to Bank Pitis at Padang Bank, near The Grand Place (Istana Balai Besar). Then I went to Istana Jahar (a traditional and cultural museum – I didn’t go in though) and Masjid Muhammadi (the state mosque). It was getting very hot already and it was only 10 in the morning! So I rejoined Mummy and Abah and we went to the Central Market (yes, again). I parted with quite a bit of dosh here today. We also had mid-morning meal and lunch at the food court of the market. Vegetarians would have problems finding food though as a lot of dishes have meat (or bones) in it. If you like rice, there are a lot of heavy dishes such as big, fried prawns and cuttlefish and animal organs. The drinks stalls do not sell Coke, they prefer Pepsi: the choice of a new generation (I was tempted to buy a can bearing Fàbregas even though I don’t drink carbonated drink). We had to take a cab back to the hotel (the driver was handicapped, he had a stump where there should be his left hand) because we’d really spurred the local economy today!
That evening, I walked around alone and took some pictures. There were quite a few Caucasians around the city and I was pleased to note that they were brave (or curious?) enough to explore the city (and I know some Malaysians who have yet to set foot in the state, what more the city!). After traipsing around, I headed back to the hotel and relaxed by the pool area with my novel. Wanted to catch the sunset but alas, it was a hazy evening.
On Tuesday, I made another trip to the market area, to pick up my bangle which I sent for repair on Sunday. If you don’t already know, there are a lot of goldsmiths in KB (as in KT) and the price of gold in the East Coast is much lower than that in KL. I understand this is because the two states have their own price for gold and they do not adhere to the price fixed at the federal level (so you can imagine how powerful and rich the East Coast goldsmiths are). And the repair cost me a fraction (15%!) of what the goldsmith at Ampang Point quoted me!
Rushed back to the hotel and checked out. Had lunch at a nearby stall... like I said, vegetarians would have problems eating in Kelantan! Then we relaxed at the hotel lobby before taking a cab to the airport for our afternoon flight home.
To the tune of Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Go West’:
(Go East) Life is peaceful there
(Go East) In the open air
(Go East) Where the skies are blue
(Go East) This is what we’re gonna do
So, what are you waiting for? Go pack your bags and travel! (And not just explore the travel brochures!)
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