39.5 Hours In The East Coast

I found out about my niece’s graduation ceremony the day before my trip to Alor Setar and spent some time that weekend searching for flights. Thankfully there was some offer on Firefly to encourage people to return home and cast their votes with the promotion period starting early so I managed to avail myself of the offer. I did have to reschedule my leave plan but all went well and clicked in place.

I had bought a graduation bear in early October and had pondered how I was going to bring flowers for my niece. Finally I decided to buy soap flowers (they last so much longer than fresh flowers for one!) and would be fragrant. After browsing Shopee, I placed an order and had the bouquet delivered to my colleague’s address so she could help bring it to the office. I then mulled how I was going to transport the bouquet to the airport. I browsed flower boxes sold by florists (they cost wayyy too much!) and had a brain wave when I was performing prayers (!) to used a recycled padded envelope. Sorted! I literally thought out of the box! Alhamdulillah!

I left the office on Thursday, 24 November 2022, early afternoon and made my way to KL Sentral. I then rode the empty 14:25 SkyPark Link train to Subang Airport. The bag drop process was surprisingly slow and I just about managed to drop off my bag before it was due to close (half an hour before ETD). I went in immediately and before long, we were called to board. The flight took off before its ETD and we landed into wet Kota Bharu an hour later. I took my time as my sister and family sans el nino were only arriving in an hour.

They arrived just before 18:00 and we drove off to Sabak for early dinner. After dinner, we drove to Jelawat, Bachok, where my sister had booked a homestay for the night. The new PM announced Monday as a holiday so I did try staying up a bit to finish some work but I was too sleepy, plus we had an early start the following morning anyway.

On Friday, 25 November 2022, I woke up early. We left at 07:20 and drove to the campus of UMK. Actually, only two guests were allowed in but as there were many empty seats towards the back of the hall, my other niece and I went in too. I continued my office work while my niece did her assignment while waiting for the ceremony to begin.

The ceremony started on time and it was not at all boring as there were brief breaks with some entertainment. It finished before noon and after taking photos, we left my niece there to catch up with her friends. We went for lunch first before dropping off my brother-in-law at a mosque near to the homestay. Then we returned to perform prayers and pack. My sister had to go and fetch my niece before the afternoon ceremony started.

We finally left the homestay at 14:25 and drove down to Terengganu. We stopped en route at Penarik Beach before having tea at a beachside restaurant. We reached the resort at Batu Buruk at 18:30. We stayed in and had lasagne and pizza for dinner.

On Saturday morning, my sister and brother-in-law sent me to the airport for my flight back to KL. The road leading to drawbridge was closed though so we had to make a long detour. I arrived just within minutes before the bag drop off counter closed.

We took off slightly earlier than ETD and landed just an hour later. Alhamdulillah for the rezeki to fly and for the good weather while we were there.

Niece's Birthday Weekend

I bought a ticket to Kota Bharu in early August for last weekend. My niece’s birthday is on 16 November so I decided to fly there after work on Friday, 15 November 2019, and fly back to KL the following afternoon. On 1 October, I received emails from Malaysia Airlines informing that my flights had been retimed to depart and return to KL later. Oh well...

I arrived at the office early on Friday and managed to get my boss to agree to my plan to work through lunch and leave before 15:00 for KL Sentral. I then bought the KLIA Ekspres ticket + GRAB ticket online and after working through lunch etc, I arranged for GRAB to come. The driver was efficient and we reached KL Sentral at 15:07. I caught the 15:20 train to KLIA and immediately made my way to domestic departure to my gate.

The flight took off late as we had to queue at the runway. We landed at 18:00 and I immediately rushed out of the plane, hurried through the building, exited the airport and went to the bus stop. The bus for the city arrived less than five minutes later and was I glad I hurried! I was the sole passenger, making me wonder if the bus was running on schedule or I happened to catch a bus not running its schedule. We arrived at the bus station in the city at about 18:35 and I walked to CityPoint. I had made a room booking there and my niece was already waiting. I rang the apartment contact person and he arrived a few seconds later and showed us to our room. And yes, it would have to be at the very end of the corridor!

We went out for dinner at 20:00 and decided to check out Sun Two. After dinner, we walked to Mydin before returning back to the room. It started raining after 22:00 but we were already in our room, safe and dry.

I had made an appointment with a spa for Saturday morning but the spa had to cancel our appointment. Strewth!

We woke up to an overcast Saturday and went out after 08:00 to find breakfast. In the end, we had it at a stall by the market. We then went to buy some local delicacies at the market before returning to the room. I contacted another spa but it was fully booked so I decided to return to the market to do some shopping. Yeah, I was meant to shop after all.
We left at 10:00 and after checking the bus schedule, made our way back to the market. I bought some batik sarong, some prayer attire and some prayer sarong. We were back in our room at 10:45. Whoever said girls take a long time to shop has obviously never shopped with me!

We checked out at noon and after leaving my bag and water bottle at the counter downstairs, we walked to Grand Riverview Hotel for dim sum lunch, my birthday treat to my niece. After lunch, we performed prayers then I left my niece in the lobby while I went for a short stroll along the river.

We left the hotel at 15:10 and walked to the bus station. I collected my bag and when we reached the bus station, the bus for the airport was already there. It was an old, slightly shorter bus than the buses I’d taken before in KB. The bus left 5 minutes before schedule and we got down near my niece’s student digs. I was shocked and speechless when I saw the living conditions. Two bunk beds and tall cabinets in my niece’s room (if I could call it that). I’d like to be a landlady there too because it’s easy money.

I left at 17:05 and my niece accompanied me half-way. The weather had indeed improved and it was such a hot afternoon. There were two other ladies at the bus stop and one of them told me the bus would arrive at 17:30. And what do you know, the bus did arrive at 17:30 and it took only a couple of minutes to reach the airport bus stop. So glad I decided to take the bus and not GRAB.

We took off on time and landed at 19:25. I hurried through the terminal and went to perform prayers before making my way to the bus station for the 20:00 bus back to KL Sentral. I could see that it had rained earlier in Sepang.

And it was raining when we reached KL Sentral! Whoa. I waited for 25 minutes for the bus and finally arranged a vehicle via MyCar. I arrived micasa at 21:40.

Until the next trip to KB then.

The Trip That Almost Didn’t Take Place

I had planned to visit my niece in Kota Bharu and after pondering over the calendar and asking her schedule, decided to visit her on International Women’s Day. I reluctantly decided to fly cattle airline because of the cost factor and decided to fly out on Friday afternoon.

I had to bring dad to Hospital Ampang for yet another check-up (February had been a challenging month. Maybe I’ll share that in another post) and it was a long drawn-out wait, first for the doctor, and then at the pharmacy. I was even told to go have a drink at the cafeteria first as the pharmacy was still waiting for the doctor to key in the medicine in the system before they could dispense it out. After some time, our number was called only to find that they wanted us to go up and inform the clinic that one medicine had yet to be entered into the system. I was not best pleased and hurried up to see the clinic counter where I was directed to see the doctor directly. All in all, it took way too long.

We finally left the hospital and I reached KL Sentral at 12:15, in time to board the 12:30 bus to KLIA2. We arrived an hour later but ditsy me overlooked to notice the boarding time. I knew my flight would depart at 14:20 and thought I had ample time to perform prayers. Well, when I left the prayer room, it was close to 14:00 but what with the queues to check our boarding pass and security clearance, it only dawned on me that I was running late. I ran to the gate and my goodness, the gates never seemed so far before (and my gate was changed from K12 to K18 so it was even further down wtf) but of course by the time  I reached the gate, the door was all locked and the boarding gate was empty.

I sat to assess my options. OK, there was another cattle flight after 16:00 or so but it would cost a whopping RM404 or so. And there was one by MAS costing RM434 or so. I next checked Malindo and there were two flights, one at 16:00 and another at 17:40. But my, the website was crawling. I then decided to return to the city and make my way to Subang Airport and buy my ticket on the way.

So I headed back (and maybe it was just me but the trek across the terminal seemed shorter compared to when I was trying to get to the blasted gate) and took KLIA Ekspres (gulp, karchinggg again!) back to KL Sentral. I finally managed to buy my Malindo ticket online. I chose the 17:40 flight as I doubted I would reach Subang SkyPark in time (I still had to check in at the airport and couldn’t check in online as the flight time was less than four hours). From KL Sentral, I decided I had enough time to take a bus which I did. It took a good hour to reach Subang SkyPark and I quickly went to check in for my flight.

I overheard the lady in front of me commenting about her flight being delayed to the bloke at the counter so when my turn came, I asked if the 16:00 flight was delayed. He said yes and I was relieved that I chose to fly the 17:40 flight. I only had some cereal for breakfast, a curry puff in the cab travelling from the Hospital and a small cereal bar thus far so decided to have some burger at KFC.

After that very late lunch/tea, I cleared security and went in to the boarding area. I was shocked to find that it was pouring torrentially. It was a good thing I arrived at Subang SkyPark when I did. Any delay and I would have to run in the rain from the bus stop to the terminal building. And similarly, I was glad I didn’t fork out money to ride SkyPark Link as there’s no shelter from the train station to the terminal.

My 17:40 was delayed to 18:00 then to 18:30. The rain raged on. A few other flights were also retimed. Finally, there were two flights to Kota Bharu: the first leaving at 18:20 and mine leaving 10 minutes later. The rain eventually eased and stopped and we were able to board. We finally took off at 18:50 and landed at Kota Bharu airport 65 minutes later. My niece was already waiting and we called for a Grab ride.

We had dinner at one restaurant near the market. I had eaten there twice before but was less than satisfied with the food this time. We then walked to ParkView Hotel, a budget hotel about ten minutes’ walk away. There were a few stalls set up along the road, something like a night market but mainly selling clothes.

We reached the hotel at about 21:30 and after checking in, I freshened up, performed prayers and hit the sack. It had been such a long day after all.

On Saturday, I woke up to find the tap dry. There was no water in the hotel! I went out and one of the staff confirmed the water supply got cut off since around 04:00. She offered to get me a bucket of water for me to perform ablutions. Funnily enough, the house below the hotel had water supply. I told her to just get a half-pail of water as it would be too heavy to lug the water up the stairs.

There was still no water at 07:45 so I had a quick bath with the water in the pail (now a quarter-full) and then my niece had her turn. We then had breakfast sans hot drink as there was still no water. We checked out at 09:15 and went to Mydin to get some water. Then we headed to the market. I wanted to look for some prayer attire and meat floss while Akak wanted some fish crackers. We spent more than an hour at the market.

We walked briefly around the ground floor of the market which sells local produce before going to a restaurant to have early lunch. After lunch, we walked to the bus station stopping en route at an alley where there are colourful murals spanning the buildings on both sides of the alley. Funny that I never noticed this alley before in my previous trips.

We reached the bus station at 12:45 and waited and waited. 13:00 came and went and no bus no. 9 came. I finally asked the bus counter and was told the bus broke down. So we sat on until the 14:00 bus pulled up at a quarter to. My niece went down first and I got down at the airport about two km later. I went out again to get some mineral water at a grocery store across from the airport before re-entering the terminal. I went through security check and on to the boarding area – no way was I going to miss my flight again! I performed prayers and then waited for about 20 minutes before we were called to board.

We landed at KLIA2 at 17:01, about 15 minutes earlier than scheduled, but the passengers sitting in the seats before me sure took their time getting up. I hurried through the terminal and boarded the 17:30 SkyBus back to KL Sentral.


Until my next trip to Kota Bharu then.

A Short Trip To Kota Bharu

My sweet niece was offered to do her degree in Kota Bharu and I decided to visit her a month after her registration to see how she was doing. I didn’t plan to visit so soon after returning from my trip to the Caucasus and Italy but I reckoned I should visit her before she got busier with studies. So after browsing, I decided to fly Firefly there and back by cattle airline. As I didn’t want to take leave again so soon after my September sojourn, I decided to fly after work on Friday, 5 October 2018, and return the following afternoon (la niña has classes on Sunday anyway).

I decided this would be the perfect time for me to try out the SkyPark Link. You need to first obtain a token from the counter near Gate D (next to myNEWS.com) then go to the waiting area near KFC. Wait until you are called to go down to the platform for the train. The token was given without charge so the ride was free then.

Upon exiting the station at Subang, you have to walk across the unmaintained car park and take the overhead bridge across to the terminal building but fret not, there is a lift if you have big bags. I was running late so I hurried to clear security but had to turn back and go to the Firefly counter to get a tag for my long umbrella. Having got the tag, I panted back to clear security and rushed to the gate (fortunately only metres away but I was the last to join the queue). I boarded and was seated in no time.

We landed at 20:10 and after a quick visit to the bathroom, I went to meet la niña outside. She then arranged for Grab to take us into the city. We went first to Sun Two Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant that sells halal food, for dinner. After dinner, we walked to ParkView Guest House. We were there for all of five minutes when the skies opened up. Phew, Alhamdulillah.

It sounded like it rained all night.

On Saturday morning, I ventured out after morning prayers. I walked to Chinatown before turning back and making my way to the market. There were already a lot of people at the market buying, selling and transporting fresh produce. I stopped by the bus station to get the bus schedule before returning to the guest house.

We had breakfast after showering and packing up. The guest house provides bread and butter and jam for breakfast and while it was simple, it was better than nothing at all. We left with our bags after breakfast and walked to the market where I bought some batik sarong, pelikat sarong for dad, a couple of caftans for Akak and myself and a couple of prayer sarong. Then we went to Kota Bharu Trade Centre for a quick visit.

We had early lunch – the restaurant I usually eat at hadn’t yet opened – then made our way to the bus station. It was at first cloudy and I decided to take the bus direct to the airport (although this would mean spending a long time there) but then the sun broke through and I thought I might as well check out la niña’s campus.

We alighted at the bus stop opposite Pantai Timur Hypermarket and walked in. I couldn’t enter her campus though or her hostel. After performing prayers at a prayer room opened to the public (and a visiting cat too!), I met up la niña in front of her hostel block to say goodbye.

I then walked back to the bus stop, stopping at the hypermarket to buy a bottle of mineral water en route. I waited a while before the bus showed up.

I was not happy to discover that the cattle airline does not allow long umbrellas to be carried on board. I would have to check it in and as it costs more to pay for check-in items at the airport than a brand new umbrella, I reluctantly said goodbye to my umbrella and left it behind.

My flight took off on time (thank God for that because the next one was delayed by 30 minutes) and we landed at KLIA2 at 18:50, in time for me to exit the plane and perform evening prayers by the time I got to the prayer room.

Oh and I met a Taiwanese girl on the bus back to KL Sentral. It was her first time in Malaysia and I remembered the batik sarong in time to give her one as a souvenir ;)

After my trip last year and discovering Kuala Pilah also offers gold jewellery at competitive prices, I thought my days of visiting Kota Bharu were over but it looks like there will be more trips in the future. Well, I don’t mind doing that until la niña finishes and obtains her degree, insyaAllah.

12 Hours In Kota Bharu

It’s been a while since my last trip to Kota Bharu. Firefly seems to have stopped offering free seats or low fares so I had to decide on an alternative. Malindo keeps rescheduling its flight times so that was out. Like it or not, I was stuck with AirAsia. And while I want to leave early (because I planned to return on the same day), 0630 and 0735 are too early to depart from KLIA2 (I have to leave the city at least two hours before for the hour-long journey). So I mulled about it, checked the train services (this was when I found out there’s no more overnight train service from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Bharu; you need to take it from Gemas and it takes a long time before you arrive too!) and finally checked the bus times. I then decided to take a night bus and proceeded to buy the ticket online before buying an AirAsia ticket for the journey back.

On Friday, 08082017, I left micasa and went to MadValley to board the Komuter train to Terminal Bersepadu Selatan. My Transnasional bus left on time (was pleasantly surprised at this) and I settled down for a long evening ahead. I was prepared with my pashmina, socks and eye mask but sleep was still elusive.

I peeked out at some point and it didn’t look like we were on the highway. We stopped for a half-hour ‘meal break’ at 02:00 and I remembered thinking, ‘Meal break? At this hour?’. It was a stall (warung) in what looked like the middle of nowhere. What a miserable wretched godforsaken place! I went to check out the women’s prayer room and I was so disgusted at the smell and condition of it – it was dusty and not at all a place you want to perform prayers in! So glad I had performed prayers back at micasa.

We resumed our journey and sleep continued to evade me. I had my eye mask on and closed my eyes but I was just pretending to be asleep. When I finally pulled off my eye mask in exasperation, I found we were already in KB. I was earlier told by a colleague that the coaches usually terminate at Tesco so I was very happy when I found that the bus stopped at the bus station in the city instead. Alhamdulillah!

The azan was in the air when we disembarked and I made my way to the mosque by Siti Khadijah Market to perform prayers. I rested a bit there too and only left after 08:30 after dhuha prayers. I walked to the market, went up to the food court and walked around. I didn’t find anything that caught my fancy so I left and walked to Mydin. Mydin opened early so I went in to buy water and rested outside, reading and eating my sandwich.

I left and went to Mr DIY (heh) and then went back to the bus station to ask for the airport bus schedule. Then only did I set off for the gold shops. I wasn’t successful at first and was only successful when I crossed over to the shops on the other side of the market (near to the palace) but there were more closed shops in that row of shops. For reference, gold price is RM215/gram in KL and RM175 in KB. After that, I ventured into the market and bought some pelikat and batik sarong at a stall. I told the salesgirl that I was running low on cash and she said they accepted debit and credit cards now! That’s good news but bad news if I didn’t want to shop (I did manage to fight my temptation. Also the bag I brought was starting to fill up).

I had lunch at one stall at the newly covered road by the market; it was the same stall I had my meal before and I liked the taste. I was not disappointed this time. Had to ask if nasi air and nasi sup are the same thing, I was told no, so I decided to have what I had before, i.e. nasi air and warm lay chee kang drink. My meal only cost me RM7 in total. Mind you, nasi air at the foodcourt in the market itself cost RM7 and that’s before any drinks.

After lunch, I walked to the bus station, stopping en route at Bata to buy three pairs of sandals which are no longer available in KL. I had to wait for the bus but the alternative was to return to the market and spend and while that wasn’t bad, the heat and humidity in there was.

The bus came and I got on into the air-conditioned relief. The fare remained at RM1.80 as it was on my previous visit. I was sitting down when I saw the text from AirAsia informing that my flight had been retimed from 1730 to 1820. Bloody hell!

It was blisteringly hot when I disembarked near the airport. There were a lot of people at the airport, presumably waiting for those returning Haj pilgrims. I walked up to another entrance and once inside, went to find the prayer room (it’s upstairs, next to KFC). After prayers, I decided to go into the boarding area as there didn’t seem to be many seats in the arrival area. After clearing security, I sat down to wait, even dozing off at one point.

A few flights were retimed and one Malindo flight was even cancelled. It got me wondering how bad the weather in KL must be for the flights from KL to all be delayed. Mine only landed at 1805 and while we boarded quickly enough, we only took off at 1845. If there was any bad weather, we didn’t experience it in any turbulence so Alhamdulillah for that.

We landed and I quickly made my way to the washroom before heading to the nearby prayer room. It was my first time ever at KLIA2 but I’ve heard of how far one needed to walk in there. I trekked for 1.3 km from my seat in the plane to the bus. I had planned to buy a ticket for the 2030 bus but was told at the counter that the first available bus was at 2050, the earlier ones being full. The ticket cost RM12 and even though she said my bus was at 2050, I still hurried to the bus station and was glad I did when I managed to board the 2030 bus as planned and hoped. Alhamdulillah!

We arrived in KL early enough but got caught in the nightmare that was Brickfields. Selfish inconsiderate thoughtless drivers leaving their vehicles haphazardly parked. In the end, we limped into KL Sentral at 2130. I was back in micasa just after 2200, knackered but overall pleased with the end result. Alhamdulillah.

10 Hours In Kota Bharu

Shortly after my day trip there last October, there was a free seat offer by Firefly and having enjoyed my trip, I decided that I wouldn’t mind a return trip sometime after Eid this year. I checked the offer for last Saturday, 23 July 2016, and was lucky to secure free seats for both the trip there and back. Alhamdulillah!

We left for Subang Airport at 07:17 and arrived within 20 minutes. I had already checked in online but as I brought my long brolly along, I had to get a tag from the counter for the brolly. I didn’t have to check it in, I merely needed to hand it over to the cabin crew after boarding the plane. I didn’t quite know how to tell the good-looking bloke at the counter but he understood me when I resorted to English and answered in English too (thank you kind sir for not being like those jerks who acted all superior when replying to my English queries in Malay; I do understand Malay but most times, I think and speak better in English. And there’s no point to act all arrogant).

We landed at Kota Bahru airport at 09:35 but I left the terminal only after confirming the flight time back to KL (the time stated on the ticket and boarding pass differed so I thought I’d confirm it first). I had a longer wait for the bus no. 9 to the bus station in the city this time – 30 minutes. Oh well, it’s not as if I don’t already have to wait that long or longer for RapidKL buses! The taxi from the airport will cost you RM30 or RM20 if you hail it by the road outside the airport building. The bus fare was only RM1.80. Well, I wasn’t in a hurry and I had my novel to occupy me so it was a no-brainer: bus it was. It was already a hot bright sunny morning and barely 10:00!

The bus pulled at the bus station about 20 minutes later and after checking the bus to Billion and departure time, I walked to the gold shops around Pasar Siti Khadijah. The last time I was there, I was looking for a white gold anklet. Kelantanese aren’t fond of white gold so it was a challenge to find one. Well, this time I was looking to replace my bangle. While it’s easy enough to find a bangle in yellow gold, I wanted an oval-shaped one, not the usual round bangles. There weren’t many there and I didn’t really fancy the designs of those few oval bangles. I spotted a few Cartier-inspired Love and Juste un Clou bracelets and Hermès-inspired Clic Clac and while they were in yellow gold, they were wayyyy too big for my wrist. There were also some Pandora-inspired bangles and Tiffany T bangles but I’m not a fan (yet). I walked around and even ventured to the other side of the market and the few gold shops at the market itself but the few that were there didn’t catch my fancy at all.

I hurried back to the bus station after purchasing some mineral water and fish satay from a street vendor and caught the bus no. 23 to Billion Shopping Centre. I gotta give it to the bus company: the bus was punctual! I wanted to go to a fragrance shop there that I had visited when I was in the city with Abah and Mummy. I left after performing prayers at the adjoining Renaissance Hotel. I had to wait a bit for the bus back to the station.

Back at the station, I checked the schedule for the bus back to the airport and was informed there was one departing at 16:20. The 17:10 bus would not run that day. I had about 100 minutes plus to kill so I went back to the gold shop and then to the market to shop.

I returned back to the bus station laden with purchases sans new bangle at 16:10. Again, the bus was on time, in fact, it left a minute before its scheduled time. The traffic back to the airport wasn’t heavy this time (unlike on my last trip) and we reached the airport in 20 minutes. It was still too hot to be out and about so after checking out the two restaurants across the street from the airport, I went into the terminal to wait. I killed time by making progress on my novel.

At 18:00, I went to get a tag for my brolly then I went to find dinner. It was still bright and hot and the sun was glaring in my face. The first restaurant was full of people but I didn’t stay as it didn’t have seafood tomyam (I’m reducing my chicken intake; I started this just before Ramadan) and besides, people were smoking openly there. The second restaurant was devoid of people and yes, it told me something but it had seafood tomyam and no one was smoking. I ordered seafood tomyam and hot barley and both were way below par.

I returned back to the airport and quickly went in. The flight from Subang landed late so we only boarded at 19:30. We were airborne within ten minutes though and landed at 20:35. I went to collect my brolly from the cabin crew but some idiot placed my brolly below all the passenger check-in bags so I had to wait a while before I got it back. As a result, I had to perform jamak takhir instead of jamak takdim prayers. Mehhh.

So that was my ten hours in KB. Will make another trip if a similar offer crops up!

Boarding the plane

View from up in the air

Another view from up in the air

Siti Khadijah Market. This area was still closed last October. Was so glad to see it has reopened

Cat at Siti Khadijah Market

My less-than-satisfactory early dinner. I rate it 3/10

Cat at restaurant

Kota Bharu Day Trip

There was a Firefly free seats offer in early April, shortly after GST came into effect. I browsed and found free seats to Johor Bahru and Kota Bharu. I chose to visit Johor Bahru in mid-May and Kota Bharu in early October (so that I get to travel every month. Well, almost every month).

It so happened that I lost my anklet again (fourth anklet I’ve lost now. One when my house was burgled and three disentangled themselves from me) at KLIA when I arrived back from London. Yes, I’m a dazed ditsy scatterbrain and I have jewellery drop off and slip off me without realising it. I only realised it in the car; it must have slid off while I was performing prayers. It was getting loose and I told myself during the flight to get it fixed during the weekend but it decided to slip off before I could send it to be fixed. So I decided I would look for an anklet in Kota Bharu, never mind that I’m broke. Gold jewellery costs less in the East Coast after all.

I arrived at Subang Airport at 0745 on Saturday, 3 October 2015. Firefly cancelled its flights the previous Saturday due to the bad haze and I was praying hard that my flight to and fro would not be cancelled. Otherwise, well, I guess I’d have to take the night bus back to KL (if I was already there). After informing the Firefly counter that I had my long brolly with me and being given a tag, I headed to the ATM to withdraw some cash (I had already withdrawn some money the day before but decided I needed more; after all, I would need cash at Siti Khadijah Market). I popped in my card and waited. A bloke came over and stood next to me at the other ATM machine.

It was taking sometime and I was beginning to worry especially when I heard that the next ATM machine was furiously processing the bloke’s request. I waited and waited and suddenly a message appeared saying that my card had been swallowed. Oh no! The bloke looked at me and asked what was happening when he saw me frantically pushing the Cancel button. I told him and he suggested I asked at the Bureau de Change. So I hurried over to ask.

The lady at the Bureau de Change listened to me sympathetically but told me she couldn’t help as she didn’t have the key (I know ATM machines are serviced every few days by a different team but thought I’d just try my luck). She then suggested I do a cardless withdrawal and guided me how to do it (you need to go to Accounts & Banking > Transfers > Cardless Withdrawal and then choose either Favourite Cardless Withdrawal or Open Cardless Withdrawal. Good thing I had my iPad with me then. I tried but the option was either RM100, RM200 or RM300 (maximum is only RM300/day) – and you need to bear the service charge of RM1 plus 6% GST WTH. Well, I refused to pay the service charge and the accompanying GST so I cancelled the transaction. The BDC lady also advised me to call my bank and cancel my card. It was then when there was an announcement for us to go to the boarding gate immediately.

After clearing security, I called my bank and finally got through. I was still on the phone with my bank when I boarded the plane! Good thing the cabin crew didn’t tick me off and they had every right too. Maybe they sensed my desperate and panicked face. I got off the phone just as we were about to taxi off.

We took off 9 minutes before ETD (efficient!!!) landed at clear Kota Bharu at 0930. After collecting my brolly and visiting the bathroom, I walked out of the terminal to the main road, Jalan Pengkalan Chepa. I had read that a Cityliner bus services the route and I was very lucky for the bus no. 9 pulled up within two minutes. The fare was RM1.80 and the driver gives you back your change (unlike in Penang where you have to pay the exact fare or pay to the nearest Ringgit and not get your change back). It took us 22 minutes to reach Kota Bharu Bus Station, which is less than 100 metres away from Siti Khadijah Market. It was that near! I couldn’t believe how convenient it was. A direct bus to the city, a 22-minute ride, a bus station right smack in the city... amazing!

Where I alighted. The bus I took from the airport was that white one

Kota Bharu Bus Station

I headed first to the food court across from Siti Khadijah Market and searched for Kak Ani stall which was suggested by my colleague. I sat down and ordered a bowl of kuay teow sup perut and hot lemon tea (I was given hot lemon drink instead). It was all right. There were shreds of water spinach and I have stopped eating water spinach as it is windy so I had to set those aside. The meal cost a whopping RM6. I had expected to pay less than RM5 for it.

These brands are not available in KL

My less-than-satisfactory kuay teow sup perut and warm lemon drink

After that, I headed out to Jalan Buluh Kubu and went into every gold shop there was. It was easy because the conversation would go like this:

Me: Ada gelang kaki emas putih? (Do you have anklet in white gold?)

Shopowner/sales assistant: Tok dok (Nope)
Me: OK, terima kasih. (OK, thank you.) (After a few shops, I had ‘Kthxbai’ echoing and reverberating in my mind)

in all but three of the gold shop. I know Kelantanese prefer yellow gold but I was hoping some of the Chinese-owned shops would have white gold but I guess they wanted to meet the demand of their customers. So although I may have a daunting task, it was easy because hardly any shops carried white gold anklets. I even checked out those shops at Jalan Temenggong and Jalan Belakang Istana. The first shop that carried white gold anklets had only 3 pieces and they also accepted Maybank2u. How great is that? The sales assistant told me there is a surcharge for credit card payments.

After visiting all the gold shops there were in the vicinity, I decided to go to Siti Khadijah market to do some shopping. After all, I had to pay in cash and if I decided to buy the anklet in the first shop, I could pay the balance via Maybank2u. So I sauntered over to the market and headed to the second floor (top-most floor). I browsed a few stalls before finally stopping at one and buying some batik sarong. I also bought some pelikat sarong at a nearby stall. No, I don’t wear batik sarong but I find them a great fantastic souvenir to give away. I gave my Filipino mate and Algerian guests batik sarong and they all loved their sarong. The humble batik sarong is colourful and so versatile: I told my mates that they could use it as sarong, fold it as a skirt, a pareo, sling it across the shoulders and carry a baby... me, I bring it on my trips to line the bed (if I’m afraid of bed bugs) or wear it as sarong if I have to pop off to the shared bathroom in a hostel.

After the purchase, I walked around the market then left. It was nearing 1 p.m. so I headed to Parkson Kota Bharu Trade Centre for some air-conditioning relief and rest. I had some light snack and read my book. After an hour, I got up and went to the first gold shop and bought my anklet. I bargained of course and the kind man agreed to give a bit more discount. Alhamdulillah!

I then headed to Masjid Al-Baroah for prayers before turning back to Buluh Kubu food court. I had sighted nasi air before and I had it for my late lunch with warm lai chee kang. It was good, really good.

 Afternoon meal of nasi air (literally watery rice) and warm lai chee kang

Close-up of nasi air. It was very good!

After that, I returned to Kota Bharu Trade Centre. I wandered around before sitting down to read my book again. I left at 5 and bought some fish sausage from a stall before heading to the bus station. The bus arrived after 5 minutes and we were allowed to sit on the bus before the bus started its trip. a friendly middle-aged lady sat next to me and we chatted. It seemed like travelling alone for a day trip is a strange concept to the lady and those who asked me at the market. Day trip? Why not overnight? I explained that a day trip was enough and I needn’t have to bring an overnight case.

Back to the bus stop. That bloke was our driver

Just before reaching the airport, I saw a lot of cars parked along the opposite road. The lady told me the locals liked to go there, park their vehicles and watch planes landing and taking off. Hmm, I wonder if there’s a lot of air traffic. Sure MAS, Firefly, AirAsia and Malindo fly to Kota Bharu but I don’t think the flights are all that frequent. How many flights are there in a day? I guess those spectators know better as it’s their favourite past-time. It looked fun and there was also a van selling drinks to the spectators.

We took off before ETD (thank God the flight wasn’t cancelled, phew!) and we landed at hazy Subang at 2045. I would definitely do this again if there’re any more offers. And why not when it’s such a convenient city to visit.

New Castle

I’m just back from a short weekend trip to KB. We stayed at Renaissance Hotel (apparently the city’s only five-star hotel, hence it’s quite posh) – well mainly because I was with my parents. We arrived early Saturday morning (which of course necessitated a very early morning start) and thankfully we were given an early check-in. We then tried to find breakfast within the vicinity but it was past the time for nasi dagang and the like. Now the hotel is about two km from the city centre (read: Siti Khadijah Central Market) but the hotel provides scheduled shuttle services (good thing I asked!) so we availed of it and took the 1030 service to the market. After our mid-morning meal, my parents went to explore the market while I visited the nearby goldsmiths to repair various bits of my jewellery (the ones I still have) and to custom make a ring (with the stone I bought in Colombo).

I had to call the hotel concierge to arrange for a 2.30 pm pick-up instead of 6 pm as agreed earlier as my parents were beginning to tire. Good thing the hotel concierge was accommodating. After resting and a light lunch, I went to the shopping complex next door (connected to the hotel). It wasn’t that great but I surprised myself with some purchases nevertheless.

We ventured out earlier for breakfast on Sunday and I packed some laksam. My parents had their meal at a coffee shop. The Kelantanese sure love to eat rice for breakfast – it’s either ‘fish rice’, nasi dagang, coconut milk rice or something else.

We repeated the process on Saturday – taking the 10.30 am hotel shuttle to the market and back by the 2.30 pm service. It was a hot afternoon and I felt drowsy so it was a lazy afternoon indeed.

Alas, Arsenal didn’t manage to proceed to the next round of the FA Cup...

Left the hotel at 7.45 am this morning for our flight back home and I was in the office at quarter to 1.

~~~~~~~~

The nation bade farewell to the late Sultan of Johore on Saturday after the Sultan passed away the evening before. My parents followed the funeral with interest. Except for Akak, myself and two younger boy cousins (they are the youngest grandsons of my maternal grandparents while Akak and I were the youngest granddaughters), everyone else was born in Johore. Everyone else is a Johorean (I don’t consider myself a Johorean of course as I was born here) and I suppose they did feel moved.

Long live the new Sultan.

Go East

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!)