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
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