Pulau Banding, Tasik Banding And Tasik Temenggor (Perak)

Coming back from Kedah in December 2013 we decided to use the Gerik highway.  Before that we stopped for a kenduri kahwin in Jeniang. It's been a looooong time since we last attended a kenduri.  The food was the best!  Masakan kampung is always the best. 

Then after waving goodbye to Maktok and Tokwan we started our journey. It's tiring but we couldn't stop anywhere because it's raining all the way.  We passed through so many small, quaint towns and Papa was busy entertaining Zoey with stories of Raja Bersiong and she was really fascinated with those stories.  At least she's not bored, that's good!

This was the kenduri.  It's exciting to see they still have the service of a DJ to make the wedding livelier.
 The DJ was friendly and talkative, of course!  This kenduri was held in Tokwan's orchard and rubber plantation - the daughter of the person who manages the plantation was getting married.

Then we continued our journey.  We arrived at Tasik Banding and stopped at the Pulau Banding rest area for a while to let Papa stretch.  The lake is divided into 2 - Tasik Banding on the north and Tasik Temenggor on the south with Banding Island in the middle.

*Image taken from google map

The place was beautiful!  The rest area was on Banding Island.  We had to go down a steep slope from the main road to get to the area.  Parking was easy because there weren't many people around.

*Image taken from google map

Zoey was sleeping and she was a bit cranky when she woke up.  But she did cooperate to take these pictures - albeit pouting to the camera.

Then we went to the hawker stalls there but most were closed and this was the only one that was opened.  There were quite a number of people, mostly stopping for the loo and to refresh. We ordered some drinks and 2 plates of fried maggi - which we later found out was not enough to last till Kota Bharu.  The reason we ordered only 2 plates was because we just had (we felt we just had) our hearty lunch at the kenduri.

After we ate, we took a stroll around the area.  Since there weren't that many people, walking and enjoying ourselves were done leisurely.

This was the jetty to get to the Royal Belum National Park - dating back to 130 million years ago and the oldest rainforest in the world! We enjoyed the scenery before continuing our journey to Kota Bharu.

The bridge was long and beautiful from the jetty.

And so it was that we thought the 2 plates of fried maggi were enough.  I drove from here until Kota Bharu.  The road was winding!  It was drizzling and I was praying all the way.  There were mists where it didn't rain. So, it was still dangerous especially also because I never drove on this road before.  At places where it's safe to overtake the front vehicle (straight road), there were oncoming vehicles.  So, the journey was tiring and to me, dangerous.  But we did arrive in Kota Bharu that night, tired and hungry - and also cranky!

Muzium Seni Pahang

This was a spur of the moment kind of thingy. We happened to pass through here on this day and decided to stop.  Before this we tried coming here but it closes on weekends.  Weirdo!

This Art Museum is in an old colonial building - our kind of building.  The tourism information center is opposite this building. Both building are in the middle of the town however, parking was easy.

I didn't realize we had theme colors that day - red and blue!

The main entrance to the building was behind us.

The reception table (that's what it was) was manned by a lady clerk-cum-receptionist who looked sleepy.  We were very excited.  It turned out that we were the only visitors.  So, we had the place to ourselves.  I was more interested in the architecture and started to dream of building similar kind of house back in Bukit Mertajam - after retirement.  

Well, as usual, we MUST write our names in the guest book - sort of "I wuz 'ere" kind of thing.

This was in the first exhibition room - paintings by local artistes.

This picture looks funny cos you guys looked like you're hovering over something on the wall.

The information on the wall said the artiste was from Sarawak. Hence, the type of painting - jungles, hornbills, tribesmen, pitcher plants, rafflesias and the likes.

This was in an exhibition hall on crafts made by the Canadian native indians and the local Sarawakian Iban tribe.  Most of the crafts bore some kind of resemblance.  Behind me were the faces of the local indigenous people and of the Native Indians of Canada.

That's a dream catcher (Canada). It catches bad dreams and those dreams disappear in the morning.

I've heard of dream catchers before but didn't really know what it was until after this visit - googled it, of course!

There were many chances and meetings with the Indians and their arts when I was studying in Arizona and then in Indiana but I just didn't bother then.  So, I felt kind of like missing something that I should've known something about - did you get what I mean?  Like it's a waste that I didn't explore local traditions, customs and traditions when I was studying there.

Zoey was ballet-dancing (of all things!)

You guys were really interested in masks.  I stayed away from them. I don't have good feelings about masks.  So anyway, these masks were from many different countries including China and Indonesia.  Many bore the same lion-like expressions.  It shows that the cultures of the world are actually interconnected. How interesting!

So I just sat in the middle of the hall trying to look as if I didn't care. 

I was looking at a door I accidentally saw while busy eyeing the room.  That must be a secret door - like the one in the Chronicles of Narnia. Pffft!

I liked the color combo here.

Left: younger sister Asha

Right: older sister Nina

Zoey insisted for a picture with Mama at the same spot.

In the same hall but at a different corner.
I don't like monkey masks.  They're sinister.

It's good that she's interested in arts too.  We try to let you explore different types of arts so that you'll learn to appreciate our culture.

It was a small museum. So, after the visit, we decided to while our time away and the mall was the perfect choice.  I was trying on so many shoes that Zoey became bored. Hahaha... Kesian dia.

 She was really restless.

And did everything to entertain herself.

Well, despite the size and the number of exhibits, it was a fun outing for us.  We were able to explore and got to know new cultures within a short period of time.  But there was little to no publicity and I think that's the reason we're the only ones there.

I hope I have the time to put all the pictures on those interesting exhibits in the future entry in case something happens to the PC although the memory remains ingrained in my mind. Love you all!

Pantai Gelora

This was on 4 January 2014.  After we sent Tareeq to work that weekend, we didn't have anywhere else to go. So, we decided to explore another side of Teluk Chempedak.

So that's how we arrived at Pantai Gelora this morning.  There were many people doing morning exercise especially with family.

The tide was low.  The clouds were thick but it's not windy or cold.  Just nice.

These are sandbags which act as a buffer against the wave, erosion and maybe flood as well.

Zoey's the only one with us. Nina and Asha continued their sleep after the Subuh prayer. 

 Papa was just being cool as usual.

This was our first time here, so we're kinda aloof at first.  Not sure of what to do or how to react.

And we stepped closer.  People were oblivious to other people.

An aerobic session was on.

These people were promoting the Herbalife membership, so we stayed away. Hahaha...

I loved this.

This was at 9.45am actually. The sun was up but she's hiding behind the clouds and the effect was breathtaking.

Enjoying herself on the sand without Kak Nina or Kak Asha.

And we enjoyed her company - 2 almost-middle age people with their last born.

The mood was quite sombre.

I still wasn't able to directly look at the sun though.

Okay, it's time for a treat.

Because she's such a honey bee -  fierce like a bee but sweet like honey.

Many people chose to sit on the open air.

Breakfast with the clown.  As long as Zoey's happy.

We came back the next week with Nina on tow.  Let's save that for another entry.

Trip To The Beaches in 1 Day! - Part 7

Do you still remember this beach? Yeah, were here in August of 2013, around 2am (!) looking for turtles laying eggs. It just wasn't our night because we did not find any. Or... maybe we were noisy that night.  But the beach was eerie at night.

This was Pantai Teluk Mak Nik, Dungun, Terengganu.  Another name for it was Pantai Teluk Monica.  I'm going with the first name because it's more plausible - Mak Nik is more logical and local than Monica.

So we came back this time.  We made this stop - first to find the best satar as recommended by my friend (Aunty Maiza) and second to seek for a beach - well, sort of our last call! It was almost 4pm and we still couldn't find a beach for Meen. Ops, she now wants to be called Zoey!

The thing about the beaches here are that they are beautiful regardless.

The people here do care about their beaches and we rarely see rubbish around.

The sea was still uncooperative and like I said, beautiful regardless.

 

You guys were already tired by the time we stopped here but Papa and I kept persuading you to get out of the car and enjoy nature.  Muka tu muncung jugak la.

I took some videos of the sea and the sound was overwhelming (scary actually).

And the wind was also still going on strong.

So we just took our time enjoying the sea, the beach and the sound of nature.  Nasib baik dah boleh senyum.  Kalau tidak mau nak kena berletiaq dalam keta satgi,

There were also a few families nearby with little children but they also just stayed away from the sea.

Next to the white car was our car, nampak dak?  The visitors lazying around under the shelter.  Papa stayed inside the car. Behind these beachcombers, there were lots of houses actually.  The INTAN (Institut Something Something - lazy! Hahaha...) Eastern Region was also there.  There were also stalls selling yummy tidbits including keropok lekor, goreng pisang etc..

Near that small hill was the place we waited for the turtles that night in August. Well, it's not very scary in daylight though.

Good job!  Posed as instructed.  Hahaha...

Okay, time to leave the beach.

We bought some Satar here - a local delicacy prepared using fish flesh, grated coconut and spices.  The satar here were good and delicious. It turned out that this was not the place described by Aunty Maiza.  It's the one next to it - not pictured here.  Despite the wrong place, the satar was good!

This eating place was right before the entrance towards the sea and the beach.  Other than this local delicacy, the night we came here, we ate some Chinese food at a Chinese Muslim hawker stall - situated a few meters from this store.  Yummy too! And yup! We ate around midnight and business was still happening that time of night.

We didn't find the turtles back then and we didn't have the chance to enjoy the sea either. Luckily Zoey was sleeping in the car and she couldn't make a fuss.  Maybe after the monsoon season, Zoey.

So, we headed home - about 40 minutes away from this place.  Just before we arrived home, it started raining, lightly at first.  Then, it dragged on for a few days and the big flood started coming, destroying houses and everything in its way.  People are still mending today - almost 2 months later!