In order to get to Redang, one must first get to Kuala Terangganu, then take a two-hour ferry ride from the jetty there, plus another short bumboat ride. Kuala Terangganu is the gateway to Redang, and it is a small sleepy town. In fact, if not for Redang, I do not think anyone would ever want to go there, because the place is really laid-back. For a Singaporean, it is as if one is going back in time fifty years, although I think the older generation may like it.
The resort we are staying in, Redang Reef Resort, has its office in Kuala Terangganu. The resort is owned by a Chinese, so the office is situated in Kuala Terangganu's Chinatown. The office is in a shophouse, the old-fashioned kind of shophouses where the house is very long, so the front of the place is the office, and at the back is a resting area with washbasins and bathrooms. Plus it has free wifi!
The guy at the office is very nice. Even though I reached Kuala Terangganu very early in the morning, around half past six, he picked us up and brought us back to the office first for us to wash up. After that, we went for breakfast. Since not many places are opened at that hour, we went to the shop next door which is an eatery selling different kinds of noodles.
My breakfast of fried noodles and tea
The different kinds of noodles the eatery has
The day I returned from Redang, I also went back to this place and ate curry noodles for lunch. On the day I returned, the guy from the office picked us up at the jetty and dropped me off at the office again. I was starving so went for lunch at the same place again.
The ferry terminal at Kuala Terangganu
My lunch of curry noodles
I must say, that is the most delicious curry noodles I have ever eaten! I guess partly I was hungry, but it was really the best curry noodles I have eaten! The sauce is real curry, not the instant kind that people use nowadays.
After lunch, since I had several hours to kill, I started wandering around the place. However, because the place is so laidback there is hardly anywhere to go. No tourist spots, no shopping malls, no movie theatres. Just lots and lots of old shophouses with old shops, which reminds me of the historical city of Malacca, except I think Malacca is more happening. In the end, I just went back to the office and read my book and even took a little nap before the guy drove me to the bus terminus at six.
Does this kind of reminds you of Malacca?
Chinese temple in Kuala Terangganu
Interesting. The motif on the street lamp looks to me as Malay, but flanked by the Chinese lanterns.
The various shophouses
This shophouse really reminds me of one in Malacca
The town closes at five I think. When I was being driven to the bus terminus, everywhere has closed. Even the noodle house next door has closed for the day. There are some shops around the bus terminus, but those too have also closed. The only thing open is McDonald's, but they look like they were closing for the day too, since there were only three more customers inside when I bought my dinner there.
Now can you see why I say Kuala Terangganu is like going back to the "good olde days"? Senior citizens can attest that this is probably the kind of life they used to lead, before all these modernisation and globalisation make us so busy and stressed.
However, much as I like the leisure life, I do not think I will ever want to stay here, simply because I will be bored to death with nothing to do everyday!
0 comments:
Post a Comment