East Coast Adventure

I have 2 aunties staying in da east coast. If not for them, I would probably wouldn't travel much to that part of Msia. Another Cacu (what we call my auntie - cacu for Mak Su kut..haha)'s son is getting married to a Kelantanese gal. When I mention 'another' above, well..lemme tell u the backgrnd story. Cacu (my dad's youngest sista), has 4 sons. The eldest are twins. Both got married a few months apart, and now the third brotha is getting hitched. So mom/dad/me/my hubby packed our bags for a weekend getaway and ventured da east coast. The best was to ride on mom's new Civic. I was just waiting to get behind the wheels. All of us were eligible drivers, but I got to start the journey. Hah. Mainly coz we'll be hitting the Karak highway first, which I like, because of its scenic views and great corners. We stopped to have breakfast at an R&R on the east coast highway, where I had one of da best roti canai (with kuah dal) in my life! But it costs RM0.80/piece..in KL oso RM0.60/piece ok..As we neared Kuantan, we headed north, got lost a little, was hoping to stop at a famous Kopitiam at Cukai, but it was closed! Ergh totally forgotten that the east cost closes on Fridays. And so we moved on, to find a good place to have lunch. We reached Kuala Terengganu at about 3pm. Cacu called, asking us to stop by to makan. Ooh..of course we couldn't oblige. Cacu and sons and daughter in laws and granddaughter (!)


were at their resident. I was so excited, to see baby Ayesha and makan the delish mee rebus Cacu had catered.

Then we headed to our hotel in KT - The Grand Continental. My window had a faraway view of the ocean. Not that great, no nice beach, but nevertheless, oceans are always peaceful to look at. And as always, hotel rooms are a delight. I always feel most chilled in hotel rooms as I know I can make a mess and not have to clean after myself *grin*. Ahh but we have an early and long day the next.
Next day, Saturday, woke up bright and early, had breakfast at the hotel (which is one of my fav things to do as well!) in my baju kurung. After that checked out, then drove to Cacu's place. From there the convoy journey of 5 cars headed to Jeli Kelantan. This trip is for majlis pernikahan (wedding ceremony) Khalis (Cacu's 3rd son) with Madiha, his gal of choice who's from Jeli Kelantan. This Jeli, is so up north of Kelantan that we were like 5km only from Thai border..
The journey was boring, but interesting as I haven't been to Kelantan since I was a kid. Interesting to see the sudden change of culture and people as we drove by. The most obvious is..in Kelantan, all women covers their head/hair with tudung. And the pakciks (elderly men) wears kopiah (small white caps) on their heads. Watching the people in their modest homes as we past by kinda reminds me that life is about simplicity and blessings.
As we reached the bride's home, the mountains of Thailand began to emerge. It was spectacular. Madiha's family greeted us with much warmness. The bride's mom, all gigly and shy is the warmest lady I've ever met.

The ceremony, simple-short-sweet. After the akad nikah is done and the couple is now pronounced, they proceeded to a lil photo session which are persisted by the family and me (!). Yup, I taught the couple a few poses, so we all could get a good shot of them in their striking peachy outfits. Enough bullying the couple, we all were invited to makan. The food; kampung-style rice and dishes, with ulam and sambal belacan. It was heaven. Me being a chicken freak, thought the ayam masak merah was exceptional, and thankfully it was a buffet spread, so I didn't hesitate for a second helping. Mom liked the agar2 (jello dessert)..tsk, tsk..
Anyways, then we headed back to Kota Bharu (KB). And checked in our hotel at the Renaissance. This hotel has great fluffy bed and pillows, and nice shining marbled bathroom, with glass door standing shower..cun..
It was rainy during most of our journeys. Nice cool driving but it gets difficult when the rain's heavy. That evening dad wanted to take a drive to the beach nearest to KB, which is Pantai Cahaya Bulan. There was not much to see as it was getting dark, but the sea and sand was rough. Stunning blue skies which framed the ocean was breathtaking nevertheless.

We had dinner there, tried the cucuk2 goreng2 (ark dunno what it's called, but it's famous there). It is pre-fried seafood on satay stick, and u choose which ones u want, they'll fry it again, and u dip into this delicious chili sauce. It's damn good..
I enjoyed Renaissance and had a bubble bath that evening before turning in. Tomorrow another long day - drive home.
Woke up and had a satisfying breakfast. They have pastry racks! Great omelette and nice selections - porridge, even nasi dagang (the famous breakfast food in Kelantan).
We drove home using the Gua Musang way, and stopped at the slopes of Cameron Highlands! Yeay, got to see and buy strawberries..

when we stopped at one of the flower nurseries which also had a lil cafe, where I of coz had coffee..Love the cool air, and enjoyed it while it last..We only spent like 1 hr there, then we headed off home.