Jalan-jalan Cari Makan in Kelantan

We arrived in Tanah Merah train station at 7:28am Thursday morning. Went to Cec's parents' holiday house in Bukit Mas to have breakfast and to freshen up.




By 10am, we were already on our way to Kota Bharu (KB), driven by Kalmat (named after Karl Marx, but with a Kelantanese spelling). He has a lucrative business selling air tebu (sugar cane drink) in various markets in Kota Bharu, easily making RM60 per hour. The secret of his success is convenience. The small business owners in the markets (selling food items, textile and clothing) don't usually have the time to leave their shop (and their potential revenue) to go for a drink break. So Kalmat would go to them with the drinks. Who couldn't resist air tebu in a hot day?

We met Ayie (our matchmaker, if you remember) in Medan Selera Buluh Kubu for lunch. Freshly cooked Kelantanese style food is something not to be missed while in KB. After skipping rice several days while in Kuala Lumpur (KL), I spoiled myself with a heavy meal. There were deep fried ikan kerisik, gulai telur ikan, gulai kerabu, various ulam and pucuk, and of course, budu mixed with durian. Thank you Ayie, for lunch. Yummy, God help my tummy.

After lunch it was shopping time for the ladies. We opted for Pasar Lama MPKB because Cec and her mom have never been there. Kalmat was instantly recognized by the vendors there and they were asking him for air tebu. He skipped his business for the weekend because he wanted to take us around the town.

Cec's mom bought a few things at the market. The prices were cheaper but they preferred Pasar Buluh Kubu as it is not as cramped as Pasar Lama MPKB.

We stopped by Ayie's house for tea. He lives in Panchor, east of KB and not too far from the Pengkalan Chepa airport. His parents and siblings built four nice bungalows in the same compound. Properties in KB are not as expensive as in KL. That would be another reason I'd prefer to move to Kelantan. :)

We spent the night in Ketereh and the next day, we had nasi kerabu for breakfast with my parents in Pasir Mas. It was Friday, which is an off day in Kelantan, and the place was crowded. The nasi kerabu was not bad by any standards. At RM2.50 a plate with either grilled meat or chicken, it was a good deal.

At noon we attended Cec's relative's kenduri in Jerteh which was an hour drive from Bukit Mas. The place was not to far from Ayah Pin's compound, but we couldn't be bothered to have a photo visit because the day was simply too hot. A visit would have made an interesting blog entry, though.

My parents tagged along as my mom used to know Cec's grand aunt while she was growing up in Jelawat, Bachok. They served delicious gulai kawah and ayam goreng at the kenduri. Hmm, another challenging day for the tummy.

Cec's parents had to be back in Rembau for the wedding of Cec's second cousin. After sending them and Bakhtiar's family off at Tanah Merah train station, my parents and us proceeded to have dinner at the famous (to the Kelantanese, at least) Mee Kg. Pek. We went to one of their branches in Batu 11, Ketereh. Opened at 8pm, the restaurant was quickly flocked by hungry patrons. I think there are only two items on their menu: Mee Goreng and Mee Rebus. We all had mee rebus. It was easily the best mee I had in my life. Slurp!

Well, today we simply relaxed at home. Brought Cec to check out the weekly market in Pasar Ketereh, but we didn't buy anything. Our train from Pasir Mas station will be leaving at 6pm. In two hours, we'll be visiting my sister Mariah in Bunut Satok, which would be on our way to Pasir Mas. She's serving Kuih Katun and Lompat Tikam for tea. :)


Lompat Tikam


Kuih Katun

Technorati Tag: Food and Drink

Taking the Train to Tanah Merah

Cec and I, together with her mom and dad, are on the 9:40pm Antarabandar (Intercity) train heading to Tanah Merah for a kenduri. We boarded it from the small Rembau station which was five minutes away from their place.


Cec and her family waiting for the train

On the train, we met Farid, Umar and their families who boarded the train from KLSentral and Kajang. We were then joined by Bakhtiar (Cec's brother) and his family together with the usual Melaka gang. Cec was so happy to see her one year old niece, Anis.


Anis and her dad, Bakhtiar

Our next stop is Gemas, where the coaches to Kelantan will be pulled north by a different engine. I hope I'll get a GPRS connection then so that I could post this entry.


That's us enjoying the ride


Trying to get some sleep ...

Techorati Tag: Travel

One Source, One Intelligence

ALL life comes from one source which is the very life of all things, and not only life but intelligence also; that is what religion calls: GOD. Whatever we call it, it is the same. The difference is only in the name.

-- Pir Inayat Khan (Sufi)

Vibration, Energy, Thought and Feeling Good

Metabolism is vibrational response to your moment in time. Metabolism is the way the Energy is moving through your body. And so, everything is in response to the way you feel -- everything is. Everything is mind over matter. Every disease is mental first. Everything is about thought. Everything is about vibration. Everything is about the way you feel. Practice scenarios that feel good -- and never mind reality. Reality is only a brief moment in time that you keep repeating.

For daily dosage of inspirational quotations, check out www.abraham-quotes.com

The Pleasing Universe

The Universe can please all of you at the same time. "Well, how can that be? If I want to live in the mountains and she wants to live at the ocean, how could the Universe possibly please us both?" And we say, as each of you gets to the essence of why you want what you want, and are not pointing at the other and saying, "No, no, not that, please not that," the Universe can fulfill both.

Be playful. Know that it's going to be alright no matter what. Have as much fun as you can. Be as easy as you can. Don't take anything very seriously, because everything blows over, good and bad. You can't stand still. So nothing lasts very long.

The best of experiences you must move beyond -- and the worst of experiences you must move beyond. Don't make where you are too big of a deal. Let it be what it is: It's a moment in time where you have the choice to feel good or feel bad. That's all that it ever is.

- Jerry and Esther Hicks

Off to Melbourne

Cec and I are about to board our flight to Melbourne. I received a free trip for two from the company I work for to any destination in South East Asia or Australia. We chose Australia because it's the furthest from KL.

I had wanted to go to the Gold Coast, but tickets to Brisbane have all been snapped up, most probably during the recent Matta fair. The next choice was Perth, but Cec has been there before. So, it's Melbourne after all, the cultural capital of Australia.

We plan to take the trams around the city, visit the museums and art galleries and, of course, Melbourne's Albert Park. I'm an F1 freak, you see.
Cec says hi to all. We'll take lots of pictures and share them with all of you. Will be back home Tuesday night. Bye guys and gals!

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How much cash each person will received at the end of the month will depend on the amount of points earned in July and how much revenue the site could generate. Last month, we've payed out a total of RM203. With more participations, we are hoping to double that amount in July.

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