Ronda² Malaya - 2

 Mersing, here we come! The last time I set foot in Mersing was in 1984. At that time I was working at Rawa Island. At 9 am after bidding goodbye to Mak Teh, and filling up the gas, we headed for Mersing via Kluang. The journey was a pleasant one though it was quite a distance. We drove by the Peninsular central spine, and after two and a half hours, we stopped at the recreational park near the sea. There we met Nor and her family.

guala! n missus n Nor's family

Nor was Pak Utih’s daughter, and Pak Utih was the uncle to my old friends @ Cherry Boys; Ajak Dollah Mye Mat and Amir. The last time we met, Nor was just a child. How time flew. By 1 pm, we left for our next destination, Maran, where Zahir n Aya lived. We had lunch after driving for a while and drove through Endau and Rompin before finally reaching Pekan. 

Mersing.. at the back is Pulau Rawa (vaguely)

heading to Endau

rare pineapple by the beach!

From there I took an alternative route where we drove passing by Felda settlements and small villages. After what seemed like an endless drive, we finally reached Zahir’s place at half past 5. Zahir and Aya were our neighbours at rumah guru back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

zahir's family n us!!

The last time we met was about 17 years ago before they moved to Aya’s hometown @ kampong. Around 7 pm, headed for our hotel in Kuantan. After bath and dinner, it was boom2 time since we were dog tired. Oh, before that, we had dinner at Jelita, an open air restaurant, just a distance from our hotel. The food was great and we enjoyed the satay cheese. Layan.. Today’s driving was the longest drive so far: 550km, and altogether, we had travelled 1065km. Peh!

The next day, after checking out, we headed for Kuala Berang, where another friend from our rumah guru years, stayed. Rashid and Yati went back to Kuala Berang the same time as Zahir and Aya. Since the place was not that far from Kuantan, we reached his place at 11.30 am. Rashid’s house was a wooden one, resembling the Terengganu old museum, so I was told.

rashid's home

otw to Kuala Berang

guala! n Rashid n his daughter

At first glance, I was very impressed with the structure and materials used to build the house. Rashid and Yati entertained us to lunch consisting of ikan kelah, ikan baung, siput sedut and other exotic dishes. Everything was to my liking, I must say. Just like at Zahir’s, we reminisced the time we spent together back then, and catching up each other’s happenings. At three, in the heavy rain, we left for Kuala Terengganu, which was an hour drive. After checking into the hotel, we went to the famous and latest landmark in Kuala Terengganu, Jambatan Angkut. We spent about 45 minutes there and thought of waiting for the sun to set so that we could capture beautiful pictures of the bridge with the red and orange ambiance of the twilight. But after waiting for some time, the day became dark just like that. Sabo je la.. So, we went searching for dinner, but since my wife was not feeling well, I took her to a clinic first. Then, we just bought two sets of KFC takeaway and savored it while watching movie in the hotel’s room. 

capturing d moon!

near jambatan angkut tganu kite

In the morning, feeling refreshed, we went to have nasi minyak for breakfast.

nasi minyak tganu - not to my liking

But the meal was not to our taste. Too bland and too simple for my liking even though the restaurant was projected as having one of the best nasi minyak in town. We checked out from the hotel and headed for Kuala Besut. Along the way, we stopped at a wooden musalla, somewhere in Merang. The musalla was built by this guy alone, for about two years, using raw materials. All the wooden structure still had the same feature, as it was taken straight from trees, and cut into sizes to fit in the construction. A tremendous job I should admit. 

d self-built wooden musalla

cute kitten, but alas, she's blind ; (

By noon, we reached Kuala Besut after passing by Penarek, Setiu and Kg Raja. There we had our lunch and I met a guy who knew the band that was famous there once upon a time, Si Naga- Naga. And Kuala Besut holds a special place in my heart too since I spent quite a lot of my weekends there with Rock @ Wan Ruzlee and his family while i was teaching in Kelantan. But since he had moved to KL, and his parents who treated me like their own son, had passed away, I had nobody to meet there anymore.

We continued our journey to Kota Baru and reached our studio at MPKB around 4pm. After checking in, I took our clothes to the laundry, and right after that, I walked all the way to Bazar Tok Guru, to meet my old friend, Li Paya Bembe, who was doing his business there. i wanted to meet up with Mat daed's family in Kg Huda as well as Tie but time was not on my side and the circumstance did not permit me in doing so.

Since my missus was still not feeling okay, I strolled along the street and back lanes to see the mural paintings and to enjoy a mini murtabak and a cup of nescafe tarek. After maghrib, we went to Kg Kepulau near Tumpat, where Rozila and Jai lived. Rozila was my wife’s ex colleague in Lekir. They treated us to a specially made nasi kerabu, which was quite rare to find at night coz kelantanese usually enjoy their nasi kerabu in the morning.

Jai n Rozila n their son in law n guala n missus

nasi kerabu tuuu

It was almost midnite before we headed back to our studio to catch our sleep. Quite a long day actually but tomorrow’s drive would be the most challenging, in term of road condition and distance, since we planned to go to Kangar. So a good night sleep was what I looked forward to, and that’s what I got Alhamdulillah.