T35. All New Terengganu

Map of Peninsular Malaysia showing the route to take.

 The target -- Trengganu.
I am not joking, the old name for Terengganu is Trengganu.  That's a book I read (and still not complete) 'Growing up in Trengganu' written by Awang Goneng who has depicted about the early name of Terengganu.

But this time it is not about history, it's about the new look of Terengganu which we revisited recently.  The last time I visited Terengganu was about 20 years back.  Many changes have taken place.

It's MERDEKA eve, so we set ourselves free from any work-related stress and headed east.  Quite many travellers on the road heading eastwards and we found a group of VW enthusiasts, and we happily overtook them.

  As we passed Kuantan, the traffic has reduced in numbers quite a bit.

 And the view of the sea is so breathtaking.

As we travelled from Kuantan to Kuala Terengganu, the obvious landmark will be Kerteh, the Petronas city with the fire that never die. 

Along the way we were greeted by a slight drizzle but the scenery was always superb.

Finally we reached Kuala Terengganu.

A little drizzle, a lot of traffic.

It was night time by the time we arrived at Kuala Terengganu.  We relied very much on Mr. WAZE to lead us to TH Hotel located at Gong Badak, near the airport.  Quite a distance from the city centre.  TH Hotel is very nice, quite huge and we were excited to be the patrons for a night, but..............all rooms were fully booked.  Of course, it's MERDEKA eve.

On the question of why we didn't book in advance?  The fact is that this whole trip has not been planned at all, just a last minute thing, so we thought hotel rooms should be aplenty.  We finally settled with a smaller hotel in the city centre called Ming Star Hotel (check our review please). 

Pantai Batu Burok

Literally mean, an UGLY ROCK BEACH.  What a name.  Since this is MERDEKA eve, there were preparation for the celebration, rather small-scale on this beach.

I trust my memory, and the biggest different this time at this beach is the existence of a General Hospital and a gigantic public swimming pool complex.  The beach itself is generally still the same.

the city centre

The city centre is around city municipal complex, Pasar Payang, and masjid Zainal Abidin overlooking the South China Sea.

As you drive on in circle around the Pasar Payang, you will notice many cute historic building mostly wooden or half-wooden resembling the famous Jonker Street in Melaka.

Interesting mural

This is the real masterpiece and in the new look Kuala Terengganu this should be the new centre of attraction.

the sea front

The sea front left a sign of the location for the MERDEKA celebration the night before but we weren't there.  We were rather stucked in the traffic around the city stadium for there was a football match last night.

Not enjoying the scenery?

This is the little summary of our visit to Kuala Terengganu.  As we are here in Kuala Terengganu, two items spring into our mind, Taman Tamadun Islam (Islamic Civilization Park) and Masjid Kristal (Crystal mosque). More detail report follows.