Our Terengganu Trip......

"Thaipusam fell on Monday - let's go somewhere" said my husband. So, after a while, we decided to go to Terengganu. We spent a night at Marang the year before on the way back from my nephew's wedding in Kota Bharu. At that time, we stayed at a chalet managed by Pak Aziz which has its own private beach, hammock & all. We practically have the beach right in front of our door step. Though my husband, my three sons & I loved it there, my daughter (around 3+ that time) was crying as soon as she realised that there is no TV & Astro. We had a tough time soothing her down. So, this time round, though we would love to contact Pak Aziz and secure a booking, the previous experience stopped us. Finally we chosed Gem Beach Resort in Merang (abt 30 min from Kuala Terengganu).

Though we planned to start our journey very early in the morning to avoid the congestion near & around Batu Caves, we finally started our journey around 9.00 a.m. And of course we are "trapped" in the congestion. But after Batu Caves we have a pleasant journey. When we hit Tanjong Jara, the scenery is Masya Allah... it is just soo... beautiful, what with the white sandy beach and the clear blue and green colours of the South China Sea.

When we were about 4 kms away from Kuala Terengganu, based on advised from a friend (DrSam), after performing solat at Masjid Terapung - Masjid Tengku Tengah Zaharah), we headed to gerai 007 to savour the keropok lekor which was dubbed as "the Best Keropok Lekor in the world". One thing for sure, we can taste the fish which made up majority of the keropok, unlike the light, sodium-laden version which we are used to and the sauce, mmmmm.... need I say more? But beware, even keropok lekor has its own share of piracy. There are many 007 gerais but if you take a closer look, you can see a smaller other number in front of 007 (eg. a very tiny 3 in front of 007).

After checking-in at Gem Beach Resort, my children became very impatient to go to the Beach. However, as we approach the beach, we saw a red flag hung on a pole on the beach, so, we went to the pool instead. As our journey is not made during school holiday, the pool is quite deserted. So, my four children were having a whale of a time in the pool. It is not until their father announced that we should take a stroll on the beach that they came out.

My four children having fun at the beach

Some of their "catch". You can find shells in good unchipped condition.

The next day, we spent our time at Pasar Payang. Not so much for shopping but for the colourful activities going on here.

Then to Masjid Kristal. Our trip to Terengganu does not end here. Though we spent the second night at Impiana Cherating, we dined in Kemaman. But the best is when we took a joy ride to Pantai Teluk Mak Nik (or Monica Bay, its more glamorous name)at Kuala Kemaman. Here is where we found two most exciting part of our travel. One, it is here that we found the Best Sata in the world. Too bad we did not take any photograph of the humble-looking gerai sata located along the way out from Kuala Kemaman - our batteries ran out. The taste is out of this world.

And the second is at some corner opening to the sea - close to pasar nelayan we found the following shop :

Here is where my children went crazy and their parents......
Our trip though short is so.... satisfying. Hopefully we will be taking this trip again.