Rantau Abang - Rain Rain No Need to Go Away

This is at Rantau Abang again, our favourite beach on the East Coast. :) 

I was there last week, focussing on getting some vitamin D, after spending two weeks cooped up indoors, downing copious amounts of caffeine (not good I know), working on work.  

This is definitely a different look for Rantau Abang from my previous visits. It's always been bright and sunny; blue skies, hot hot sun, beautiful puffy clouds; we had those too this trip, but this time, we also had dark rainy tropical thunderstorm days; two in fact.

It's not as bad as I probably make it sound. I actually loved that it stormed and raged. It was wonderful to look at the gathering clouds; and to watch the storm come in from the sea. After taking this picture, I raced against it, towards shelter, not for my sake, but for my camera's!!

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Latin Americans in Terengganu!

Our second trip to the east coast this year! Second of many to be sure! No matter how many times one goes to the same place, there's always something new waiting to be discovered.

This time around, I saw a pretty looking beach from the main road and yelled to the driver (aka travelling buddy) to turn right, right now! We were going at maybe 80kph, so I got yelled at of course. I apologised immediately of course, but please make a u-turn right now because we just passed a lovely looking beach! The beach was lovely (except for the rubbish). I don't have a nice enough picture to put up on here though :(

We found something else on the beach; an Argentinian/Mexican couple that has been travelling around the world on their motorbike for the past 8 years! Talk about wow. Alejandro and Guadalupe have been in Asia for almost 4 months now and in this country almost a week when we met them, riding around and camping by the beach or in someone's backyard! 


They have a website in Spanish and English. Around the World on a Motorbike

A sweet couple with a truly romantic story to tell. Alejandro had started out solo out of Argentina some 8 years ago, with Alaska in mind.  But like that saying goes, man plans but god decides; in Mexico, he met and fell in love with Guadalupe and all plans to Alaska got waylaid! He invited her to join him in his travels. She said yes! and they decided to travel the world, starting from Greece. Not sure what happens to the Alaskan dream. Maybe after they complete their wanderlust? And then do one last trip? Who knows. Wish them all the best!

They're so brave too. To travel with not a lot of money; no sponsors, just raising enough money selling handmade jewelry to make it to the next destination! They hadn't any jewelry on them when we saw them, but they were looking for a quiet spot to make some to sell at a bike fair sometime in April in Kelantan.

 

Travelling is not without its dangers; especially on bike and its always good to display important medical  information about oneself. Both of them are O+. Me too :)

Red under the sun

 

It's not just us that gets red under the sun :)

Not sure what this soft stem is called but it gets a beautiful shade of deeper red as it matures. That's what I noticed anyway. Maybe it's just my imagination. Don't we let our imaginations run wild sometimes?

  

And it's at the same place that I found Pink Under the Sun .

And a bit of wonderful news : I might go again soon! Yaay!

  

 

Rantau Abang : An orange on the beach

I thought it was pretty exciting to find an orange among the broken shells on the beach. I'd never seen that before and this was long before Chinese New Year

The two week long Chinese New Year celebration (Feb 14 - Feb 28) is now officially over, but I only remembered this picture today. Should have remembered earlier. Darn.

There's a tradition among the Chinese single women (not sure if it's a Malaysian thing or an all over the world thing) to throw oranges into the sea (or any body of water) during Chinese Valentines (15th day of the Chinese New Year) in order that their future husband might pick up their orange.

Oh, but before they throw their orange into the water, they write their phone number onto the fruit. Oh, and the men will be right there, waiting to catch the orange of the woman they fancy. Make that orangeS and women. Using nets too to catch as many oranges as they can!

I think it's such a cute tradition. I think we Asians have so many cute traditions. :)

Anyway, so I'm wondering if this was such an orange. Only, it wasn't the right time then. And there was no ink on the orange either. Hmm, it could be someone who couldn't wait two more weeks! Perhaps.

I think next (Chinese) Valentine's I might throw an orange into a lake. :)


More skywatch images here .
 
  

 

Kuala Abang : a little hut and the blue blue sky

Just sitting in a run down shed; I think a shelter and place to nap when it's too hot to look for clams on the beach, and looking up.

The shade of blue looked so pretty against the dark of the roof. And then a wisp of cloud floated in from one end.

I whipped my camera out (as fast as lightning) of course :) But the clouds were faster. They moved so quickly out of sight again! Before I could take more pictures. Dang! Well, I did, but they weren't as pretty as I wished.

Two guys joined us soon after; just come back from the beach from clam collecting, both hot and thoroughly burnt from the sun! One guy had a little bucket full of clams; for his tea later, or perhaps dinner, but it didn't look like it would be enough for dinner. Well certainly an extra small portion by my book! Maybe he doesn't eat much. Maybe it's just appetisers. Maybe.

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Pink under the sun

 

Whenever we are on the East Coast, we always make it a point to have lunch or dinner at this place. It's a wonderful little place, where the proprietress is a lovely friendly Chinese lady, and the waitress a sweet sweet friendly Malay girl who remembered me when I went for the second time! She couldn't remember my travelling buddy though. Haha.

Kuala Abang - a fishing village

We were back again on the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia last week of January. It was much much hotter than it ever had been since we first started going mid last year. And of course I forgot my sunblock. And of course we spent too much time under the sun. And of course I was badly burnt. Ugh. Don't ask. Thank you.

But the clear skies and sunny sun meant everything looked technicolor brilliant and amazing! Each time we go to the east coast, we explore places we hadn't been before; take that little road there, follow the sign that promises some exotic obscure village or something. This time was no different. And we found a little fishing village called Kuala Abang, not far from Rantau Abang.

It's such a quaint little place; so much activity going on; bustling even! It was hot and fishermen were coming in with their catch, and there was a little station (more like a little hut) where they got their catch weighed in. And there were others who were playing cards. Some napping on makeshift counters. Some shooting the breeze, talking coffeeshop talk. Ohhhh, it was nice!  I wish I could have taken pictures of all of that but everyone kept staring at us wherever we went; quite unsettling! Sigh. I need a camera with those huge lenses so I can go far far away, and take pictures unobtrusively! I had to settle for empty sampans (little 2-men fishing boats) :) But it's okay, I still like this picture :)

Kijal - a sunny afternoon by the sea

 

This beach in Kijal is one the prettiest beaches on the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia.  I've been here four times already, maybe, in the space of a few months.

I always see something different each time I go. This time it's a mom and her three kids frolicking in the (extremely hot) sun.

One time we went, we went by motorbike. We parked the bike and went off to take photographs. When we returned an hour or so later, one of our helmets, that we'd left dangling on the bike, had been taken. All that was left was the strap. That was a nasty surprise.

Another time we went, there were mats and mats of fish being laid out under the sun to be dried. Dried salted fish! Yummm! Didn't smell too good at the time though.

Yep, something different each time. Can't wait to come back here again!!!
    

Nature on Love

I love the innocuous way that nature sometimes employs to surprise me. Cheeky, cheeky!

Found this leaf on the sands of a pretty little cove in the Teluk Bidara area. A stranger among pebbles, broken shells, and polished pieces of glass.  A lovely little imperfectly almost perfect leaf. Not caring that it might be out of place. Making a statement in its own right.

Perfection? Not. Perfect!

Peace and Quiet!

 

I love the beach. When there is no one else around. Well okay, not completely empty. Maybe just another soul per square 40000 meters. Yes.

And be the first one to make footprints on the sand.  Yes!

I've been to this coastline at least five times now. And love it even more everytime.  :)

This particular beach is Cherating. Quite famous. Not sure why. Because there are other more beautiful (imo) beaches along this coast! Okay, it's easy to fall in love with this beach. But wait till you see the other beaches. And I mean wowowowow. :)

        

 

Coconut!

I love coconut!

Except in the milk form. It allegedly does things in your arterial system and makes you susceptible to all sorts of nasty medical conditions.  Yekk.

So I was so shocked when a friend told me his niece drinks coconut milk as a beverage. What! Like omigod. Why?

Falling in love with...

 

... Frangis!!

Found and fell in love with the white frangipanis in Rantau Abang.

There's a place in Rantau Abang that we always stay at. The guy who keeps the place is such a workaholic, he leaves the place spotless! Sterile almost! But one evening he wasn't quick enough, so I went snap happy!!

Oh, did I mention? I have a new camera and it takes pictures like a dream! Am so loving it. Pardon my McDonalds.

Dreaming in Teluk Bidara

Was in Teluk Bidara over the weekend. Super weather! Super skies! Super water! Super scenery! Super travel companion! A super weekend altogether!

Bidara means angelic beautiful woman. Pretty apt for this beach, in my opinion. :)

Feb 4 2010

Rantau Abang ~ dancing on the beach!

A beach. Just the sea and the sand.

A late evening sun.  Just right to cast long shadows.

A light breeze. Just enough to tease the hair without being annoying.

A gentle surf. Just enough to create a hypnotic rhythm.

Who could not be persuaded that everything had been pre-arranged in perfect harmony and detail especially for two souls to converge on that beach on that evening to delight in each other?

road trip : Taman Negara~ Lake Kenyir leg

We decided to take a chance and take a road that was marked 'under-construction' on the road map that we were using ~ the second east coast highway.

This road cuts across the peninsular from Kuala Berang straight towards Lake Kenyir - one no longer need go north all the way to Kota Bahru and then head back south towards Kuala Terengganu.  Pretty cool huh.

It turned out to be a wonderful surprise and we saw some amazing views!

To get there, take the road from Gua Musang heading towards Kota Bahru and take the right turn where there's a sign that says Taman Negara via Kuala Berang. The road is okay for most parts but there are some stretches that have not been laid. Luckily, it doesnt last more than 2 km in total. After some time, we came to a three-way junction. Earlier, down the road, there is a guard house, from whom we had gotten some directions. He advised us about this junction.. good thing we stopped to get directions. Don't want to end up taking the wrong turn and end up in Kota Bahru after all!! Hah. Anyway, take the extreme right fork and that will take you to Lake Kenyir, and the road from that point on is close to perfect! Hope it stays that way a long time.. :) hope it's not just wishful thinking :)

Check out the pictures...

The western part of Lake Kenyir... the environment is pristine...

The new second East Coast Highway ... it is like this most of the way ... traffic-free!! :)

I had rolled the windows down and was at once enchanted with the tropical sounds. I said stop, stop here. Let's listen to the sounds of the forest for a bit. And as we did, we heard them. Sounds of huge birds. We weren't sure what type of birds. I thought they might be hornbills... but I thought they couldn't be... hornbills only exist on Borneo!! Hah, good thing I dont know my ecosystems very well! It turned out that they were hornbill sounds!! Woot! We saw movement among the trees and then saw them!!!  It was such a special unexpected treat to hear the cry of these birds and then to actually see one fly from one tree to another!

The car park at Lake Kenyir... I just love the trees :) the way they seem to crowd overhead and form a canopy against the sky... like they are trying to share a secret with me:)

One of the many rivers we saw along the way, this picture doesnt quite do it justice...

road trip: kl-gua musang-lake kenyir-lake temenggor-kl : up to gua musang

So this is Gua Musang - there are two parts of this town - the old town and the new town; the old town being way more interesting than the blandness that is the new town.

Three things made me excited about coming here; its numerous limestone outcrops, its train station and its description as a frontier town.

We got to the old town early evening. It is so quaint! We used Rough Guides (http://www.roughguides.com/) and it has descriptions that quite fit our needs :) Saw the train station first!! That was a treat!!



When we first arrived in Gua Musang, we wanted to see the fabled old train station - part of the fabled Jungle Railway that runs through the jungles of the peninsular from Singapore to Thailand. We might be taking that train ride in future. Hear it's got 'atmosphere'. I have not travelled third class nor with livestock, so it will be an interesting ride. We shall see :)

A little story-telling :
Looking for a suitable place to stay turned out to be an adventure by itself!

I got locked inside a room that I was looking at, and as I banged on the door to be let out; (I was on the third floor and everyone was on the first floor) already I imagined this was part of the (dodgy-looking) hotel's secret involvement in the human trafficking trade and I was on my way to be transported to some god-forsaken shanty town in the south of Thailand!! Yikes.

Should I be thankful for having been bestowed such fly-away imagination? (Yes. Thank you. Muah!)

Anyway, drama aside, after securing a safe-looking place to stay (the receptionist at the second hotel was a 10 year old boy - safe by my book..haha) we decided to eat before it got too dark to look around town.

We had earlier read about and wanted to eat at a place called 'Kedai Makan Mana Lagi'!! Such a cool name for a restaurant. (where else to eat restaurant or what other restaurant is there? whichever you prefer).

Until we actually ate there :( ...the portions were tiny :( ...
Hey just because we're thin people doesnt mean we don't eat eh.
Fortunately food is not our main criteria when travelling :) we can live on cookies :) still cool :)

Some stopovers before we reached Gua Musang;


I'm not sure what this place is called but already we saw limestone outcrops! So many and so beautiful!
Word to the wise : This is not a limestone outcrop.
I just like the reflection of the hill in the pond :) The limestone outcrop is just on the left of this picture. I should have put up a picture (which I have by the way) of it here but trust me. It is an amazing view. Go see for yourself. :)

There is only one thing that surprised me about Gua Musang. A place like that? With limestone outcrops all over the place? I would have thought rock climbing would be a local passion.

This place should be a place that produces world-class rock climbers. Then when I tell people (and friends) that I was just back from Gua Musang, they won't go... 'Gua Musang??? What's there???!'

Imagine that.... Gua Musang... the home of world-class rock climbers.... that would be nice :)


Why am I not surprised???
I had just read sometime not too long ago, that Malaysians consume an average of 25 teaspoons of sugar daily!! This was my tea and I had specifically asked for less sugar.


More sugar... but this is the natural kind... so should be OK. Right??


The first limestone outcrop that we came across en route to Gua Musang. What an incredible structure. Unfortunately I forget its name. We saw a sign on the road and made what turned out to be a rewarding stop :) I love these road trips and the little surprises that we are lucky enough to stumble upon :)