Kuantan City

Many cities were developed around the coast or near river banks. For Kuantan, the early chinese immigrants had settled near river banks and possibly conducted trades from there. The photograph shows a building dated 1929, located at Jalan Mahkota, Kuantan. Makes me wonder why nowadays, why building does not indicate the date of completion as part of its facade. Is this due to a shorter lifespan of buildings?

Kuantan ~ St. Thomas Church

It was a simple church, probably with long and rich history. The bench was still made from timber and very well weathered. The philosophy of simple religious life hold strongly in this church. There was prominent statute of Mary facing the road.

Kuantan ~ Berjaya Mega Mall

The mall was probably the biggest in town, though many shops were close. Shops include Parkson, Giant, Popular bookstore, MacDonald, KFC, some Japanese sushi restaurants, Kenny Rogers Roasters and many small shops selling video, games, clothes, shoes etc....

It was located next to MS Garden Hotel. After settling my gifts and lunch, I walked from Berjaya Mega Mall to Shahzhan Inn and passed by St Thomas (Roman Catholic) Church. I have asked direction from a Cantonese speaking petrol pump attendant. Generally, I found that local Chinese are quite helpful.

DOW JONES

The Dow Jones finally went back up to 10,015.86 on 14 Oct 09. We are out of the Recession Woods! Hoo Hooo...

Kuantan ~ Restoran Chilli

I had a high time finding a chinese restaurant. Fortunately, there were several chinese shops that remained open. Among them was a shop selling drinks and snacks. I bought a can of drink and casually asked the old lady for direction for a chinese restaurant. She had recommended a Restoran (malay for restaurant) Chilli that was opened around noon and from evening.

The restaurant was not difficult to find from the direction given. It was air-conditioned and I proceeded to ask for good food to be recommended by the lady owner. Her reply was every dish in her restaurant was good as she had been around for 12 years. I ordered rice with beef & ginger and a cup of chinese tea that cost me RM6. A cheap and good restaurant comparing to RM42 spent the day earlier and RM9.50 for MacDonald quarter pounder meal for lunch. It was also halal certified, so there was no pork. There was malay family breaking fast and had their dinner. Something which I think make business sense given the population ratio.

Throughout the evening, I was worried about getting taxi for the next day given that the town was having festival mood and there wasn't many taxi seen around the hotel which I stayed. If I had stayed near Berjaya Megal Mall (eg MS Garden Hotel), there would be better chance. Couple with the fact that I could not speak proper Malayu would mean that I would be a lamp to be slaughtered if I tried to ask from the hotel. I casaully asked Aunty Chilli whether it was difficult to find a taxi on Hari Raya Puasa, she said yes. I proceeded to ask her to help, she replied that she had a frined (a boyfriend of her employee) who was a taxi driver. She called and using her fluent Malayu, she tried to ask whether I could book a taxi for the whole morning. Unfortunately, he was relutant as many Malay would need to visit the mosque in the morning. But he was willing to give a lift for RM30 to the airport from the hotel. I immediately agreed as I did not wish to miss my flight back Singapore and stayed another night. For travellers who are in trouble, you could always buy a simple lunch or dinner from her restoran and seek her help. She was conversant in mandarin, cantonese, malay and possibly English (never tried). She was always willing to help, but give her some time to settle her busy orders from customer.

Restoran Chilli is located on Jalan Besar, Kuantan City (Approx GPS location is Latitude 3.807021, Longitude 103.329388).

Kuantan ~ Astronomy

Canon 14mm / f4.5 / ISO 1600 / 30 sec exposure

I was finally able to get a clear sky at night on Swiss Garden Resort & Spa. I did not however, bring a tripod for the trip and had to make good with whatever was available. Fortunately, I was able to find a mini football goal post and used that as my temporary support for camera. Camera noise was substantial due to the high ISO.

Sultan Ahmad Shah Mosque Part II B&W

Sultan Ahmad Shah Mosque, Kuantan

Night View - ISO 400 / f5 / Exposure 1/3 seconds / 50 mm f1.8

Day View - Canon 50mm f1.8

Spectacular View of Kuantan City

View of Government Office

Dawn on Hari Raya - Sultan Ahmad Shah Mosque (The row of white tents were festive stores). The field was wet because of rain fall on previous night.

Kuantan River

Another View of Kuantan River

Tremor

For the first time in Singapore, I felt a tremor. I was sitting in my office in Punggol when I sensed a bit of left-right shift. A bit of giddiness was also felt. I started looking at the time on my computer, it was 6:19 pm. While many reports were filed on tremors, this is the first time I can feel it. I suppose it must be a hugh earthquake in Indonesia.

Shahzan Inn Room

A view of the standard room ......

and the toilet (without long bath).

and the yellow pillow.

Shahzan Inn Kuantan

Shahzhan Inn was probably a 2-3 star hotel. It was probably built in 70s or 80s as the furnishing was quite old. When I stepped into the room at the Inn, it was a separate experience althogether. The room had a paint smell within it. Good thing is that the window is fully openable and once in a while, I have to flush out the stale air. Likewise the pillow case was yellow probably due to many times of washing.

It is important to ask from the reception for a high floor. I was staying at 11th storey and was able to enjoy the spectacular scenery from the windows. This was the only consolation out of a hotel that was priced closed to RM160 per night. It was raining on the night of stay and due to festival, there was nothing for entertainment, other than the constant fire cracker noise from local residents beyond midnight.

Swiss Garden Resort & Spa Kuantan

A picture of what a standard room looks like.....



and how it looks from the balcony . (The sea can be seen from the far right corner beyond the trees)

Kuantan 18 - 20 Sep 09

It costed me RM247 a night at the resort. It is in a class on its own. When entering the room, I noticed a sweet scene. The room was spacious although it was not a sea view one. It was not a problem because the beach is just in front of the resort. The trip from Kuantan airport to Swiss Gardnen should cost between RM45 to RM50 and would take about 20 minutes.

Swiss Garden Resort & Spa, at the point of my visit, had complimentary shuttle bus service that bring guest from the resort to Kuantan town (Berjaya Megamall) at 11am and 2pm, and returning by 4pm. In my opinion, the 5 hours trip to town was defintely sufficient, if the aim was to see what the town could offer. I had asked the receptionist the charge for booking a taxi from the Resort to Kuantan Town and was informed that it would be RM60. I suppose that amount would include the resort commission.

The water at Balok Beach was murky and not exactly clean. This was because further down the beach, there was small river that was presumably taking discharge from villages in the vincinity. It was as murky as the one in Vung Tau, Vietnam. The sand from the sea was also dark coloured. Nonetheless, there was a swimming pool for guest in the hotel.

Breakfast was reasonable and of the same standard as any other Swiss Garden Hotel. As I did not venture to road side restaurants, I went to the chinese restaurant within the hotel for dinner. A plate of fried rice and duck meat with satay sauce cost RM42 (including tax and service charge). The strength of Wi-Fi in the restaurant was stronger than in the room.

Overall, the experience at Swiss Garden Resort & Spa at Kuantan was pleasant.

Kuantan ~ 18 to 20 Sep 09

The flight took off from Changi Budget Terminal at 12:25pm and reach there Kuantan Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport in 1 hour. It costs about S$202 for to and fro flight. The plane from Firefly, ATR72-500 had a twin propeller. The cruising height was 17,000 feet at speed of 480 km/hr. The trip from Singapore to Kuantan was quite bumpy due to cloudy sky, but the trip back was fine due to good weather. A good thing about Firefly is that it serves passengers a small cup of juice and a small piece of cake even for a hour flight, somthing you don't find Tiger Airlines. This was not the first time I travelled in a propeller airplane.