Year 2008 is a really the year for me to take my own personal trips to wherever I fancy, if the purpose suits me . Last week I was in Kota Bharu, revisiting some of my past haunts. The roads haven’t change much, I can still remember the roads to our old houses in Telipot and Kubang Kerian, to my primary school and to the small shops behind the school that we frequent once school’s out. Also, the best thing from this trip was to find my best friend’s house, whom I had lost contact. And that was 18 years ago when I left Kota Bharu.
Some other things that don’t change much was that people still go around the town in trishaw. I remembered when I was living in Kelantan in the late '80s, I used to go to school in a trishaw. It was kinda embarrassing, especially when the pakcik beca decided to stop in front of the boys school to pick up something:p another, it's the general laidback atmosphere. I can see that everybody is at home in Kelantan.
Our plans in Kota Bharu was to eat all the varieties of food that we can find there: nasi kerabu, nasi dagang, laksam, nasi air, nasi berlauk. Well, we did ate some of the food that we set out to eat…but it seemed different from my childhood memory. The nasi air MakSu Nab didn’t taste as good as it was then. My mum said I should’ve kept my memories instead of eating the nasi air. Maybe she was right, but I needed to taste it again! Next, we head on to Zakini’s Nasi Kukus. My mum picked out a few things and the next thing we knew, the Kelantanese had a field day overcharging us for dinner. Oh well, what do you expect, being in a foreign land during the school holidays?!
Funny that when you were a child, you’d perceive everything as very big or very tall. When I went to Pasar Siti Khadijah, I was disappointed to find that it is only 3 floors, instead of the 7 floors that I had imagined all these years. I was also expecting that batik sutera in Kelantan would be ridiculously cheap, but the tag price was the same like the ones sold in KL. Or maybe I didn’t know how to bargain. Or maybe I didn’t have enough money to bargain in the first place. Shopping is only fun when you have money to spare....*sigh*
Me thinks Kelantan’s charm is mainly due to the general laidback atmosphere, the culture, the food, the language, the sweetness of the people. None of that political crap if you are visiting for a few days. The Kelantanese are peaceful people. Go ahead, give Kelantan a try, you might like it.
Some other things that don’t change much was that people still go around the town in trishaw. I remembered when I was living in Kelantan in the late '80s, I used to go to school in a trishaw. It was kinda embarrassing, especially when the pakcik beca decided to stop in front of the boys school to pick up something:p another, it's the general laidback atmosphere. I can see that everybody is at home in Kelantan.
Our plans in Kota Bharu was to eat all the varieties of food that we can find there: nasi kerabu, nasi dagang, laksam, nasi air, nasi berlauk. Well, we did ate some of the food that we set out to eat…but it seemed different from my childhood memory. The nasi air MakSu Nab didn’t taste as good as it was then. My mum said I should’ve kept my memories instead of eating the nasi air. Maybe she was right, but I needed to taste it again! Next, we head on to Zakini’s Nasi Kukus. My mum picked out a few things and the next thing we knew, the Kelantanese had a field day overcharging us for dinner. Oh well, what do you expect, being in a foreign land during the school holidays?!
Funny that when you were a child, you’d perceive everything as very big or very tall. When I went to Pasar Siti Khadijah, I was disappointed to find that it is only 3 floors, instead of the 7 floors that I had imagined all these years. I was also expecting that batik sutera in Kelantan would be ridiculously cheap, but the tag price was the same like the ones sold in KL. Or maybe I didn’t know how to bargain. Or maybe I didn’t have enough money to bargain in the first place. Shopping is only fun when you have money to spare....*sigh*
Me thinks Kelantan’s charm is mainly due to the general laidback atmosphere, the culture, the food, the language, the sweetness of the people. None of that political crap if you are visiting for a few days. The Kelantanese are peaceful people. Go ahead, give Kelantan a try, you might like it.
More stories on our trip to Kelantan, please go to Kerabu Jantung's blog.
5 comments:
They were not overcharging you.
Prices go up bcoz fuel went up over the years.
18 years ago, a full tank of petrol would go as high as only RM 50 !
Now ? RM 140 !
Even Kelantanese learned to eat at home nowadays. Less Nasi Berlauk Pagi ....
Hi there Anonymous,
With all due respect, this is my own experience in KB. I have nothing against the Kelantanese. But I did think I was ripped off - a plate of nasi, 1/4 ayam percik, 2 pcs of paru, setongkol ikan tengiri, some tempoyak, ulam and 3 air suam, and Zakini charged us RM19. I think that was a bit pricey even for KL standard.
If that wasn't a rip off, then living in KB must be way expensive than in KL!?!!
Care to comment?
ignore the price tags in the markets; clothes i mean.
the real price is actually half the tag price, n if u're really talented u can even bargain for less than half. speaking kelantanese would be helpful though
Ooooh, a snarky-reader!Wal, I'm impressed!
Uih, mahalnya juak!That's like eating for 2 at Gerai Khadijah (the one in Gombak, with the oh-so-sedap daging merah!, but too bad dah roboh!sob!sob!).
Maybe rega mahal because kei mayar minyak bot sidak nelayan kali.
Yeah, quite pricey, that was the point I'm making. Obviously, they ketuk me for not speaking the dialect lah.
And I'm not "talented" in bargaining. Haggling for price a bit is ok, but up to 50%?! I'm not not so kan cheong lah. You know me, Lisa.
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