blurpenguin

Well this weekend we wanted to try out the route to Merang Jetty, Terengganu prior to our planned trip to Redang in August... so we wanted to journey all the way from Kuantan, Pahang to Setiu district in Terengganu.

We also planned to spend a night in One of the Hotels there... we picked Best Western, Merang Suria Resort, since we will be spending the night in Sutra Beach Resort the next time we are going up.

Well our journey began a bit late... since all of us were late in getting up... So after breakfast, off we went!...the journey till Pantai Kemasik was a trailed path for me... but after that is new territory... After Kemasik was the Petronas township built for the Kerteh Petroleum plant... it's very planned and the complex HUGE!... there was even a huge mall (not complete though) like those in the US kind... wow...

then came Paka... then Dungun... overall i'm impressed, Terengganu is quite well developed... with quite a lot of dual carriages, and more being upgraded... We also detoured to Tanjung Jara... and stopped by the beach there, Pantai Teluk Bidara for a look see... unfortunately for some odd reason... the weather conditions was wierd (in a good way... ) it was cloudy... and kinda misty/hazeish... not that really good for any views + the sea water was very choppy BUT it was not hot at all in the middle of the afternoon! So we spent an hour just walking and enjoying the water lapping at our feet.


after a wet stopover and a change of clothes for the toddler, of we journeyed on, passing by Rantau Abang Beach - the famous turtle egg laying beach... we just passed by it.. then reached Marang... where we stopped by a beachside makan place... we had some fried rice and fried sotong... i also tried air nira (old coconut water... slightly fermentish/sourish) & U could see Pulau Kapas from the beachfront. BUT! Warning! the makan area was infested with flies though... every makan place in this stretch had tons & tons of flies.

by now it was already 3pm after the meal... wah... our slow and easy trip was taking too long... we needed to check in soon... so we quicky drove past KT... and headed towards Merang.

We found out.. that both Suria & Sutra shared the same beach... and was just 10 min away from the Merang Jetty... so it was a good decision to plan an overnighter here prior to our island trip next time.

so after check in, julie had a short nap while the kiddos and i explored the hotel area and the beach... check the Merang Suria Resort Post. Then in the evening... pool time!

Be Warned... in Merang... there is no food except in your hotel... nada... unless u want to drive 25-30km back to KT ... which we werent up to it.

The next day... we checked out early and headed to KT... wah... superly developed... it's way much bigger then Kuantan... we also wanted to check out the Crystal Mosque... driving towards it, we discovered it was built in the same place like the new Taman Tamadun Islam! it's like an islamic theme park... it was still in its final stages of completion, but they did allow visitors in for FREE! for short time-limited trips... They had like 22 scaled model mosques from different countries in the park... the pseudo theme park was all very nicely built and had lots of activities for the family... Will definately come back when it's fully completed and ready. The crystal mosque too was nicely built... man... so much money spent!



heh... since i didn't really did any background research on what to eat in KT, we ended up in KFC on our way out of town... after lunch we dropped by another mosque... a floating one... i think i saw a billboard stating... 65 mosques built since 2005... WAH!

So... that is all of KT this time around...


on our journey back ... we stoped at Cukai area for some Otak-otak Che Wan, then back to Kuantan by 5.00pm... a super 500KM overnite drive trip.