I wish to post this yesterday's happenings last night. But my physical conditions were pushed to the limits and decided to call it a day. Besides the internet connection in my room is not at the usual optimum performance. I guess I should not expect from from it, is it? Today I will begin my week-length of loneliness. Constricted by my financial woes, I will have some rough time facing this. I wish to go back early but I did not have the financial backing from my parents. Curses. Unwilling to pay the required amount of penalty money, here I am, stuck in Kelantan. Never mind that. I do expect this to happen, nothing less. All I need is a decent internet connection.
Better not to wander off the real topic. So as mentioned, I had a road trip to Rantau Panjang. It is one of the duty-free zones in Kelantan and what is more special, the place is neighbouring to troubled southern region of Thailand. The fact that Rantau Panjang is just a leap away (literally) excites me. I kept on babbled those Thai greetings as we reached Rantau Panjang. Being a duty-free zone, I expected the place to be a reminiscent of Labuan. When I mention Labuan, my thoughts are on cheap imported chocolates and cheap liquors. My thoughts were denied. I give you an excerpt from my friends.
"Rantau Panjang is like a pasar malam (night market). No, Rantau Panjang is a day market." And I quote, "Rantau Panjang is a pasar satu hari (I presumed it was meant by a market to be open the whole day)."
You better believe those statements. It is, in fact a market. Pasar tamu to be exact, though it seemed to me that it is a hot-day market. My sweat glands were very active in its function at that time. Then we headed to the place where good chocolates are available at Rantau Panjang. Somehow the shop reminded me of Labuan. Ah! Those matriculation days. I bought a couple of chocolate to appease my cravings for those heavenly food. Actually I was amazed that they do sell Droste and Swiss Delice there (I quickly grabbed those two). Toblerone is no exception but since it is also available in 7-11s, I was not bothered of that favourite chocolate of mine. On the disappointment side, I failed to spot any Hersey. I want Kisses! But if my memory is right, I do recalled Kisses to be sold somewhere in Kota Baharu. I try to check that one out again. After storming that shop for chocolates, we headed out of Rantau Panjang. Ironically, it rained soon after. The timing was not good.
Temple searching was next on our list. In total we have visited four Buddhist temples. One of the highlights were the biggest Reclining Buddha statue in South East Asia. A lot larger than what they have in Penang. Believe me, the size is quite amazing. Then we have the Sitting Buddha. The statue does not amaze me but the temple's interior lured my attention. On the walls are facades of all the level of Hell in the Buddha's teachings. The sights were quite gory and I had an apathy of pain about it. Ouch! There is one image showing a devil puring hot melted iron into someone's mouth. Double ouch! Then another one. People chased by devil-like dogs and were forced to climb thorned tree in order to escape those dogs with crows attacking them as a bonus. Super ouch! There are lots more but those mentioned two are horrific to my standards. The rest of the temples are the Standing Buddha and the Confucius temple.
Our next stop was a beach near Tumpat. From the early perceptions, it looked like a nice beach. When set foot on the shores, I was disappointed yet again. The sea water was rather dirty and nothing scenic about the surroundings. When the day started to rain again, we rushed back to our cars. As we left the beach, we were stopped by police at a roadblock. Nothing much happened other than checking for identification and license, though I was warned about the broken front plate. Blame the rental car owner, not me. We were excused simply because we are students. Thank God for student privileges.
Soon after, we sent our friend to the train station and accompanied her until her ride arrived. And then we decided to have our dinner at one of the city's restaurants, Ala Yummy. Do not judge the place by its name (people here lack creativity). The service is very good but above all, the food is splendid. We had to leave early since we need to send one of our friends to the bus station. And as you read this, you need to take note that I do most of the driving. You can imagine how much energy was drained out of me.
The largest Reclining Buddha statue in South East Asia
One big Buddha statue...
The Standing Buddha statue
The groupies. From left; Wan Sun, Xiu Xin, Lee Fang, Sau Mei, Darren, Eason, Pei Ming, Yan Ling, Chean Tat
Before wrapping up, I would like give all my thanks to all the road trip groupies - Darren, Eason, Xiu Xin, Lee Fang, Yan Ling, Sau Mei and Wan Sun. Appreciations (and a big hug) to my roommate, Ah Tat, for organizing this trip with me and also Pei Ming to help along in getting us transport on that day. To those who are concerned, goodbye and happy holidays.
On Playlist: The Fray - How to Save a Life
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