Charging the Batteries: KT & Kuantan

Ha ... carrying on from my last 2 vacation posts ... Cherating / Chendor and Perhentian Besar, we spent the last morning in Perhentian just wandering around, taking some pictures and just saying my goodbyes. I love Perhentian loads, but I don't think I'll be back soon - there are so many other islands to explore in Malaysia that Girlfriend and I haven't been to.

Leaving Perhentian Besar by speedboat at lunch, Girlfriend had a glimpse of the other beaches on the other parts of the island we didn't get to visit due to the inclement weather the day before. I'm sure we'll be back sometime to visit those places.


After lunch at the jetty, we took the beach route, via Penarik, down to Kuala Terengganu. Girlfriend found a nice batik replacement for her lost hairband, which is probably fish food somewhere in the South China Sea now. Nice, no ?


At KT ... we visited my new best friend and her good friends, her terrapins. She's currently at the final leg of her research on a headstarting protocol for terrapins.


We were given a very good overview of her project, and I'll have to say I'm impressed with what she and her colleagues have done. She deserves all the support she can get ...


Moving on, we went down to Pasar Payang in KT for some batik shopping. That's when I realised KT doesn't have any ATMs ! Not in downtown anyways.

By nightfall, we've reached Kuantan, after stopping by Cherating for grilled seafood again. We decided to end the holiday in a good hotel, so we were at the Hyatt Regency at Teluk Chempedak in Kuantan. It's a lovely resort, and we stayed in the sea view room ...


After a good night's sleep, this view greeted us the next morning ...


We soaked in the view, had a lazy morning, and took a walk around Teluk Chempedak after breakfast. After a few days eating in resorts and nice restaurants, we decided to just stuff ourselves with McDonald's. =)


The beach is actually pretty good, and there's a nice boardwalk, right at the edge of the water, and next to the Beserah Forest Reserve. Which probably explains the squirrels around the beach.


Walking right along the boardwalk which connects Teluk Chempedak to Teluk Tongkang, named as it was the place where Japanese troops landed during World War II, Tongkang being the malay word for junk, the type of ship which the Japanese used to come ashore. There's another beach reachable by trekking the jungle - Pantai Pelindung (Protector Beach), so named because the locals sheltered there from the Japanese who landed at Teluk Tongkang. And after that, we went back to the hotel, packed up, and said goodbye to a holiday well done !


The batteries have been totally recharged. And while the amatuer in me haven't quite figured out how to get the D80 to handle bright beaches and sunny skies well, some photos did turn out decently.

Don't you just love that sunrise pic over Teluk Chempedak? I do. And it's my post. So, I'm putting a different one, because I can. And because I'm so happy after my holiday !

Charging the Batteries: Perhentian Besar

Picking from the previous post, I was on a week-long holiday, driving the east coast with The Girlfriend. It'll be my 2nd year doing this, while Girlfriend's doing a driving vacation like this for the first time.

I guess by driving, I'm combining my passion for travel, driving, the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia and photography all rolled into a single holiday. Not to forget, Girlfriend is coming along too. =)


We bid farewell to the charming Cherating / Chendor area early in the morning, immediately after breakfast to avoid the expected traffic, and to hopefully maximize our short time on the island. The roads have definately improved from last year, when many road works made the drive a little difficult at some stretches. This year, it's a lot better, but there are still roadworks along the way.


The long drive to Kuala Besut, which is just before the Kelantan border, took me nearly 5 hours from Cherating. We reached just before lunch, and caught our tour operator by surprise - he was still out of town at the bank - thank goodness he didn't keep us waiting for long !


After a quick tea with our tour operator at the new, make-shift jetty at Kuala Besut (the real jetty is under renovation), we took the speed boat to Perhentian Besar. The boat ride was great, and took just under 30 minutes.

Perhentian Besar is the larger of the two Perhentian islands. The resorts here are more family oriented, and it's quieter and generally, more expensive. On Perhentian Kecil, the resorts cater more to a backpacker crowd and is cheaper, but has a more vibrant nightlife.

I knew some chalet owners on Perhentian Besar, and got a good deal - basic non a/c chalet with attached bathroom at RM 80 per night. My only complaint is that the bed can be a little better, and there are signs of termite infestation at the chalet already. Anyways, it was good enough for our short stay.


I won't bore you guys with too much details, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.


Weather wise, our trip was somewhat wrecked by unusual morning of rain, and the threat of a storm (which isn't expected at this season). It cancelled our snorkelling plans. I really wanted to take Girlfriend out for a snorkel, but well, we can plan, but we don't control the weather, you know. =(

Instead, Girlfriend and I went around the island taking photos and snorkelling around the near-shore coral reefs. Photos taken after the rain were somewhat flat. =(


Sad news is - the coral deterioration from my last year's visit is amazingly rapid. By my own reckoning, in some areas, mostly the ones where snorkellers are being dumped by the dozen by tour operators, the coral is 50% less than what it was last year.


However, there is some good news - in some reefs just a little further away from where the operators dump tourists by the boat load, I see signs of new coral life. So, it's not all lost. Hopefully, the operators will keep away from these reefs. At the same time, there are now marked areas which are off limits to boats. This should keep some operators from getting too close to some corals. =)

In any case, snorkelling is immense fun. Girlfriend, who has snorkelled in many a great places, found the fish life to be varied and colorful. At the same time, the incredible amount of soft corals and the general variety of corals we encountered made this trip worthwhile. In some places, there are so many reef fishes swimming around us, it actually freaked us out for a bit !


The soft, powdery sand in Perhentian Besar was mesmerizing. We spent some time just lying on the soft sand ... it was that good. Girlfriend even exfoliated with the sand ... the things girls do for beauty ...

We've decided next year, we won't be travelling to Perhentian again, but I'm sure we'll be back sometime, and I hope the coral life would have survived, even thrived when we return in the future. I hope tourists and tour operators will be more educated and will do their part to protect the corals and marine life in the area.


One of the highlights of this trip was food - Girlfriend enjoyed the food very much. Check out the restaurant at Watercolours Resort - they serve the best food around.

And of course, I enjoyed every bit of my vacation on Perhentian Besar, even if the weather spoiled some of the fun.

Next Stop: Kuala Terengganu to see some terrapins. And Kuantan to wrap it all up !

Charging the Batteries: Cherating / Chendor

Every once in a while, when the soul starts to get jaded and the energy level falls, you know it's time to get away from it all and recharge the batteries !

The timing was good too ... I was just finishing a year with my employers, and some work fatigue has crept into me. So, what better an a road trip to the East Coast with the Girlfriend in tug?

First stop: Cherating / Chendor. Honestly, I don't know whether it's Cherating or is it Chendor. Technically, since the resort says it's Cherating, I guess the beach should be called Cherating beach. And it's not too far away from Kampung Cherating too. But the place itself is in Chendor. So how ???

That's why the pictures will show the caption "Cherating / Chendor". =)

If you wanted a deserted stretch of beach to yourself, and still be near a resort of some repute, this is the place to come to.


The beach is protected because it's a turtle sanctuary - and we saw plenty of wildlife - giant raptors, one of which swooped down on the beach before our eyes to catch some unknown prey. And not forgetting, a small seasnake too !

We first spotted it near the shore, still in the sea when we were walking to one end of the beach. However, when we were walking back, the sea snake was already beached. So, like all good photographers, I stepped forward and took some photos of it. =). Even though I am really afraid of snakes, no kidding. Good thing the lens I had mid zoom capabilities, otherwise, I'd be too scared to approach it with a normal point and shoot camera, really.


We drove up early, before sunrise so that we could maximize the time on the beach, and boy, I think it was a good decision. It meant we had the whole afternoon on the beach, which we spent walking up and down the beach, photographing, dozing off to the seabreeze on deck chairs, and just enjoying each other's company. It was great. I could really get used to it, and it was the perfect start to our holidays !


For dinner, while approaching Kampung Cherating, Girlfriend decided we should have a look in the village. We set our criteria - we'll stop in the first food joint that had a decent number of people in it, and looked better than crummy.

We finally found this place which does grilled seafood. The grilled stingray was heavenly.


Next up: Pulau Perhentian Besar - Moz returns to check out the corals !

BRB - Recharging Batteries

I'll be taking most of the week off to recharge my batteries. Rejuvenation is so important, more so nowadays due to the exertions of work !

Just in the blink of an eye, the year is already very close to it's mid point !


Wish me a fun & safe trip !

Trip Itinerary:

3°02'10.33" N, 101°38'36.96" E
4°09'32.69" N, 103°24'34.68" E
5°54'09.53" N, 102°44'21.72" E
3°48'54.18" N, 103°22'41.11" E

Travel bits

Now that there's some break from work, I can update a little on my travels to Hanoi last week.

I stayed at the Hanoi Opera Hilton for the first time ! The hotel rawks ! The hotel manager rawks !


I really went there on work, on a really tough assignment. Odds are I won't come out ofo the meeting smelling like roses. Still, work is work - I'm paid to do the good part and the not so good part.

So, it perked my day up upon seeing this on my way to Hanoi. Rainbows to me is a good omen. Seeing this, I believed I can make something good out of my Hanoi assignment.


It was the hardest trip to Hanoi, in both literal and actual sense. There wasn't any direct flight available by the time I needed to fly, so I had to make a transit in Ho Chih Minh City on the way to Hanoi. That made a 3 hour 20 minute flight turn into a 6 hour+ journey. Still, the food served on board managed to serve some funnies:



The meeting didn't turn out as bad, although I was badly dehydrated by the time I was done - the meeting room was hot because AC wasn't firing on all cylinders, and I did most of the talking all of the 4 hours, sweating, and without drinks served.

So, to make up for that, that night, me and Jon, a colleague from Thailand, we went to chill out in the Old Quarters. I took the chance to get my sunshine a purple lantern. Glad you love it, dear.



And on my way back, a tantalising glimpse of the gems of the East Coast, the Redang archipelago. Click on this and other pictures to see a bigger version.


Makes me look forward to my holiday !