Kota Bharu, Here They Come.

Flight MH1396 touched down on time at Kota Bharu Airport on 11th August 2008. Puteri and her huband Douglas with their children Duncan and Denise in tow with two trolleys of baggage were the last to exit from the arrival hall.

They had to hire a taxi just to carry their baggage to Hotel Raudah where I have booked them a room. A family room with two extra beds in a hotel right smack in Kota Bharu seemed to have serve them. If they are not happy I will have to relocate them to another hotel in town.
Due to the death of a distant member of the family by a fatal road accident, I was unable to take them around on the second day. They did some part of the town on their own. They made the mistake od taking an unnecessary taxi ride to The War Museum which cost them RM8.00 (after some bargaining) since it was just a short distance away from where they were. See Puteri's story of their adventure in Kota Bharu here.
I came over the next day and took them to visit the Buddhist temples in Tumpat namely the Sleeping Buddha and the squatting Buddha. Puteri pointed out the influence of the Chinese culture in the later as displayed by the presence of the dragon motif on the pillars and the Chinese God which I wouldn't have noticed while Douglas pointed to the sculptures of the monkeys that depict the famous "see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil" principle that we all should adhere to.
On the way back to Kota Bharu my guests wanted to see how akok is made and they saw it somewhere in Wakaf Baru.
We had lunch at Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah in Kota Bharu which many tourists wouldn't have done. Puteri was attracted to a stall with some large cuttlefish on display. The stall was empty so it was convenient for the five of us to sit in. I forgot to warn Puteri that an empty stall during peak hour doesn't reflect well on the food's palatabilty. It was later proven so when the cuttle fish turned out to be leather tough and not as succulent as it looks. Douglas had two packets of laksa Kelantan costing a mere ringgit each which serve him fine for what was to follow uo next.

Duncan can put up a sweet smile while Denise who is hidden behind Duncan enjoyed her piece of chicken. Puteri looked at her seemingly delicious cuttlefish which proved to be not so succulent.
After the lunch I showed Douglas and Puteri the most often photographed central part of the Pasar and they took a couple of shots with their camera.
Next we went over to the fruit section on the ground floor where Douglas showed every passerby how a durian loving American eat the durian batang mas from Thailand. The same durian would have cost them dearly if taken in California. Durians are exported in the frozen form from Thailand. The earlier laksa lunch was fine for Douglas as it leaves him with enough space to finish off the whole durian with Puteri. Me? I can't take any durian and just enjoyed the sight of them eating them while taking pictures of them with my old camera. How I miss my Alpha 350 which is still under repair.

Puteri admiring his man for being able to eat durian like the locals do.

Duncan need to pee. I took him to the public toilet and he readily posed for a photograph with a smile while holding back his urge to pee.

Compared to the toilet near the fish market in Labuan, this toilet isn't very ceria at all. Anyway Duncan managed to do it this time which he couldn't at the other toilet on the other side of the pasar. Anyway they refunded his payment for entrance when I told the keeper that the toilet wasn't clean enough for him. Being a child, the lady keeper had to believe him.

It was the night for the gathering with Kelantan bloggers at Yati Ayam Percik in Jalan Long Yunus. I went there early to book tables for 20 people set at 8.00 PM. Pakpayne of A Clear Blue Sky and Bakpo and family came to the Raudah Hote Hotel first since he didn't know the location of the place we were holding the gathering. Pakpayne doesn't look his gae and Lil looked resplendent too. After doing their maghrib's prayers, Pakpayne and family followed us in a convoy from Hotel Raudah to the place and so he had no problem. Captain Yusof of the Ancient Mariner had checked the place out during the day time so he thought he could find the place easily. I had to ask the others to start eating while I went to search for Captain Yusof with his group of NGO friends. He told me he was waiting infront of a small mosque at the junction of Jalan Bayam and Jalan Dusun Muda. He missed the bigger landmark of the 13 storey Wisma Persekutuan and The Sutera Inn across the road whose only signboard faces the other side of the road. The mosques was definitely too small as a lorry parked infront of it hid it from my sight.
When we reached Yati Ayam Percik, the other members including the latest arrival Awin of Little Dewa and her kid Dani were almost done with their dinner. Our own dinner was served soon after.
Wan Aziz of Kelantankini.com was the last to arrive as he had to send his wife off to Perak.

Pakpayne' family is at the ened of the table. Will have to ask Pakpayne for a picture of his other half.
Captain Yusof explained to me the function of his NGO, The Friends of Kelana Jaya. The association also help them to find an excuse to be away from home. I must set up a similar association in Pasir Mas too. I definitely need an excuse to be away from home sometimes.

The five of them above are from the NGO. The nearest to the camera is of course Captain Yusof, Syed Khalid on his left, Nusa hidden behind Syed Khalid, Yap hidden behind Captain Yusof and Gabriel beside yours truly. Let us see if others have more frontal picture so that I can replace this picture.
It seemed that nobody brought their kain batik lepas and Puteri brought along a kain batikSarawak since she didn't know what a kain batik lepas is. The five pieces that I brought along was of course not enough to give everyone each. After writing our names and blogsite on the kain batik lepas with a fabric marker which Puteri brought out from her bag after seeing me brought only a permanent marker which wouldn't last, we wore the cloth as a semutar for the photography session.

Kamal showed Douglas how to wear the semutar while Captain Yusof looked on.

The group photograph. From left to right: Awin, Pak Zawi, Pakpayne, Kamal, Wan Aziz, Douglas, Captain Yusof and Puteri.
The kids: Duncan, Luqman and Dani.
It was at about 10.30 PM that we called the day off. How I wish we could stay longer with such friends but knowing everybody has had a long day, breaking off early is definitely a wiser action. Let the event be short and sweet.
Finally I would like to record a word of thanks to those who contributed financially to the event especially the one from KL who contributed but knowing full well that she couldn't attend. To Syana, you were with us though not physically. To those who attended, you were our guests and we definitely enjoyed your company.
Today 14th August, Puteri, Douglas, Duncan and Denise has left Kelantan for a night stay in KL before flying off to California USA tomorrow. We wish you a safe journey home.

Kadar Molek 25 Sen/minit

Too many events happening in Kelantan without many realizing it. The latest being the launching of the new product from the telecommunication giant Digi. Kadar Molek 25 Sen/minit is a new product and why Digi chose Kelantan to launch it? The Digi's Head of Corporate Division said that Kelantan is a big market and thus is valuable to them.

I was at KB Mall Kota Bharu making an order for a telephoto lens to expand the horizon of my photography at the Sony Center there when I saw the decorations by Digi. I wasn't aware what the event was about until I saw small noticeboard showing the programme for the day.

The Digi mascot. There were two of them. Must be stifling hot even in the air conditioned place.

Since the opening ceremony was a couple of hours away I went to Dataran Stadium Sultan Muhammad Ke IV to follow up on my unfinished coverage of Karnival Halal Kelantan 2008.

By the time I reached KB Mall again I saw a row of the police out riders bike and the super bikes. It seemed the super bikers were incorporated into the programme of the launch at the same time to promote Visit Kelantan Year 2008. Must be another win-win project between the State Government to organize events to make Kota Bharu the happening town.

The police bike used as outriders for the big bikers.

How mean they look. Heard they are very docile and quite safe to ride on. They are so balance that taking your hands off the handle bar is possible. Some bikers even stand up when riding them even at speed.

Even the ladies of the super bikers enjoy posing with the pretty pulut semangat girls while waiting for the arrival of the royal guests.

The arrival of YAM Tengku Amalin was accompanied by traditional music from traditional musical instruments.

YB Takiyuddin the Kelantan State Exco for tourism welcoming the guest of honour with other dignitaries from Digi looking on.

The pulut semangat girls leading the walk.

The venue of the event was the concourse of KB Mall

YB Takiyuddin showing YAM Tengku Amalin A'Isyah Puteri the way.

Digi's Head of Corporate Division delivering his address.

YB Takiyuddin delivering his speech.

The royal guest manage to sit through both speeches.

The spectators watching from the upper galleries.

When they called upon YAM Tengku Amalin A'Isyah Puteri to strike the gedombak I was not prepared and through my haste this is all that I got for the action. Please focus your eyes and see if it will become better.

The wayang kulit was performed with the characters chatting about Digi's latest offering. I didn't stay on till the end of the even't.

For all of you who are already contributing to Digi, its time to convert to the new package and those who have yet to be converted, its time to convert. I will stick to my present service provider even though I don't even know how much they are charging me per minute. After all my monthly bill is less than RM100.00.

Karnival Halal Kelantan 2008 - Updated

The main entrance to the Dataran. Note the discrepancy of the date as it is stated as the 30th July to be the last date whereas it is 29th July on the other banners.

The Karnival Halal Kelantan 2008 or Kelantan Halal Carnival 2008 was officially opened by the Chief Minister of Kelantan Tuan Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat on 25th July 2008 at 9.00 PM. I think the event will be on till 29th July 2008. Being from Pasir Mas I missed the opening ceremony. I only found out about the event this afternoon while on my way to my sister inlaw's place in Taman Sari. I saw some activities in front of the Sultan Muhamad IV Stadium, quite like the Pesta Nasi 100. I stopped and check out and found out about the event. I wasn't aware of it and I guess most of the other Kelantan bloggers missed it too as it wasn't mentioned on their newly added Current Events In Kelantan spot on Bloggers Kelantan blogsite.

The lack of publicity made me nearly miss out on the event.

In my hurry I managed to take a few shots of the event. This is the back drop for the opening ceremony.
The organizer is Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Negeri Kelantan and the manager is Institiut Pembangunan Pengurusan Johor. No local event manager can handle this? Could it be because of this that the publicity was that bad.

This picture showed the site with the white tents as the display booths.

This large globe will be the opening gimick and I think the globe will split open when the Chief Minister press the button or something.

I saw this two stalls displaying the halal products.

More report to come after I find the chance to visit the carnival or hopefully somebody will write something about it after opening ceremony tonight.

Visited the site again on 26th July 2008. It seemed the carnival had been going on since the 23rd of July 08 but many people doesn't seem to know about the event. The publicity was certainly lacking. Depending on banners alone won't be sufficient as there are banners of all kinds even of past events like the International Kite Festival which was done in May and still hanging to make it more confusing. Beside that there are other events like the launching of Digi latest package Harga Molek 25 sen seminit also in Kota Bharu on 26th July 08 at KB Mall. The launching was officially done by YM Tengku Amalin Aisyah Putri with much fanfare.

The first thing I saw at the carnival was the prize presentation being done to the winners of the ayam serama contest.

They have a very meticulous scoring system to decide the winner. Look at the was the points were scored by the judges and they were up for scrutiny after the judging were made.
To let you see what there is to see here are some pictures of the stalls at the carnial. I will add the descriptions later.

Hard gelatin capsules made in Pakistan. Most gelatin used to make such casules come from other animals than can be dubious.

You can be rest assured that these cosmetic products are made from materials that are halal.

Dinding Puoltry want to show the world that their chicken products are halal.

What has rubber tree leavesused to make such beautiful flowers got to do with halal status?


Kek lapis from Sarawak can be bought over the phone and delivery by courier.


Garam bukit anyone?

HPA is a wellknown name in herbal products


Hwa Tai don't want to be left out either.

Neither does the Pagoda brand of peanuts. Heard it goes very well with beer which is not halal.


I worked for this organization once. Developing and promoting such entrepreneurs were one of my duties.

This stall promote the famous minayak Dakam from Johor which is a good massage oil. They sell another product for sinusitis. I bought one bottle of the massage oil and a small bottle for the sunusitis which I found to be quite effective. I will keep on using and tell you more of their efficacy.

Beside show business The Rabbani group is also in the food business

Roselle is a nice drink.

Who will doubt on the sardines made by Pertima of Terengganu?

Perda brought along many of their usahawan (entrpreneurs) to promote their products.
Khaleefa promote the electronic Quran.

Now the secret is out from Secret Garden.
Sirim has some products too
They promise you that you can shed a kilogram off in seven days.
Soft ice cream made with the use of halal gelatin. The company Kasturi Klasik makes soft ice cream by the name of mingomingo and is offering business packages for prospective aspirants. Log in to their website: http://www.mingomingo.com.my/ to find out more. I like the taste of the ice cream and it cost a ringgit each.
There is still a few days to go so if you need to know more please visit the carnival as there are also some cultural shows put up to attract the crowd.