New Kids On the Beach

Trengganu, as laid back as it should be is seriously not for IT geeks who like to spend hours in wifi-free kopitiams, Gangnam style K-pop fans, youngsters and young-at-heart looking for a night out, 40-something from the Acute Gout club  or even peminat Che Kiah pekasam. The place is so cool and the people is so blessed with laid back attitude to the effect that until today, 83 days from the day I applied for a new telephone line into my new house, my whole family and I are still talking to the wall without any land line. But Trengganu is where I put my heart now. It is a place for people who love tranquility, jam-free journey, unpolluted air, amusing people with the most powerful G-force in the planet, fresh sea produces and not to mention a long stretch of unmolested golden sandy beaches. 

This blissful place full of expressive form of life and nature has  never failed to inspire me and almost seductively transform me from being a scientist into a self-professed poet. The long infatuation with these zen-like life has from time to time drowned me into a nostalgic mode. My right brain tickles. Even an innocent looking female goat sunbathing  in the middle of Jalan Gong Pak Jin aroused my creative mind. 

My four super-heroes however are adapting to their new life. They are city boys. Three were borne in the City of Kay El and one in the City of Durham, a far away land where people eat Fish and Chips. But surprisingly, despite their endless fixation to PS3 and other  techno-gadgets, they share my intimate passion and similar perversion to the sand and the wave from the South China Sea. They are adapting well. The sea becomes a medium to bond the family together. I like it to stay that way. 

Somewhere in my sub-conscious mind  I always feel at home whenever i put my feet on the beach. I am not new to this  domain. It is very familiar to me.  I am not a new kid on the beach.  Ganukite is very synonymous with me. It will always be. But to my young super-heroes this place is an uncharted place offering them some new adventures. I however, have no worry as looking at their enthusiasm and their youthful spirit, I think they are ready to take the challenge. 

 And my significant half. She doesn't need to adjust herself or adapt to anything. She is part of me.   

 Trengganu without beaches is not Trengganu after all. It will be tasteless. Beaches almost without fail are always associated with fun and sunshine. But fun on the beach is as joyful only with calculated risk. With Monsoon season is  hovering and lingering  on the  horizon, still in its stagnant mode, do not estimate the power of the sea. Few fatalities were reported in the past along beaches like this because some didn't realize the hidden danger that lie under the gentle and alluring wave that beats the shore. (Pantai Pak Tuyu)

Friday morning we are on the beach, Saturday morning we are back on the beach, in fact family escapade will continue throughout the evening and some weekdays as well. In short, I can conclude that my four superheroes are also mesmerized and got sedated by Ganukite wonderful beaches....just like their  daddy. (Pantai Tok Jembal)

The four superheroes were warming up  for some beach actions and get ready to submerge themselves with whatever they thought fit into their fancies. (Pantai Pengkalan Maras)

Walking on the beach is like walking on an open field full of hidden treasures. You'll never know what you are going to find or stumble upon. You just have to pay more attention and with some sheer luck you will be rewarded with something totally unexpected. 

Anything that my superheroes found on the beach, anything that is playable will be their love and joy even an ordinary ornate slipper full of living barnacles.   This interesting slipper has some story to tell. Perhaps if we can talk their language, the barnacles will come up with some good epic story that fit into a Bollywood screen.

The slipper, perhaps drifting from one of  the Vietnamese fishing boats just off shore now become the beach volley-slipper. 

Oblivious to the big wave that hit the beach, my third and fourth progenies seemed to enjoy their newly found playground. The long stretch of Ganukite beaches are now becoming their private wonderland. Most of the time,  all by themselves. (Pantai Mengabang Batu Rakit)

A family photo beside a sampan, under the shade of a coconut tree to mark the historic and memorable occasions, which number is uncountable. The new spot is Kuala Baru, a new lepak place for the whole family along Pantai Tok Jembal. This blissful spot  has never registered in my 45-years-old's Ganukite map before which resided in my mind. Now it is a good time to update my mental Ganukite map with the latest version, minus the Nasi dagang of course.

The outing grand finale is always a family round-table meal  with a mouthful array of a-la-carte menu  consisting of nasi kerabu, nasi lemak and nasi dagang. This only makan place on the beachfront of Kuala Baru  is commendable for its reasonable price, scenic location and free air conditioning complimentary of 10-20knots wind from the South China Sea. And not to mention countless gallons of minute salty sea spray which in 20 years will corrode anything that is metalic in nature. I hope my mind and my perversion to the beach won't get corroded by then.

Longing for the sun

This is the most anticipated time during the second quarter of the year, when all member of your family is around and make a full house one more time. It is a school holiday and I am almost as excited as the kids.

School holiday could mean many trips up and down, scoring half the peninsular of Malaysia. As I am getting my back into it's my normal posture (not that it was crooked before though) , I can again enjoy driving a long-haul trip without having to worry the strenuous effect on me.

The first trip after such a mundane period of healing was a two and a half hour trip up to Kuala Kangsar to fetch my son from his college. Normally he will just take a bus ride home, but I presume during the last few weeks before the school break was quite a hectic time for him with preparing for a debate competition, exams and daydreaming - he forgot to buy a bus ticket.

But I don't mind having to travel all the way to his place. In fact I quite enjoy the journey as the route along the north bound highway has many interesting lay by and rest areas for me to stop and take a break and cool off myself.

Two most popular rest area where I almost won't miss during those trips are Tapah R&R and Hentian Sg. Perak (both ways). Both places have good facilities, many things to offer - some you can't find it anywhere else, clean and very colorful. There are always some 'jajan' to bring back home from these two stop over.

Tomorrow I am traveling away from those two rest area. I am going back to the east coast for a holiday, to my hometown the Keropoklekor land. Even the rest areas along the new highway are not as good as the one in the other side of the mountain, but I know I will enjoy the good scenery along the scenic coastal area of Kemaman, Dungun and Kuala Terengganu. Even though the collapse of Sultan Mizan new stadium was a bit shameful (and shocking) to most Awang and Mek Ganu, that won't a bit surprised me as I am sure Ganu people will always say "mujo ambe takdok situ dudok cakung dalang stadiung masa atap tu rutoh, kalau tidok mapuh keghah bahang tanoh ah wei"!

It was considerably a busy week for me trying to clear everything off my desk and other people's desk as well, in anticipation of this holiday. It is time for me to switch off my handphone and enjoying my long siesta under the palm tree on a beautiful sandy beach, after having a morning breakfast of nasi dagang.

Lock, stock and barrel

Standing proudly beside the lifeless tiger, gloriously feeling like an English aristocrat claiming his game trophy as a symbol of valor and prestige. But taming the wild beasts within is almost as exasperating and yet another battle to fight for.

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Looking at that rustic photo of me and the tiger, I just can't wipe the smile off my face. I can still vividly remember the proud feeling of standing over the mighty but then-lifeless beast, holding my father's unloaded gun and posing for that momentous photo shot. The triumphant feeling was probably similar to the feeling of blood-gushing adrenalin when a headhunter beheading their enemy's head. Nope...that was too gross. It was more to a sweet memory of an eight years old schoolboy, having the trust of his proud father to guard the lifeless tiger.

That was not the first time though I had that same feeling engulfing me. That same feeling I had every time I were to be at close proximity with these wild beasts or when I came face to face with the same species at my office. You know, that beastly beings that roaming mercilessly, looking for their helpless prey down the corridor.

This is not about the poaching adventure I had during my adolescent years. Tiger is a protected animal and an endangered species (This put them in the same league as prolific writers in our organization). Their numbers is dwindling fast all over the world. If there is no continuous effort to conserve this beautiful animal, our next generation to come will think that a Bengal big cat is as docile as their Persian kitty pet.

That photo was taken in Kemaman, Terengganu circa 1976. It was a normal scene every time my father, who was a 'pegawai mergastua' at the time, coming back from one of his official duty from the deep jungle in the rural area. In almost all occasions, he will bring back with him his game 'trophies'. Some can be very cute life specimens from the other wild species, which later became my pet for a short period of time before officials from his department took away my pet for their safe keeping. If my memory is still good, among the long list of interesting pets that I have was a baby sun bear, a porcupine, 'siamang' and 'mawas', a tiger cub and mousedeers to be exact.

Whenever, my father went out into the jungle, which could last for several days, I can sensed my mother's anxiety, from the somber look on her face. Suddenly, there was no more blabbering to our mischievous activities. I knew, she was very worried and praying for my father's safety. Once I overheard my father related to my mother the story of his junior colleague, during one of his tiger's stake-out (a tree ran, usually a few yard from a carcass previously attacked by a tiger), came down from their tree ran for a midnight wee. In split seconds, an injured tiger leaped out from nowhere and attacked the man. My father and his other colleagues gunned down the tiger, thus saved the poor fellow from becoming a glaring headline in the local newspaper.

I still remember especially during the monsoon seasons, when migratory birds flocked the wet paddy fields or resting on the nipah tree lining the river near my kampong in Terengganu, my father will take me and my younger brother for a river cruise with our grandfather's boat to shoot few birds with his shot gun. It was almost like an annual ritual, a father and sons get together thing. The sound of the gun shot was so thunderous I have to close my ears with both hands. The delectable taste of these birds (we called the white bird 'burong kuto' and 'itik air' for birds that settled on the paddy fields) was awesome.

That was 28 years ago, but even the taste is something that I would still longing for, I wouldn't eat the bird now as the H5N1 is far more precarious. Once when I was considerably stronger, my father taught me to shoot squirrels that infested on the fruits of our villagers. Instead I shot many coconut on the tree as my practice and this really enraged my grandfathers as it turned out most of the coconut trees were his :)

My father has long retired from his service and surrendered the gun to the authority. I've never had any chance to get my hand on the gun since then. Spending a moment or two with my father, some time feeling like a predator hunting for its prey was my lifetime memorable experience. So precious!

From Terengganu with love

Terengganu was the only playing ground that I knew for almost 18 years, until my first "hijrah" to Bangi, that was to discover my adulthood (and later my first and only love) in our local alma mater. I love this place so much not because this state has been dubbed as a "Little Kuwait of Malaysia", or her generosity for sharing its oil wealth with the Federal Government, but simply because everything here is simple. or at least it used to be. As much as my native friends will concur with me, this beautiful state with their inhabitants who eats nasi dagang as their breakfast and keropok-lekor as their evening snack has so much adventure and colourful activities to offer for the uniniated and season travellers. Even the local the kampung boy like me will always find something new and interesting thing to do whenever I pay a visit to my hometown.

Among the thing that still bemused me is our native dialect, which sometime will tickle even the hardcore Kuala Berang indigenous. For example one makcik describe a strong monsoon wind that hit her house recently "ambe dengor anging piung..piung..piung atas pale, beghooookkk cabut abis atap rumoh. Debok, mokcik terjun rumoh, mujo dok patoh ghiiok jatuh. kalu tidok mapuh bahang tanoh". (sorry could not find suitable manglish word for the translation, maybe Ganu bloggers like bro madredo1 or skatype can explain the phrase better than me :)

Food is another thing. I love to visit old market place like Kedai Buloh and of course Kedai Payang just to sample some of the traditional delicacies of which only endemic to this part of the world. Last time I went to this place, I introduced "rojok kateh" to my significant half. She loved it very much.

But now, as the state is now has been upgraded one class higher than her neigbours and showered with the status of "bandaraya", I can see the old charm is starting to disappear fast. So much to the modernization, that is the price we have to pay. This has really saddened me. In fact this rapid changes is happening everywhere. It is a matter of time. But we can still preserve the good old charm and nice memory in the form of photographic record and frequent visit to our old and rustic birthplace and walk the memory lane.

The transparent masjid, Masjid Kristal as part and parcel of Taman Tamaddun Islam. The masjid is situated not far from the infamous Losong, of which you can find Keropok Losong. But now I find keropok Losong is a bit on the salty side. Not to my liking at all.

Sandy beaches and its panoramic coastal lines are always my favourite stopover and regular picnic spots whenever I travel back to Terengganu. This one was in Kemasek.

My kids like to collect shell like this one that scattered with abundant along the sandy beaches.

Local fish produce like this "sata" is gastronomically irresistable. This particular one was mixed with crab meat, something out of ordinary. I was told by little sister (Cendawanintim), we can only find this variety only in Ramadhan Bazaar near Panji Alam. Life in Terengganu can be as colorful as this drinks.
Traditional marketplace with varieties of choices.
Masjid Tengku Tengah Zaharah or popularly known as Masjid Terapung situated not very far from my kampung. My favourite keropok 007 can be found nearby.