Galeri Seni Warisan Terengganu

If you visit any country, you will notice that they have got something to show you about their heritage be it arts, culture and so on. Their museums show a lot of their civilisation.

Like wise, Terengganu has recently opened a gallery at Jalan Sultan Sulaiman Kuala Terengganu near the Batu Bersurat roundabout. It is called Galeri Seni Warisan Terengganu (translated as Terengganu's Heritage Art Gallery). It is being managed by a newly established institute by the name of Terengganu Institute of Design Excellence (TiDE) which has a research entity. The institute also trains Terengganu entrepreneurs involve in these arts.

The office of TiDE is on the upper floor.

The gallery is located on the ground floor while the Institute staff occupy the upper floor. It has a touch of designers and that is why it looks very presentable. The exhibits include batik, songket, wood carving, mengkuang weaving and brassware and they are not meant for sale (unlike the ones in Nor Arfa Craft Complex).

Exhibit : Batik

Exhibit: wood carving

Settee at the reception

Exhibit: Brassware

Batik clothes are put on the models.

If you are interested to learn about these heritage art of the people of Terengganu, do visit this gallery.It opens on working days from 8.00am to 4.00pm. (close on Friday,Saturday and public holiday). It is a kilometre walk from Primula Beach Hotel. Happy learning.

Souvenirs of Terengganu

I like to tell you about the possible souvenirs available in Terengganu that you can bring home either as a remembrance or to give away to your friends. There are many types of souvenirs that are sold in the shops and markets at affordable price.

The souvenirs that I have in mind are handicraft (clothes, batik, songket, hats, mengkuang mats and basket, bamboo and rattan baskets, silver brooch, brass ware, t-shirts, key chains, wood carving plaque,etc) and food (dried and fresh).

Dried food like fish crackers, prawn crackers, dodol, local biscuits while the fresh food are nasi dagang, keropok lekor, sata or pais which can easily go bad if you do not take care. I know there are many other souvenirs that you might take home are not listed here. It is your choice.

Small baskets made from mengkuang (pandan leaf).

Colourful food cover made of mengkuang leaf and the bamboo trays can be good souvenirs. It is so unique.

Tepak Sireh

Tepak Sireh (made of brass) has its set like kachip and 4 small container. Kachip is used to cut the areca nut. The small containers are used to put lime (kapor), areca nut chip, cloves etc. Old people used to munch sireh (betel  leaf with lime paste, areca nut and gambier). Indians also are used to eat this betel leaf. If you are lucky, you can get this Tepak Sireh for RM110.00 per set. You can put this Tepak Sireh in your showcase as an exhibit..

Apparatus made of brass. They are used to make traditional cakes and biscuits.

Key chains.

Key-chains and fridge magnets depicting Terengganu's icon, Turtle are one of the cheapest souvenirs ever sold in the Pasar Kedai Payang. The price range is around RM3.00-4.00.If you buy in dozens, it will be cheaper.Note the container/tray is also made of bamboo that can be a souvenir too.

Traditional daggers like keris and golok. Keris is an ornament now and golok is used in cutting wood or meat.

Songket.

Terengganu's authentic songket of various designs and colours can be a souvenir. The price may vary.  It may cost from a simple hundred to thousands of Malaysian Ringgit depending on quality. The above are price more than RM3000.00 per piece. The RM200-400 is considered okay and have quality. Songket is usally is used as a sampin for Baju Melayu (Malay male traditional dress). The songket also can be used to make lady cloth (kebaya). Now, designers are more creative in using this songket where they mixed with other clothes. Some songket is used as bookmakers, book covers, head gears, tie, graduation robe etc. This is to make variety use of songket  rather than being used as a dress gadget.

Terengganu's batik looks beautiful when you put on these models. This batik cloth is selling around RM300.00 per piece, enough to make a lady's shirt and sarong.

Dodol

Dodol already packed in certain kilograms for you to take home. Dodol is made of rice flour, sugar and coconut milk mixed and cooked for a few hours to become solid. Some dodol maker has put flavour into it such as durian or pandan.

To those interested to buy souvenirs, Pasar Kedai Payang in the town centre and Nor Arfa Craft Complex (NACC) in Chendering (10km away) offer plenty souvenir items. When you buy, do bargain especially when you buy at Pasar Kedai Payang. At NACC, the price is fixed and you can use credit cards. Happy travelling.

Heritage Hills of Kuala Terengganu

I think not many visitors or the locals realise that Kuala Terengganu has at least 8 hills. These hills are natural hills and are being used for different purposes. In the 1950's, these hill have tigers. Now, tigers cannot survive here.

The hills are Bukit Besar, Bukit Kecil, Bukit Pak Apil, Bukit Kledang, Bukit Istana, Bukit Jambol, Bukit Losong and Bukit Puteri.

Bukit Besar being the biggest and highest of all is located at Jalan Sultan Muhammad. There are many telecommunication towers at its top. You can go up by vehicles but the slope is quite steep. So, most joggers walk up the hill, parked their vehicles at the foothill. You need to have stamina to go up otherwise you  cannot proceed. This hill is special because it also functions as a guide or compass to the fisherman as it can been seen from the sea. Now it is being lighted up with strong red lights with words "Allah Selamatkan Terengganu " (translation God, Please Helps Save Terengganu). You can view this while driving along Sultan Mahmud bridge.

Bukit Besar, a view from Jalan Sultan Muhammad. Note the white wording..Allah Peliharakanlah..dan the communication towers on the right. At night these words will be lighted with red lights.

Bukit Kecil is a smaller hill compare to Bukit Besar, located at Jalan Bukit Kecil, in front of  Bukit Besar. This hill was once connected to Bukit Pak Apil, but due to development it was cut to give way for school, offices and road. Now what is only left (remnants) is at the water reservoir off Jalan Kemajuan. This hill has a history by itself. There is a canon where the authority will lit the canon to tell the folks the fasting time (start and breakfast), proclaiming Hari Raya etc. It can be heard by the people of Kuala Terengganu. The sound of the canon can vibrates your wooden house especially if your house is near to this hill. To me this is a heritage as new generation may not know.

Bukit Besar viewed from north-east.

Bukit Pak Apil is an elongated ridge like hill, similar in height as other hills (except Bukit Besar). It has two access roads from Jalan Cherong Lanjut. It was once link with Bukit Kecil but due to road construction in 1986 (Jalan Kemajuan), it was detached. This hill has Radio Television Malaysia office and Motel Desa at one end (still exist until today) and State secretariat office at the other end. The secretariat office was constructed in 1962 and was in used until secretariat office shifted to Wisma Darul Iman in 1980's. Now the site has been converted as hill park for the public. There is no road connected this park to RTM building on the other end. This means it has a dedicated road by itself.

Bukit Istana and Bukit Jambol are close to each other. These hills formed an elongated ridge until it reaced Bukit Kledang. But the roads had  separated them. Jalan Syed Zain had separated Bukit Jambul and Bukit Istana. While Jalan Bukit Kledang had separated Bukit Kledang with Bukit Istana. Bukit Jambol has a few private buildings. Bukit Istana has a small palace and an office of Kajicuaca. While Bukit Kledang has a special graveyard. These hills are strategic hills in those days.

Bukit Losong is an isolated hill, located in Losong. The construction of Terengganu Museum has taken part of this hill and what is now left is the hill with reservoir on it.

The entrance to Bukit Puteri  and Tourist Information Centre(TIC), located next to the General Post Office.

The staircases leading to Bukit Puteri.

The last hill is Bukit Puteri located near the river mouth facing the South China Sea. It once had a light house to help ship to navigate into the river mouth of Kuala Terengganu. It has been written in many tourism brochure. Bukit Puteri has been conserved and become part of tourist itinerary. You can climb the staircases to this hill. It is located near the jetty, post office and Tourist Information Centre of Kuala Terengganu. Happy Travelling.

Keropok Lekor of Terengganu

Keropok Lekor  is synonymous to Terengganu. Keropok is a snack eaten by Terengganu folks in the evening. Now, keropok can be eaten at any time. Those days, we can only eat during the evening because the fisherman come back with fish in the evening. I remembered when I was small, I can only eat keropok lekor during dusk or during sunset.

Keropok lekor is a mixed of sago, fish paste, pinch of salt and sugar. First, the fish is cleaned, all bones were rid of, pounded with "alu lesong" (mortar) and mixed with the right amount of sago flour. Then, the paste is divided into small portions. Each small portion is rolled and shaped like a long hot dog and thrown into the boiling water. Once the keropok lekor is floating in the boiling water, it is considered cooked. Then, they were scooped into the net and put into a big bamboo basket for cooling.

The standard sign board in Losong.

Now with the new technology, you don't have to pound the fish, the machine will do it. For the mixing, the machine will do it. But for the rolling, most keropok lekor is still done by hands.

To most Terengganu's experienced keropok lekor maker, they boil the keropok not with the gas, but with the wood. This give different taste to the keropok.

The fish paste or dough is put in the blue container.

The dough being compacted for better shape into sausage.

The roll keropok lekor before being boil.

The boiling keropok lekor. The floating ones are considered cooked.

Keropok lekor is eaten fresh or fried and served with chilli  sauce. Some people like to eat fresh and some like it stir fry. You must try eating the boiled ones. This keropok lekor can be preserved in the fridge for a few days. When you want to eat it, take out from your fridge, thaw it and fry. Should you find, the keropok lekor becomes sticky, you can wash them and boil again for a few minutes. Then, fry them.

The sauce looks so tempting...

The keropok keping is packed in the plastic packaging.

Keropok lekor too, can be turned into keropok keping (crackers). The long keropok is sliced and dried in the hot sun for many days. Once it is dried, you can fry and it become fish crackers. Normally, to make fish crackers, they will mix more sago flour with fish. This crackers can be a substitute to fresh fish during the rainy days when the fisherman can not go out to the sea. The crackers are also served like biscuits when you serve your guests. My mother used to fry the keropok keping and stored them in the big glass container. When the guests come, they were served with this keropok keping and black coffee.

Talking about the colour of the keropok lekor, if you see it is dark, it means the keropok has more fish. But now the keropok lekor is getting whiter because they mix the "fish dough" with the ice. Mixing with ice will give pale colour or mixing with other non-sago like kanji (starch) will also give pale colour. For the keropok keping, the kind of fish will give lighter colour.

Keropok lekor now has becomes an industry by itself. Tons of them are being exported to Kuala Lumpur and other parts of the country. The famous traditional keropok lekor makers in Terengganu are concentrated in Kampong Losong Hj Su Kuala Terengganu (Jalan Kuala Hiliran). Losong is the place name on the way to the Terengganu Museum. However, there are many other outlet outside Losong that make keropok. One of them is Keropok Lekor Bukit Tok Beng (BTB). It is located in Bukit Tok Beng, on the way to the Kuala Terengganu Airport. Because of its popularity among patrons, you need to queue. The Terengganu government through Entrepreneur Foundation is giving Terengganu's Keropok lekor new brand name as T-lekor (T means Terengganu) and you can find them in big supermarkets. Happy Travelling

T-Shoppe and T-Lodge of Terengganu

When you come to Terengganu, you probably see a few shops by the name of T-Shoppe and T-Lodge. Nice to look at with stripe red in colour, this store is a convenient store like 7-Eleven in most world cities. T-Shoppe sells the products of Terengganu and the soft drinks.

This outlet is located at Jalan Sultan Muhammad, Kuala Terengganu, 200 metres from Distict Office, Courts, and National Bank.

Located strategically in the cities of Terengganu, T-Shoppe is the brain-child of Yayasan Pembangunan Usahawan of Terengganu (YPUT) or Terengganu's Entrepreneur Foundation, a foundation established by the State government of Terengganu. T-Shoppe are also located in Gong Gemuntong (Jerteh), Jabi near Jerteh, Dataran Shahbandar in KT, Gong Badak (KT), Kelulut Beach (Marang), Geliga (Kemaman), Bandar Marang, and Kuala Berang,

This foundation is also promoting its budget accommodation too  by the name of T-Lodge. It is nicely located on upper floor of T-Shoppe. However, at the time of writing, it is still not operational.

When you come to Terengganu, you can have options of shopping at T-Shoppe or stay in  this lodge. Happy Exploring .

The Town Bus in Kuala Terengganu

When you are in Kuala Terengganu, look out for a public town bus. Its design is so unique. You can not find this kind of bus in Malaysia except in Kuala Terengganu. Its exterior is fitted with wood carving panelling. Dark brown bus with a capacity of 30 passengers at a time is plying between Dataran Shahbandar (the square near the General Post Office) to Chendering, Losong and Gong Badak.

The town bus, unique design in its own way.

This air-conditioned bus by the name of Cas Ligas in a way resembles a tram. But it is on wheels! Actually the word 'cas ligas' is a Terengganu dialect which means efficient. The one way ticket is minimal RM1.00(flat rate) for both Chendering and Losong. For Gong Badak, its one way fare is RM2.00.

The Chendering route (C01) will bring you to Batu Buruk Beach (you have to stop at General Hospital and walk 200 metres), Istana Badariah, Terengganu Equestrian Resort, Floating Mosque and Nor Arfa Craft Complex (NACC). The Losong route (C02) will bring you to the Museum and Taman Tamadun Islam which passes Jalan Sultan Ismail, Hotel Seri Malaysia, Felda Residence, Pulau Kambing, Hiliran, Jalan Bukit Kecil, JPJ Junction, Mydin, Simpang Tok Ku, then Losong. The Gong Badak route (C03) follows the same route of C02 but  before reaching Mydin Mall, it turns right to Sultan Mahmud Bridge.

The bus is stationed at Dataran Shahbandar.

The route displayed at the front.

If you want to take this bus, go to bus stop which has sign board of Cas Ligas or you can take at its station, Dataran Shahbandar. Happy Travelling.

Using hands to eat in Terengganu

Fork and spoons or chop sticks are generally used while eating in most parts of the world. But if you come to Terengganu, do not be surprised when you see people using bare hands to eat. It is part of their tradition. Those days when fork and spoon are uncommon, they used their hands to take food into their mouth. In Terengganu, it is common to see people use his right hand (not the left hand) while eating. Using the left hand to take food into the mouth here is considered rude unless you do not have the right hand or your right hand is very dirty. Priority is to use the right hand.

If you want to experience eating using your right hand , do not use the fork and spoon. First you must wash your hand. Usually a small kettle is provided on the table. You just pour the water from the kettle and wash your hands. Then use your right hand to eat. For the first timer, it is not easy to use hands for eating especially when you eat rice and its gravy. I had seen many foreigners (who are not used to this style) failed to do it. 

A word of caution, if you want to take the gravy from other plate, do not use your bare hands. Use the spoon to scoop the gravy. Using bare hand will spoil the gravy. This etiquette must be observed.

They also use their hand to eat laksa (Terengganu version of spaghetti). Terengganu laksa comes with gravy . What they do was that they eat the laksa first and drink the gravy at the end. Nowadays, they use the spoon to assist in eating laksa. This means they eat laksa with gravy bit by bit. Happy trying.

How to spent your time in Kuala Terengganu

When you reach Kuala Terengganu, you certainty must find a good accommodation. There are many types of accommodation to suit your lifestyle. You may choose hotels from 5 stars to no stars at all. Good hotels are limited but you can try Primula Beach Resort, Grand Continental, Felda Residence, Seri Malaysia, Mid-town, Permai Park Inn, Batu Buruk Chalet or inner city hotels with no stars. You also can choose hostels which are located close to the markets or bus station. Or you can stay at homestays in a faraway locations from the city centre. What ever accommodation that you choose, it must be convenient to you in terms of location, price, accessibility (to services like taxi, food kiosks etc) or your itinerary.

Old Palace (Istana Maziah) where the King gives away awards to the chosen recipients.

The palace's other entrance , view from another angle. On the left is a large landscape garden. It was formerly known as Padang Malaya. This padang is used for city folk for gathering, political campaign etc. Not many people knew this history. 

For the first day, take a morning walk along Jalan Sultan Zainal Abibin to Jalan Kampong China. You can start from the Grand Continental Hotel to the Central Market (Pasar Besar Kedai Payang). You will notice Dataran Shahbandar (a square) on your right, Old Palace (Istana Maziah) on your left, then continue walking. You will see the Post Office, Bukit Puteri on your left, Jetty to the island (on the right) and finally you reach Pasar Besar kedai Payang. I consider this walk is The Heritage Walk as all buildings around this area are more than 60 years old and it is an old urbanisation area of Kuala Terengganu.

The General Post Office of Kuala Terengganu was built in 1967 after the old wooden office was demolished in 1966. It can be considered as one of the heritage buildings. Inside it, there were big old oil paintings (mural paintings) drawn in 1960's by a local, Mr. Chew Teng Beng, a teacher-turned artist.

Bukit Puteri, viewed from Padang Malaya. It has a big chime (we call it genta). This chime will sound to mark the opening of fasting during the Muslim month of Ramadan. It also functions as a light house in those times. The staircases going up the hill is built next to the Post Office and the Information Centre.

This market sells many things, ranging from food to clothings. When you buy, do bargain. The market opens at 8.00 am until 5.00pm. The upper floor has food kiosk, shops that sell souvenirs, clothes, batik, songket, brassware, dried food such keropok (fish crackers), fish, prawns etc. The ground floor has sundry stores, goldsmiths, fruits, dried food products, traditional food and cakes, vegetables and wet market.

You will be amazed by the local activities which are foreign to you. You can observe and learn unwritten culture display in this market. I suggest you go to the first floor and buy clothes like batik and songket for souvenirs. They are handmade and of different quality. T-shirts are also cheap that you can buy as presents to your friend back home. I suggest you enjoy this area for 2 hours.

Bazaar Warisan (shopping arcade) is the latest addition to this historic area.

Pasar Besar Kedai Payang has many items or products to offer. The building behind is the multi-car parks. On the left, there was a small roundabout with a clock tower. The clock tower was removed in 1970's.

Next walk is to continue to Jalan Kampong China, a Chinese settlement. It has 2-storey shop houses. You can feel this area and it reminds you the similar road in down town Malacca. Take a lot of pictures. Drink a lot of water to keep you hydrated. This road will end when you see Hotel Seri Malaysia, a riverine hotel. Then you can reverse your walk or turn left to Jalan Sultan Ismail until you reach City Council building and turn left to bus station.

Menara Permint which houses the present City Council Office and State Economic Development Corporation.

Kampong China, a settlement of the migrant Chinese ethnic in the early 19th century. It is still exist and being preserved. Look at the road pavement, it was changed from the bitumen to brick pavement.

The Seri Malaysia Hotel, a hotel located in Kedai Binjai next to Kampong China.Behind this building is the Terengganu river.

Around the bus station, there are many restaurants that you can visit to quench your thirst or eat. There are also a Central Mosque which called Masjid Putih (white mosque) and a taxi station. I suggest you can end your morning stroll here.

The central Mosque or Masjid Puteh, a historic building.

Terengganu Museum at Bukit Losong. Its architecture resembles Terengganu's Malay traditional house.

For the evening, you can visit Taman Tamadun Islam (Monument Park) in Pulau Wan Man and Terengganu Museum in Losong. Monument Park has 21 miniatures worth visiting. It is one of its kind in the world. Museum has many collections of Terengganu civilization. Both park and museum are located in same locality. You can take a bus or taxi to these places. By the way, Museum and Monument park are close to each other (you can walk if you like). Both places have entrance fee (museum Rm5; monument park RM25). You need at least 3 hr at monument park and 2 hr at museum (that also it depends on your interest). Museum close at 5.00pm and monument park close at 6.00pm. If you can not complete both places in one go, you can go the next day. 

At night, you can take your dinner at many food outlets. But if you want local experience, do visit food court at Batu Buruk Beach. It  is lively. You must have your transport as the public transport is not efficient at night.

The day two, you can visit a batik  and brass ware factory at Kampong Ladang, near the school. Ask people around, they will tell you. Or you can take a taxi or town bus (C01) to Nor Arfa Craft Centre (NACC) in Chendering (10km from the town towards Marang). It is a craft centre where you can buy more batik and other crafts from this centre. You can watch a demonstration on how batik paintings are made.

On your way back to the city centre, you can visit the  Floating Mosque nearby and Terengganu Equestrian Resort (TER) in Kuala Ibai. TER has many horses for you to ride on. TER also has facilities like hotel, games court, conference, swimming pool, bowling centre etc. With these visits will end your second day in Kuala Terengganu. For the night, Kuala Terengganu has limited entertainment outlets. But you can still enjoy the night strolling along the beach especially Batu Buruk Beach or sit around Shahbandar Square watching big screen.

The final day, it is up to you. You can continue your visit to Kapas Island nearby which takes only 1.5 hours from the town. You can day visit to Kapas Island. The take off is at Marang Jetty 12km from the city centre and 20 minute boat ride. Spent half day and rush back to the airport. 

You can extend your stay by visiting Redang Island which is 2 hours by boat from Kuala Terengganu (Kuala Terengganu jetty near Shahbandar Square). This island is beautiful and it open from March to early October only. From November to February, the island is closed due to strong winds and big waves which make you unsafe to cross the sea. Here you need at least one night stay. The ferry leaves in the morning to and from the island. You have to plan your itinerary carefully as it involves time, transport and money. Happy travelling.

How to go to Kuala Terengganu from Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Terengganu is the state capital of Terengganu, Malaysia. It is located on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Being a state capital with 350,000 people, it is experiencing a positive physical growth. Kuala Terengganu is famous for its beautiful sandy beach like Batu Buruk beach, a stop-over city to Redang Island (off shore), largest museum at Bukit Losong, Monument park at Pulau Wan Man, beautiful waterfront, delicious traditional food, beautiful handicraft, traditional and modern boat making, reputable universities, peaceful rural homestay, good souvenirs, special delicacies and many more. 

You will be tempted to stay longer if you know and plan your itinerary. National Physical Plan of Malaysia had recognized Kuala Terengganu as a gateway to tourism in the east coast. You need at least 3 days and 2 nights in Kuala Terengganu in order to explore it.

When you reach Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), you may have three options to take in order to go to Kuala Terengganu.

You can charter a taxi from the KLIA airport to Kuala Terengganu.  You also can take a bus from Putra Bus Station, just opposite Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Terengganu Central Bus Station or you take a connecting flight from KLIA to Kuala Terengganu (via Malaysia Airlines System). 

There are two other airports which offer services to those wishing to go Kuala Terengganu. One, you can take the Air Asia plane at Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) Sepang (near KLIA) and two, you can take Fire Fly Airplane from Subang Airport (in Kuala Lumpur). All flights will take an hour to Kuala Terengganu. For taxis and bus, it will take at least 6-7 hours non stop.

As for the fare, the flight tickets from KLIA is more than the ones in LCCT or Subang. If you take the airport taxi, the fare is higher than the bus. The airport taxi costs around RM600.00 per trip while the bus single fare is about RM40.00. If you charter a taxi from the city centre, the fare is much lower. The express bus is the cheapest, but you have to go to the city centre (Putra Bus Station).

For those who travel by air, Kuala Terengganu Airport has taxi service. The fare to the city centre (20km) should be less than RM30.00. At the moment, there is no public bus service that ply between Kuala Terengganu Airport to the city. Happy travelling.

Sample food of Terengganu

Terengganu has many variety of food for you to taste. It started from simple snack to cakes and  rice. The rice also has many types of dish such as nasi minyak, nasi dagang, nasi kuning, nasi kerabu, nasi beriani etc.

What I am going to tell you is about Nasi Minyak (ghee rice). It is some kinds (sample) of food that can give you the taste of Terengganu. It is tasty, easy to digest and cheap too.

This food is served all day in most restaurants and food stalls in Terengganu by virtue of its demand. It is also served during the wedding reception, feast, or lunch or dinner. In other words, it is a common menu for Terengganu people.

Beef Curry or "Gulai Daging"

The Pickle or "Acar Timun" and "Mango acar" (an option)

The Flavoured Fried Chicken 

The Rice (with an option of meat inside)

The overall menu.

This is considered heavy as it has rice (which give carbohydrate), beef and chicken ( which give protein) and the pickles (which give roughage). If you happen to order this food, you just say "Nasi Minyak" then the waiter will prepare for you and serve you with this menu. The price for this set menu varies from stalls to stalls or from place to place. But it should not be more than RM10 per plate per person.

Next, I am going to tell you about dessert that used to be common in Terengganu. This dessert is also served in food courts, feast, dinner, lunch or wedding reception.

The Baked Creme Puff. Made of flour, eggs and custard (filling)

Akok, made of flour,sugar and eggs. Very sweet.

Agar-agar or jelly. Made of jelly, sugar, egg, and pandan leaf (blend to get the juice for colouring)

If you like to taste this food, you can get them in most restaurants. But the desserts may vary. Some of these desserts are not served in  the restaurants. You can get this dessert in the markets such as Pasar Kedai Payang, Kuala Terengganu but the quality may differ. Happy travelling.

Herbal Garden, Kenyir Lake, Malaysia

Kenyir Lake is one of the largest man-make lakes in Malaysia. It is  located in the district of Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia and  is about 80km from Kuala Terengganu, the state capital. This lake is large covering hundreds of hectares of land with 340 islands. I am going to tell you one of the islands that is Pulau Sah Kecil which was planted with Malaysian herbs. This garden is unique due to its species.

This island covers 16 hectares and was opened to the public since 2002. It has more than 230 species including exotic plants. The garden is managed by Terengganu Tengah Regional Development Authority.

The jetty at the Pulau Sah Kecil, where the garden is located.

The sign board to the Herbal Garden.

One of the plant species, "Tongkat Ali".

Keladi Murai species.

Even reflexology path is provided here.

The garden.

The plaque about the garden.

The officer's (blue and red shirt) routine job is to give briefing to the visitors.

The selected herbs are boiled to  make herbal drinks using the old method (using wood as the fuel) 

The "tongkat ali" and "kachip fatimah" herbal drinks are served warm to the visitors at the courtesy of the management.

Herbal drinks are served and being  tasted by the visitors.

Kenyir Lake.

For those who like to visit this garden, you have to go to Pengkalan Gawi. If you come from Kuala Terengganu, you can take a taxi and straight to Pengkalan Gawi. When you reach Pengkalan Gawi, take a boat to this island which takes about 20 minutes. This garden is open to the public from 8.00 am to 5.00pm daily. Mind you, island hopping here is quite expensive. If you are not careful, it will burst your budget. It is advisable to go in group because the boat fare to this garden is around RM100.00 per boat (can accommodate 10-12 persons). You can share the cost. If you want to explore this lake, I suggest you stay at the hotels here. The hotels around this lake also conduct tour to this island for their  clients or customers. Happy travelling..