Kemaman Trip Report (now with pictures; just add water!)
Back from Kemaman, where we (yuncyn and I) bunked with a friend of ours, Sal, border-hopped between Pahang and Terengganu and enjoyed the heck out of two days. 8D Thanks for having us over, Sal - we had a awesomely awesome time! *hugs*
Anyway, long post is LONG and heavy picture post is HEAVY. Seriously, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
DAY 1:
Woke up at 5.00 a.m. to catch the Malaysia Airline's Firefly flight to Kuantan - second time I've been in a plane in eleven years, lol! Had a light breakfast at the airport terminal before hopping onto the plane where the journey was so quick, it was almost as if we were barely in the air at all!
Kemaman was actually an hour's drive from the Kuantan airport, but since the Kuala Terengganu airport travel time was twice that, we settled for the former. Besides, it was a pretty scenic drive back, so no complaints on that end.
I swear, the minute we landed, Sal started putting her plan to Stuff Us Silly (tm) into action - we immediately popped over to a food court for breakfast (again!), followed by cendol. And we hadn't even gotten to her house yet. >D Seriously, the food there is good - better than some of their alternatives in Subang, but more about that later or this entire post will be devoted to food and nothing else. (Yes, that good, guys!)
The first day we were there was pretty much Beach Day - went over to a local shopping mall where both Sal and Denise bought new swimsuits (or 'tankinis' as Denise calls them). Also introduced Sal to the Bishi Bashi arcade game in the arcade upstairs, looked around the trinket stores and resisted the temptation of ice cream. Afterwards, went back to Sal's place and rested a bit before hitting the beach.
According to Sal, there are a number of public beaches around, but since they were both i)crowded and ii) dirty, we drove back to Pahang (!) to reach the Legend Resort, where the beach is a run away from the swimming pools. The beach was pretty clean, as was the water and we had a blast.
Oh, and I got stung by a jellyfish. XD;; Granted, it was only a passing sting; no grabby tentacles or anything. Ironically, the other two were way deeper in the ocean than I was - it probably washed in with the waves and brushed past my leg. The sting was not all that bad; mostly a line of an achy kind of pain (anklet of pain, lol!) that bothered rather than pained me. The lifeguard on duty said that the jellyfishes around that area weren't the poisonous type as well. Wish I had taken a photo of the bugger that did it though.
We hung out so long at the beach that we were kind of late for dinner - Sal's family treated us to a big dinner with some amazing fried calamari that Denise got addicted to. I took so many helpings of the vegetables (kangkung?) that Sal's father initially thought I was a vegetarian. ^^ We actually contemplated tagging along with Sal to go to a floating restaurant for supper(?) but ended up being too sleepy to leave the house. ^^;;
DAY 2:
We had fish mee for breakfast, something of a specialty up here (and boy, I can totally understand why now that I've eaten it):
Originally, we had bounced around the idea of driving to Kuala Terengganu to take the ferry to Pulau Redang but had to scrap the idea after Sal's parents informed us that one needs to reserve seats on said ferry before going there. So we ended up driving around and going to any place that caught our fancy, which turned out to be the BEST IDEA EVER.
First, Denise suggested going to the Kemaman Mini Zoo because it sounded interesting. Our initial theories of guinea pigs, rabbits and goats were immediately smashed the minute we took the ride in, where the first thing we saw were elephants. Since we were sitting on the shuttle vehicle though, we couldn't get down and look at them properly, but we figured we'd go check them out on our way out.
The mini zoo was 'mini' only in size; they had some pretty impressive animals in there, including this absolutely adorable black bear. When we climbed up to look at the bear enclosure (we were the only three there), we were slightly disappointed to see that the area was apparently empty; Sal theorized that the bears were asleep in the pipes leading to a private den. Then suddenly, this bear comes out and heads right towards were we were standing looking down and climbed into a standing position to look up at us:
It, thankfully, had a companion - seriously, I thought they looked more like chimpanzees at some points, the way they were moving. We also saw otters engaging in...vigorous activities; CHILDREN, LOOK AWAY FROM YOUR SCREENS:
There were several suspended bridges/walkways over enclosures, which allowed visitors to pretty much look at the animals from above their pen without getting too close, making it a win-win for both us and the animals. These walkways were also roofed with lush greenery, making it a very scenic walk indeed.
We got to see a number of pretty cool animals, including a peacock trying to woo its stubborn girlfriend, a camwhore-wannabe tortoise, possibly the world's tiniest frog and an orchid farm:
But the highlight of the zoo for us was definitely the ELEPHANT RIDE - not only did we get to ride it, the trail the elephants took went directly into the jungle area just beside the run, which meant lots of climbing and descending into areas we wouldn't have been able to enter otherwise. We all started out sitting in the basket (with the guide in front), and ended up moving to sit directly on the elephant itself (with the guide in the basket) by the time we got back, lol! Initially, I thought it'd be rocking from side to side, but the entire ride was surprisingly steady. Our elephant's ears kept smacking my legs and its hair was really bristly but if anything was a gentle giant, he was definitely it. Best RM20 spent, IMHO.
So guys, I believe you wanted PROOF? 8D
Could only take Denise's picture properly, since her elephant was behind ours - made it easier to turn around and quickly snap a shot. Her elephant was a female (20 years old), hence why she was smaller and tuskless. The elephant Sal and I rode on was a 30 years old male. The photos may make them seem smaller than they actually are, but lemme just say, when you're standing in front of them, much less being on their backs, there's nothing small about them at all!
I've definitely gained a new-found respect for elephants' strength from this trip - Denise's elephant uprooted a tree in her path and ours not only broke off a tree, but broke it again into pieces using his trunk. The two of them took their leisurely time going through the trail and took breaks to try to eat the greenery around. >D
After we exited the zoo, we popped back to Sal's house, took a quick shower and headed out again with the intent to drop by the turtle sanctuary (in Pahang) on the way to the beach, stopping along the way to have otak-otak and satar (both fish-based kuih), the latter which I wish they made in Subang because it was that good:
Due to where we parked, we ended up entering the turtle sanctuary by the back door, which may have been the best entrance we could've made, because we ended up being able to not only see the turtles in the pool but also the baby hatchlings fresh from their eggs. Sadly, belimbing (leatherback) turtles no longer come to Malaysian shores, but we were lucky enough to be able to see green turtles, hawksbill turtles and painted terrapins, all three species which are endangered today. Also, since we donated and were getting along fairly well with the person in charge, we were also allowed to release some of the of-age baby turtles into the sea. The person in charge also invited us to come back at night to watch the turtle eggs actually hatch, but since that would've been super-late (2-3 a.m.?), we had to decline.
Oh, by the way? The sandy spot my finger was rubbing in the video was the turtle's belly button, where the umbilical cord had been attached to. :p
Hit the beach again later, where I again got bitten by something in my thumb. Seriously, my karma with sea creatures wasn't very good on this trip! ^^;;
Dinner was BBQ! Sal's parents popped out their barbecue set and we ate so much chicken and beef that Denise couldn't move for ten minutes. Since it was the last night in Kemaman, we played a lot of Chor Tai Ti and camwhored being Awesome:
DAY 3:
Back to Subang for us! The flight was in the morning again, which meant getting kicked up at the break of dawn to pack and get ready. The flight seemed even shorter on the way back and we played Hangman all the way back. Also had a packet of Wasabi-flavored Twisties that are really wasabi-flavored for real.
All the other photos are over here. This post alone took me, what, an hour to compile?
All in all, it was an amazingly productive holiday (or just 'amazing' would probably do the trick) - thanks Sal for allowing us to bum out at your house! And tell your family that we're really, really grateful for them tolerating us dragging you out here and there. >DDD Only downside of the trip were the perverts who turned up at the Legend on the first day, but the way I figure it, it isn't all that surprising. And weighed against the experiences we had, it's really almost nothing but a niggle in a memorable trip.
So...Redang next time, yeah? (^o^)9
Anyway, long post is LONG and heavy picture post is HEAVY. Seriously, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
DAY 1:
Woke up at 5.00 a.m. to catch the Malaysia Airline's Firefly flight to Kuantan - second time I've been in a plane in eleven years, lol! Had a light breakfast at the airport terminal before hopping onto the plane where the journey was so quick, it was almost as if we were barely in the air at all!
Kemaman was actually an hour's drive from the Kuantan airport, but since the Kuala Terengganu airport travel time was twice that, we settled for the former. Besides, it was a pretty scenic drive back, so no complaints on that end.
I swear, the minute we landed, Sal started putting her plan to Stuff Us Silly (tm) into action - we immediately popped over to a food court for breakfast (again!), followed by cendol. And we hadn't even gotten to her house yet. >D Seriously, the food there is good - better than some of their alternatives in Subang, but more about that later or this entire post will be devoted to food and nothing else. (Yes, that good, guys!)
The first day we were there was pretty much Beach Day - went over to a local shopping mall where both Sal and Denise bought new swimsuits (or 'tankinis' as Denise calls them). Also introduced Sal to the Bishi Bashi arcade game in the arcade upstairs, looked around the trinket stores and resisted the temptation of ice cream. Afterwards, went back to Sal's place and rested a bit before hitting the beach.
According to Sal, there are a number of public beaches around, but since they were both i)crowded and ii) dirty, we drove back to Pahang (!) to reach the Legend Resort, where the beach is a run away from the swimming pools. The beach was pretty clean, as was the water and we had a blast.
Oh, and I got stung by a jellyfish. XD;; Granted, it was only a passing sting; no grabby tentacles or anything. Ironically, the other two were way deeper in the ocean than I was - it probably washed in with the waves and brushed past my leg. The sting was not all that bad; mostly a line of an achy kind of pain (anklet of pain, lol!) that bothered rather than pained me. The lifeguard on duty said that the jellyfishes around that area weren't the poisonous type as well. Wish I had taken a photo of the bugger that did it though.
We hung out so long at the beach that we were kind of late for dinner - Sal's family treated us to a big dinner with some amazing fried calamari that Denise got addicted to. I took so many helpings of the vegetables (kangkung?) that Sal's father initially thought I was a vegetarian. ^^ We actually contemplated tagging along with Sal to go to a floating restaurant for supper(?) but ended up being too sleepy to leave the house. ^^;;
DAY 2:
We had fish mee for breakfast, something of a specialty up here (and boy, I can totally understand why now that I've eaten it):
Originally, we had bounced around the idea of driving to Kuala Terengganu to take the ferry to Pulau Redang but had to scrap the idea after Sal's parents informed us that one needs to reserve seats on said ferry before going there. So we ended up driving around and going to any place that caught our fancy, which turned out to be the BEST IDEA EVER.
First, Denise suggested going to the Kemaman Mini Zoo because it sounded interesting. Our initial theories of guinea pigs, rabbits and goats were immediately smashed the minute we took the ride in, where the first thing we saw were elephants. Since we were sitting on the shuttle vehicle though, we couldn't get down and look at them properly, but we figured we'd go check them out on our way out.
The mini zoo was 'mini' only in size; they had some pretty impressive animals in there, including this absolutely adorable black bear. When we climbed up to look at the bear enclosure (we were the only three there), we were slightly disappointed to see that the area was apparently empty; Sal theorized that the bears were asleep in the pipes leading to a private den. Then suddenly, this bear comes out and heads right towards were we were standing looking down and climbed into a standing position to look up at us:
It, thankfully, had a companion - seriously, I thought they looked more like chimpanzees at some points, the way they were moving. We also saw otters engaging in...vigorous activities; CHILDREN, LOOK AWAY FROM YOUR SCREENS:
There were several suspended bridges/walkways over enclosures, which allowed visitors to pretty much look at the animals from above their pen without getting too close, making it a win-win for both us and the animals. These walkways were also roofed with lush greenery, making it a very scenic walk indeed.
We got to see a number of pretty cool animals, including a peacock trying to woo its stubborn girlfriend, a camwhore-wannabe tortoise, possibly the world's tiniest frog and an orchid farm:
But the highlight of the zoo for us was definitely the ELEPHANT RIDE - not only did we get to ride it, the trail the elephants took went directly into the jungle area just beside the run, which meant lots of climbing and descending into areas we wouldn't have been able to enter otherwise. We all started out sitting in the basket (with the guide in front), and ended up moving to sit directly on the elephant itself (with the guide in the basket) by the time we got back, lol! Initially, I thought it'd be rocking from side to side, but the entire ride was surprisingly steady. Our elephant's ears kept smacking my legs and its hair was really bristly but if anything was a gentle giant, he was definitely it. Best RM20 spent, IMHO.
So guys, I believe you wanted PROOF? 8D
Could only take Denise's picture properly, since her elephant was behind ours - made it easier to turn around and quickly snap a shot. Her elephant was a female (20 years old), hence why she was smaller and tuskless. The elephant Sal and I rode on was a 30 years old male. The photos may make them seem smaller than they actually are, but lemme just say, when you're standing in front of them, much less being on their backs, there's nothing small about them at all!
I've definitely gained a new-found respect for elephants' strength from this trip - Denise's elephant uprooted a tree in her path and ours not only broke off a tree, but broke it again into pieces using his trunk. The two of them took their leisurely time going through the trail and took breaks to try to eat the greenery around. >D
After we exited the zoo, we popped back to Sal's house, took a quick shower and headed out again with the intent to drop by the turtle sanctuary (in Pahang) on the way to the beach, stopping along the way to have otak-otak and satar (both fish-based kuih), the latter which I wish they made in Subang because it was that good:
Due to where we parked, we ended up entering the turtle sanctuary by the back door, which may have been the best entrance we could've made, because we ended up being able to not only see the turtles in the pool but also the baby hatchlings fresh from their eggs. Sadly, belimbing (leatherback) turtles no longer come to Malaysian shores, but we were lucky enough to be able to see green turtles, hawksbill turtles and painted terrapins, all three species which are endangered today. Also, since we donated and were getting along fairly well with the person in charge, we were also allowed to release some of the of-age baby turtles into the sea. The person in charge also invited us to come back at night to watch the turtle eggs actually hatch, but since that would've been super-late (2-3 a.m.?), we had to decline.
Oh, by the way? The sandy spot my finger was rubbing in the video was the turtle's belly button, where the umbilical cord had been attached to. :p
Hit the beach again later, where I again got bitten by something in my thumb. Seriously, my karma with sea creatures wasn't very good on this trip! ^^;;
Dinner was BBQ! Sal's parents popped out their barbecue set and we ate so much chicken and beef that Denise couldn't move for ten minutes. Since it was the last night in Kemaman, we played a lot of Chor Tai Ti and camwhored being Awesome:
DAY 3:
Back to Subang for us! The flight was in the morning again, which meant getting kicked up at the break of dawn to pack and get ready. The flight seemed even shorter on the way back and we played Hangman all the way back. Also had a packet of Wasabi-flavored Twisties that are really wasabi-flavored for real.
All the other photos are over here. This post alone took me, what, an hour to compile?
All in all, it was an amazingly productive holiday (or just 'amazing' would probably do the trick) - thanks Sal for allowing us to bum out at your house! And tell your family that we're really, really grateful for them tolerating us dragging you out here and there. >DDD Only downside of the trip were the perverts who turned up at the Legend on the first day, but the way I figure it, it isn't all that surprising. And weighed against the experiences we had, it's really almost nothing but a niggle in a memorable trip.
So...Redang next time, yeah? (^o^)9