East Coast Retreat 2008

23 June 2008
Finally! Managed to have this east-coast retreat that hubby was looking forward to. Our plan was to jalan-jalan sampai Kota Bharu (KB). The kids were excited, too. But then again, the kids would have been just as excited had we gone to Holiday Villa in Subang Jaya (done this! Ha! Ha!). Janji ada hotel and swimming pool. Konon nak bertolak after Subuh prayers, but ended up starting out at 10.00 a.m. (you were right, Koob!).

The kids monkeying-around in the backseat.

Stayed for the night at The Legend, Cherating. Why Legend? It has the biggest (and probably the most) swimming pool/s in Cherating. Cherating's long stretch of white sandy beach was not suitable for bathing due to the huge waves but the kids had fun collecting sea shells and playing sand. The idea was to tire the kids so that the following day's trip to Terengganu would be "peaceful"...

3 of the 5 swimming pools.

24 June 2008
Continued our way to Terengganu. At Kemaman, stopped for lunch and bought Satar (my favourite!). Basically it's like otak-otak (made of fish), stuffed with cili padi. Here's how it looked like.

Our destination, Merang, was quite far (Marang was nearer). We reached Sutra Beach Resort around 5.00 p.m. The place was breath-taking. I remembered K. Rosiah used to rave about this place 10 years ago. 10 years on ... now I know why. Check out these pictures.

25 June 2008
Supposed to head to KB but just couldn't get enough of Sutra. So decided to stay for another day (Nasib baik I govt. servant - dapatlah discount 20% off for the rooms! He! He!) Anyway, according to hubby's friend, it would take us three gruelling hours to go to KB via Merang. To go to Kelantan, we should have taken the Tanah Merah - Gua Musang route which was shorter. So, KB next hols lah (Sorry Ustaz Kama, tak dapat gi Rantau Panjang ...). Jalan-jalan around Merang and Kuala Terengganu to pass our time. Makan, bought a few souvenirs and batik at Pasar Payang, snapped some pictures ...

26 June 2008

Checked-out from Sutra. Headed south to Kerteh (my sister's place). Stopped at Pantai Kelulut to buy the famous keropok lekor. Mind you, keropok lekor pun ada grade. The one at Kelulut was 008. Down Marang, saw many 006, 007, 088 keropok lekor stalls and many "moons" (teringat Mr. Faiz's jokes!)

Spent the night at Kerteh. My parents were also at my sister's place. So, quite meriah (merry).

27 June 2008
Headed back to KL (Sob!). Wish we could have stayed longer to explore Terengganu (wishful thinking of course...who's going to pay the bills?). Anyway, siapa yang nak pegi vacation, Terengganu is the place to go - scenic beaches (and islands), exotic resorts (think Tanjung Jara and Aryani), good food (if you like fish products like me!), nice batik prints (suitable for govt. servants to wear on Thursdays ... Ha! Ha!). On top of that, 2008 is Visit Terengganu Year (not much publicity though ... 'Ganuans! Promotelah sket!). As for me and my brood ...we'll be back!