A Relaxing Trip to Kelantan

I love road trip, I love East Coast Peninsular Malaysia, I love Kelantan food. Hence, our recent 3D2N trip to Kelantan is a perfect trip for me. (My sister said Kelantan Government should hire me to work in their tourism board. I can't agree more. Haha!)

Here's the itinerary and expenses for 6 pax (unless specially mention otherwise) for your reference:

7th Mac 2015 - drive from Penang to Kota Bharu
We started very early. 5:15am departed from Bukit Mertajam, aiming for magnificent cloud formation view along East-West Highway. We were lucky. Big, round, clear moon light up the mountains and valleys before sunrise. Surreal and peaceful, like some vivid dreams of mine.

We reached Hentian Titiwangsa (rest stop) at around 7:45am. No more cloud formation, but still great view.

The rest stop has no signs of business. Can't have our breakfast here as planned.

We ended up took tons of photos, and had a simple "picnic", clearing our biscuits and tidbits.

The driving route from Hentian Titiwangsa to Kota Bharu is a pleasant one. First of all, of course, it is a downhill drive. Secondly, you just learn to fall in love with Malaysia all over again with the simple yet lovely scenery.

By the time we reached Kota Bharu, it's already lunch time. We headed straight to Nasi Kak Wok at Jalan Masjid Lundang for lunch. We then dabao (take away) Lim Siong Kee beef noodle and dabao rice from Meena Curry House before we checked in to Pasir Belanda Resort. Had another round of lunch at the river bank terrace of Pasir Belanda.

This is where we had our second round lunch

Our initial itinerary was to cover 2 temples at Tumpat and have some great afternoon snacks there. However, everyone falls in love with Pasir Belanda and refused to leave. So we relaxed in the resort instead. Some swam, some played table tennis, some took tons of photos, some sketched, and of course, some slept through the afternoon.

After everyone got their battery charged, we headed to the legendary Cheng Mai Restaurant. This restaurant definitely needs another special blog post! So stay tune.

(Pasir Belanda Resort for 2 nights - RM968; Nasi Kak Wok RM31.70; Curry rice from Meena Curry House RM17.50 for 2 packs; Lim Siong Kee beef noodle RM6.50 per pack ; Cheng Mai Restaurant RM179)

8th Mac 2015 - Batik, Kraftangan, Temple & Beach
We started our day with a hearty meal at the legendary White House. I'm sure every Kelantanese can tell you tons of stories about this decent kopitiam.

After breakfast, we went back to Pasir Belanda Resort, had the worker guided us to a batik workshop. Great fun!

Relaxed at the resort again before we headed to Museum Kraftangan. Not for the artworks (Seriously, the museum got nothing!) but for the super yummy Nasi Ulam Kampung Kraftangan.

Colourful Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah

Had a brief stop at Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah (Siti Khadijah Market) to survey the market price of keropok and lekor, then headed to Wat Phothikyan at Bachok.

We then drove south along the coast line, and stopped at an unknown beach for a relaxing time. I always love South China Sea......

For dinner, we went to Kampung Kulim Restaurant to have our first round dinner, and followed by Cheng Mai Restaurant (yes, again!) for our second round dinner. Before heading back to Pasie Belanda, we went to Yati Ayam Percik (wish to dabao for supper) but they were cleaning the shop and nothing left (that was around 10pm). So we turned to Suria Satay to dabao our supper.

Bridge with the width of a car

Waze decided to show us somewhere new so it routed us through housing areas. Before we knew, we were in kampung and the next moment we were challenged with bridges (can anyone help me to translate "titi" into English? Those 'bridges' that we passed by are definitely "titi" and not "bridge"!)

We wandered in the middle of no where and can only have faith that Waze knows what it is doing. Well, at least I felt safe. This is Kelantan!

(White House breakfast RM51; Batik Workshop: RM35 per pax; Lunch at Nasi Ulam Kraftangan RM38; Dinner at Kampung Kulim Restaurant RM57; Dinner at Cheng Mai Restaurant RM92; Suria Satay RM0.70 per satay)

9th Mac 2015 - Time to go home
We started our day at Kopitian Kita. Too many rice!!

We were lucky that when heading back to Pasir Belanda, Waze decided to show us the same route as last night. At least we have chance to see it under broad day light! Lovely lovely countryside! Too bad I drove and didn't have much photos to show here.

We relaxed at Pasir Belanda after breakfast. We collected our batik, we swam, we slept, we went crazy, took tons of photos again, and finally it's time to say goodbye to Pasir Belanda.

I insisted to go to U-lang corner for lunch (best khao jam in Malaysia!). After the satisfying meal, we stopped at The White House to buy kaya (wanted to dabao coffee for the driving trip back but we reached the shop at 1pm sharp, they were closing so no more kopi. Luckily they still willing to sell their kaya and roti)

Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah is the final stop for last minute shopping. After that, almost everyone in the car went coma. Jenny stayed awake for another 30 minutes or so, and went coma too after her coconut drink.

The oldest among the group, and the main driver, surprisingly, is still the one with the most energy after 3 days trip. Haha!

While the others charging their battery, I had lovely view accompanied me along the way.