George's Visit: Kuala Terengganu

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve updated my blog. It’s been hard not having Internet access in our apartment yet (we are crossing our fingers that will be fixed soon), and also I’ve been busy spending time with George! We were able to spend six days together, some in KT and some in KL, and it was a magical time. I’m going to write two entries, one about each town, to keep things from getting too long.

George flew into Singapore last Saturday and then, poor thing, had to fly from Singapore to KL, spend the night there (in the freezing cold airport), and then fly from KL to KT on Sunday morning. For future reference, it’s much easier to reach KT from KL than from Singapore. We learned the hard way. Anyway, Len picked up George at the airport and took him to my apartment, so all day at school I was anxious to get home and see George. Finally the day ended and it was so fun to run up the three flights of stairs to my apartment and find sweet George waiting for me inside!

We spent a couple of days in KT, since I had to be at school Sunday through Tuesday. Since it was Chinese New Year, my school had Thursday off and I was able to get Wednesday off as well. While I was at work, George did some exploring around town, and then when I got home we would spend the evenings walking around Chinatown, partaking in KT’s many delicious snack foods, and hanging out at Mydin. One of the highlights of our time in KT was our visit to the beach, where we flew a kite, got root beer floats at A&W, and then joined in on a beach soccer game with a group of Malay teenage guys. Also, George was finally able to get the straight-razor shave that he’s been wanting for months (they don’t do them in the U.S. anymore, we found out), and so he was really excited about that.





























We did have some disappointments, though. Unfortunately, February is one of the worst times to visit the east coast of peninsular Malaysia because monsoon season is still going, and so all the islands are typically closed until after Chinese New Year. Also, George and I had hoped to spend time at Taman Negara, a state park with the world’s oldest rain forest. We discovered that it takes about seven hours to get to the park from KT, though, and since we already had our bus tickets to KL we had to save the rain forest for another time.

Our bus for KL was a night bus, Wednesday night, and so we had all day Wednesday free. We decided to rent a car from the KT airport (a new experience for both of us) and go to Tasik Kenyir, the largest man made lake in Southeast Asia, and explore other areas of Terengganu. It turned out to be the best day! We got an early start and the car rental process went very smoothly. Our car was a Proton, the only type of Malaysian-made car, which we felt was definitely appropriate for our Malaysian adventure. George drove first and, since Malaysia was occupied by Britain, he had to drive on the left side of the road. He did wonderfully, and I was so impressed. We felt so free having a car, and set off to explore.















First stop: breakfast. We passed many little roadside cafes, and finally saw one that looked like a good place for us to stop. We wanted to get an authentic Malay breakfast experience, and we certainly did! The café where we stopped was family-run and the three kids (twin girls and a boy) couldn’t quit looking at us. We got a coconut bun, nasi ayam (chicken and rice) and teh tarik (pulled tea), and all three were delicious. Teh tarik is my favorite Malay drink, and I knew George would love it so I was excited to share it with him.





























After about an hour we arrived at Tasik Kenyir and found a Malay guy to take us on a two-hour boat tour of the lake.















He drove us around to three different stops: an herb garden, a waterfall, and a fish farm, and at each stop we got out and walked around for about 30 minutes. We loved all the stops, and each had unique characteristics. At the herb garden area we drank little cups of tea made from roots, and women drink one type and men drink another. My female tea was good, and very mild, but George’s (he let me taste his) was really, really bitter and hard to get down. Next, at the waterfall, we enjoyed wading in the cool water and hiking along the shore. At the fish farm, our guide gave us a bowl of food and we were able to feed the fish (tilapia and catfish). I have never seen such hungry fish in my life! There were groups of fish in different pools, and when we threw food in they would splash around like crazy trying to beat each other to the pellets.

































Riding on the lake was wonderful, too, and the sky reflected off of the lake in an amazing way. The day was clear and beautiful, and we were surrounded by mountains and rainforest-looking landscape.















After Tasik Kenyir we drove a little further south to check out Sekayu Falls, but since it was pretty similar to the lake we didn’t end up staying too long. We got back in our Proton (I drove this time!) and headed north to Sutra Beach, near Kevin’s school and the beach our group had visited a couple of weeks ago. We enjoyed flying our kite on the beach and looking for shells in the soft sand. Soon, though, it was time to head back into town to return our car and pack for KL, since our bus left that night at 10:30.

































Stay tuned for the Kuala Lumpur chapter of George's Malaysian visit!