Kawe pergi Kelate...

What do you do when you are struggling to cope with stress in a fast paced city life? De-stress yourself in a slow-paced city with a laid back style. That is exactly what BA, Jessy, Sathy and I did during the last weekend long holiday. We took a drive to Kelantan and spend three days there. I always enjoy my trip to town like Kota Bharu where life seems to move in much slower pace and people take simpler approach to life compare to many of us from the big cities. It is my fifth trip to Kelantan.

The trip to Kelantan took us 5 hours of driving from Penang via the East West Highway. Not sure whether to call it a highway as the road needs urgent maintenance. It is the first time for me to drive from Penang to Kelantan via the Baling-Gerik highway and then cut over to East West Highway that connects the town Grik (Perak) and Jeli (Kelantan).

I am always impressed with friendliness of the Kelantanese folks. Everyone is treated with respect. I see how Kelantanese Malay and Chinese foster close relationship especially in their daily business. I must say that the state government has done tremendous job in ensuring such close ethic relationship. I saw how a young Kelantanese Malay girl adores a Chinese baby. Kelantanese seems to care for each other without looking at race, religion or skin colour. We personally experience this while waiting for our table at White House Coffee shop which is located in the heart of Kota Bharu town. As usual, the shop is always filled with patrons enjoying their toast bread and half boiled egg while sipping their coffee. As we were waiting, a Pakcik (mean uncle in Malay language) woke from his seat and offer us a place. He told his family to share the table with us and he give up his seat so that we can enjoy our morning breakfast. I am captivated with that gesture of kindness and hospitality shown by this elderly Pakcik.

The places that we visited during this trip includes Siti Khatijah market, Handicraft Museum, Pantai Cahaya Bulan, Pantai Sabak fishing village and of course Rantau Panjang. The food in Kelantan is awesome. We tried a number of their local delicacy and not forgetting the famous Nasi Kukus Ayam Berempah. It took us some serious drive searching to locate the stall that we use to buy Nasi Kukus. Finally we found it and save the location coordinates in my GPS.

If you are looking for a place to spend your holiday, why not visit Kelantan!!! See for yourself the friendliness of the Kelantanese folks and you can then say "Kawe Pergi Kelate" (your friend has gone to Kelantan).