Kelantan - Pantai Cahaya Bulan (PCB)

Visitors to Kota Bharu must visit its famous beach, Pantai Cahaya Bulan (Moonlight Beach). It used to be called Pantai Cinta Berahi (Beach of Passionate Love), a name reputedly given by a lovelorn British soldier in a moment of fantasy while he was at the beach during World War Two. Today, some locals still use the old name, although many now prefer to just refer to it as 'PCB'. 

With a long, wide and sandy beach, it is a popular spot for local family outings especially during weekends. The beach is well-developed for visitors' convenience, with a resort hotel, chalets, restaurants, food stalls, a camping ground, public restrooms and changing rooms. 

The journey to the beach from Kota Bharu will take you through quaint, traditional Malay villages. This area is famous for the small industry of traditional handicrafts. Look out for simple advertisements along the roadside as you pass through, indicating batik printing, songket-weaving, brassware and kite making shops. You can buy these handicraft items directly from these producers at a good price.

I have been here before, but it was like 20 year ago or more when I was still a kid. My grandma was still alive, and the place was not like now. Less stall and even less chalet.

Somehow, I prefer the way it was before rather than now. Maybe I'm a bit conservative, lately.

If we are talking about PCB, people will talk about its beautiful beach and also the food here. The crispy food including seafood which are cooked with some flour (deep fried). They are yummy of course! I can't write much about the beach since I could not take any picture of the beach at night. 

You can see many stalls and small restaurants opened at night.

The yummy crispy dish!

I will come again here if I come to Kelantan because my visit this time was short and many places to visit too. Sorry for can't share with you the view in the day time. I promise I will if I visit PCB again :)

Kelantan - Nasi Kerabu Golok

Nasi Kerabu is my favorite dish! Usually it's hard to get it in Penang except at certain night market or during Ramadhan (fasting month). But of course the nasi kerabu you can get in Penang can't defeat the original one in Kelantan.

So, when I was in Kelantan I didn't miss the chance to eat it. The place that I went for nasi kerabu was Nasi Kerabu Golok.

The menu. They sold other dish too but of course I chose my favorite!

The yummy nasi kerabu! This one was Keith's nasi kerabu not mine. Mine was with grilled beef.

For me, the nasi kerabu was good. I like it so much, and so did Keith. But the rest said not so good. So, maybe you can try it and share with me whether it's good or otherwise :)

If it happens that I go to Kelantan again, I will definitely eat here again.

The address : Lot 341, Kampung Huda, Jalan Sutan Yahya Putra 15150 Kota Bharu Kelantan.

Belum Forest

Recently I attended a friend's wedding in Kelantan. Yeah, I guess it's the farmost friend's wedding I've ever gone. Instead of went to wedding, I explored more of Kelantan even though I've been there before but it was long time ago.

After the wedding, I went back the next day. Guess what? I saw this Belum Forest and stopped here.

Pretty interesting to explore, I suppose. Actually, I stopped at Banding Lake earlier to eat lunch and explore the place but too bad, there was no food sold and nothing much to see.

The place was breezy and I feel fresh when looking at those green trees. Love it!

Yeah... here I am.

Banding Lake

Time to order food. I was starving! :)

Nice decoration. Unique.

The restaurant.

A nice place to eat with beautiful view.

Keith told me that this one suppose to be near the sunlight, so that they will shine!

Keith's fried rice.

My black pepper chicken.

Amri's lamb chop.

Heaven, resting with teh tarik!

Resting here was like heaven. I wanted to stay longer but time was flying fast. If you go to East Coast Malaysia, you must stop here for lunch, some refreshing cold drinks or coffee. Maybe, someday I might even stay here for 2 days. A place that can give me a peace of mind!

Nasi Ayam Budu

I know many people just can't resist the temptation of the food, and me too! So this time, I'm going to share with you one of the special meal you can get in Penang -- Nasi Ayam Budu. 

Don't get it wrong, it's not the chicken rice, but they simply put in one sentence 3 main things in this meal nasi/ayam/budu. Which means you get plain rice, fried chicken and budu (a sauce made by anchovy). At first when I heard about it, I thought it was chicken rice but when I tried it, I was wrong. 

If you come to Penang, you MUST try it. Instead of this Nasi Ayam Budu, you can also eat some other Malay-Thai foods which are also good but Nasi Ayam Budu is the signature there! :)

This is how it looks like.

The yummy fried chicken with a lot of onions!

The budu which you eat it with some chilies and lime. Yummy!

How to find this place? Yes, it's a bit hidden from the main road. If you know where is Old Town in Bayan Baru and where is Sunshine Square, it will be much easier for me to give the direction. Opposite the Old Town, you will see a Char Koay Teow stall which is Char Koay Teow Liz. Turn into that junction and go further in, and you will find this shop.

Click here for the direction.

It's a must TRY if you come to Penang :)

Bon Appetit...

Picnic at Batu Ferringhi

This post has been pending for so long since I could not wait to post about my travel and share with you. Sharing about the travel experience is something you cannot find in the travel website including the Astro channel -- Travel & Living :P

I mean the website and the tv channel usually get paid promoting the good thing about places where else I'm sharing not only good but bad things that happen there not to scare you but to advise.

So, instead of telling you about my other travel trip I will share with you this picnic which was not planned properly and it was a very last minute plan and preparation. Thanks to Keith, Miza and Fariza for making it happened.

The last time I came here was with Cik Wanie, Mama and another blogger. To my surprise, it was a bit crowded and I hardly find a good place for us to sit and enjoy the food. Oh yes, I did not plan to swim there since I have swam in the clearer water in Thailand and Mabul :P

We just reached and could not wait to eat the Nasi Lemak. Starving! Haha.

The menu! So tempting isn't it? Most of them prepared by Miza except the fruits and chicken helped by Fariza and thanks to my sister for the nasi lemak (coconut rice).

The mayonnaise omelet. Prepared by Miza.

The mixed spices chicken. Finger licking good! Prepared by Miza and Fariza.

Taking picture...

Busy with handphone or busy preparing???

Oh ok, injured my foot when I was busy taking pictures and I didn't see the coconut tree root was hidden underneath the sand and I accidentally hit it and scratched my foot. Look not so serious but it last for weeks. Pretty deep the wound.

The host :)

The yummy sambal bilis and sotong!

I went to the stall nearby for coconut! Not a good one if I compare with the one I had in Bali!

Relaxing my mind by looking at the sea... how serene...

It's cool to just hang out with friends for a picnic like this. Talking, laughing and eating. You just enjoy yourself and it can help to release your stress too.

Life should be this way... it's short and you just need to be happy and enjoy. Appreciate every moment you have and don't be sad. Bad things might be happen to you (like some incidents that happen to me: car got stolen, dengue fever, reschedule exam alone, back pain and cramp, dad admitted in the hospital, sister with some virus attack and admitted to the hospital too and many more) but you must accept it and if it is a problem you just need to solve it one by one, don't run and hide. 

Be happy! :)

Mom's birthday at Puncak Mutiara.

Since I had enough sleep last night, I took hot shower and now in front of my Macbook replying email, reading and replying Facebook comments regarding Olympic which I think it is bias and Asia countries are the victims, argument with someone who thinks I wrote a wrong sentence for my status which I think he has problem to understand what is "fall asleep" about and I will do some reading later.

Wow! what a long introduction. LOL.

My mom's birthday was on July 27. Last week, her birthday was on weekday and I thought it might be messy with the traffic jam on the bridge during weekday and some other thing like fetching my 2 nieces from the kindergarten and nursery. So, my sisters and I planned to do the celebration on Saturday.

We planned a proper plan through Whatsapp. Mom usually cook special cooking during weekdays for us because that is the only time she can stay in the kitchen for almost half of the day. It's tiring after work and usually she will cook a simple meal for us helped by my two sisters. 

Last Saturday, she already made a to-buy-list and wanted to go to the wet market with sisters. My sisters did a good job gave some excuses to make her cancel the plan.

I went for overtime and went back earlier to get cake at Jenny. Keith picked me up and then we picked up Linda. The road was not jam. We reached there a little bit early but managed to set things properly with Kak Mimi who was the person in charge there with the cake and song arrangement. Then, we started to walk around and saw ostrich and goats. 

The food came early which I prefer to come here not in fasting month anymore. The food became cold when it was the time for us to break fast. Last time, there was some date served. Now, no more. Luckily Linda brought along with her some dates. 

Here are the pictures of the foods:

Lamb Chop. I ordered this one. It was my first time and cold. I want to try this one again next time but not in fasting month :)

Beriyani with Lamb Shank. Ok, I have tried this one for few times and I like it a lot. It is recommended :)

After we finished our meal, my sister text Kak Mimi for the song and cake. Mom was day dreaming I guess haha as she was not focusing on anything during that time. Then... tadaaaaaaaa!!!

The cake from Jenny. It was the first time, the cake could be eaten until finish :)

Mom was surprise... and I knew she was so happy and almost cry.

It was a successful plan.

Happy Birthday Mom!

p/s: Oh yeah... we sent her flower at her office.

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Chili crab fried rice

Just by reading the title give you watery mouth right? :)

Well, on August 31st I went to Ilyana Cafe with some friends. It was my third time been there. My first time was with my family. Second time with some friends and the third time with same friends but additional one person, Iza. We went there for breaking the fast.

I booked earlier. Aircond room. 5 persons. 5 plates of chili crab fried rice.

I reached there around 7.30pm. We drank air zam zam a bit and had a conversation.

Oh yeah, at this time the food was served on our table. We were starving! Haha

The chili crab fried rice (not as big as before)

Close up! Haha :)

Thanks to Zaidi for the treat. Next time it’s ours! :)

After eating we just went back home and rest for a while before going out again for Nasi Ayam Budu!