Shoot! I am up and blaming the phone alarm again for not doing its job. The truth is I went to bed late last night and slept through till day break. We make the best of the situation and get ready to go out. The plan is to walk to Pasar Khadijah to have breakfast and have fun exploring again. Then come back to our room to check out exactly at noon.
Going into a wet market exploring has always been my thing during my travels. Pasar Khadijah definitely high on my list of wet markets simply because I can expect a lot of unexpected. Different kinds of kueh, vege, fruits, stuff and of course foods. We starts with a quick march pass along the corridor of kueh-kueh and continue walking up to where we had laksam yesterday. Today the mission is nasi dage for breakfast. Yes, I must and I do not care LOL
Surprisingly not many stalls selling nasi dage and we decide on one that already serving few ladies. Most of them are having nasi belauk the staple breakfast for the state he he. I have not learnt the art so I stick to a slightly heavier stuff. I order my usual drink and once again the lady stall owner reconfirm with me that I do not want to have sugar in my drink. In the land of sweet things it is a shock to their systems I guess. We take time eating and I, as always observing things around me.
I am eating my nasi dagang slowly to make sure I taste the full flavor. Then I look up for awhile and see a cat climbs into a sink across the isle in front of me. WIth its head just popping up I wonder what the cat is doing until I see the expression on its face. Ha ha ha the cat is pooping there. I nudge Sam and ask her to look ahead and ask her to guess what’s the cat is doing. ‘Berak’ she says, not too loud and enough to make both of us laugh. Amazing cat of Pasar Khadijah toilet trained but the wrong toilet LOL.
Although the food is good, I have and know my limit. We continue to sit, but to be fair to the owner, not too long as the design of the place would not allow us to stay longer. We start to walk around again, not exploring, enjoying the surrounding and the atmosphere. From stall to stall we walk. Enough with the top floor we go down again to the floor where they sell the vegies and kueh-kueh. Walking and looking at things slowly. The ladies must be amazed to see me photographing almost all items on display. When we are at the end of the long table like structure where they sell their kueh-kueh we just walk out. We have a bit more time before we need to walk back to our room to check out. explore a bit more of the area outside Pasar Khadijah.
As I walk on the pavement near a local shopping mall I notice a pile of rain sport jackets on sale. Realising that I need one for the rest of my travel I step in to check. I see what I want and within the price range. Sam decides she does not require one. We continue to walk and now with the intention of going back to our hotel but via a different route. We walk the length of the block and turn right at the end to walk towards the hotel. As we walk we see a Chinese Muslim Chicken Rice restaurant and I say to Sam we have to try this before we leave KB. Unfortunately we never did.
Once at the hotel we collect our luggage in the room and check out. We walk out where there are a lot of people checking in so I guess the hotel must be popular with tourist. Being at the centre of the town it has its advantages. The room although a bit shabby is acceptable to most. For this kind of trip I am just using a small rucksack with few clothes inside so I just sling it on my back and walk out of the hotel with Sam. It drizzles a bit but nothing that’s going to stop us from walking. I do not know exactly where Royal Guest House is but my sense tells me where I should walk. I just follow my instinct with Sam close behind. By now the rain gets a little heavier. As we pass Pasar Khatijah I walk ahead a bit unitl I can see the signage to Kraftangan and I know we are on the right track. The Kraftangan is on our left. When we reach the sign I see a lorong like entrance and I can see more interesting things. One obvious thing there is the entrance to the Kraftangan and another is the Nasi Ulam place. I know straight away where we are going to have lunch. We walk in expecting at the other end will be at least a short cut or the right way the Royal Guest House. As we pass the Nasi Ulam place we can see a lot of ulam-ulam and food that we really fancy. Lucky that we are still full after breakfast if not we would have sit down to eat ha ha ha.
We are almost reaching the other end when to my delight I see the Royal Guest House. Not that we are only on the right track we are spot on. We are very early to check in and I approach the counter to try my luck. The room is obviously not ready I can check in first but wait for the room to be ready. The girl at the counter reminds me that check in is at 2pm. I reply to her, yes I know I just trying my luck if there is a room ready for us. With that we store our luggage there and walk out towards the Kraftangan to explore the place.
It is drizzling when we walk in the compound of the Kraftangan and we choose the left side of the place where there are souvenir shops as our launching pad to explore the space. Nothing much or interesting there just normal souvenirs. We walk up the stairs to explore the upper level and we walk pass the main entrance to the museum but nothing interest me to pay the fee to go in. One main deterrent is no camera allowed. Fine, still old world thinking and old logic to me. Who in the world today do not carry a camera. Such places might as well stop everyone carrying handphone or iPad. We walk to the other side where I can see art class in progress my interest perk and walk faster to enter the class to have a look. Where there is art class there must be art studio or shops somewhere. True enough they are at the ground level. We stay up at the corridor watching the art class and admiring the compound from high level a bit longer. We stand there soaking in the environment. I must say that the place is not well maintained. Even so, it is a nice place to be. After a while we walk down to check out the arts. I am expecting to see good paintings and maybe one of two worth taking home ha ha ha. There are two studios there and basically open for artists in Kelantan to use to showcase as well as creating new beautiful arts. 
Try as I may none of the painting on display is to my liking. Too amateurish as well as old. We continue our walk to the other side and the sky suddenly really open up bringing down water like waterfall. The rain is so hard so much so we cannot move without getting wet. We inch ourselves towards the other end passing through another nasi ulam place underneath the museum. We decide to wait the rain at the corridor on the upper level we first entered. The rain is really pouring now with no indication of stopping anytime soon. Sam starts to update her diary and I messing around with my camera.
As I am standing looking out at the rain two ladies under an umbrella approach the staircase. Someone from the top of the stairs usher them in and I can see the lady wearing high heel. I can not stop myself from saying, ‘high heel in this rain’. I mean the ‘heel’ is really high man!. So much so she has to take it off to come up the stairs. I just do not pay much attention to the lady until I see a camera crew waiting for her. Must be a model shooting at the place maybe. I walk to where Sam is sitting trying to find other interesting things. In between finding nice objects and angle for shots Sam remark to me something about Misha Omar. Striking a conversation I say, ‘Yes she is from KB. Ibu dengar lagu dia ke?‘ ‘There she is, sitting in front of the museum counter.‘ ‘Where!?‘ ‘There’. Ha ha ha it is the high heel lady. Since I do not have my long lens with me the 17-55mm suffice he he he. Whatever it is, it is not a big deal for me as celebrity has never been my thing.
The rain ceases a bit and we decide to dash across to Tengku Anis Complex next to the Kraftangan to explore.
Walking around the complex I cannot but feel disappointed as well as sorry for the tenants there. To me, nothing there that is different from what we can get anywhere else in KB. No speciality or peculiarity that makes the place unique. It will be another ghost building soon. Well, I sincerely hope not but all indications are pointing towards that. We walk around nevertheless and try our best to enjoy it ha ha ha. As we are going around it starts to rain again. Nothing else to do so we just wonder around. It is a multi floors complex but I just do not want to disappoint myself further by finding nothing on the upper floors. We limit ourselves on the ground floor. We decide then once the rain cease a bit we are going to dash across to have our nasi ulam and then retire back to our room.
The nasi ulam place is packed with people. The place is really popular by the look of it and because of the variety being served it is even more popular I guess. The trick is to get a table first. We manage in the end to secure one at the end close to the road of our hotel. It is a self service place and the process is for you to pile in whatever you wish to eat and drink and later the waiter will come over to ‘kira’ and present you with a bill. I take a lot of ulam and fish to our table and we have a feast. For sure the place and the food worth coming back for again. The next train ride to KB then.
The rain is still dripping away outside but not as heavy as before. We just walk across to our hotel from the ‘nasi ulam’ place. All the rooms in the hotel had just been refurbished and ours is cosy and nice. It is not that big and enough for what we paid for. Just nice for those who want to just relax and sleep off the tiredness. After the big lunch that what exactly we need
The nap do us good, refresh and raring to go out again. Azie, my niece, and her husband are coming to pick us up to take us around. We get ready quickly and go down to wait for them at the lobby. It is still drizzling outside and we just sit at the lobby waiting. Together with us is a family and Sam start a conversation with the lady next to her. They are visiting from Singapore and first time in Kelantan. The conversation initially evolve around their visit and inevitably move to the topic of the day, the wet season. They are here in KB at the wrong time. I wonder what they think about Kelantan. I do not ask.
Azi arrives but not after she mistakenly entered a wrong building. It is still drizzling outside .
‘Pak Ngah dan Mak Ngah nak pergi mana ni?’ Azi’s husband, Nasir, asking us in a polite tone if there is anywhere in particular we want to go.
Pak Ngah tak tahu, mana-mana pun ok tak de mana-mana nak pergi. Bawa je la mana pun.’
‘Ok la kita pergi KB Mall la.’
‘Ok juga Pak Ngah pun tak pernah pergi sana.’
A three story building, KB Mall is just like any common mall you have in any city. Well at least it is good getting out of the rain for a while. While Nasir go for his maghrib, I decide to jamak mine later, I sit down at the Mc D to have my coffee fix and we chat a bit.
Since I do not bring a long pant and with the possibility of meeting my friends up north I decide I need at least one to match the sweater I bought the day before. I walk into one of the outlet and walk out with a loose cotton pant that I always wanted to have.
Sam mention she never been to Kubang Kerian and with that remark we are on our way there. It is about 20 minutes drive there and Azi and Nasir start to share more information about the places we pass through and Kubang Kerian. When we reach the area it is still drizzling and a lot of cars. Nasir pop out his instictive question whether or not Pak Ngah and Mak Ngah wish to stop and explore. I let Mak Ngah to answer and she says no need.
Cruising back towards the city Nasir ask us what do we wish to have for supper. We are not that particular and game for anything. Nasir takes us to Wakaf Baru near their place to eat.
We chat more than we eat. Azi is thinking of going into food business and she share with us her intention. I fully encourage her to do that. In fact doing that in KB or Kelantan for that matter would be easier. Kelantan is a business friendly for women. Nasir come from a family of business people so it would be even easier for Azi. The rain keep pouring and a very good reason for us to continue to chat.
We are back at the hotel after two hours of chit chatting with Azi and Nasir. I thank both of them and they answer by saying that the next time we are here on the train do not waste our RM taking a very expensive taxi. I smile. I told them before we took RM25 taxi from Wakaf Baru Station to town the day before.
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