Trip to my hometown - Kelantan (17-19 May 2018)

I love my hometown, Kelantan state. Last week I just travelled my hometown, Kota Bharu, Kelantan. So, I make use this chance to write this blog post…

Kelantan is a state in north-eastern of Peninsula Malaysia which is also enriched with its Malay culture compared to the other states. This is because of Kelantan state is one of the states along with Terengganu have homogenous population, which predominately made up by the Malays (about 95%) then followed by Chinese (about 3.5%) as well as Indians, Siamese and Orang Asli (each less than 1 %). Thus, Kelantan is also deemed as the traditional “Malay Cradle” of the Peninsula Malaysia.

Kelantan State's flag

The way of living in Kelantan is differing than in other states of Malaysia (especially bustling west coast of Peninsula Malaysia where that side has a few metropolitans such as KL, Penang and Johor Bahru.). The life here is quite laid back and chill and most of the places in Kelantan are still retaining traditional “kampung” style of housing. All over Kelantan, only Kota Bharu has a city status, whereas the rest of the capital districts (Jajahan or Daerah in Malay) are still remaining the status of small town. So, only Kota Bharu, the capital city of Kelantan state is more prosperous and bustling compared to the other towns and districts in Kelantan.

The non-malays there are being more assimilated to the malay culture compared to the other states in Peninsula Malaysia. This is in light of fact that most of the non-malays here are at least being able to understand and converse in Kelantanese Malay dialect. Most of them have got used to speak and listen in Kelantanese Malay dialect since they are young. Besides, that dialect is also used in the business field since the business persons are mostly dealing with the Malay customers there. For your information, Kelantanese Malay dialect is being prevalent in Kelantan state compared to the standard version of Malay language. Therefore, you will be blur and left out when you don’t understand Kelantanese Malay dialect in Kelantan state, if you are outsider lah… 

In fact, Kelantan has a few places to travel. Many people from other states of Malaysia may think that Kelantan is so ‘ulu’ (outdated) and reluctant to visit there… However, actually there are a few places for us to travel in Kelantan. For example, there are a few Siamese Buddhist temples in the district of Tumpat such as Wat Pothivihan and Wat Machimaram for us to travel (visited during this year’s Chinese New Year). After travelling finish the temples, you can even Pantai Seri Tujoh in the district of Tumpat (this year I not yet visited). There is also a beach in the district of Kota Bharu, which is Pantai Cahaya Bulan. It is roughly 10 km away from town centre. That beach used to be a sandy beach. However, due to erosion of the wave, the beach shoreline is shortening. Therefore, the beach now has many of the stones to form a barrier to deter from wave erosion. Besides, there are also a few tourist destinations to travel in the capital city of Kota Bharu as well (look at the photos…)

Wat Photivihan

Wat Machimaram

Arch of Kota Sultan Ismail Petra

Pantai Cahaya Bulan...

Random old shop lots in Kota Bharu town centre

Padang Merdeka...

Sungai Kelantan riverfront

Kampung Kraftangan right behind Kota Sultan Ismail Petra.

This video is about Kelantan food...

Apart from that, Kelantan has a few prestigious local delicacies that you barely can find in other part of Malaysia (except its neighboring state of Terengganu). Firstly, Kelantan has also its own type of Laksa, Laksa is not only got in Penang but also in Kelantan. The main differences of Laksa in Penang and in Kelantan are their soup and ingredients. Asam Laksa Penang soup is made up of tamarind, while Laksa Kelantan is made up of coconut milk. The ingredient of Asam Laksa are fishes (and prawns), cucumber and lime, while Laksa Kelantan is onions, sliced dried tamarind and lemon grass. Futhermore, nasi kerabu and khao jam are also the main local delicacies of Kelantan. Both are actually they same in method of processing and using same ingredients. The only difference is Nasi Kerabu is more of Kelantan Malay style, while Khao Jam is more of Thai style…

Laksa Kelantan

Khao Jam

Thus, Kelantan state is one of the laid back and tranquil states in Malaysia but has a few of destinations to travel and local delicacies to eat.