View of Kuala Terengganu from 14 floors up... Or is it 15 or 13? Never mind, just enjoy the view...

OK. As regular visitors here should know, I run 3 blogspots... This one, the Malay-language blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU and the bilingual SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) . Since last year, whenever I went out travelling far, I have made it a point to relate back what happened by dividing selected pictures of certain locations as seen fit across the blogspots and then start the story-telling based on what I feel and what is recalled upon seeing the pictures. Then only would I do some sort of summation on my main blogspot which is CATATAN SI MERAH SILU ...
Regulars should also know, I'm now in the midst of telling the story of my latest travel up the East Coast which was completed on Wednesday last week. Currently I'm making stories based on what happened in Kuala Terengganu 27-28 March. Now come the time to show some pictures of the city seen from one of the high buildings. Here it is...

Now, Kuala Terengganu don't have much skyscrapers, unlike in Kuala Lumpur which should have hundreds. As far as I could see, there's probably only about 10 buildings higher than 10th floors.... I could be wrong but that's what I saw when looking at the skyline from the city centre.

So imagine my feeling upon seeing this building shown in the picture... Less than 300 meters away from the cheap hotel I was staying at in Kuala Terengganu and it looks like I could have a look from up there without much obstruction...

I'm not sure how tall it really is... I couldn't remember the number on the button I touched in the elevator to get to the top but it should be anything from 13 to 15. What is sure, it is an apartment building... Easier to sneak into than a hotel or an office building...

True enough, there's magnificent views waiting to be seen. This view of the Terengganu river estuary could be seen immediately upon stepping out of the elevator...

I walked on the corridor towards the south...

Then a look to my left shows this... The imposing white mosque known as Masjid Abidin features prominently...

A look ahead and one could see the main bus station to the left, next to a new shopping complex not yet opened. Also in the view is what I believe the tallest building in Kuala Terengganu, I think the state government building. Should be around 30 floors high...

A look to my right and one could see the hill Bukit Besar...

I looked down for perspective. My cheap hotel is somewhere on the street running up in the middle of the picture...

Then I decided to walked down the corridor again to have a look at the north side...

A look to my right reveals the island Pulau Duyung with its yatch terminal and supporting buildings built for the Moonsoon Cup which started about 2 years ago if I recall correctly... Closer in the picture is parts of Kampung Cina... See Walking along the Terengganu river to Kampung Cina...

A look ahead. Pulau Duyung which lies in the middle of the Terengganu river still looms large...

A look to the left shows the main bridge from Kuala Terengganu across Pulau Duyung and on to the other side. There's also another island seen here...

I pointed the camera at the same direction but slightly downwards...

Then I headed the camera towards the extreme left as much the building permits and saw a new skyscraper being built...

Looking down towards Kampung Cina and the nearby area... Enough. Now I have completed the process of dividing pictures across my blogspots... Time to do the summation process in CATATAN SI MERAH SILU !

Ooppss... Now I remember. Last night I had a look at the collection of pictures taken in Kuala Terengganu 27-28 March (there's another collection taken 30-31 March) which totals to some 150. Then I realise there's a few pictures which I believe deserve its own individual posting at that blogspot before I could do the summation. So have a look there later OK... Cheers! :]

Walking along the Terengganu river to Kampung Cina...

After spending some time up Bukit Puteri, I feel like walking along the Terengganu river. Here are some of the pictures...

This one is taken at a jetty where one could get small boats to ferry people across the river to either the island of Pulau Duyung which sits smack in the middle of the waters close to the estuary or to Seberang Takir, the northern banks of the estuary...

From the jetty one could see a floating restaurant and some boats waiting for customers...

Then I visited the bustling market of Pasar Payang, a pride of the locals... The place has a wet market and a bazaar selling mainly the famous Terengganu woven and coloured clothes, the Kain Batik and Kain Songket...

Afterwards I headed for Kampung Cina, literally translated as the "chinese village", an early settlement for Chinese immigrants which is still famous for its quaintness... Along the way, saw the Masjid Abidin, also known as the white mosque not so far away...

Soon enough, I am in Kampung Cina...

A look through the walkways...

The street itself is quite narrow...

Once in a while, one could take a peek across the Terengganu river...

And there's a few rather magnificent old buildings such as this...

This...

And this...

Soon enough, it's time to go... The gates seen at the end of the street marks the end of Kampung Cina... Or rather the start as I actually entered from the opposite side. Ends! :]

Up on Bukit Puteri in Kuala Terengganu

Good Lord, finally I managed to get these pictures uploaded after over an hour or so experiencing problems with the blogspot's upload mechanism. Anyway, here's my latest posting using some pictures taken at the small hill known as Bukit Puteri in the city of Kuala Terengganu. So here we go...

I believe I have posted some pictures of Bukit Puteri a long time ago in one or two of my blogspots. Nevertheless, these ones are the latest taken 2 days after leaving Kemaman as featured in the article A look around Kemaman, Terengganu...

Like in my last visit to Bukit Puteri made at the end of 2006, I found that the place has been made off-limits because of construction works...

Nevertheless, also like in the last visit, I decided to find my way up...

Except this time, apart from some planks put across at some points, I found myself obstructed by security guards, right at the end this particular set of staircase!

But they let me in when I stated my real reason for going up Bukit Puteri... Not to loiter around as people would normally do but to visit a certain old grave...

Still, that doesn't mean I shouldn't enjoy the view like this of the Terengganu river near its estuary...

Set againts the few cannons up there, the view can be rather quaint indeed...

Finally the said grave, that of a 18th century religious figure, Syed Yassin bin Yahya..

A person of Arab descent from the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, his grave or rather his tomb is marked by Aceh type tombstones signifying him as a person of high status...

A view of the top of Bukit Puteri...

Another side of the hill overlooks the Istana Maziah, one of Terengganu Sultan's royal palace...

I just had a quick view of the area on top. After all, I promised the security guards that I went up Bukit Puteri only to visit the tomb of Syed Yassin...

Then it's time to go down. That's all folks! :]