A more relaxed look at Kota Bahru

Continued from A quick look of the Kelantan river from the Kota Bahru bridge.


While the bridge was busy the city of Kota Bahru itself was very quiet in contrast.

You see Fridays are holidays in Kelantan along with Saturdays, not Sundays.

In fact Fridays were holidays for all Malay states before the British (or rather the English) colonialists came and brought the concept of weekends which start with Saturdays and end with Sundays.

This is because the compulsory congregational prayers for men is conducted on Friday afternoons. Thus the day is made a rest day so the men can converge in peace without any rush to conduct businesses.

There. I could see cars lining up near the main mosque for the prayers.

But it was still more than an hour before the actual prayers start.

So I still have time to drive around and enjoy the quiet streets. Contrast this to when we arrived in Kota Bahru 6 days before when it was getting dark. Look at the article Rushing through Kota Bahru made almost 2 months ago.

Mind you in Kelantan most shops are closed on Fridays.

For those who conduct business on Fridays they close shop in the afternoon for employees to attend the Friday prayers and have lunch.

My wife wanted me to drop her and the kids somewhere before I join the prayers.

She wanted to shop for clothes for the kids and I have to go around to find the right place.

Thank God there was a textile shop open. So I dropped them there before heading back to the mosque.