The 'real' Danau Tok Uban

Continued from Danau Tok Uban from the Brunei mosque on a fine Friday afternoon.

From the Brunei Mosque we went to the other side of Danau Tok Uban.

This is the side which is formally known as Danau Tok Uban. This is the side people would point the way to if asked for that name.

This is the part of people often go for recreation.

For the lake called Danau Tok Uban is vast enought to be approached from many many parts.

But not all offer convenience for visitors.

See the white building which looks small in the middle? That's the Brunei mosque.

This side of Danau Tok Uban has a floating restaurant which offers nice vistas...

Danau Tok Uban from the Brunei mosque on a fine Friday afternoon

Continued from The Kelantan river near Tanah Serendah Sekebun Bunga.

In the afternoon I brought the wife and kids to the mosque known as Masjid Brunei, at a rural part of the district of Pasir Mas. It is situated besides a vast lake called Danau Tok Uban.

Oh. I forgot to mention. After we entered Kelantan from Terengganu we took our two elder kids who are staying with their uncle in that state and brought them to stay together at a hotel in Kota Bahru. So that makes 6 of us altogether for this trip. There's me, the wife, the two elder kids and two youngest one we took all the way from home for this East Coast trip.

I have been to this place quite a number of times. But it was only last time  that I brought the kids. Then, the youngest one, Muhammad Alauddin Johan (now 3 months old) was not even conceived. It was raining and the sky rather gloomy. Look at the old article Masjid Brunei and Danau Tok Uban in the rain...

On this visit made Friday afternoon the sky looked just fine.

So we wasted no time to enjoy the sight from many different angles...

Now back to the mosque...

The Kelantan river near Tanah Serendah Sekebun Bunga

Continued from The place called Tanah Serendah Sekebun Bunga on a fine sunny Friday morning.

Going out of the Tanah Serendah Sekebun Bunga I decided to check out the nearby Kelantan river.

A look downriver. The estuary should be 40 km by water from here.

A look across.

A check with Google Earth shows the river here is close to 400 meters wide.

Turning further anti-clockwise to look upriver...

The Kelantan river stays about this wide for a further 60 km to the south.

The place called Tanah Serendah Sekebun Bunga on a fine sunny Friday morning

Peace be upon you all. After leaving this blogspot unattended for almost a month  let me start making new postings. Continuing the stories of my trip to the East Coast 26 March - 4 April...

In the last article on the trip, Crossing the Terengganu river to Pulau Sekati made 24th April I mentioned how me and family rushed to a part of Kuala Terengganu just to get to an island accesible by a pedestrian/motorcyclist wooden bridge. The night was then spent in Jertih near the Kelantan state border before we entered the state then spent the following night in its capital city, Kota Bahru. The next morning, Friday 30th March is when this new story starts... by making a visit to a certain rural place some 25 km outside of the city...

The place is called Tanah Serendah Sekebun Bunga which could be loosely translated as the lowlands flower garden. It is associated with two olden Kelantanese legendary personalities, the old Kelantan kingdom female ruler Cik Siti Wan Kembang and her adopted daughter, the princess known as Puteri Saadong.

Here's bit of story on Cik Siti Kembang and how/why she decided to open Tanah Serendah Sekebun Bunga after having ruled from a number of locations.

This signboard says it happened about 300 years ago. But I understand it was actually close to 400 years ago...

Now let's take a walk inside.

You can see a lake, a rather elongated one.

I was told the lake was actually part of the nearby Kelantan river. It was probably a bend which became separated from the main body of water due to silting and such.

Most probably it was still part of the Kelantan river during Cik Siti Wan Kembang's time. Now let's look at other parts of the garden.

There's this hut for visitors.

Tables and makeshift chairs made in modern time of course.

Actually I've featured this place in the article The place called Taman Serendah Sekebun Bunga made a year ago.

But it was based on a visit to the East Coast made during rainy season end of 2010.

Thus then I never went further than this gate.

For reasons unclear, the parts after are made off-limits to the public.

This time I decided to explore as far as I can.

But I didn't find anything peculiar except the lake stretched for almost 200 metres long.