After our night in Kuantan, we made our way further north to the next state. My friend F had invited us to celebrate her sister’s marriage in their hometown Kemaman. I’d never travel all these miles for a wedding before but it’s been a long time since I last saw F so we made this one happen. The drive up to Terengganu was quite a journey but it was what it was— a road trip. And road trips are amazing for one thing: the changing views. No doubt that it’s tiring to remain seated in one spot for hours but the joy truly comes from all that scenery flowing past the car window while bearing small, gradual changes. The landscapes we witnessed seem to be switching from isolated hills to rugged coastlines and finally settling on sprawling, flat countryside.
The east coast is generally made up of smaller towns and as we drove closer towards Terengganu, the roads became narrower and peppered with rural bungalows and herds of cows marching, unattended, to the fields. To see all of these in one sitting was certainly a big change from we are used to back in the city. Everything appeared so laidback and tamed on this part of the world. The word ‘busy’ held no meaning here. There was something very pure surrounding the simplicity of the place. It reminded me of how unhurried life is over here than to the one we lead in KL. The other thing about the east coast is the cultural makeup that’s strong of Sunni influence. We had a good laugh about it in the car once the chill-out jazz we were listening to earlier was instantly zapped and replaced by nasyid and Koran recitations the moment we entered Pahang. You know you’d reached the coast once your radio transmission turns all, umm, religious.
We reached the town of Chukai in Kemaman just in time for the wedding and alongside F’s family, we celebrated the arrival of the newlyweds. The wedding was simple yet beautiful, much like what Kemaman felt like to me at the time. F was busy with the guests but she managed to sneak into the hall to catch up with me. She wore a cute nametag that proudly says “kakanda,” an old yet endearing Malay word used to address someone older. We met at work, both of us teaching in the same department a few years ago, and for some reason we got along fabulously well. We chalked it down to our horoscope— we’re both Aquarians with birthdays only set a few days apart— and I noticed after all these years that I’m particularly fond of making friends with fellow water bearers.
We had our minds set on bringing home with us a few bags of those mouthwateringly delicious keropok lekor. Terengganu is famous for these fish sausages that are made out of herring and mackerel flesh. The ones in KL tasted more of flour than fish and those thin crackers were hard as charcoal between the teeth. We were in hunt for the fishiest and softest keropok lekor coupled with the spiciest homemade dipping sauce. F recommended a nameless, roadside stall at the entrance of Kemaman for us to sample what’s purported to be the best keropok lekor in town. We observed a few ladies making a batter out of fish paste and flour and later, rolling and pinning the dough into fat, gray-skinned sausages. They’re the chewiest when eaten raw but most of the time, you’d have them boiled, steamed or deep fried to your fancy. We liked them in any way possible and we were glad that F was right. The sausages tasted divine.
Before we left, we made a pit stop to what I call F’s backyard. It was actually a beach called Teluk Mak Nik (the locals pronounce it as “mok nik” in their heavy Terrenganese accent) or otherwise known by its anglicized name, the Monica Bay. There were many beach oaks lining the shores and the entire place was surrounded by the clear turquoise waters of the South China Sea. It was definitely one of the most beautiful beaches I’d seen in a local coastal area. If I could give a fresh coat of paint onto our bedroom walls, it’d be the color of this sea. The entire place could be a painting, for all you know.
I couldn’t stop thinking of how nice it’d be to dip my toes in the sea water but alas, I was in my kurung so getting wet was out of the question. Instead, we hung out on the white sands and chilled for a while with our bags of keropok lekor. With the breeze and that breathtaking view, the wedding was worth the journey.
