Alt. Title: Salam Pantai Timur! or The Trip of Many Firsts.
Just to pick up where I left off in the
previous post, those who keep a close eye of my various Facebook status updates or a keen curiosity to make research of their own should probably be able to guess where I have been to for the past one week. For those who don't know (or probably couldn't care less) however,
needless heartache of a red tape official research matter have brought me to USM Medical Campus at Kubang Kerian, Kota Bharu, Kelantan Darul Naim.
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| I will not go into detail of what exactly happened about THAT official matter except everything felt...anticlimactic leaving me in bemusement and made me question what's the point of going through so much heartache leading up to the actual event if it's going to be this anticlimactic. Anyway, somewhat glad the thing went smoothly with only minor correction needed. Gantt Chart. Picture: Clinical Science Research Platform located at an annex behind Perpustakaan Hamdan Tahir, USM Medical Campus Kubang Kerian, where the official matter took place. |
My first to the Land of Che Siti Wan Kembang, one elusive, uncharted and mysterious (at least in my point of view) territory located at the northeastern corner of Malaya Peninsula on the East Coast bordering Thailand, well known as traditional Malay heartland with their thick Bahasa Kelate, wayang kulit, budu and nasi kerabu while conservative Islamic teaching coupled with loyalty for their Sultan manifest itself in various facet of daily life. Definitely a whole world apart from my worldview.
However, is Kelantan merely what I described earlier? While most of it that I mentioned are indeed true, I do discover however to my pleasant surprise that Kelantan are actually more than meets the eye and at the end of the day, I do glad that I made this trip even though it was a rushed trip. Before I wax lyrical about what I discover about Kelantan though, let me talk about one very special first time that actually happened while I am on the flight over to Kota Bharu.
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| Thursday, 9 August 2012. Firefly flight FY1002 PEN-KBR. Depart: 07:15. Yet another dead early flight. A quick collage of pictures culminating the actual first time life event itself. Top left and centre: Boarding the at the few months old regional turboprop gate at the completed B-Wing extension of Penang International Airport. Top right: On board ATR-72, my second round-trip flying this type of aircraft since my previous trip down south to Subang for conference last year. I actually think the legroom is actually better than AirAsia though the overhead storage space is pitifully small. Probably that's why they have 20kg free luggage allowance so that everyone check in their aircraft. Oh their cargo hold is actually situated in front right before captain's cockpit so no front entrance for passengers. Center left and center: Going Places, Malaysia Airlines' inflight magazine as Firefly is MAS community airlines subsidiary. During its early day though as I recall that they do have their own inflight magazine called Kunang2(firefly in Malay) but I guess cost-cutting measure has led to its demise. Never mind about that though because unlike AirAsia (AirAsia actually remind fellow passengers in their magazine, Travel360 to not take the magazine away and instead read online if they ever need to have their own copy. Okay.) MAS do allow their passengers to take a copy of their magazine. The non-presence of the familiar tagline "Your Complimentary Copy" is a bit unnerving though that made me had second thought of nicking it, wondering whether MAS has gone AirAsia as well in their cost-cutting measure. Meanwhile, meet the new flagship of MAS, A380 in the new livery. Rejoice as the second one has joined the fleet, flying to London! Center right and lower left: Taxing past the ever growing terminal expansion on A-Wing and we lift off flying past Pulau Jerejak as we descend into dawn. Lower center: Another thing about Firefly: complementary refreshment in the form of cupcakes and peanuts. Cupcake is definitely more filling. Lower right: flying past the backbone of Malaya Peninsula and reaching East Coast in no time. It's just an one hour flight but this flight is definitely going to be different than all the flight I have been... |
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As the plane begin to taxi to the runway, I was idling at seat flipping through Going Places and occasionally taking picture of things I fancy when there's a somewhat familiar name that has a ring to my ear when the flight attendants is going through the announcement and safety procedures:
"...The captain for our flight today is Captain *sorry, forgot his name*, assisted by co-pilot Captain Ho KC..."
...could it be? Could it be the Ho KC that I know, my highschool classmate for four years from Form 4 to Form 6 that AFAIK through his Facebook has been flying for Firefly for a year or so now? From that point onward, I am literally on the edge of my seat, itching to confirm whether it is him or not while wondering when and how should I confirm about it, unsure whether I should press the call button or not or just march out of my seat and approach the FA directly.
Almost 20 minutes passed and we are pretty much half way through the flight. The refreshment service is already over and I decided that I couldn't wait for the FA to come back to collect the rubbish. I muster my courage, march backward to the crew galley and approach the FA (who was entertaining herself with an iPad). I ask the FA to confirm his identity by confirming his full name.
"Let me call the cockpit directly to confirm." *I didn't exactly remember the line but this pretty much it.*
Oh yes, please! I bid my thanks to the FA and went back to my seat with anticipation, anxious looking ahead wondering who will emerge behind the cockpits door (or whether anyone will appear or not.). To my relief (and excitement!) however, a pilot does emerge behind the door and it's him, the Ho KC that I know. I bet he is a surprised as me as I do when I emerge from my seat and wave at him. I was merely expecting a quick chat though before he pitches the invite:
"Wanna check out the cockpit?"
Of course there's no way I will reject this oppurtunity (Inner mind: Yes. Yes YEEEESSS!) and I followed him back to the cockpit. (probably to the bemusement of my seatmate wondering why I keep on going out from my seat.). As soon as I entered the cockpit, I was immediately amazed by flight control panels (oooh all those dials and buttons and displays) and the pilot view of the sky. In fact, I was so overwhelmed by the whole experience that my cognitive skill went down close to nil and I have to be assisted by KC himself in closing the door (it's actually two leaf flap door rather than a folded door), lengthen and buckling the jumpseat's seatbelt (somewhat similar with the conventional one except the usual flap becomes a lever, the buckles is round and there's an additional one over the shoulder) and putting on headphone. The ridiculously tight space (basically just standing room with pilot seat on left and right and the jumpseat is folded from the door) coupled with my huge size certainly didn't help. As soon as I am secured on the jumpseat, the flight is already begin to descend to Kota Bharu.
Let me tell you, seeing pilots in action (more so if you see one you actually know!), going through the checklists and controls, listening to their conversation between each other and the tower, seeing the plane react nimbly to the pilots' control banking, slowing in respond to command is certainly one heck of a sensory experience, including the extra bit of the FA calling to the cockpit from the galley asking my whereabout (Kawan tu masih dalam cockpit?) as we approach Kota Bharu. Gears down, speed reduced, flaps, runway within visible sight and aligned, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10...aaaaaaaaannnnnnndddd we touched down and Kota Bharu Sultan Ismail Petra Airport. As the plane taxi back to the terminal, we went passed a flying school which KC mentioned that it's among the best flying school in Malaysia. Not too long after that, the plane came to a halt at the regional turboprop apron and with the pilots checking through the manifest, the short but memorable one hour flight has finally come to an end.
Didn't manage to properly catch up with him in the end (it was a really short flight) as I need to leave and he probably has another flight to go but I do glad that I manage to see him (I think I didn't see him in person at all ever since we left highschool) and best of all, my very first cockpit visit and jumpseat ride! There's nothing more exciting for an aviation fan who hangs around
A-Net Trip Report section a little too much than a cockpit visit and jumpseat ride and I did it thanks to the courtesy of Ho KC and Captain *forgot his name* as well as the assistance of the FAs serving FY1002 that morning. Great fun indeed is what I mention to the FA as I deplane. Thanks, Firefly, flight FY1002 PEN-KBR on 9 August 2012 (Thursday). I am a happy man.
Now, you must be wondering where are the pictures after my long-winded drivel. Unfortunately and regretfully,
I DID NOT TAKE ANY PICTURES. *head desk*. A combination of momentary lapse of judgment caused by reduced cognitive skill due to over-excitement of watching pilot in action, personal inhibition (whether it actually breaches any security regulation by taking pictures of an cockpit), my faulty camera stuck in my formal pants' pocket (I was fully suited up early in the morning because of the interview over USM KK) and inopportune time of asking permission (the plane is already making its descend and I don't want to distract their attention). However, all the things I mentioned here are TRUE and this first time experience will definitely be cherished forever in my memory. Let's catch up next time if I actually came down to KL,
Captain Ho KC.
Anyway, Kota Bharu.
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| Selamat Datang ke Kelantan Darul Naim. Greeting at the luggage reclaim. |
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| Landside. Kota Bharu Sultan Ismail Petra Airport is quite reasonable in size with three gates equipped with aerobridge and well-connected with most flights heading to KL. Me and my supervisor was picked up by my supervisor's sister and this is actually the first time I learn that my supervisor is born and bred Kelantanese. A telltale sign of needing to know my supervisor better. |
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| We reached USM Medical Campus Kubang Kerian around 8:45am and the meeting was scheduled...at 3pm in the evening. Crap. Luckily for us though, my supervisor's nephew is working at Pusat Sukan USM KK and we got a place to hang out comfortably before the meeting. Another reminder of how close Kota Bharu to the northern border: television picking up signal overspill from Thailand. Of course I have no idea what do they talk about because its all in Thai but at one point, this channel that I am watching actually simulcast live session of parliament debate, definitely more advanced that what we have for RTM who only devote a late night one hour summary of what happened in parliament session. |
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| Because we have five hours of idling time and I have grown awfully hungry as time passed, I went around the campus to check out if there's any place I could actually have lunch. My search around Desa Murni (top center) ends in vain as everything close during daytime for Ramadhan (and Kafe Murni actually close for the whole Ramadhan). With no luck in campus, I decided to venture out of campus to the commercial area right across the road. Luckily the campus is good enough for walking though it's flat and boring. True to it's name, the campus is made of three schools: School of Health Science (top second from right), School of Medical Science (top right) and School of Dentistry (bottom left). USM Medical Campus can be considered as an annex to USM Hospital (bottom right) and it's still growing with more construction. (Bottom center). A nursing college is right beside USM Medical campus as well. |
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| His Majesty Sultan of Kelantan. Apparently His Majesty is quite well-loved among Kelantanese as a People's Sultan and keen on participating in religious activities together with his subjects as depicted by this banner here. What's Qiam by the way? *UPDATE (Courtesy of En. Izaham of SComm USM): Qiam is short of Qiamullail. Qiam means 'wake up' while Lail means 'during the night'. With both words combined, it becomes Qiamullail which brings the meaning of performing the prayers at night. Qiam in your posting means the Sultan is asking his subjects to congregate in a late-night prayer with him.* Thanks for reading, En. Izaham! |
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| Commercial area right across USM Kubang Kerian with Mydin Kubang Kerian within close proximity. Even the foodcourt over Mydin's closed for Ramadhan during daytime so I just bought a bottle of water from there. |
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| Luckily for me, there's one modern Kopitam-esque Kopitiam that's owned by a Chinese hence my very first lunch in Kota Bharu: Nasi Goreng Pattaya. Besides the usual kopitiam fare of roti bakar, what's offered on the menu includes a range of nasi gorengs of common Malay fare! Besides that, the shop is blaring with Malay pop music instead of usual English or Chinese selection. Catering for the market indeed. |
Fast forward to 3:30pm. With the official matter settled, it's time to call it a day and finally relax! Time to check in to my accommodation at
Tune Hotel Kota Bharu and unwind! Good thing it's holiday in USM now as I happen to know someone who's back at Kota Bharu...
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| Syahmi! Thanks for the invitation of joining your family for Berbuka/Iftar as well as a gracious guide for bringing me around for the two days I am in Kota Bharu! |
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| My first sightseeing of the day is actually done right before dinner by visiting Wat Photivihan, where the largest sleeping buddha (supposibly) in Malaysia is located. According to Syahmi, there's a substantial community of Thai buddhist living around this area and it's also well frequented by pilgrim from Thailand and the rest of Peninsula. |
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| One obvious manifestation of Kelantan being a traditional Malay heartland is the co-existence of Malay rendered in Jawi (Arabian Abjad adapted for Malay pronunciation) as well as the commonly used Roman letters in all business signboards, as required by the municipal by-law. I would say it's redundancy of information though because both it's in Malay anyway but otherwise it's an interesting observation in the time of declining usage of Jawi as written form of Malay in everywhere else in Malaysia. Even Tesco and McDonald is rendered in Jawi. Another interesting things to note: there's a Popular Bookstore here! I bet this is the only Popular Bookstore in Malaysia that made most income selling Malay language books instead of Chinese or English. |
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| Another most obvious manifestation on how deeply entwined Islamic teaching about modesty in a Kelantanese's life: gender (and additional family lane as well at Mydin Kubang Kerian) segregated cash payment lane at supermarkets. (This is is Bilal Supermarket I think, when Syahmi and I dropped by for a little grocery shopping while on our way over to Syahmi's home. Despite sounding Malay/Muslim, it actually has Chinese name but I can't remember.). I can still recall the introduction of this rule attracted quite a furore across Malaysia (anything introduced by PAS are controversy magnet anyway) but just like any other political issues, it died down overshadowed by everything else and life moved on since then. In fact (based on my limited observation at Mydin KK and Bilal), NO ONE followed anyway and everyone goes for whatever lane they want. Probably it's just too cumbersome to enforce it anyway and Malaysian being Malaysian will always cut corner when there's chance. |
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| Checked out the newly reclaimed embankment near Tesco Kota Bharu in which there's a floating seafood restaurant on the mighty but murky Sungai Kelantan. |
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| Here's a bleary Kota Bharu skyline at night because of my rubbish mobile phone camera. |
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Conveniently located right beside KB Mall, Tune Hotel Kota Bhary is where I stay in for the night. My first experience staying in yet another money making venture of Tony a chain budget hotel and I decide to go for bare-boned amenities of bath, bed and fan for RM55.68 for a twin room (bottom left). Air-con, TV and wifi is considered as extra and need to be topped up with extra payment. Luckily for me that I brought my laptop and Yes4G over thus making some saving over those frills. Despite being low frill, the room is still reasonably comfortable with powerful remote controlled fan and comfortable pillow. The bathroom, while compact comes with hot and cold shower, a sitting toilet and a washing basin with mirror. No proper wardrobe however but just a awing where one can hang it's clothes. No desk either but a small wooden plank on the wall and a stool. The keycard is actually pretty smart as the door lock is unlocked through sensor instead of usual cardslot and one cannot cheat putting a dummy card into the keycard holder that enables electricity because the keycard holder actually has a sensor and will only activate electricity when the actual keycard. Smart eh! Oh as for the leaf at the bottom right: they call it saving the environment, I call them cost-cutting measure to lower operating margin. This is Tune Hotel for you! I think the main reason it's well-received is not just because of its no frill concept but also because how convenient it was to do payment online. Good thing they accept CIMBClicks as well! |
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Stay tuned for Kelate: More than Meets the Eye Part 2, where Syahmi and I is doing touristy stuff around Kota Bharu!
