Kuala Terengganu Trip : Last Day and Random

We have come to the end of my stay in Kuala Terengganu. Sobs!!! It was a Friday which is a weekend in Terengganu. We had no special plans and visited my uncle (we were there practically everyday) to say farewell to him, my cousin and my grandma.

We had something simple for lunch which was satay. My dad went out to buy the satay early in the morning. Do you know that people eat satay for breakfast in Terengganu? 

This was my satay, all 20 sticks of it. It was delicious! The sauce tasted very good though it was a bit runny.

Mum told us that this was not from the usual stall because the regular makcik did not open for business that day.

Since we had satay, this is all you can see for our lunch hah..hah.. So I am going to slot in some other things I ate over the past 6 days and also some sights in Terengganu. I have some pictures from the new shopping mall, Paya Bunga Square, but those are in my proper camera and will have to wait for another post.

Let's see. You probably think all I did was eat but no, there were two days when brother and I went to town by ourselves.

We went to the market (Pasar Payang) and these are some of the things we saw.

Do you know what these are? They are cashew fruits (jambu golok). The cashew nut grows at the tip of the fruit. Colorful aren't they? The fruits can be eaten but you must process them first by slicing and soaking in salt (if I am not wrong) or else it will cause irritation to your mouth and throat.

You don't eat them raw like that but cooked in sayur kolok (Terengganu style sayur lemak). My friend Ratna's sayur kolok which she cooked for our reunion is still fresh in my mind.

I was rather surprised when I saw these turtle eggs being sold openly in the market. I thought they are banned. Are you familiar with turtle eggs? They are the size of ping pong balls and they are soft with papery shells. Not like chicken eggs. As you can see from the photo, they have dents because the shells are soft. 

To cook, the eggs are boiled but they do not become hard like regular eggs. The contents are still runny except for the yolk which is firm and very creamy. The egg whites are viscous and runny like....for want of a better word....snot. I know it sounds yucky but turtle eggs are delicious. No, I did not buy them and I am telling you from my childhood experience.

To eat, what you do is pinch the shell to make a small tear and then you suck the contents. It's yummy I tell you. But no. we shouldn't be eating turtle eggs as they are an endangered species.

This is one of the stalls I snapped at random. I don't know what are in those plastic bottles. I suspect the big one contains tempoyak.

This pakcik almost lost his chicken. There was a  commotion and when I turned around, the chicken was already subdued and lying on the ground. Don't worry, it was still alive when I took this photo.

This is another stall. Look at the big tray of cashew fruits and I see lots of petai. The fruits on the left, I have no idea.

This was the view from the top floor of the market (there is only one floor up). I went up to look for batik blouses but found none. I mean the fabrics were beautiful but the design of the blouses were not to my liking. 

I did not snap any pics because it was very crowded up there and walking space is very narrow. The whole upstairs was fully occupied by shops selling batik and garments.

I wanted to see more of the market. But it was very hot and I did not want to drag brother any longer than necessary. I told him, next time he can drop me off at the market early morning and then pick me up later.

Everywhere in town you can see this banner promoting the Terengganu Peranakan Festival which ran from 05-06-2015 to 10-06-2015. My uncle told brother and I that we could go to Kg Cina to take a look at the event.

But we were already leaving the next day (06-06-2015) and wanted to have an early evening to chill out with our parents (ended up my dad was watching Shogun on the media player muahahaha!!!). Besides, we knew the town would be jammed and crowded. Brother and I do not like crowds. So we gave this event a miss though I would have braved the crowds had we stayed longer. I think it would have been interesting.

Now let's have a look at some food I ate which I had not shared previously.

Nasi Dagang. This is not to be missed when you are in Terengganu. My dad bought this for our breakfast. One packet each for the brother and I. Yes, he bought two packets only because we were going to have a heavy lunch. We have been know to down 2 to 3 packets in one sitting hee..hee...hee...

Then there's keropok lekor. Also for breakfast after the nasi dagang. We did not manage to finish all and kept some for dinner.

It's eaten with a chilli dip. Keropok lekor can be found in KL and PJ as well and at some stalls they slice it thinly and then deep fry. I prefer it in this form, like a sausage.

This is pulut lepa/pulut panggang. They were not so generous with the filling.

This one is satar. So very, very delicious! My dad bought this three times for us because we loved it so much.

It doesn't look like much but packs a powerful punch in the taste department. It is made from fish and is very aromatic from the santan, young grated coconut and smoky from the charred banana leaves. I couldn't stop eating :)

Finally, this is beef noodle soup (sans noodles) courtesy of my uncle. I had this early in the week for dinner. I loved it! The soup was very beefy and flavorful. Head and shoulders above the one I had at Du Viet.

So is that all I have on Kuala Terengganu? What? You want some more? heee...heee...heee... Yes maybe another one or two more posts to show you the first major shopping mall in Kuala Terengganu and also some gems from my dad's garden.