Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Childhood Home in Kerteh, Terengganu





During the 3 day weekend in conjunction with Hari Merdeka, my family, hubby and I went on a 1 night’s trip to Kemaman/Kerteh Terengganu. My parents had a wedding and invited us along for the trip. I was excited and happy that hubby wanted to go.  We planned to visit the house we lived in when I was about 3 to 7 years old and eat all the delicious delicacies from the state.

We left really early on that Saturday. We made a few stops along the way and reached Kemaman at around 11.30 am. Since it was still early for my parents to go to the wedding, we made a stop at warung Che Wan (if not mistaken) . We bought satah’s and had it to go. We (hubby, brother and i) then went looking for Warung Aziz Satar since the internet suggested it has all the food I was looking to try.
We got so excited to see Pais ikan, sotong, ketam, & kerang, there was satah,’s, otak2 (terengganu style), pulut panggang, fried seafood and a wide variety of lauk kampong.

We had a feast..but I must say that the satah’s from warung che wan was better…
After lunch the 3 of us headed to Kerteh which is a 15-20 minute away. Kerteh has a lot of meaning to our family.. We lived there in the late 1980’s to 1990…
I’m tearing just by typing this…. I had so many good memories..My dad being a employee of an oil & gas company was transferred to the Rantau Laut neighborhood..
The house we lived in was big, a 7 room bungalow, it was a gated community so we didn’t have our own gates. So the neighborhood kids and I roam freely. My house was right next to the playground. And at the other end of the street is literally the beach and a clubhouse with a restaurant, a pool etc…

I was worried the police guard manning the security gate would not let us in, but after a bit of explaining we were headed into the neighborhood. Even though a lot of the houses there are now uninhabited.. it was still well kept.. it was really quiet. Hardly saw a soul at that hour.. maybe it was too hot in the afternoon for anyone to be roaming around.
In the beginning we weren’t sure of the street we lived in, so we called mom and asked for the street number. We arrived in front of our house.. Was soo happy. Memories came flashing. All the festivities, the Halloweens, the neighbours…Our neighborhood was a mix of races and also expatriates..I had so much fun…
Took pictures with my brother and husband in front of the house and left to go check into Resorts World/Awana Kijal..

Mom and Dad met us at the hotel and all of us rested for abit. Since I love seafood goreng, I suggested we go have some. My brother, while he was studying had his internship in Paka a couple of years back. So he knows his way around Kemaman, kerteh and Paka. He brought us to a stall by the beach in Paka to have keropok lekor and all the other fried seafood. Imagine having fried seafood like having pisang goreng in the evenings…We also went back to the house because my parents wanted to see it too..This time around we saw a few people jogging and walking around. After that, we went around the area (all the while dad was reminiscing the past) before we headed back to wash up and pray before we go have dinner at a restaurant I fondly remember in Kemaman famous for its stuff crabs. Tong Juan Restaurant. Anyone who’s familiar with the area will know about Tong Juan.  Used to go there while we were living in Kerteh. And have not been back ever since I left. My dad and brother being in the oil & gas industry would occasionally go back to kerteh for work, so they have been back at Tong Juan..Glad hubby enjoyed the food there.

So the next day, after checking out we made another stop to warung che wan to buy satah’s to bring back..We arrived home before 6 pm..



It was a meaningful trip for me.. I hope to go back there soon ..















 
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