On 4th day of January...

..I went to Kemaman! Say what? Yup! 'Twas a one-day trip to and fro, y'all. A friend drove, so I sat comfortably, chatted with my driver buddy and enjoyed the scenery. With the new highway, a trip from KL shoul take only 3 hours. But ours was over 4 hours, because my friend drove below or at the speed limit, and I suspect at some point we got off the highway and took the trunk road instead.

Once we reached Kemaman, we headed straight to the famous Hai Peng coffee shop which has operated since 1940. I know it's famous and all, but I still find it surprising that a lot of Malays patronized the shop. It's Trengganu folks, aren't they more orthodox that we KLites? But according to my buddy, in the days of old, the shop served as a pit stop for fishermen returning from the sea. The taukey brewed his own coffee and the nasi dagang and kuih-muih were commissioned from the kampong ladies. The tradition carries on and now they also serve non-fishermen, like me! I ordered traditional kopi-o kawkaw, toast with kaya and margarine, and best of all, yummy nasi dagang. Sedak belako... Definitely a must when you come to Kemaman.



We then tended to business that took less than 30 minutes, then headed home. Just after the arch that demarcates the border of Trengganu and Pahang, we stopped for the obligitary keropok/sata shopping to be presented to our loved ones back home as proof that we indeed went to Kemaman.

When we stopped for solat I discovered that my spine had been realligned from sitting too long in the car. Looks like I have to sleep on the floor tonight.