Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Sultan Ahmad 1 Mosque

Right in the centre of Kuantan town, stand another prominent structure, the Sultan Ahmad 1 Mosque.

It was built in the early sixties and officially opened by Almarhum Sultan Abu Ri'ayatuddin Al-Muardzam Shah on 28 August 1964. It was originally intended as a district mosque but since the state has no State Mosque, it was recognized as State Mosque

Owing to the fact the mosque was in continuous need of repair, the State Government had decided to replace the mosque base on classical Islamic architecture.

The new mosque costing RM37 million was officiated on 21 October 1994 by his Royal Highness, Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah.

It has 4 distinctive minarets with average height of 180 feet. The mosque can accommodate up to 10, 000 people at any one time.

A clock tower at the mosque compound.

The mosque has an interesting "tree" with Arabic words inscribed on it.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Kuantan Town

After settling down in my hostel, I start to explore Kuantan town, the first town in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia I ever set my foot on.

The town is very small and can be easily explored on foot. It seems everything is built inside the town without any sign of development been spread outside of this town.

This is the Darul Makmur Stadium which is the official home ground for the Pahang State soccer team.

The town also boast quite a number of shopping malls for its size. The East Coast Mall is the most happening place now in this town.

The Pahang State and Federal Government Office are just side by side. I been told there was a plan to move all the government offices to Bandar Indera Mahkota, some 2km away from the town centre.

The pace here is slow and I kind of like the lifestyle here compare to the hectic bigger city like KL.

The Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple at Bukit Ubi Road

This is the only colonial structure I can find in the town. It is now the office for the district council and the land department.

A public soccer field at the centre of the town. A total of 3 football fields here and the locals can be seen playing here every evening.

The oldest shop houses in the town, some as old as 80 years old can be found along Besar Road, not far away from the Kuantan River.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

The Agriculture Heritage Park: Smallholder House

Just adjacent to the Rubber Demonstration Hut is the Smallholder House which represent the malay traditional architecture and lifestyle.

The traditional malay house from the outside

Before entering he house, there is an old bicycle on display at the veranda. This bicycle was once used to transport the rubber latex to the processing area.

The interior of the smallholder house. It is like a mini museum here with the display of traditional agricultural tools and a brief history of the rubber plantation in Malaysia.

Lesung and paddy fan are some of the traditional tools to process the paddy back then.

This weighting scale is really ancient and it was built in Birmingham, England.

More traditional tools to process rubber and its end product.

Congkak is the traditional malay board game. I used to play congkak once or twice when I was a kid but forgot the rule of the game now.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Dagangan Mahkota Complex

Recently I made my first trip to the East coast of Peninsular and Kuantan is my first stop.

Before I start explore the place, I arrived at my accommodation place at Dagangan Mahkota Complex. The complex belongs to the Pahang State government

I have to stay here instead of hotel as this place is our official residential place during the whole duration of my official duty here. This complex is rather new and was opened in 2007.

It is located about 5km from Kuantan, along the Sultan Ahmad Shah road at the new Bandar Indera Mahkota area.

There is hardly any development around this area yet. Just a few minutes walk is a row of shop where one can find a Secret Recipe outlet. However, this area is poised to thrive one day as most of the government offices will be moved to this area

Attached to the complex, there are a lot of shop lots which are closed most of the time, probably due to poor business.

All the hostel rooms are located on the 2nd floor. I was rather satisfied with the comfort level of the room. No TV is available in the room. My only issue is that the housekeeping only came to our room to change bed sheet and pillow case after 4 days.

The toilet cum bathroom is rather spacious. Strangely, they built the wash basin outside the bathroom.

There is a large living room for all the occupants here to gather and unwind. This is the only place here where the occupants can watch TV.

Dining area is located on 1st Floor. We had some issue with their punctuality but generally the food they serve is satisfactory.

The training room they provide us was a bit small. It could have been better but there is hardly any decent facility owned by the government agencies in this state