KUALA TRENGGANU, NATIONAL PARK AND RAUB 17TH MAY 2019
Grandmaster Wong and wife in National Park
My wife and I, my eldest daughter and her husband, left Kota Baru, the capital of the state of Kelantan in Malaysia, and headed towards Kuala Trengganu, the capital of the state of Trengganu, on the morning of 17th May 2019. Kuala Trengganu has a special place in my heart as it was where I had my kungfu enlightenment with Sifu Ho Fatt Nam about half a century ago.
Kuala Trengganu in the 1970s of course changed very much in the 2010s. In the 1970s it was a sleeping town, but in the 2010s it became a thriving city with petrolueum making it very rich. I made a special visit to the place where I learned kungfu about 40 years ago. It is now a decrepit house despite the bustle of city life outside, but in the 1970s it was full of life when I practiced Shaolin Kungfu.
The hotel where I stayed was lovely. It was "pusa" month, when Muslims fasted in the day time, so the hotel was quiet. In the hotel compound there was a large swimmning pool with earthen tortoises, the symbols of gigantic maritime creatures that swam thousands of miles to lay tiny eggs on the shores of Trenngganu.
Then we went through Taman Negara, or the National Park of Malaysia. There are a few national parks in the country, but the one we went through was one of the largest, covering the three states of Kelantan, Trengganu and Pahang. Nevertheless, we did not see any animals.
But we saw Kenyir Lake, the largest man-made lake in Southeast Asia by damming the Kenyir River with a surface area of 260 square kilometers (about 100 square miles) and 340 islands. The scenery was majestic.
We left the National Park and came to some urban areas. Soon we arrived at Kuala Lipis, the former capital of the state of Pahang. Kuala Lipis is a small town where my wife bought some jewelry a few years ago.
But I mixed up with Raub, a bigger town in Pahang. I thought she bought the jewelry in Raub so we hurried there. But it was quite late when we arrived.
Wong Kiew Kit
4th June 2019, Sungai Petani
Grandmaster Wong and wife in Kuala Trengganu
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