The appearance of Kota Bharu had changed after less than two
years. I'm not completely sure why. It may have been due in part to
the different season of our two visits, Summer followed by Fall.
There were lots more people, numerous men dressed in traditional attire,
and more tourist development. Two sides of the night market eating area,
which had earlier been streets, had since been converted to park area and
walkways with covered seating areas, to provide a semblance of respite from
the day's heat, and booths for vendors.
These school girls at Kota Bharu's market,
a
popular after-school hangout for teenagers, are replacing their tudung before
going home. |
Roti, a popular breakfast, is
sometimes served with egg whipped into it and eaten with
curry. |
|
Malay cultural traditions that can be observed
in larger state of Kelantan, where Kota Bharu is located,
includes silat, inai, batik, wau, and gasing.
Silat is simply a Malay martial art. Inai
is not peculiar to Malaysia or the Islamic countries of Southeast Asia.
It is a cultural import from the Middle East and India. Using a mixture
with henna as its base, newly married women dye their fingernails and sometimes
finger tips a bright red. Wau, is the Malay term for kite
flying taken a step beyond the variety of kite flying found in the West.
Batik from Indonesia is more well known, but Malaysian batik made through
a simpler process is beautiful in its own right and the best is found in
Kelantan.
Gasing, is an amazing adult form of playing top. The gasing,
or top, is about eight inches in diameter. Several feet of rope* is coiled
around it and the gasing is expertly thrown onto a small, raised, densely packed,
flat dirt square (* no string could ever do because it is much too heavy).
Not an easy feat. As it spins rapidly around, another man quickly picks
up the gasing with something resembling a wooden spatula before
moving it to a short pedestal which he holds in his other hand. The top
of this short pedestal has a thin rim and a circular metal surface to keep
the gasing spinning longer. In competition, whoever can spin the
gasing longest is the winner. Sounds easy? No way -
>take a look<
|
Since it was our second visit to Kota Bharu, I convinced Karen that we
should rent bicycles and explore the outlying area. Our destination was
a Buddhist temple near the Thai border. Although the tourist face of Kota
Bharu had grown over the intervening two years since our prior visit, the
changes were relative. Bicycle rentals were hard to find and we had to
accept what was available to us. Karen's bicycle was too large for her,
making it difficult for her to pedal comfortably while she sat in her seat,
while my bicycle seat had been worn down to resemble a bar running parallel to the crack of my...seat. In addition, my bicycle, I am permitted to complain more because I'm doing the writing,
was too small for me so I couldn't fully extend my legs
even after the pedal was pushed as far down as it would go. I rode the bike standing up, pausing every
few seconds in a coasting position. We were never really sure how far our
journey was, but I was determined, and demanded of Karen that we push on
through the heat and the discomfort of our ill-fitted bicycles to Wat Phothivihan.
|
PRINTER-FRIENDLY FORMAT
