The Perdana Trail, An Initiative From Hotel Perdana Kota Bharu to Introduce Kelantan

Good morning peeps. Its Friday again, yeaayyyyyyyyyy!!!

So this means another blogpost about my Kelantan Trip and this will also be the final one.

If you guys missed my previous posts, you could check it out at the links below.

My Trip To Kelantan Teaser

Hotel Perdana Kota Bharu Among The Best Hotels in Kota Bharu

The Best Foods in Kelantan You Could Find at Hotel Perdana Kota Bharu

What is the Perdana Trail?

It is actually a programme initiated by Hotel Perdana Kota Bharu's General Manager, Muhammad Taha Zainal to introduce his hotel guests to Kelantan. On this trail, guests will eventually get to know about the culture, the heritage and also the history of Kelantan.

This programme is called a trail because it allows guests to explore Kota Bharu by foot. But no worries, you would not be walking miles away from the hotel. Hotel Perdana has marked a few places for their trail which I will be mentioning soon. All these places will help you to explore and get to know Kelantan. For those who have never been to Kelantan, a trail like this is good for you. And I'm sure you would not stop talking about it even after the trail has ended.

So shall we go on The Perdana Trail now?

The Perdana Trail started at Hotel Perdana of course. Early in the morning around 8am we were all ready and excited to see what waits ahead of us. Our group had 16 people with another 3 of Hotel Perdana Staffs to guide us.

Our first stop was the Muzium Negeri (State Muzium) of Kelantan.

This museum shows the culture and tradition of Kelantan. Kelantan's art, crafts and musical traditions are displayed and exhibited here. There are also artifacts from the local archaeology sites which proves the pre-historic age in Kelantan.

Currently during our visit, Muzium Kelantan was having a wayang Kulit Festival where it displayed all kinds of Wayang Kulit Puppets from Kelantan and also our neighbouring countries. There were so many different kinds of wayang kulit that I just knew existed. I just thought that Wayang Kulit were all basically the same. 

They even had a show playing which we found really entertaining, it was a modern version of Wayang Kulit since they had helicopters and motorcycles included. LOL 

But I didn't understood much of what they were saying, if only they had subtitles. Each wayang puppet displayed were given names, and the most shocking one was the Star Wars puppets, they even had their own Kelantan names. 

Second stop is Bulatan Jam

Bulatan Jam is also a hotspot here in Kelantan since there is history behind the clock tower located here. Not only that, there are also Kurma trees planted here imported directly from the holy land in Meccah. The Kurma trees were expected never to bear fruits here in Malaysia, but somehow last year they did. And even know, you could see that these Kurma trees are starting to bear fruits since Ramadan is nearby.

Third stop is Din Tokyo

What is Din Tokyo? Even I imagined something like a mini Tokyo or something, but is turns out to be a coffee house. Why is this place special? It looks so vintage right?

Well the speciality of Din Tokyo is what's on the menu. They provide a different kind of pleasure. Have you ever heard Ginger Tea added with Quail Eggs? Well try drinking this with Telur Taliban and your breakfast is complete. For me, the quail eggs was kinda extreme for me but I did have a sip, the taste wasn't so bad, but I preferred their original Ginger Tea. OMG! Its tasted amazing, like really amazing. I'm not a pretty big fan of ginger, but their ginger tea made ginger taste so good! I wish I could have some more of that now.

Fourth stop is Bank Pitis

Feeling awesome with food in our belly, we gotten more excited to walk and see what was coming up. I minutes we were already in front of Bank Pitis. I don't know about you but I imagined something bigger since its called a bank, but to think of it from a different perspective and knowing a bit more about the history then I understood why.

Bank Pitis is the oldest building built during the administrative rule of Sultan Muhammad III. This building measures 12 feet height and witdh and its used to keep the government's money once upon a time ago. They call it Pitis because 'Pitis' used to be the old currency of Kelantan.

Fifth stop is Istana Jahar (Jahar Palace)

Located just beside Bank Pitis, it surely wasn't hard to notice this old palace. 

This palace used to be a Royal Residence which was built by Sultan Muhammad III in 1887 for his grandson Long Kundur. Now Istana Jahar has transformed into a museum showcasing Kelantan's traditional culture and heritage which some of them now has been forgotten.

There is no deny that Istana Jahar is a spectacular piece of craftsmanship. With its luxurious woodcarvings and interior designs, it surely made the photographers go crazy with picking angles to snap a photo. Even built more than a century, Istana Jahar still stands tall with a strong feel of luxury.

Sixth stop is Istana Batu also known as The Royal Museum.

Different than Istana Jahar which was made out of wood, Istana Batu is made out of bricks. This Museum used to be the residence of the Kelantan's Royal Families. But now it has turned into a museum that displays the customs of the Royal Family.

Next stop will be Kampung Kraftangan & Nasi Ulam Cikgu

After quite some time walking around, we got hungry and lunch was all we could think off. 

Located just in front of Istana Batu, this Handicraft Village and Craft Museum is known as "Balai Getam Guri". This was one of the governments efforts to develop a handicraft industry in Kelantan. Tourists could get a wide selections of traditional embroidery such as songket, batik and matting crafts.

Well, Kampung Kraftangan is not only famed for their crafts but also the Nasi Ulam Cikgu. Nasi ulam is one of the local dishes at Kelantan and this is actually my first time trying it. If I could describe the food in one word, it would be 'HEAVEN'. The food you see below is a combination of traditional dishes of the locals which is served with ulam (green veggies) and Budu. I don't eat budu but here I couldn't stop eating it. Until now the taste of this Nasi Ulam Cikgu haunts me. I surely need to go back to Kelantan for this.

Not only do they have handcrafts to show and great food to eat, but also local art performances. This is called 'Silat' which was accompanied by traditional music. Silat is known as an art of self defence which was practised from a long time ago. It is a good that our young generation still have the opportunity to learn silat so that this kind of art won't just die away.

Next stop is Museum Islam

After a full stomach, we all surely needed the slightly distance walk. About 10 to 15 minutes walk we were in front of Museum Islam. This museum is also known as Balai Syura (Syura Hall). This museum also used to be Kelantan's first school of Islamic studies.

This museum displayed Islamic artefact's from old Qurans and pottery. There was even an exhibition about Nik Aziz on the second floor of the museum when we visited. It was quite interesting actually going through history of someone we are already familiar with. I just knew that Allahyarham Nik Aziz came from royalty.

The last stop is Bank Kerapu (The War Memorial Museum)

This historic building is located just beside Museum Islam and at the downstream side of Padang Merdeka. This building was built in 1912 which was used as a commercial bank. It was also believed that this building was the first ever bank opened in the state. It used to be known as The Mercantile Bank of India Limited then to Kerapu Bank. Kerapu refers to the rough exterior walls of the building.

Then, from 1942 to 1945 this building was used as the headquarters for the Japanese secret police, which was also known as 'Kempetai'. After World War II the building was reused again as a bank before it was turned into a memorial building displaying pictures and artefact's of the war.

There were so many artefact's displayed here which sure caught my attention. When reading the descriptions displayed, it reminded me back the history that I learnt in school. My dad used to  explain history to me when I was a kid and I keep imagining hearing his voice explaining history during my walk here in the museum. 

There was even some displays about our local warriors, Tok Janggut. Did you know that this year is also his 100th year of death. It was such a tragic death and us as the future generation should be thankful for what we have now.

After half a day walking around, we surely was exhausted. Luckily and surprisingly, Hotel Perdana provided as 'becas' as a ride back to the hotel. It was surely refreshing to ride around Kota Bharu in this. And it was also my first time riding a beca, so of course I was extremely excited.

Overall The Perdana Trail surely taught me a lot about Kelantan. The programme was a really great initiative by Hotel Perdana. I myself was zero about Kelantan when I got here, and when I left Kelantan I left with knowledge. Now I know why people who travel a lot are usually the wisest people, by travelling we open our eyes and get to see something different and learn along the way. We tend to become more curious about what we see in front of our eyes.

So this wraps up my post to Kelantan. I surely felt sad leaving Kelantan since the journey here was so nice and welcoming. A big thank you to Hotel Perdana Kota Bharu and Destination Malaysia for making this happen. I was surely blessed to be able to join along on a trip like this. I hope there would still be room for me in future trips since this trip has surely changed my perspective about travelling.

I really should go out more and explore.

More info:

Website: www.hotelperdanakotabharu.com

Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/HotelPerdanaKotaBharu

Instagram : @hotelperdana_kotabharu

Website: http://www.destinationmalaysia.my/SitePages/Home.aspx

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DestinationMalaysia?fref=ts

Instagram: @destinationmalaysia

Till then peeps!