Location: HERE

Krai welcomes visitors. Unfortunately it has been bypassed by the Kuala Lumpur - Kota Bharu highway, so only the odd people find their way here … such as us.

Like Tumpat it’s a totally new characterless station. I can still remember the wooden verandah with the unmistakable colours of cream and brown of Keretapi Tanah Melayu of yore.

Yay, we are lucky, there’s the rare train at the platform, ready to leave for final destination at Tumpat, 85km to the north. It’s a ‘local train’, meaning it stops at every station and halt along the way. Never take this type of train unless you have plenty of time to kill.

Ready to leave, the whistle sounds, and the driver waves his green flag.

The guy in the goods coach reciprocates and the green flag waving propagates to the back of the train. Seldom failed, this green and red flag signalling technology.

The diesel locomotive roars and the shortish train heaves as it slowly moves out of the station.

Soon the train is out of sight, and the cars and the kids are back on the track.

Empty platform, and it looks so different from the Krai I remembered from the 70s when I was a frequent visitor.

But as I gaze across the yard, something strikes me. The whole thing suddenly looks eeriely familiar to me.

It’s like coming face to face with a long-lost buddy. Yes, some parts of Krai Station have not changed in the last 3 decades or so!

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Apart from Krai Station, the town has another quaint point of interest - The Bradley Stairs or ‘Tangga Bradley’. Built in the late 1920s (a Mr Bradley was District Officer then), it has 81 steps leading down to a floating platform where passengers can board boats for the 320-metre river crossing to the other side. And just 1,300m south of this spot, the mighty rivers Galas and Lebir meet to form Kelantan River. Along the steps there are depth markers, very useful during end-of-year monsoon season when the depth of the inundated river at this spot provides valuable flood forecast for Kelantan River, especially for Kota Bharu almost 100 km downstream. That’s why Tangga Bradley is so famous, it’s a matter of life and death.

Ordinary folks use the stairs to access the boat mooring at the river bank for the crossing.

Well, it’s one helluva steep river bank, if you ask me.

There’s a village on the other side of the river, and the commute is sporadic.

Flimsy-looking boats, more like sampans with outboard motors, are important river transport. Do you spot any life jackets? Nobody really cares.

A 320-meter crossing, but that’s one swift and deep river. A capsized boat would be tragic.

I look up at the top of the stairs. 81 steps, huh?

Imagine during the monsoon season, the swollen river swiftly flows with levels reaching these heights. It’s a scary sight, I can tell you, especially with the debris it’s carrying.

Before departing, a bit of self-education, as always.

> THE END

I’ve been to Sydney countless times, but my last trip here was a distant 4 years ago. Even then I stayed in Parramatta and attended meetings at Sydney University, so I spent Sunday morning rediscovering downtown.

The iconic Queen Victoria Building (QVB), completed 1898, was initially a market, now an upmarket shopping mall, and interestingly enough, owned by a Malaysian company.

There’s the Queen herself, welcoming visitors to the building. Sydney today is very cosmopolitan with many Asian faces in the streets, which reminds me of Vancouver.

The interior is tastefully designed for the chic and trendy to patronise. Come to Sydney and this is the place to hang about.

The rotunda, or dome as it’s better known, in the middle of this rectangular-ish building is a sight to behold.

Lunchtime, and a pizzeria on the basement floor is swamped with orders. Look at those goodies!

I exit QVB, and gaze at the spire of another Sydney landmark - the Town Hall. Built in the 1880s out of sandstone, it stands out among the downtown skyscrapers.

This bit of George St is where the modernist towers are.

I’m having dinner at a friend’s place, and the best way to get there is by train. Sydney does not have a true rail mass transit system, but rather the old-fashioned train network which sometimes goes underground. And the stations are not actually great looking either, more like the subway stations in New York City - dark, characterless, confusing, forbidding and boring.

I’m in the leafy western Sydney suburb of Rhodes, on the bank of the scenic Parramatta river, next to the Sydney Olympic Park, where many successful Asian professionals own their stately homes, such as this 100-year-old heritage structure.

Which comes complete with an equally stately gum tree in the lawn.

My host shows off his cello-fiddling skill, but I think his 8-year-old boy does better.

The food soon arrives, thanks to the ma’am, but bear in mind this is not yet dinner, but rather a snack.

Sydney is famous for its fresh seafood, in particular oysters and prawns. The oyster juicy flesh tastes out of this world as it melts in your mouth, and at A$16 a dozen, these are not even the best yet.

Dinner time, and I find myself crossing the Anzac Bridge …

… for dinner at a famous seafood restaurant at Glebe, where a single piece of top-end oyster costs A$4.20. I gobble up four of them!

Long-ish dinner done, and a waterfront stroll is in order.

Facing the pristine sea water of one of the bays of Sydney, prime million-dollar-plus, avant-garde townhouses with glass walls allow strollers to peek in unimpeded. Unless the curtains are drawn.

Downtown Sydney is an interesting place to roam, and you will never get lost, because you have this 305m pole to point you back to Sydney’s centre.

Get a clear sky and you won’t miss the Sydney Tower … ‘destroyed’ by Godzilla in 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars.

When you spot the largest Coke in town …

… then you have arrived at Kings Cross, the famous redlight district, now much tamer than yesteryears, but the bouncers still mind the local McDonald’s.

Whenever I’m in an Oz city, my fave stop is always Dick Smith, which I reckon is better than the Radio Shack in the US. Mr Smith has been around since the 70s and he has not aged a single bit!

The place is always full of cool things, such as this burnt possum.

Look at the singed whiskers … poor fella. And his buddies too … no thanks to the Melbourne bush fires.

At the northeastern perimeter of downtown Sydney, the well-regarded Royal Botanic Garden, is well worth a stroll. Founded 1816, it has one of world’s best collection of palm trees. Birdlife in abundance too, errr … not this species …

… but rather this bloke …

… and this cockatoo. Sleeping flying foxes excluded.

Australia is a nation at pain with its past …

… which is articulated in frank displays in the park.

Passing through the garden, I emerge at the Art Gallery, where a couple of huge matchsticks greet me. A good one and a burnt one, symbolic of life and death. In front of me, there’s the inner Sydney suburb of Woolloomooloo (I hope I got the spelling right).

It has been raining every day ever since I arrived Gold Coast four days ago, and as I buckle up in my seat aboard Virgin Blue early morning Flight 808 to Melbourne, it’s still wet in Sydney.

But in Melbourne, it is as dry as tinder, though the temperature is not as horrific as during last week’s bushfire inferno time.

A bit of plane-spotting at Melbourne International is in order.

Spectators gather to watch The Whale - Airbus A380 - as it prepares for a nonstop flight to Los Angeles.

At the corner of my eye, I spot my own transport back to Kuala Lumpur taxiing to Gate 5.

On schedule the AirAsia X Airbus A330 (reg. 9M-XXA) departs, and soon it climbs through the smokey muck.

Forty minutes later we are in ‘clean air’ territory, as the plane heads northwest for Kuala Lumpur.

And I tuck into my A$5 lunch, simple but tasty and filling.

40,000ft above the red Australian desert, the Winglet and the Moon.

Just 4 hours after leaving Melbourne, the plane leaves the coastline of Australia, some 130km northeast of Broome in Western Australia (see location HERE).

And 3 hours later over the polluted islands of Riau, just south of Batam, where open burning is the norm.

An hour later we are safely on the ground.

One final look at 9M-XXA, before I have to leave.

Back at good old KUL LCCT, well, at the brand new international arrival immigration hall. No more human queue overflowing onto the tarmac here.

> THE END

Thanks!

Please click emboldened titles to read pictorials.

2007

Jan 01> Malaysia > Kelantan > Ketereh > Back to My Roots

Jan 11-14 > Malaysia > Sabah > Kota Kinabalu Walkabout - The Crocker Loop - KK’s Old and New

Jan 20 > Malaysia > Perak > Sungkai > Another Rafflesia Quest

___________________________

For Stories of 2006, click HERE.

For Stories of 2005, click HERE.

For Stories of 2004, click HERE.

___________________________

By the way, we are sorta half-antitourists.

© 2004 Naim Yunus (all materials, unless otherwise indicated; matny6-at-gmaildotcom)

Jan 28> Malaysia > Fraser’s Hill

Feb 23-27 > Malaysia > Sarawak > [page 01] [page 02] [page 03]

Mar 12 > Malaysia> South China Sea

Apr 05 > India > Pune

Jul 29-30 > Malaysia > Penang > Balik Pulau

Aug 09-12 > Cambodia > [Siem Reap 01] [Angkor Wat (am)] [Angkor Thom] [Ta Prohm] [Banteay Kdei] [Angkor Wat (pm)] [Champa Malays] [Siem Reap 02]

Oct 14-16 > Vietnam > [Halong Bay] [Hanoi]

Oct 27 > Malaysia > Selangor > Bagan Sungai Buloh

Nov 18 > Malaysia > Pahang > Raub > Ulu Dong > Rafflesia Hunting

Dec 05-07 > Malaysia > Sabah > Sandakan > [Town I] [Orang-utan at Sepilok] [Town II]

Dec 16 > Malaysia > Selangor > World’s Longest Pencil at Faber-Castell

Feb 17
~ USA > Los Angeles

Mar 29 - Apr 03
~ China > Beijing > [page 01] [page 02]

May 19-24
~ South Korea > Seoul + Gyeongju + Busan + Suwon > [page 01] [page 02] [page 03] [page 04] [page 05] [page 06] [page 07] [page 08] [page 09] [page 10]

Jun 04-07
~ USA > Chicago > [page 01] [page 02]

Jun 26
~ Malaysia > Cameron Highlands

Jul 03-05
~ Malaysia > Kota Kinabalu > [page 01] [page 02] [page 03] [page 04] [page 05] [page 06]

Aug 20-22
~ Malaysia > Pulau Kapas

Sep 05-09
~ Sri Lanka > [Colombo 01] [Kandy] [Colombo 02] [Negombo]

Oct 28 - Nov 06
~ UK > North Wales
~ UK > York
~ UK > Manchester
~ Republic of Ireland > [Dublin 01] [Cork] [Ring of Kerry] [Belfast] [Eid] [The Burren] [Connemara] [Galway] [Dublin 02]
~ UK > Liverpool

Feb 02-04
~ India > Kerala + Goa

May 01-03
~ Malaysia > Penarik

Aug 07-11
~ Japan > Tokyo + Kyoto + Hiroshima + Himeji + Kanazawa