I am currently planning a trip all over Malaysia. I guess, before I eventually leave this country, I at least have to sample a lot more of it.
There are so many things that are not in brochures. So many stories untold. See, whenever I go back to Kuantan, I usually look out the window of my sister's car and see kids playing badminton - three-a-side, sometimes five - or a lone lorry up a hill.
I have always wondered, what kind of stories do these people have to tell? Do the kids prop their chin in their classrooms, dreaming of being a race-car driver, or lament the lack of comics around their place.
I see lonely houses in the middle of nowhere, and I think to myself, "Who lives there?" Why?
I know a lot of Kuantan's stories that are not in brochures. I am extremely lousy with direction, because I cannot hold maps inside my head. But I do know of Kuantan's history and a lot of its colour.
There are abandoned towns there. Big holes in the ground - one of the deepest in the world. As well as remnants of an earth oven used to bake some of the best breads I have ever had in my lifetime, bar none.
See, the earth oven was made of bricks from Sg Lembing clay, which is rich in feldspar and petalite, meaning there is a high rate of infraheat radiation. This, makes for great white bread.
There is the story of the breadmaker, and his impact on Pahangese society, when at one time, his biscuits are one of only three or four available treats in the entire state.
There are many other things, and I would be lucky to get to tell some of them, before my time here is up.
