Selamat Datang!
I got the chance to attend the International Conference on Software and Computer Applications (ICSCA) 2018, in Kuantan, Malaysia, during the first week of February. You can read about my experience at ICSCA 2018 as well. After the conference, I decided to travel around Kuantan city and do a little bit of exploring.
Kuantan is the capital of the state of Pahang, Malaysia. It is located near the mouth of the Kuantan River and faces the South China Sea. Kuantan has a tropical rainforest climate, quite similar to Sri Lankan climate.
I arrived at Kuantan from the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Airport. The airport is located 15 km from Kuantan city. The taxi stand inside the airport was very helpful as I could book a taxi for 60 MYR (approximately 15 UDS), to go to my hotel.
I stayed at Vistana Kuantan City Center (commonly known as Vistana Hotel among locals), a four-star hotel which is a highly sorted choice for accommodation when visiting Kuantan. It is a 25 minutes (16.9 km) drive from the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Airport to Vistana Kuantan City Center.
I decided to walk along the streets in Kuantan. To my surprise, I did not meet many pedestrians. Almost all the natives drove vehicles and majority of the vehicles driven were Peroduas and Protons. Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sendirian Berhad, usually abbreviated to Perodua and PROTON Holdings Berhad, commonly known as Proton, are two of Malaysia’s largest car manufacturers. It was really nice to see people appreciating and driving automobiles that are produced in their own country. There were a few Toyotas and Mitsubishis as well.
I went to visit two malls in Kuantan. They are Berjaya Mega Mall and Kuantan City Mall. Berjaya Mega Mall is a lively place with lots of shops located on 4 floors. It was opened in 1998.
Kuantan City Mall is a is a 7 storey shopping centre with many retail shops and a grocery store in the basement. It was opened in 2017.
After a long day of walking around, I felt very hungry around 3pm in the evening. So I decided to grab some food. I found a nice food spot run by a family. I ordered nasi goreng and a grape drink. It was amazing. In my honest opinion, it was very worth for its price at 5.5 MYR. I fell in love with the soya sauce provided to pour on top of the dish.
After getting takeaway dinner, I headed back to the hotel. It was a whole new experience as it was my first international trip after almost 18 years since the last time I travelled. I missed to check out a few places as I was travelling under a limited time frame. I plan to visit back and explore the places I missed. Hope you will enjoy my experience in Kuantan and the photos as well.
Terima kasih!
Cheers! 😃
The Arachchi Style 