Istana Maziah & Pulau Duyung

If you've been to Kuala Terengganu, you might have seen Istana Maziah. It's the main palace there. The Sultan of Terengganu uses it for swearing in ceremonies and the awarding of medals. The Sultan doesn't stay here, so it only has a small staff to take care of it.


This palace used to be a school once. From what I was told by an old KT residence, there was an old missionary school that burned down. The Sultan, feeling concerned for the students, offered his palace as a temporary school building for them. So it came to be that this building served as a school until a new school was build.


Next to the palace is a small fort on top of a hill. The hill overlooks the river mouth, which was once the main gateway into Kuala Terengganu. It now serves as a lighthouse. There is also a secret tunnel linking the top of the fort all the way down to the palace. There is a small hole where they keep cannonballs in the fort, someone told me the tunnel starts from there.

I did not venture far into the palace. I was afraid I would get lost in it.


The front entrance of the palace. For all palaces, only the Sultan can use the front entrance, all other guest have to use the side entrance. You're not even allowed to walk through it.


I like this picture, the clouds look surreal (this has been altered of course). Mind you, it was actually really hot as I shot this close to noon. One of the reasons why I'm so dark now.



Hrmm, I think I found the missing palace cat. It's all dried up. My cameraman suspects it got electrocuted by a mass of wires nearby.

Another interesting place to visit in Kuala Terengganu is Pulau Duyung, famed for its fishing village and boat makers. Here, you can purchase really cheap fishes and kerepok lekor. My father's site project is on the island. He buys fish right of the fisherman as they land their fishes.


A wonderful sunset I saw at the fishing village at Pulau Duyung. (Note: this picture has been altered, I had to delete a bird flying over the clouds). The small wooden jetties that the fishermens build may soon be gone. They are currently trying to get them to move to new jetties as they are planning to reclaim the land where these old jetties are.


My cameramen likes to shoot visuals of odd things we see. We found these two cats making out on the wooden jetty as we were shooting the sunset. I have protect the identity of these two pussies for their own good. Now you know why there are so many cats roaming around Pulau Duyung!