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 Handicraft
centers offer a temping array of bewitching items which you may not find
elsewhere. In Kuantan, the teruntum Complex is a modern shopping complex
which houses a cinema, bowling alley, fast-food restaurant and other
such modern facilities.
Karyaneka, which
showcases Pahang handicrafts, can be found at Teluk Chempedak, Sungai
Karang and Cherating. Pandanus household articles, wood carvings,
brocades, shell crafts and batik are sold at reasonable prices here.
Pahang Silk from the
Pahang Silk Weaving Centre in Palau Keladi, Pekan, is an intricately
woven material is made. At Beserah is the Batik Cottage where you can
view how batik, the unique wax-printed fabric, is made.
If you are looking for
eye-catching, conversation-piece items to take back with you, you will
be thoroughly beguiled by the pandan leaf (mengkuang) mats. Songket, the
fine hand-woven gold and silver brocaded attire comes in a wide variety
of radiant designs. At the Souvenir Centre, about 1.8 kilometers west of
Kampung Sungai Karang, one will find shell crafts and local gemstones.
Gourmets and gourmands will relish the
delectable and astonishingly unending variety of delicacies found in the
vast cuisine typical to Pahang. Malay, Chinese (particularly Cantonese,
Hokkien, Szechuan), and both North and South Indian foods stimulate the
taste buds and arouse the adventurer in each of us.
A must for the
uninitiated is satay - succulent morsels of meat skewered on palm - leaf
sticks and barbecued on open flame, and eaten with piquant, spicy
peanut-based gravy. Accompanying dishes are cucumber and onion slices,
and ketupat (rice boiled in woven palm cases). Generally, Malay cuisine
is spicy and pungent in nature, but once you have developed a taste for
such tantalizing flavours, it is hard to dissociate yourself from them.
Rice is the staple food
of Malaysians and is cooked in a variety of ways - one of which is nasi
lemak, which is rice cooked with coconut milk and eaten with a spicy
anchovy sauce, hard-boiled egg, peanuts and cucumber slices. Dim sum and
its 30 over delicacies are among the many items on the Chinese menu. The
incredible number of ways they cook rice and noodles prove the
innovation and creativity know no bounds. If you visit Pahang and do not
feast on the ample sea-food available, you would be missing some of the
best dishes the state has to offer. Ikan baker, or grilled fish, is a
hot favorite. Indian cuisine's star attractions is nasi briyani, a rich
Moghul dish, with a varied spectrum of dishes. It is hard to decide
which to choose as each has established its own popularity.
Tropical fruits are
abundant and seasonal. Durian, which holds undisputable appeal for those
who love it, often leaves the novice perplexed and intimidated as its
overly pungent odor takes some getting used to. And it has culled
lifelong fans even among Westerners - those who have stayed here long
enough to cultivate a taste for this exotic fruit. Rambutan, ciku,
mango, watermelon, guava, mangosteen, papaya, pineapple and starfruit
are but some of the succulent fruits that offer delights to all. |
