When The Sky Is Different Blue

The first view of the sky that I enjoy every morning, right in front of my house

When I was a young girl, I used to go to the beach when the sun was right up on my head - yep, my rendezvous with the beach in Kampung Telaga Daing started after Zuhur and ended at Asar. Why after Zuhur? The answer is - at 1pm, the beach was scorching hot, so no one was at the beach, perfect for me. I would sit under one of the makeshift tents/teduhan [I'll verify the name of that thing with my mom later] which were made of four bamboo poles, thrust into the sand as far as the fisherman's hand can in the shape of a square, and on top of the poles, coconut leaves - few branches of them - were neatly tied to the pole with tali ropia, colorful strings made with very very thin plastic. And the floor of the makeshift tent? Nothing but sands.

The sky in Merchang, on my way back from Dungun to KT

Pantai Tok Jembal, taken during my niece's wedding photo shoot.

Dataran Pulau Kambing at Maghrib. I had Ramadhan Iftar on one of the many benches here.

I remember the beach at that time as a place to clear my thoughts. Growing up with a single parent was never easy, and often I escaped to the beach. I didn't do much. I didn't play with the sand, I didn't take a dip in the saltwater; all I did was to look up to the sky, and nothing else. Of course the calming sound of the wave was there - it was like a background music to my sky-admiring activity.

Even though things have changed with the land, the sky remains faithfully blue as ever

The sky in Pantai Teluk Ketapang, in one of its many calm afternoons, where you will see
various shapes of kites flown by the kids [or sometimes, adult!]

I remember vividly, how the blue sky accompanied the ever-changing clouds chased by the wind, how the color was blue, so blue that it was indescribable with my limited vocabulary at that time [I found out later that we use the word "azure" to describe the blue sky, which I don't agree because how can you describe the color with just one word?]. Anyways, I just sat there, cloud-watching till I heard Asar azan, or call of prayer from the nearby Surau Kampung Telaga Daing. Then I would leave the beach, feeling a lot lighter and calmer.

Sometimes, the sky turns nasty, between July - January
[picture taken at Jambatan Sultan Mahmud]

But I see some kites flying so obviously we're not scared of it.

Stock your food, fix your leaking roof. Monsoon is here everyone.

My fascination with the sky in Terengganu doesn't stop there. When I did my diploma in KUSZA, I told my friend something that she laughed about. It's probably because of the way I said it. I told her "Do you know why I love Terengganu? It's the sky. Even the sky is different blue in Terengganu". For an 18-year-old, you don't say that to your girl friend, or you risk being labeled "melancholic". I didn't care. Later when she finished her diploma and left Terengganu, I think she agrees with me. Nobody knows.

Teluk Ketapang

The serene, untouched beach at Kampung Mengabang Telipot. Right in front of these trees is my mother's cousin's kedai borong, Kedai Haji Karim. Cheapest in town!

The secret love affair was further justified when I bought a digital camera. Finally I have a tool to capture all those lovely skies. It is just a small Nikon camera, priced under RM1000, but it was enough to state my love for the blue sky. I started capturing photos of the sky every time I went out to the beach. Now I can remember how it looks like. When I am old and not able to go to the beach anymore, I can look at the photos and instantly, the sounds of the waves that accompany me when I was admiring the sky returns. I can almost feel the burning sun on my tanned skin every time I thought of the sky.

Pantai Teluk Ketapang at dusk

I think it's the color of the sea. I think that's what makes Terengganu sky very different from other states. I've lived in Tanjong Malim for four years when I did my first degree, and I have never seen the sky as blue as the ones in Terengganu. I used to sit at the window of my hostel room, and wonder why don't they have blue sky, because that's what I do when I'm stressed. Oh well, jogging in the unpaved road surrounded by palm trees wasn't such a bad idea to unwind.

Now everyone knows how much I love Pantai Teluk Ketapang

Whatever makes the sky blue, I am thankful that it is still as blue as it was years ago. No matter what was done to the sand below the sky, it stays the same. So I was not kidding when I said this once and I would say it again, "Even the sky is different blue in Terengganu".

One of the many boats docked at Marina Bay Resort, Pulau Duyung

The inspiration of writing this blog posts about Terengganu comes from Wan Hulaimi, who up to this time had written two books under his pseudonym Awang Goneng. He wrote about the past, when Terengganu was Trengganu, way way back when things were much more serene and no doubt, simple. I am writing about the past too, and some present as I think it would be wasteful to not to capture the memory of living in Terengganu as it is now.

*All photos are writer's own. Please credit accordingly if you would like to use them. Thank you.