Shahbandar Jetty

<—-Previous Story

My eyes were getting heavy, the impact of sitting under a tree for too long, of course still in the Padang Maziah complex. Now and then the sound of car horns gave a pulse to the deserted palace garden. However, my reason still said “no”, when the heart’s intention persuaded it to immediately go to the beach.

What could I do, my eyes preferred to continue their sleep, “Who wants to be hit by the hot sun”, my reason was determined to stay for more moments in the coolness and beauty of Padang Maziah. Because of that, I was more and more confident leaning against a concrete wall that has functioned as a giant pot in that palace park. This was the first time I could sit and relax in a park out of my country.

The blink of my eyes grew tighter as the sun slowly slipped to the west. Almost half past three in the afternoon, I finally decided to get up and walked again.

I headed back down a four-lane and two-ways road heading west. Ahead there was a large city gate. Through the left side of the road, slowly but surely I was getting closer to it. The gallant city gate, straddling Sultan Zainal Abidin Street.

“Sovereign My Sultan – Hope God Keep Terengganu’s Sultan and Sultanate”, was the three-line sentence plastered above it. “Terengganu is Islamic,” I quietly thought as I stood still looking at that sentence from below.

After the gate, only a row of four-story shophouses could be seen which be built parallel to the road on its right side, while on the left side was acquired an expansive green area titled Dataran Shahbandar. It was a community park complex combined with gathering & events venues which will usually be crowded at important moments such as Ramadan, New Year, and national holidays.

Dataran Shahbandar itself covers an area of ten hectares with three main sections, namely parks, plazas, and piers. From the naked eye, I could estimate that the park dominated up to 60% of the total area. Meanwhile, the plaza used for tent areas, car boot sales, or food trucks took up 30% of its portion, while the remaining area was used as the Shahbandar Jetty, which was a wooden pier used for the transportation terminal to Redang Island, which was 40 kilometers offshore.

I leisurely walked through a pedestrian path in the middle of a lush park to reach the plaza area. The spacious but quiet plaza was decorated with a signboard that reads “Bandaraya Warisan Pesisir Air”. The day after tomorrow this place would be filled with local citizens to celebrate New Year Countdown. Meanwhile, at the same time, I would be in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, the focal point of the New Year’s celebration the day after tomorrow would be on iconic bridges on the right side of the Dataran Shahbandar complex. It was the Terengganu Drawbridge that had become the sea gate of Kuala Terengganu. That lift bridge perfectly stretched connecting Seberang Takir Village on the north of the bridge and Ladang Padang Cicar Village on the south.

This was the first lift bridge in Malaysia, even in Southeast Asia which was only 2 years old. So I still had time to enjoy its new face that afternoon. With a length of more than 600 meters, the bridge proudly fenced off Kuala Terengganu from the vastness of the South China Sea.

And you needed to know that all of the Terengganu Drawbridge complexes, Dataran Shahbandar, and Kedai Payang Market were tied together in a management area nicknamed Pesisir Payang.

Now I was at the beach and trying to take the best picture of Terengganu Drawbridge. On the other hand, residents often came to capture themselves in various Pesisir Payang spots. I even occasionally volunteered to be an impromptu photographer for several families who wanted to capture all of their members in a picture. Of course, I was happy because I got to know so many very friendly families, and didn’t even hesitate to talk to me for a while after they found out that I was from Indonesia. Of course, my accent was easy for them to guess. In that conversation, some of them gave many references to tourist attractions that must be visited in Kuala Terengganu.

It could be said that I spent my afternoon hanging out with residents. At the end of the session, I decided to rush toward the Terengganu Drawbridge and as a result, I managed to enjoy that architectural beauty from a hundred meters away.

Around the Terengganu Drawbridge viewpoint, five young Malaysians of Indian descent were very busy. I dared to approach them.

“Hi, I can help you to take a photo, so everyone can fit in a photo”, I offered myself with a small smile.

“It’s okay….Thanks. In a moment, let me adjust the lens setting firstly”, one of them approached me and was busy adjusting the camera settings, occasionally he peeked at the iconic bridge from his camera hole. “It’s ready”, he handed it to me.

For a while, I adjusted their positions, swapped short positions for taller ones, ordered left and right, and asked for some styles. I showed some photos to the owner of the camera until he said enough.

And as a reward….They turned to take my photo….Get ready, check it out…..Snap-Snap……..

Next Story—->

<—-Kisah Sebelumnya

Mataku semakin berat, imbas terlalu lama duduk di bawah sebuah pohon, tentu masih di dalam kompleks Padang Maziah. Sesekali nada bising klakson kendaraan memberikan nadi pada taman istana yang sepi itu. Tetapi, nalarku masih saja mengatakan “tidak”, ketika niatan hati membujuknya untuk segera beranjak menuju tepian pantai.

Apa boleh buat, mataku lebih memilih melanjutkan kantuknya, “Siapa juga yang mau menjadi gosong karena siraman panas matahari”, nalarku bersikukuh untuk bertahan beberapa saat lagi dalam kesejukan dan keindahan Padang Maziah. Karenanya, aku semakin mantab saja menyandarkan badan ke sebuah dinding beton yang berfungsi sebagai pot raksasa dalam taman istana itu. Baru kali ini aku bisa duduk bersantai ria di sebuah taman di negeri seberang.

Jeda kerjapan mata semakin rapat ketika matahari perlahan tergelencir ke barat. Hampir setengah tiga sore, akhirnya kuputuskan untuk bangkit dan melangkah lagi.

Aku kembali menyusuri jalanan empat lajur dua arah menuju barat. Di depan sana tampak gapura besar kota. Melalui sisi kiri, perlahan tapi pasti aku semakin mendekatinya. Gapura kota nan gagah, mengangkangi Jalan Sultan Zainal Abidin yang melajur di bawahnya.

“Daulat Tuanku – Allah Peliharakan – Sultan dan Sultanah Terengganu”, begitulah kalimat tiga baris yang terpampang di atasnya. “Islami banget Terengganu ini”, aku membatin pelan sembari berdiri mematung memandangi kalimat itu dari bawahnya.

Selepas gapura, hanya tampak deretan ruko empat lantai memanjang menyejajari jalanan di sisi kanan, sedangkan di sisi kiri diakuisisi oleh area hijau menghampar bertajuk Dataran Shahbandar. Adalah kompleks taman komunitas yang dipadu dengan gathering & events venue yang biasanya akan ramai di momen-momen penting seperti ramadhan, tahun baru dan hari-hari libur nasional.

Dataran Shahbandar sendiri mencakup area sepuluh hektar dengan tiga bagian utama, yaitu taman, plaza dan dermaga. Secara kasat mata aku bisa memperkirakan bahwa luasan taman mendominasi hingga 60% dari keseluruhan area. Sedangkan plaza yang digunakan untuk area tenda, car boot sale atau food truck mengambil porsi 30%, sedangkan sisanya difungsikan sebagai Shahbandar Jetty yaitu dermaga kayu yang digunakan untuk terminal transportasi menuju Pulau Redang yang berjarak 40 kilometer ke arah lepas pantai.

Aku berjalan santai melewati jalur pedestrian di tengah taman yang rimbun untuk menggapai area plaza. Plaza yang luas tetapi sepi itu berhiaskan signboad berbunyi “Bandaraya Warisan Pesisir Air”. Esok lusa tempat ini pasti akan dipenuhi lautan manusia demi merayakan pergantian tahun. Sedangkan pada saat yang bersamaan, aku akan berada di Kuala Lumpur.

Sedangkan focal point dari perayaan tahun baru esok lusa berada pada selarik jembatan ikonik yang berada di sisi kanan kompleks Dataran Shahbandar. Adalah Terengganu Drawbridge yang telah menjadi gerbang laut Kuala Terengganu. Jembatan angkat ini membentang sempurna menghubungkan Kampung Seberang Takir di utara jembatan dan Kampung Ladang Padang Cicar di selatannya.

Inilah jembatan angkat pertama di Malaysia, bahkan di Asia Tenggara yang baru berusia 2 tahun. Jadi aku masih sempat menikmati wajah gresnya sore itu. Dengan panjang lebih dari 600 meter, jembatan itu gagah memagari Kuala Terengganu dari luasnya Laut China Selatan.

Dan perlu kamu ketahui bahwa kesemua kompleks Terengganu Drawbridge, Dataran Shahbandar dan Pasar Kedai Payang ini diikat dalam satu kawasan pengelolaan berjuluk Pesisir Payang.

Kini aku sudah berada di tepian pantai dan berusaha mengambil potret terbaik dari Terengganu Drawbridge. Di lain sisi, kerap sekali warga lokal berdatangan untuk mengabadikan diri di berbagai spot Pesisir Payang. Bahkan aku sesekali memurahkan hati menjadi juru foto dadakan untuk beberapa keluarga yang ingin mengabadikan seluruh anggotanya dalam satu gambar. Tentu, aku merasa senang karena bisa berkenalan dengan banyak keluarga yang sangat ramah dan bahkan tak ragu mengajakku bercakap ria untuk beberapa saat setelah mereka mengetahui bahwa aku berasal dari Indonesia. Tentunya, logat bicaraku mudah sekali ditebak oleh mereka. Dalam percakapan itu, beberapa diantara mereka memberikan banyak referensi perihal tempat wisata yang harus dikunjungi di Kuala Terengganu.

Boleh dikata bahwa soreku kala itu habis kugunakan untuk bercengkerama dengan warga lokal. Di bagian akhir sesi, aku memutuskan untuk menyegerakan diri mendekati Terengganu Drawbridge dan alhasil aku berhasil menikmati keindahan arsitektur itu dari jarak seratus meter.

Di sekitar viewpoint Terengganu Drawbridge, tampak lima pemuda Malaysia keturunan India sangat sibuk. Aku pun memberanikan diri mendekati mereka.

“Hi, saya bisa bantu fotokan, supaya semua bisa masuk dalam satu foto”, aku menawarkan diri dengan senyuman kecil.

“ Boleh lah….Trimakasēh. Sebentar sayè atur dulu setelan lensa nih”, seorang dari mereka mendekatiku dan sibuk mengatur settingan kamera, sesekali dia mengintip jembatan ikonik itu dari lubang kameranya. “Sudēh siap”, dia menyerahkannya padaku.

Untuk beberapa saat aku mengatur posisi mereka, menukar posisi yang berpostur pendek dengan yang lebih tinggi, menyuruh ke kanan dan kekiri, serta meminta beberapa gaya. Beberapa foto kuperlihatkan pada si empunya kamera hingga dia menyatakan cukup.

Daaaan sebagai upahnya….Mereka ganti memotoku….Siap-siap, cekrekkkk…..taraaaaaaaa……..

Kisah Selanjutnya—->

Tag: Shahbandar Jetty

Impromptu Photographer in Terengganu Drawbridge

Tukang Foto Dadakan di Terengganu Drawbridge