For me, visiting a country would be perfect if I were able to visit the palace of its president or king. I don’t know why the president palace or king or sultan has become a separate icon of a country. Therefore, if possible I will try my best to visit this special building. I have visited many state palaces during my journeys. Nurul Iman Palace (Bandar Seri Begawan), Grand Palace (Bangkok), Malacanang Palace (Manila), Istana Negara (Kuala Lumpur), Gyeongbok Palace (Seoul), Ōsaka-jō (Osaka), Mulee-aage Palace (Maldives) and Al Alam Royal Palace (Muscat) are some examples.
Likewise with my trip to Kuala Terengganu this time, I managed to take the time to visit the palace of Terengganu Sultanate…..Ulala, I finally added another palace collection
Unmitigated, I visited it on the first day, of course because I was afraid of missing it……
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Exactly one-thirty on afternoon, the air was still stinging, burning the skin on my face that I had never protected. I left the gazebo which was starting to fill with locals to escape the hot sun. Makes my mood to enjoy the charm of Terengganu River no longer solemn.
I went away….
I decided to finish the curve to the west from Sultan Zainal Abidin Street which was made of concrete with a pavling block motif. Zainal Abidin himself is taken from the Sultan name of Terengganu who is currently in power.
I know that around Kedai Payang Market there is a tourist destination located right on top of a hill.
Known as the Bukit Putri which became the monitoring point of Terengganu Sultanate against enemy attacks from the ocean. While the name Puteri itself is taken from a myth that is said to tell the story of a princess living on a hill and likes to help the surrounding community.
“Where is the gate to Putri Hill, Ms? “, I asked a clothes seller at the bottom of hill.
“Closed, Sir, undergoing renovation”, she softly answered while inserting a sweet smile….. God.
Hmmhhh, how can….Finally, Bukit Puteri wasn’t crossed off from my Terengganu bucket list.
Still under the scorching sun, I rushed away from the foot of Bukit Puteri to continue my exploration.
Because actually Bukit Puteri was part of the defense of Terengganu Sultanate in the 1800s, so the existence of imperial palace wouldn’t be far from the hill. Sure enough, two hundred meters later I found the palace gate….Maziah Palace was its name.
Without hesitation, I entered the gate of four twin pillars with the imperial coat of arms in its center. The symbol is golden in color, culminated in a crown symbolizing sovereignty, in the middle is a kris crossed sword that marks the typical weapon of the sultanate, flanked by two main books, namely the sultan’s law and the Qur’an as well as the entanglement of shawl as a marker of the greatness of the sultanate.
The quiet atmosphere in front of the sultanate made me free to enjoy the palace of Terengganu Sultanate from its outer garden. The garden nicknamed Padang Maziah was more than enough for me to get asylum from the threat of the sun.
It took a little while to be able to enjoy this palace because I had to be busy with some sponsorship messages. Yupz, the sponsors which certainly helped reduce the cost of my trip. Struggling with a mini tripod, made me look busy in front of palace gate. Hope no guards kicked me out while doing that “business activity”.
Half an hour later, I could really enjoy the beauty of the palace building from Padang Maziah. Taking a seat in the shade of large trees growing around the garden, I spent my midday in that special place.
Several young couples looked in and out of the garden area just to capture themselves in iconic places around the palace. Made me feel not alone. I deliberately lingered in Padang Maziah to wait for the sun to slip from its highest point, because my next destination was an open area which was located right in the north coast of Malaysia.
Ah sustenance wasn’t going anywhere, I never thought I could explore the coast of Malaysia…. Never thought about it before.