Almost three months in and our trip has now taken us to West Malaysia. Before heading to the next series of tropical islands, we decided to make a brief layover in the northeastern city of Kota Bharu.

Kota Bharu is the capitol of the region of Kelantan, and aside having some very nice architecture with the Royal Palace and other museums, it holds one of the most beautiful and authentic markets. The market has several floors each selling different themed goods – food, clothing, spices, toys – and in the center on the bottom floor are a wide array of fruits and vegetables. The market is just an explosion of colors coming from both the selection of things sold as well as the lively shades of blue, green, yellow, pink, and orange on its walls. We truly loved this market.

While at the Istana Jahar museum, we also met a very friendly and funny Malaysian celebrity chef, Ismail. He resides in Kuala Lumpur where he also has a well-known Malay restaurant. After promising us “food heaven”, we made sure to get his business card in order to visit his restaurant when in KL.

After a day in Kota Bharu and a wonderful stay at Lee’s Guesthouse with Mr. Lee (the lovely Malaysian manager who took great care of us, as if he was our father!), we headed to the Perhentian Islands, just a short taxi and boat trip away.