Picture: "The Crystal Mosque" in Terengganu.

We spent nearly three weeks in Kuala Terengganu. The word "Kuala" means "mouth of the river" as in Kuala Lumpur. There were a lot of repairs and up-keep to be done on "Shuang Yu". With shore power we had air-conditioning on the boat so it made some of the inside jobs that Ted had to do more tolerable in the hot climate. His first and foremost chore was to fix the wind, water speed and depth sounder instruments because it would not be safe to sail without them. The instruments were all connected together so if one fails, the rest of them also fail. As usual, with inside boat repair jobs, especially electrical tasks, below decks was like the aftermath of a tornado. Cushions were up, floorboards lifted and bundles of wires exposed. Ted was up and down the companionway (stairs) like a squirrel, testing different wires with his multi-meter. I tried to keep out of his way or help him with menial chores like pulling on a wire at one end to determine if it was the correct wire, or holding a wire while he tested it with the meter. After two days of brain-wracking searching for the problem, he fixed the instruments! He is amazing - we would not have found anybody to fix them here.

Another big job Ted did was to clean, change the oil, and grease the anchor windlass (winch), which had not been done since we bought "Shuang Yu" 6 or 7 years ago. The manual says that it needs to be serviced every year - oops! When he removed the panels inside the boat to get at it, he discovered the rubber shaft seal, a regular motor vehicle axle seal, had been removed and all the oil had run out of the windlass gearbox sump. There was rat poop everywhere on the floor and a pile of food remains which had luckily absorbed the 90-weight gear oil and kept it from running everywhere. Luckily there was a "dam" at the bottom of the sump which held just enough oil to keep the windlass from seizing up. "How did the oil seal come off? It was still on the floor of the windlass compartment, on top of the pile of oil-soaked food. Somehow it was in good condition so Ted reinstalled it. It was a tight fit so we assume the rat wanted to get at the oil and carefully removed the seal. Interesting! This was a mechanically-minded rat. Unfortunately he died before he had a chance to put it back. (We mentioned the rat in one of our earlier blog entries - we picked it up in Bali, Indonesia and put poison down when we were in Singapore. We found the dead body by the diesel tank, a month later in Malaysia.) The anchor windlass project was messy but it was well worth the time; otherwise, without proper lubrication, we would probably burn up the motor and the gearbox would seize up.

Ted also did numerous other jobs which he had not had the chance to do, such as providing a dedicated power cable to the radar, straight from the batteries. It had been sharing its power supply with other things and had failed to work when everything else was on. He also fixed some lights and small fans that did not work, cleaned and degreased the engine and re-painted it - and many other tasks. I was washing clothes by hand, cooking, shopping for grocery, washing and polishing the outside of the boat, cleaning the cupboards and being Ted's third hand on his repair projects. We found the local people very friendly and obliging, especially the business people. We purchased an automatic bilge pump for $US100 when we called in on our way north. When Ted fitted it at sea it did not work so we took it back during this visit and they provided a replacement without hesitation. Nice people!

Besides working on the boat, we did some fun things. We went to Chinatown, which was a short dinghy ride, and had dinner there several times. The Chinese food was authentic, reasonably priced and delicious. We especially enjoyed a restaurant called "The Golden Dragon"; the lemon chicken and garlic prawns were absolutely scrumptious. Chinatown itself was quite small, only one long street that used to be right on the river front until the government reclaimed a large area in front of it. They made a pretty, Venice-like, canal complete with humpback bridges, between the reclaimed land and Chinatown. We liked going through the canal and under the bridges, also, there was a landing where we were able to leave the dinghy within walking distance of Chinatown. To get there we went through a narrow, one-meter wide alley, between two double story buildings. It is called "Little Turtle Lane" and there are tiled, turtle-like footprints on the "floor" of the alley. On one side, on the side of the building that lined that side of the ally, were more tiles with turtle pictures and other tiles with slogans like "Let Us Live; Say 'No' to Turtle Eggs". Evidently the locals eat turtle eggs and the turtle population has dwindled a great deal in this area. On the other side of the ally, on the side of the building, was a children's story about turtle conservation called Little Turtle Messenger by Chan Eng Heng and illustrated by Tan Yi Sin. It was realistic-fiction, designed to educate people about saving the turtles in this area by, for example, not throwing plastic bags or discarding used fishing nets in the sea, and not eating turtle eggs and so on. Being an elementary and art-integration teacher, I appreciated the storybook and the idea of campaigning for a good cause. The display was cleverly and artfully done.

One day we visited the "Crystal Mosque" because we saw the structure from afar and thought it looked interesting. We took the river route with the dinghy, past the canal to town, past the fisherman's dock and under the road bridge. As we came closer to the mosque, which was completed in 2008, we were even more impressed. It looked like a giant and extraordinary, work of art, resembling a castle from Arabia. The domes and minarets were made from panels of mirrored glass. They sparkled and shined when reflecting the sunlight and moonlight. Lights are positioned inside so that the domes and minarets glow in the darkness - very pretty! From the river we noticed that there were more mosques and other buildings on site so we took the dinghy around the premises. We saw a miniature building that looked like Taj Mahal (India), and another one that looked like Aleppo Citadel (Syria) and some other famous buildings that we had seen in movies and/or pictures! I had not been reading up on the sightseeing literature for the area, otherwise we would have known more about the site. However, it was interesting and a little surprising. Later I read that the site was called "Taman Tamadu Islam", an Islamic civilization park which housed scaled-down copies of famous Islamic landmarks around the world. There were quite a few "river-tour" boats docked at the nearby floating pontoon but no one was around. We tied up our dinghy and went ashore. It was like a ghost town, totally deserted. The park was closed during Ramadan so we could not see the buildings up close.

We sauntered toward the Crystal Mosque because it looked like it might be open. Sure enough, there were a few men sitting outside at a table as if guarding the mosque. I stood back, thinking I may not be allowed to go inside because I am a woman. A man waved me closer and gave me a long tan gown and a scarf to cover my hair and motioned me to go inside. Ted also had to wear a long black gown. Inside the building, a red carpet with broad golden stripes stretched from the entrance to the far wall. I think the stripes are used as a guide indicating where the men kneel in uniform lines during the service. There was no furniture but there were white columns supporting a white ceiling with gold trim. The inside of the building was enclosed with an opaque glass wall; the golden design on the glass created a rich and elegant appearance. Ted and I were the only ones in the mosque, bathing in the beauty and tranquility. We felt special to be there.

We met a couple, Maria and Guenther (pronounce "Kunta") on S/V "Mana-Mana" at Redang Island. They came to Terengganu a few days later. We spent a few evenings socializing. They were experienced sailors from Austria. Guenther had been sailing since he was a child on the lakes in Austria and Maria had been on the boat for twelve years. She is only in her mid-forties. (In the sailing community, forty is considered youthful.) They speak fluent English with an interesting Germanic accent. It was entertaining to learn about the history and culture of Austria. Men in the sailing community automatically have a great deal in common; they talk about sailing and fixing their boats. Finding female companionship on the other hand is a rarity. Maria and I were delighted to relate to each other and had much to talk about. She was an art teacher before she took up sailing twelve years ago. They do not have refrigeration so she has some unusual ways of keeping and preparing food. She gave me a yogurt culture starter from Turkey. Now I can make yogurt in a few minutes, just add culture, powered milk and water. I do it overnight and we have fresh yogurt for breakfast. What a valuable gift!

We have fond memories of Terengganu. The locals, Chinese, Malays and Indians, are very friendly and honest. There are many tourist attractions that we have not visited; so we might go back someday.