Saturday, March 26, 2011

A Suspension Bridge over Sungai Galing...

In Kuantan last week and it has been raining off and on as thought it is still the Monsoon season. It's the middle of March and the Monsoon should have been gone by now. But what could we say the weather no longer follows the annual schedule, so we all have to live with it and continue to enjoy life.  At the lobby of Vistana Hotel while waiting for the car to arrive I decided to take a walk outside the hotel to do some photography. The Vistana Hotel has always been my home whenever I am in Kuantan. In the past I had taken a numbers of photos of flowers outside the hotel building and thought that instead of just waiting I might as well venture to the small garden outside. With my Nikon I took a numbers of photos of the flowers there and then to my surprise I saw what look like a bridge across the river. The last time I was at this spot at the side of the hotel facing the Sungai Galing, I could only see the river between the branches of the trees; that line the riverbank. And now there is a bridge; what a change! In my childhood we kids were warned not to bath or play in this river since it is said there are crocodiles along the muddy bank of the river. As such it has been out of bound for us kids. But at time we do take a ride on a dugout when the tide was high, just for the fun of it. 

Curious I took a walk closer to the bridge and soon found that the Irrigation and Drainage Authority has indeed erected a Suspension Bridge across the Galing River. In a way it was a well designed bridge which made it longer than just a normal crossing across the river. By doing that it gives folks a longer walk on the bridge. It was high tide then and as I walk onto the bridge I could smell the muddy water of the river. The scenes around was green of all shades like that Ketapang tree along the bank of the river where at this height one could notice the young shoots of new leaves sprouting at the branches and below on that muddy river could be seen decay leaves floating around and moving up stream as the tide raises. I took a numbers of snaps as I walk along the bridge. As usual with a suspension bridge it wobbles as one walk. It is really nice to be able to get to the center of the river and now from the center point of the bridge I could see both sides of the river with scenic scenes on both sides. 

Now with this link folks could go jogging from the Hotel to the other side of the river which I believe would be a great place to take a lazy walk along the river on a Sunday or any other days for that matter. And perhaps have a picnic on the other side where a wooden structure has been erected as a resting area. I may just do that on my next visit to Kuantan. The authority should plant more varieties of trees and shrub and flowers and tag it with its names and species so that folks could learn a thing or two about the floral and fauna that made up the ecosystem. Perhaps they should find ways and means of attracting birds and small creatures to the area, making it a more interesting and lively place to be with nature.

It is a small construction like this that made the differences to a town. It gives both the local and the tourists the opportunity to venture outside the hotel and enjoy the fresh air without really driving out of the hotel vicinity. Personally I like the way this Suspension Bridge was design and built. Those folks do take into consideration the aesthetic in designing this river project which to me does more to the bridge, instead of just as a mean of crossing the river. It add to the scene thus in a way beautify the river itself.

Have a nice day. [Please click to enlarge image]

6 comments:

Wan Sharif said...

The suspension bridge, the board walk, the gazebo and not so pristine Sungai Galing... they all make part of the attraction of the area and add interest of human being to relate life with nature.
If not for cruelty to animal, I would have suggested a bird singing competition in the vicinity .. to increase awareness of people to this beautiful and quite part of Kuantan..
Loved the pictures..

Al-Manar said...

In March it is still like monsoon in Kuantan when it should have been long gone. From my house I see unusually heavy sea for this time of the year. Two fisherman friends said they had been able to out because 'arus kuat'. This is very unusual when the sea should be calm ready for 'sotong' season.

I personally believe the bottom of the sea is still unsettled around Japan, hence the strange effect on the east coast here.

Pak Idrus said...

Wan Sharif, thanks for the visit and sharing your thought on the subject of this posting. I hope the relevant authorities read this posting and improve the project.

The River could be clean like Singapore did to the rivers in Singapore, clean and alive with fishes and other water loving creatures. I do not think it is wrong to organized Bird Singing competition from time to time there.

BTW the Boy Scout Association did organized a Jamboree some time ago and I think that idea was a great one indeed.

Have a nice day.

Pak Idrus said...

Al-Manar, thanks for the visit and sharing your thoughts on the subject of this posting.

Yes it look like the weather has changed. It was supposed to be lots of sunshine during my stay in Kuantan last week but it was not so. I was planning to do some photography at the beach; to capture the sunrise but there was not enough light to do so. Anyway I did managed to get some good images for my blogging.

The South China Sea is connected to the sea at Japan thus if the seabed is still not settled at the earthquake area it would surely affect the sea at our coast. Well, our planet is still in the process of evolution and we must expect such happening from time to time.

Have a nice day.

benadam said...

Thank you for sharing these enchanting photographs of Galing river Pak Idrus. Looking at those pictures sort of brought back some memories of our short stay in Bukit Ubi area in early 1970s. The PFF camp and stadium Darulmakmur were perhaps a couple of years of its existence then. If my memories served me right, the areas shown in your photos was still “belukar and semak samun”, if you will. I used to traverse close to it on the way to send and pick my spouse from her JPJ office off Jln Tengku Muhamad. Thanks again Pak for the beautiful pictures.
Permission to download a few!!!

Pak Idrus said...

benadam, thanks for the visit and the good words on my kind of blogging. I am glad that it brought back those great memories of the seventies.

Kuantan was then an innocent small town, well managed and on one front are forests of all sort and shade and the other is that majestic Kuantan River and the small one like Sungei Galing.

Those area beside the Sungei Galing was once where a few government quarters stand tall, a reminisce of the colonial days. And like you say all the way to Alor Akar now Jalan Tengku Muhammad was 'semak samun' but now these places are no more the same and actually it does made me sad seeing my hometown been 'destroyed' for the sake of development.

I always make a point to go back to Kuantan and the Vistana Hotel is my home now since I do not have a house of my own there. Moreover it is better to stay in a hotel and enjoy those fine living then stay in more than one house that one had to take care and it actually cost more to live in another house than living in a four star hotel.

Photography is my hobby and I am enjoying it. Do use any of the photos in my blog if you so wished; it's gratis.

Have a nice day.