Living in Kuantan

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I never came across someone else in this forum or Allo' Expat who choosed to stay in the east coast of the Peninsular.
Nobody considered living there?
It it the lack of western style shopping malls? Lack of western food? Or just unfamiliarity?
I'm really puzzled with those questions.

Let me state my pros and cons.

Some goodies:
- The beaches are stunning.
- Beautiful resorts (Aryani, Tanjung Jara, Awana Kijal, Hyatt Regency) and bounty islands such as Pulau Lang Tengah.
- Prices are lower compared to KL or Penang (food, restaurants, hardware stores, properties, etc.
- People are far more friendlier than KL or Penang
- Western people are treated with egards (almost embarrassing)
- Very relaxt driving style (bikes excepted, that is a general Malaysian problem)
- No toll to be paid (downside, there are no express highways)
- East Coast Highway (ECH) takes you to KL in 3 hours (or 2+ hours at midnight)

 Downside:
- Food hunting (unless you take Mee 3 times a day)
- Almost no flights to the outside world
- Very relaxt driving style (drives you nuts when in a hurry)
- Almost no night life (there is, but hard to find)
- No beach live (except in secluded area's)
- No non-Malaysian cultural events.
- Only trunk roads (except ECH)
- Irregular Water or Electricity interruptions
So quite boring for those with a fast pace living style.

Why can Kuantan be a great place to live?
For me the Kuantan story started in 1997 when my company called me to Malaysia to build a papermill in Mentakab, but my wife and daughter prefered to live in Kuantan. And we never got loose.
The city is not really interesting, it is more an oversized kampung, no buildings higher than a palm tree. But it is one of those places, where people start talking to you when you hang out in a kopi-o joint.
Really the people are great. Where we lived most of our neighbours were bumi, down the street a couple of indians and on the other side of the street lived the chinese hidden behind their big fat 4WD (sorry no offence intended). We had a dog, but that was never a problem. But the amazing thing is when you need them they are there for you, albeit 2am and your kitchen is flooded, the neighbours are marching in to help you out.
In my opinion, this is truly Malaysia, the tidak-apa-apa living style. The way people should live together.

Why still moving to Penang?
After many years, the wife got fed-up with mosquito's, monsoon floodings and the lack of what she called decent food (restaurants, supermarkts) and culture like opera. Plus the boring 7 hours busdrive to Singapore.
And out of the blue we got an offer to sell our house we could not refuse.

Regards, Danny

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Good posting Danny and I think I detect that you are missing Kuantan life 

I think I recall that AirAsia was going to do flights there (or have I got that round my neck)?  That would certainly open it up.  When I used to live in Singapore, a guy we knew who was Indian Singaporean Muslim used to talk about Kuantan saying how great it was.  I got the feeling, and maybe I was wrong, that it was very Malay and I interpreted that to mean that Westerners would not "fit in" easily.  So easy to make wrong assumptions isn't it.

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hi,

I've always thought that the Peninsula east coast was an attractive alternative to Penang or Malacca for folks waiting more of a "get away from it all" experience. I haven't been there for 15 years or more.

I really need to get hold of a car and do some holiday travelling. I haven't used the ECH yet.

The last time I drove from KL to Kuantan, in 1988, the road was made up of potholes joined together with patches of tarmac. I blew out a tyre, plus the spare also went. I got a lift into the next kampung. It had a tyre shop cum kopi-stall cum everything else.

The owner drove back with me. Err ... problems. The car got towed back. Nothing in stock fitted so we jerry-rigged an old, tread-worn and oversized tyre. No charge but a really slow and bumpy ride to a wider selection of tyres on the coast.

There's also Mersing. It's the stop-off point for Tioman.

regards, Scott

PS : Many thanks, Danny, for starting the new thread.

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Yes, thanks to Danny for starting a 'Living in Kuantan' thread.

I am an expat who has lived in Kuantan for around 10 years.  I plan on entering the MM2H program and have already purchased a house.  If anyone wants current info on Kuantan, please send questions through this thread.

Starting a set of Malaysia forums outside of AlloExpat was a great idea!

Teak

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Downside:
- Food hunting (unless you take Mee 3 times a day)
- Almost no flights to the outside world
- Very relaxt driving style (drives you nuts when in a hurry)
- Almost no night life (there is, but hard to find)
- No beach live (except in secluded area's)
- No non-Malaysian cultural events.
- Only trunk roads (except ECH)
- Irregular Water or Electricity interruptions
So quite boring for those with a fast pace living style.

The above reasons are why I wouldn't live in Kuantan. Visit fine but not to live there. 

My sister and her hubby lived in Kuantan for a few years or was it Kelantan? It was much too sedate then so I couldn't imagine what it is like now considering that the culture is much more conservative over there. Sorry, I can't elaborate more as I believe I am treading on a sensitive subject. 

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Hi Teak, Danny wrote about the pros and cons of Kuantan.  Would you add or minus anything?  What things that you do day to day for enjoyment?  Hobbies?  What keeps you in Kuantan? Thanks.

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hi, teak,

Welcome to the forum. I'd consider Kuantan as a good alternative to where I am now as it is about the same size so same facilities and as far as I know it doesn't get the June to October haze as bad as the west coast.

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But gets the north-east monsoon Dec, Jan, big-time?  Not that it doesn't rain a bit on the west coast 

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I like Kuantan very much.  I lived in Kuala Lumpur for 4 years before moving over to the east coast, so I can compare the two areas.  Additionally, I have visited Penang (1992), Singapore (last time in 1998 other than passing through Changi), Melaka (1999), Negri Sembilan, Alor Setar, Kota Baru, and Kuala Terengganu.  I noted the dates on some places to show how long ago I visited, which means I am quite unfamiliar with their current situation.

The east coast was appealing, of course, for the beaches and the proximity to the islands.  Now that I live here, I never go back towards KL except for work and, occasionally, for shopping (mostly books).  A good bookstore is the one thing that Kuantan lacks relative to KL.  Everything else is available that I need or want.

Kuantan has a sufficiently large enough Tamil and Chinese community to provide several choices of restaurants once one tires of Malay food (and I tired quite quickly).  Although I also like Kuala Terengganu, it has very few Tamils (only one Tamil restaurant of which I know) and a much smaller Chinese community than Kuantan.

The monsoon season is not that bad.  There can be a lot of rain in December and January, but I seldom see flooding.  We bought a house in a Malay neighborhood close to the ocean and the downtown, but it has a very good drainage system, and I have never had standing water in my yard unlike a few colleagues who own houses in a more flood-prone area.  One just has to be careful when house-hunting.

House prices are going up, but still much cheaper than KL or Penang (from what I read).  We bought in 2005 when the minimum price for foreigners was RM150k.  I bought a semi-D next to part of the royal family for only RM160k, but it needed some renovation, which brought the price up to RM200k.  Double-story links are going for RM190k-380k depending how close to the Sultan's houses (yes, plural) they sit, and also the general location.  Similar houses in KL and Penang would run RM500k-1 million.

The new highway between Karak and Kuantan has cut the driving time from 4-5 hours down to 2-3 hours.  I often take the bus, which takes exactly 3.5 hours (3 hours on the road, 1/2 hour at Temerloh stop).  Use the Pekeliling bus station in KL, not Puduraya.

Not a lot of retired expats here, but I have heard of a Ladies Circle and such.  My wife and I stay busy with our jobs (mine paid, hers volunteer), so we don't mix much with expats.  That will change once I retire, so I am hoping that more move here in the next 5-10 years.

Teak

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 Downside:
- Food hunting (unless you take Mee 3 times a day)

So quite boring for those with a fast pace living style.

Regards, Danny

Well, I like Indian food, so I usually eat lunch with a Tamil colleague.  We typically rotate between 4-5 restaurants that serve:
tandoori chicken
naan bread (many styles)
nasi briyani
banana leaf rice with curry
just plain white rice, curry, and ayam varulvar
thosai
roti canai (I don't do this anymore; too oily)
and etc.

There are also some great Chinese restaurants, from Chinese vegetarian (for lunch) to seafood places open only at night.  Yeah, there are the mee places, but one doesn't have to settle for that ALL of the time.

Then there are the western restaurants, which keep on coming in.  The Sultan opened a brand-spanking new mall just down the street from the MegaMall, and that one has Big Apple donuts and some other western style food.  I am too busy to make it to most of those places, but like to know they are there.  Unfortunately, Nando's Chicken has yet to open an outlet despite my repeated requests in KL.

 

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Hi Teak, Danny wrote about the pros and cons of Kuantan.  Would you add or minus anything?  What things that you do day to day for enjoyment?  Hobbies?  What keeps you in Kuantan? Thanks.

Not too much for hobbies yet.  I still work and the social network there keeps me attending wedding kenduri on weekends along with other activities for students and staff.

I like the slower-paced lifestyle very much.  I can walk to work in 5 minutes, and THAT makes a big difference in my mood.  Before moving close to my jobsite, I only had a 5-minute motorcycle commute with only one traffic light in between.  Anyone coming from KL would find the traffic here quite pleasant.  Only 10-15 minutes and you can be across town except for Saturday afternoons when many Terengganu people come for shopping.

The low cost of living is what will probably keep me in Kuantan since I already own a house here.  My house location is also premium; close to the beach, downtown, one of the Sultan's pads -thus, police and army have outposts nearby- and in a Malay kampung that is mostly owner-occupied houses.  One cannot underestimate the importance of that last one; too many housing areas in KL had people buying link houses for investment reasons and then renting out to factory owners who would put 10-12 foreign workers in a single house!  What a mess!!

 
 

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Thanks Teak.  I too enjoy the relaxed local lifestyle.  No night life or western food for me.  I'm the food-stall kind of fellow.  However, since I am retired, I'd like to plan for activities that I enjoy.  Currently my plan is to have/rent a house on the beach so I can go swimming or kayaking whenever I like.  I also enjoy the sea breeze and view.  Is there a place in Kuantan where one can have such a house?  I speak Bahasa so language is not a problem  I used to live in a Malay kampong for 2 years.  My other "plan" is to live in Malaysia for 3 months a year, maybe getting private tennis lessons to change my 1-handed backhand to a 2-hander to save my tennis elbow.  Of course, there's also that weak serve that I can work on... : ) 

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Double-story links are going for RM190k-380k depending how close to the Sultan's houses (yes, plural) they sit, and also the general location.  Similar houses in KL and Penang would run RM500k-1 million.

Teak

And that's going to be the problem for folks that want to buy now.  With the minimum at 500K, they won't be allowed to buy those linked houses.  It's not right, is it.

We've already settled on moving to Penang but will certainly have a visit to Kuantan one fine day.

I'm guessing this is a good place to visit in the summer when the west coast is getting the south-west monsoon?  I presume Kuantan does not see much of the south-west monsoon?

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And that's going to be the problem for folks that want to buy now.  With the minimum at 500K, they won't be allowed to buy those linked houses.  It's not right, is it.

Yeah, I don't see the sense in making a one-price-fits-all requirement when prices outside Penang and KL are certainly lower in general.  For RM0.5m-1m, I could own the Sultan's house!

We've already settled on moving to Penang but will certainly have a visit to Kuantan one fine day.

I'm guessing this is a good place to visit in the summer when the west coast is getting the south-west monsoon?  I presume Kuantan does not see much of the south-west monsoon?

Kuantan is really only affected by the NE monsoon in December and January.  The season between February-September is called musim kemarau (inter-monsoon season) and it can be dry.  The hottest months are March-May.

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Well the Wiki article on Kuantan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuantan is all on about a gambling resort and water park there:

Phase one of BGRC [Bukit Gambang Resort City] consists of Caribbean Bay Resort and Waterpark, scheduled for opening on 23 May 2009.

I am guessing they did not make their target?

Ah there is a web site up for them. Looks a bit "provincial", but the waterpark is large.
http://bukitgambangresortcity.com/index.html

When talking about places you live outside KL or Penang, its very useful to discuss the quality of internet connections.

Although Kuantan does not sound as "conservative" as I had heard, I still wonder if a single western man would have problems there with the authorities if he had a GF.