Views of Kuantan taken from The Zenith Hotel

Kuantan is a small town on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It has been my home for 7 years. Following is a series of photos of my adopted hometown, most of them taken from the very top of The Zenith Hotel.

East Coast Mall describes itself as 'the most happening place' in Kuantan, which at least holds true from Fridays to Sundays when people from the northern state of Terengganu come down to Kuantan for the weekend. The heavily Muslim state of Terengganu hold their weekend on Friday and Saturday. East Coast Mall is here visible from the gym at The Zenith Hotel

As it looks over Kuantan, The Zenith Hotel illuminates in colours of purple, red, green and blue every night

A closer view of the Jalan Dato Lim Hoe Lek/Jalan Bukit Sekilau junction. To the left lies Putra Square and East Coast Mall; straight ahead sits the newly refurbished Darul Makmur Stadium

The stairs from the lobby to the First Floor at The Zenith Hotel light up in a brilliant blue when the sun goes down

Kuantan looks like a burning heap of night lights as the moon hangs high above

View from our 22nd floor room at The Zenith Hotel

Aerial view of part of Bukit Sekilau. The purple and yellow building to the left is the UiTM campus, while the gold dome and blue roof of the Bukit Sekilau mosque is visible in the background. Behind the mosque lies SK Bukit Sekilau. The open ground at the front left is being prepared for a Ramadan Bazaar. The Muslim fasting month begins on 10th July

Menara Zenith towers over Putra Square below. The white building in the distance is Vistana Hotel. Beyond that to the right, just out of the picture, is Teluk Chempedak beach

Jalan Haji Ahmad runs to the left behind The Zenith Hotel. Straight ahead is the residential area of Taman Galing

Sony DSC-W520 Digital Camera Sweep Panorama

We have a new Sony DSC-W520 digital camera. It comes with a new Sweep Panorama function, allowing me to take panoramic pictures encompassing 261 degrees. 

Here's why we have a new camera . . .

The other week we had a tragic accident in which our Panasonic Lumix DMC-F2 digital camera landed on the floor lens first, and was damaged severely. Lauren was passing the camera to me, I was receiving it, and somewhere in between, it dropped, crashed, on the hard cold floor. I buried my face in my hands in silence. Lauren, feeling bad, went to her room and lay on her bed in silence. Surprisingly I didn't feel angry with her or the situation. After a few minutes I went to see Lauren to tell her not to feel upset. That was a nice moment.

Here are a few panoramas I've been shooting . . . just minutes after purchasing the new camera!

Zenith Hotel and Menara Zenith from the roof of East Coast Mall

A view of Kuantan town from the roof of East Coast Mall

An up-down panoramic image of Menara Zenith

The Zenith Hotel in Sweep Panorama mode

The Zenith Hotel main entrance

East Coast Mall, Kuantan

East Coast Mall is the newest shopping mall in Kuantan, located opposite the new 5-star Zenith Hotel and Sultan Ahmad Shah International Convention Centre (SASICC). This whole area, known as Putra Square, also includes long shop lots entitled Malay Town, Indian Town, China Town, and a more recently constructed shop lot beside the Zenith Hotel, SASICC and Menara Putra (an office block almost identical in design to the Zenith Hotel).

East Coast Mall has had a new lick of paint. It used to be yellow and brown; now it's pale brown/cream. Lauren hates it!

East Coast Mall is the newest shopping mall addition to Kuantan

Inside East Coast Mall, Kuantan

Sembonia, The Body Shop and Starbucks are a few of the stores on the Ground Floor of East Coast Mall, Kuantan

The beautiful but expensive Carlo Rino shop

Lauren poses with lifeless models inside East Coast Mall, Kuantan

Skin and body care dominate this aisle in East Coast Mall

A view of Ground, First and Second Floors at East Coast Mall, Kuantan

The 'Sweetly' candy stall on First Floor of East Coast Mall, Kuantan

This stall makes nice waffles at East Coast Mall, Kuantan

What filling would you like in your waffle?

Leah outside aL-ikhsaN football shop, selling jerseys, balls, boots and other footy equipment and accessories

East Coast Mall main entrance at Ground Floor. At holidays like Deepavali (picture), a decoration is constructed to mark the day

Bukit Sekilau gardens

Both my dad and I love to get out the house and go for walks. Bukit Sekilau in Kuantan is a nice place to go for walks and there's always lots of things to see and much beautiful scenery. Follow our steps as we sauntered around Bukit Sekilau yesterday.

The new Zenith Hotel and Menara Putra can be seen in the distance while the green foreground buzzed with insect noises

A troop of monkeys darted over a house roof as my dad and I looked on:

Scenery at the Bukit Sekilau hill

Nice house in Bukit Sekilau

These red dragonflies seemed to be following us around everywhere!

My dad was fascinated with both the quality and quantity of these bonsai trees:

A portal of white-speckled leaves beckoned the camera lens nearer...

This is such a beautiful leaf

This ball of red fur was awfully appealing to the camera!

Zenith Hotel - December 2010

With under a month away from the deadline for the opening, here is how the Zenith Hotel is shaping up:

Classy lettering has been erected at the top of the Zenith Hotel

A drainage outlet at the bottom of the small hill in front of the Zenith Hotel. It is at least a couple of meters deep, ensuring good protection against potential flooding during the rainy season.

Is this road too narrow to accommodate a full to capacity Zenith Hotel and East Coast Mall (ECM)?

A view of ECM on the left, Zenith Hotel and Sultan Ahmad Shah International Convention Centre (SASICC) in the centre, and Menara Putra still under construction, on the right

An aerial view of Zenith Hotel, taken from the 3rd floor car park at ECM

SASICC from 3rd floor car park at ECM

The Zenith Hotel will be opening its doors in 2011

The storm clouds close in on Zenith Hotel

The front facade of the Zenith Hotel, SASICC and Menara Putra

Lots of glass windows decorate the first few floors of Zenith Hotel

Looking up to the 24th floor at the summit of Zenith Hotel

A small, neat, brown wall has been built all around the nearby flats, not so much for the flats themselves, as to further promote the surroundings of the Zenith Hotel

The little brown wall runs right up to the Zenith Hotel wall boundary

Not sure about the yellow oblongs on the front facade - they look distinctly out of place!

A mud-covered motorbike stands at the front court of Zenith Hotel, indicating that work is very much still going on.

This magnificent structure of the Zenith Hotel has dramatically altered the skyline of Kuantan