Last year after our 1st Anniversary celebration with a weekend at Ri-yaz Heritage Resort, we spent the entire afternoon upon check out at the Terengganu State Museum. I won't admit it to my 'cool' friends but I love museums and old buildings!
According to Terengganu Tourism, the museum is the largest one in Malaysia. Other sources like here and here mentioned that it is actually the largest museum complex in South East Asia. I would say all the sources are correct, as the museum main building itself may not be the biggest in South East Asia, but the 27 hectares complex sure is! Also known as 'Muzium Losong' by the locals, as the area is known as Losong (and particularly well-known for their keropok lekor, which I never tasted), the complex houses the Main Museum, a Maritime Museum, a Fisheries Museum, 4 traditional houses and botanic and herbs gardens.The entry to the Main Museum and most of the complex cost only RM5 per person, very meager sum compared to what you can see there. For those with young children or the elderly, there's also a train that goes around the complex. I think it costs RM2 per ride.
To be honest, on its own, the main museum isn't as impressive inside as it looks from the outside. I certainly can't compare it to the museums I've visited while in Chicago and Washington DC, but put it together as a whole with the other parts of the complex, it is definitely worthwhile to visit even if you're a first timer to Terengganu. Both of us particularly enjoyed the keris and sparkling paraphernalia of the females of the royal family sections. The other sections displayed various kinds of songket, fashion of the past (harem pants were the in thing!), silverware, wood carving and tons of photos of Terengganu royals, past and present.
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| The Main Entrance |
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| This was at the lower ground part of the museum. We both loved the walls. |
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| Bridge that connects the main building to the rest of the complex. |
While we were there, there was an archaeology exhibition going on with a special focus on the Perak Man. I've already heard about the Perak Man (a 11,000 years old human skeletal remains discovered in 1991 in Lenggong, Perak) so I was pretty psyched to see it with my own eyes. Entrance fee is already included in the RM5 fee so that makes it a super sweet deal. However what we got was a huge let down. Make that humongous. Any word that means bigger than humongous? Ok, a King Kong sized disappointment as the only things that were on display at the so-called 'archaeology' exhibition were replicas. EVERY SINGLE THING. And tons of photos and newspaper cuttings. I would have understood for the need of a Perak Man replica, as the original one is very, very valuable but please, make the other parts of the exhibition interesting. Oh I don't know, perhaps a video or audio commentary. Or we could at least be allowed to take photographs, since all the things were replicas anyway. No reason to fear camera flashes. Rant over.
For more information on how to get there, visit this website *CLICK*
All photos taken with Nikon D3000.
