Day Trip to Alor Setar - Dataran Alor Setar

We did stop by for lunch at Pekan Baru before finding our way to Dataran Alor Setar. We found a river walk that leads to that direction, so we follow it. It was a nice shaded walk, with the river just besides us. But there were some signs along the way that really needed some serious maintenance. I think it is very sad and embarrassing when your city's landmark sign are in disarray.... It means you have no pride in your city.... Am I being too critical? Coming from a state that left a sunken ferry in plain view at the jetty for all to see? Lol. There is a scientific studies on this, it's call the broken window theory. If something is left to decay, the people around it will start to do so too. And that is why, you should always try to keep things nice, and neat, and in shape. Maintenance reflects a lot of character of a person, a city, a country. 

Enough of my opinion. Let's focus on the better part of things! It was a wonderful short walk to the dataran. I guess dataran can mean square, like in city square. 

It was a marvellous view! The sheer width of the square was breathtaking. Add on the beautiful blue skies! Ah, my kinda day! We went about snapping up photos. Was this what it felt like to have royalty in the states? To have the luxury of space to have a great square and space?

We saw the retro looking Alor Setar Tower too. I took a souvenir photo of it. Ever since seeing the retro radio tower in Osaka Shinsekai area, I've been collecting photos of towers all over Japan. And this tower here reminded me of them :)  My next target is the Kobe Tower! Hope I made it since I'll be travelling with friend....

Across the road from the dataran, was this beautiful grand black and white mosque. It's called Zahir Mosque, and I think it looked just beautiful. I couldn't stop taking photos of it. I love islamic architecture. 

Here is a different view of it. We didn't went in though. My friend did ask, but i said no. I have been inside mosque before, but not in Malaysia. For some reason, I've never felt welcome in mosques in Malaysia.... 

There was also an art gallery at the square. My friend wanted to visit it, but unfortunately, it was closed for renovation. 

There were other structures around the squares too. Overall I think it was a cool place to visit. 

I've also finally saw the Nobat Tower, a place that stores the royal musical instruments. I've read so much about it in my high school history book. But this is the first time I've actually seen the place with my own eyes! I've also learned more about it in the royal museum nearby. I don't know why, but this place have always fascinated me. Why build a whole tower just to store musical instruments? Was music so important to the royal family? 

There was also this cheesy sign at the side of the dataran. I like the word "singgah" a lot. It is quite an informal word, and to me it conveys a very warm and casual invitation to linger. I do love the Malay language a lot. I find it a lot softer than Mandarin. And I'm a fan of Malay songs, especially those with well written lyrics. And in this day trip, I actually started listening back songs by Sudirman. And his lyrics, just goes straight to my heart.....

Lastly, my friend helped took a photo for me. It's been a while since I have a full length photo of myself. I would even say it was a good shot. A bit dark though. But I'll take it. Welcome to Alor Setar! Ironically, I spend a lot of weekend in Alor Setar when I was younger. My Dad would always bring me here with his friends. We even took a bus here once. But it was always to the mall area. Never to this part of town.