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This blogspot is a medium to share my thoughts and adventures apart from promoting my books. Below are the books which have been written or authored and published by myself.


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Mencari Diri dan Erti".

ISBN 983-42031-0-1, Jun 2006


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Membela Syiar yang Asal"

ISBN 983-42031-1-x, May 2007


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?"

ISBN 978-983-42031-2-2, November 2007


It is interesting to note that while these books were written in Malay it has gained enough attention to merit being part of the collections of the American Library of Congress and National Library of Australia. Look here and here.


While the first three books were published by my own company, the fourth titled "Rumah Azan" was published in April 2009 by a company called Karnadya with the help of the Malaysian national literary body Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. It features beautiful pictures along with stories behind selected mosques which could be related to the history of Islam and the Malays alongside the formation of the Malaysian nation. Look at the article A collaboration of old collegemates - the book "Rumah Azan".


My fifth book "Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and Malay Sultanates", an English translation and adaptation of the Malay book "Ahlul Bait (Keluarga) Rasulullah SAW dan Kesultanan Melayu" authored by Hj Muzaffar Mohamad and Tun Suzana Othman was published early 2010. Look here... My 5th book is out! Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and the Malay Sultanates... . For more information check out my Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU.



Like my fourth book "Rumah Azan", the sixth book "Kereta Api Menuju Destinasi" is also a coffee-table book which is published by the company Karnadya with the cooperation of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (the main Malay literary body in Malaysia). Coming out January 2011 it features pictures and stories on the adventure travelling by train to all of Peninsular Malaysia along with the interesting places which could be reached this way.


My seventh book "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" in turn is a coffee-table book which is written, editted, designed and has pictures taken by me. Coming out of the factory October 2011, this book which combines family history with history of places such as Singapura, Johor, Batu Pahat, Muar and in fact the history of the island of Java and England has been reviewed with me interviewed live in the program Selamat Pagi Malaysia at RTM1. Look at the article Siaran langsung ulasan buku "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" dan temu ramah di Selamat Pagi Malaysia. Some selected contents have been featured in Sneak peek "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah".


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The "Berpetualang ke Aceh" series of novels could be obtained in e-book form. Enter http://www.e-sentral.com/, click general novel and go to page 4. You can also type the word "Aceh" at the search box. Or click straight Book 1, Book 2 and Book 3.


Saturday, September 12, 2009

A reunion which lasted well into the wee hours...

Time 5:11 am of 12 Sept. I've just finished loading 19 pictures on-line. Am in front of Kajang's Kentucky Fried Chicken hitching a ride on the wi-fi which turned out to come from the adjacent Pizza Hut after returning from a reunion with college friends which lasted well into the wee hours.

As I'm already on the way outstation I am not able to properly provide stories for the pictures. So let me just present it as it is until I have time to do a proper article ya. Good night! :]

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Time 1.21 am of 14 Sept. Just got back home from my wife's kampung at Tanjung Sepat plus detours at Kelana Jaya and Ikea Damansara. So I shall try to fill in the blanks...


Back to the little reunion we had in time for buka puasa, Friday 11th September. Time then was about 7 pm I think. Or was it earlier? Still we have at least a good 20 minutes or so before berbuka...


In the pix are (clockwise from right): Nam, Mumbra, his wife Wan H, Bad, John @ Johan Aris (there's a number of Johns from the A-Level days right? And don't even start with the toilet John, hehe...) and my dear wifey...

We were then waiting for a few others to show up. As I understand then, those who said they would come but have yet to show their faces were Maizarul (that's your right spelling kan?), Fifi, Kawi and from Nam's e-mail, Hilmi... I think this is the person we remember as John Softball, heh! (Remember what I said earlier above the number of John's from the A Level days?)


It seems this restaurant recommended by a number of our guys (who couldn't make it for this buka puasa session) is quite popular. As far as I could see, all the tables have been pre-booked and most by people who are Kelantanese or sounded like Kelantanese...



Then again what do you expect? It is after all a Kelantanese restaurant. FYI, the Darul Naim after MZ as shown on the signage refers to Kelantan Darul Naim.

Anyway as it turned out me and wife were the first to arrive, sometime just before 6.30 pm... after having succesfully avoided bad traffic from Jalan Ipoh by taking the DUKE highway and then cutting through PULAPOL leading to Tasik Titiwangsa and then on to Kampung Baru. John @ Johan (hmm... I think it's easier to use his real name to avoid confusion among the many Johns) arrived minutes later from Shah Alam. Just as we were exchanging greetings, Nam who made the booking for the buka puasa solemnly appeared...





Food are nice and affordable. And I understand it is tasty too, a testimonial which I could only agree later after the berbuka. As for the name of the dishes, let the pulun experts have their say. You could use the comments section below...



Apart from the taste and affordability, this restaurant was highly recommended because it is very close to Masjid Pakistan. Thus we could do our Maghrib prayers in time...



One for the road. Just to show the inside of the mosque which tends to be frequented by tabhliq followers.


Then we returned to the tables to continue from where we left off. By then Fifi (furthest right) and Maizarul (furtherst left in the same row) were already in the picture...




Oh. Forgot to mention. Zuhairi, the guy sitting on Johan's left has also arrived. So there's already 10 of us including yours truly who likes to remain invisible being the unofficial cameraman who also runs 3 regular blogspots.

Actually all throughout this session so far, the only other person I thought would come but has yet to show his face was Kawi. I didn't know then that John Softball was in the list...


Whatever, I understand that Kawi would definitely come. But where is he? We waited and waited until the restaurant was closed just before 9! So we have to continue our little gathering at a foodstall outside...




OK. This is actually a better version of the previous picture. I decided to show the previous along with this one because it has a certain ghostly (or is it ghastly?) character to it, hehe. No, no malice intended. Just nice effects I think because the long exposure resulting from night pictures tends to make moving objects (or person) blurry...




Sometime later Kawi showed up. It seems that he indeed have to take the ferry to Kuala Kedah before driving off to KL for this meet. It seems so because then, he was actually stationed just somewhere near Taman Melati. Maybe he had to row a sampan through Sungai Gombak on to Sungai Kelang and out to the Straits of Melaka and back to his native Langkawi. And from there take a ferry to Kuala Kedah before driving to KL. Who knows? For this guy can spin quite a yarn I understand! :]



So there we are. Final tally, 11 of us... well 10 if you count out my wife who is 5 years younger and not from our A Level group, each one well-equipped to spin our own yarns...




Later the total number was reduced to 6 as the rest each have their own commitments to return to. Never mind, perhaps we were luckier in that we have put our houses in order earlier and thus able to spend more time out, perhaps... what's a few more hours to spend with friends you hardly meet or never ever met in the last 20 years or so?

Thank God there's a nice Malay-owned restaurant which remains open late just 100 metres from Masjid Kampung Baru offering very affordable western food and in fair portions too. It is a nice cosy place with a real 20-30 feet-long boat stationed inside as if it has been washed in from the Tsunami of 26th December 2004! We continued our little meet there not expecting that it would last well into 3 am or so, the time the restaurant is closed on weekends. I guess certain old memories are indeed very rejuvenating, sort of lending strength from our much more younger days!

Why, I remember Mumbra and Wan H looking rather sleepy at 1 am. But the moment the conversation unintendly veered towards some old friends and their past characters compared to current ones, their eyes immediately gleamed up! It did look like the conversation could well last till Subuh... if not for the fact that some of us have to Sahur with the kids or families at home...


We soon parted ways. That's when Mumbra and me along with our wives decided to head for the nearby Masjid Kampung Baru. As it turned out the mosque was opened 24 hours, maybe for the last 10 days of Ramadhan to allow everyone to partake of the blessed nights. The quiet plus the aura was very soothing. Those who have spent some time in mosques at such hours alone with little or no disturbance would be able to understand...



Anyway, chances are we would immediately pengsan upon reaching home after our long meet. Hey, we are not that young anymore OK, we are all approaching 40, some of us already are if you count the years in Hijriah. Some have kids which are as old as we ourselves when we first met 20 years ago. So might as well do our prayers, Isyak, Tarawikh and all before really calling it quits.



A picture of the mosque as me and wife left. By then we have parted ways with Mumbra and wife...


Spontaneously we decided to check out Chow Kit. As it turned out some of the stalls were still open because of the coming festive season and we were able to get some stuff which we earlier thought we would only get right after the meet. Little that we know the meet (at least for us) would only end in the wee hours. When the clock went past 1 am, naturally it's time to forget any shop...

For the sake of friendship, we forsaked our plan to buy the said goods. After all, it is already hard enough to get us guys to meet up. As for the goods, there could be other days although in this case the goods we had in mind were actually ordered by our kith and kins. You see me and wife were scheduled to return to my wife's kampung at Tanjung Sepat later that day and the place is more than 100 km away.

For the sake of friendship, we let Allah decide if we could get the goods later. Alhamdulillah, our dear Lord never forsake us. We got what we wanted although the time then was way pass 3 am. And with that I end this little article. Good night! :]

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Salam. Sampai pukul dua tiga pagi dok heret dear wifey yg expecting tu jalan2... kesian dia... take good care of her. Tak semua dear wifey sanggup melayan kepetualangan tu...
:)

the other wan

Radzi Sapiee said...

Wassalam. Thank God I'm blessed with such a wife! Cheers to you too... :]