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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.


Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Pictures around Kemaman

OK. About 2 weeks ago I went to the East Coast with the wife. Here's some pictures around Kemaman, Terengganu.



The beach of Teluk Mak Nik...







The jetty at Kuala Kemaman, the estuary of the Kemaman river...












The cowboy town of Kuala Kemaman...



The roof of the mosque of Kampung Tuan...



The recreational area of Telaga Simpul, on the north side of the Kemaman river estuary...










Monday, January 12, 2009

The fireflies at Kampung Kuantan

Continuing from Bukit Melawati by 'train'...


Next, we went to Kampung Kuantan, some 6 km outside the town of Kuala Selangor, a place famous for its large population of fireflies.


This is the jetty there off the Selangor river...

From here one could take a boat for a cruise upriver...



But it's too early for anyone to take a boat as you could only see the fireflies at dark...


So we just waited around until dusk...

Still, the dusk is too bright for the 'fire' of the fireflies to show up. So one have to wait until it's really dark enough, might as well do the prayers at the nearest mosque, just outside the firefly watching complex.

A look inside the mosque...


Then back to the jetty where it's already dark enough...

Oh, it's actually full moon then and that might have distrupted the view, that is if it's too bright. Luckily, the sky was not so clear as the moon was slightly hidden by the clouds. What came on instead was a surreal looking orange-coloured moon staring out the dark!


OK. I first arrived at this place sometime late 1995, just after returning from overseas. I was then with my old dear girlfriend followed by an old college friend of mind and his work-colleagues looking forward to see the fireflies here as Kampung Kuantan was said to be a place with one of the biggest population of the insect in the world. Suffice to say we had a good time cruising the river on boats, watching the fireflies flicker like Christmas lights out of the trees.

I can't remember how much it cost then but yesterday I learnt that the rental rate for a boat which can fit four passengers each is RM40 per boat (all manpowered). Having spent a lot of money the last few weeks on many things including travel, me and wife were not about to spent any more bit here. So we just had a look at some of the fireflies which could be seen from this jetty, quite aplenty I tell you... it's just the lights from the jetty were too bright for us to truly enjoy the spectacle.

Now, to have a better view of the fireflies, one must go upriver and so far the only available way is by boat. Nevertheless we found a way of going upriver without boats and got a superb private view of things. It's just that I couldn't catch it all on camera.

Anyway, with this article, I'm done with the Kuala Selangor stories. For the record, this is the 272nd posting here. Cheers! :]

p/s: The wife might be slightly miffed by the fact that I remembered bringing the old girlfriend here and noted it to her too. This is her first time in Kampung Kuantan and she would like the memory to be good. Well, rest assured my dear wife, it is good. As you already know, you are in a sense the fitting replacement for that particular girlfriend. The love and faith you showed me is a proof of that. Please take this as a huge compliment, not comparison... :]


Bukit Melawati by 'train'...

Continuing from the article Taking in the catch at Kuala Selangor ...





A trip to Kuala Selangor wouldn't be proper without having a look at Bukit Melawati, the main hill in town. But the road up was closed to traffic except for the 'train'...




So we took the 'train' up...


As the 'train' started moving, we passed the mosque at the foothill...





Then this part of the hill...




And this...



Soon enough, we arrived at the top.



This is where there's plenty of monkeys around... the black-coloured type known in Malay as the lotong.



From up here one can have a good look of the estuary of the Selangor river. By the way, the Malay word for estuary is Kuala, hence the name of this place Kuala Selangor.



Here on top lies a light-house built by the British in 1907.





But I was more interested in the monkeys!





So much so that I'd rather be left behind by the 'train' I took to get on top... then again there's another 'train' coming soon. Why not have a look around this hill which was the seat of the early Selangor sultanate which dated from the late 1700s AD.



Still, it was the monkeys that caught my attention most.


Soon, the next 'train' came into view... and time to go down...





A look at part of Kuala Selangor as we went down.



Pass the royal mausoleum which houses the tomb of Selangor's first 3 sultans...





We arrived downhill only to find the 'train' venturing elsewhere behind the hill. As it turned out, this is an extra. We got to visit a newly-built freshwater fish aquarium for free... that is, it is free until the end of the month or so.




Anyway, here's some information on Bukit Melawati. Cheers! :]

Taking in the catch at Kuala Selangor

Peace be upon you all. Yesterday, I took my wife for a casual trip around Kuala Selangor. As usual, I feel like taking pictures and here I'd like to share some starting with these... come! :]


We arrived at Kuala Selangor after 5 pm and haven't had lunch after spending a rather lazy Sunday at home. I wanted to eat at a place closest to river and came across this small stall nearby the bridge. As it turned out, the stall was the only one nearest to a small jetty where the locals landed the day's catch.


My wife became rather excited when she saw some guys coming in with a rather big ray. This one weighs 8.5 kg or so...

And there's a few other rays of such size around!


Time to take a look around the jetty.


A look to the back and that's the stall I had my late lunch at, to the right...