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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.


Friday, June 08, 2012

Ferry from Madura to Surabaya



So we have seen Ampel in the morning. Then we visited the tomb of Sunan Ampel. Later our driver picked us up at the hotel and brought us to the nearby island of Madura. After visiting a number of places there we decided to head back to mainland Jawa by ferry.



The ferry would brought us back to the port off the city of Surabaya where Ampel is located at.



That's our car (hired) fitting tightly besides a bus.


Looking back that's the jetty we embarked from.


For a better look around let's go to the upper level.


The pedestarian area.


Looking out from the upper level one could see plenty of ships.


Across lies the port off Surabaya, the busiest port in eastern Indonesia.




Turning and turning anti-clockwise.


Zooming in. That's the bridge we used to get from Surabaya to Madura.




The morning scene outside our hotel in Ampel

Entering the next day of our Jawa island round trip. Starting with this article I want to use the spelling Jawa, not the Anglicised word Java. Continuing from  Late night visit to the tomb of Sunan Ampel.


Wednesday 2nd May 2012, time to start a new day of adventure.


Looking out from the balcony of our hotel it seems Ampel was just picking up in activity.




This is our hotel, a remnant from Dutch colonial times.


Walking out of the hotel I headed for the tomb of Sunan Ampel again but this time with the wife, kid and baby.




Sunday, June 03, 2012

Kelantan river at Kedai Buluh jetty



From Pantai Cahaya Bulan we headed for a place called Kedai Buluh which has a riverside food court.



Facing the mighty Kelantan river not far from its mouth it offers nice vistas.




But I have already shown pictures from this food court in the article Kelantan river from the Kedai Buluh food court made almost a year ago.


So I decided to savour different angles from the jetty down here.


A look downriver.


A look across.




A look upriver.



The beach called Pantai Cahaya Bulan



Later in the afternoon we went to the strip of beach known as Pantai Cahaya Bulan.


Pantai is the Malay word for beach, Cahaya means light and Bulan the moon.


So Pantai Cahaya Bulan literarily means the moonlight beach.


However this beach facing the South China Sea used to be more popularly known as Pantai Cinta Berahi.



Cinta means love and Berahi, passionate. So Pantai Cinta Berahi means the beach of passionate love.



Locals simply abbrevivated it as PCB. Later the name Cinta Berahi is deemed to sound very sexual, encouraging couples to commit things they should not have done before getting married. And thus the later government of Kelantan who consider themselves more Islamic decided to change it to something more innocent sounding.


As the abbreviation PCB has become so popular they have to maintain that.


And so the beach became known as Pantai Cahaya Bulan, the fact that it does bask in moon light at times notwithstanding.




Pengkalan Datu river at its mouth



Next I went looking for the river mouth.


As the way is not accesible by car I had to take quite a long walk.


Looking at the background I could surmise I was already close to the sea.


But I must see the actual river mouth.


So I walked further on.




Here's a look upriver...


A look across.


A look to the river mouth.


Beyond that is the open waters of the South China Sea.




Pengkalan Datu river close to the river mouth

OK. Switching to the East Coast trip of 26 March-4 April.


In the last article here on the trip The 'real' Danau Tok Uban the vast lake that is Danau Tok Uban has been shown. The following day, Saturday 30th March we decided to head the opposite direction towards the coast. Soon we arrived and this part of a river called Sungai (river of) Pengkalan Datu.


In olden times it was the main river used by the Jembal royal dynasty to get to their ruling centre. Here's a look upriver. The main ruling centre known as Kota Jembal (now in the small town of Kedai Lalat) is about 7 km in this direction.


A look across. Here the river is about 160 metres wide.


A look downriver. The estuary is around 800 metres away.