In Putrajaya to look for the seat of an ancient kingdom

Monday, 27th October, the Indian holy day of Deepavali, a national holiday in Malaysia. While most people would celebrate by visiting folks and friends (as it turned out, it was also the last few days of the Muslim festive month of Syawal), I felt like going to the federal capital of Putrajaya to look for the seat of an ancient kingdom...

I first learned about the kingdom after watching a segment on the night-news on TV3 sometime half a year ago, if I remember correctly. Since then, I thought I would have a look but it's only that day that I actually tried to look for the place said to be somewhere in Presint 4.

That's when I arrived at this parts of Putrajaya for the first time ever. For the record, I've been to the new federal administrative capital several times including from its physical inception more than 10 years ago, when I was first invited as a journalist to have a look at its progress...

Hmm... Now I know there's some sort of waterfall down there...

This is the hill nearby which fits the picture and description about the existence of the seat of an ancient kingdom as seen on TV3 sometime ago.

This is a picture of parts of central Putrajaya as seen from in front of the hill. So is this really the seat (or site? both words could be used but the word seat is more specific implying it as the centre) of an ancient kingdom? Do have a look at the article Tapak kerajaan lama di Putrajaya? (Site of an old kingdom in Putrajaya?) posted in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) yesterday. Good night! :]

Pulau Besar, Melaka again... After almost getting stucked there!

OK... Over the last weekend, I also made my latest visit to Pulau Besar, Melaka and spent a night there. Here are some pictures as me and friend Shamsul head towards the jetty to get back to mainland the following day, on Sunday...

As usual, I like to take the coastal route to and fro the jetty...

The jetty is already in sight here... Shamsul is in the picture dragging along his wheeled rucksack...

Normally at this juncture approaching the jetty, I would stick on to the coastal route. But as there's some rocky path ahead while Shamsul preferred to drag along the rucksack rather than having to carry it up the rocky path, we reverted to the higher path alongside the island's biggest resort (now abandoned again for the umpteenth time it seems...)


And finally we're on the jetty. A look back...


Only to realise that the 12.30pm boat we're chasing have left... 15 minutes early than the scheduled time. While the next boat should arrive at 3.30pm, so they say!

Anyway, this is a look towards the west while the mainland is to the east...

So how? We have a few other places to stop at in Muar some 25km away while we intend to head back to Kuala Lumpur before dusk. What if it's true the next boat would only be available at 3.30pm? Should we wait here and cross our fingers or should we go back to the more interesting parts of the island at least to kill time? What if we head there only to find the boat coming back to jetty out of schedule again?

So instead we decided to take pictures and hope a miracle would happen soon. That's Shamsul trying to squeeze a good picture from a position that looks like he's almost under the van, hehe!

Thank God, some 15 minutes later the boat appeared. As it turned out, the number of passengers then was quite high... after all it was a weekend. So the boat after picking up a full-load decided to leave earlier for the mainland. From the mainland it ferried another full-load of passengers before me, Shamsul and some waiting passengers could get onboard.

Anyway, what a relief. And here's a picture of Pulau Besar as the boat head towards mainland. Cheers! :]

From Lipis to Raub... just some nice views

Here are some pictures I feel like sharing from Kuala Lipis on the way to Raub...

The bridge across the Jelai river in Kuala Lipis...

The river then was overflowing at both banks...

Somewhere between Kuala Lipis to Raub...

I was trying to catch a nice picture of the 6,000-feet plus high Benom mountain range while driving at the same time...

And this, a stop at the tourists rest area of Jeram (rapids of) Besu, known as a favourite river-rafting location by some. Cheers! :]

A visit to the Tengku Ampuan Afzan teaching institute in Kuala Lipis

Two weeks ago, a lecturer at the Tengku Ampuan Afzan teaching institute in Kuala Lipis, Pahang invited me to put up a stall at the institute to promote my books. He asked if I could attend from 20-24th October as there's was an upcoming event involving people from teaching institutes all over Malaysia.

This lecturer is a big fan of my "Berpetualang ke Aceh" trilogy of novels. He wanted to help me promote the books, so after verifying my schedule for the affected time-frame, I decided to come but only for one day, on Wednesday 22 Oct...

So there I was arriving just before 9am. After attending a function at Kampung Baru the previous evening where I was also asked to promote my books, I immediately head for Raub to sleep at my late grandmother's place. The next morning, I rushed to Kuala Lipis and set up the stall.

Too bad the location of the stall which was at the institute's cafetaria proved to be a poor choice. Later did I learned that there was a miscommunication between the lecturer who invited me and another lecturer who actually laid out this spot. You see, the first lecturer already informed his colleagues and students that I would be coming. It's just that I was supposed to set up stall at another place, closer to the on-goings. Too bad, he had to go to Melaka and was not around.

Instead, the other lecturer who was supposed to assist me in his absence thought the cafetaria would be the main centre of attraction... in-between the on-going events, that is. As it turned out, the people were converging by the numbers elsewhere.

Never mind, at least there's some who passed this way. Some did have a look at the books (and the DVD, I also brought my recently self-published "Sekitar Perjanjian Pangkor 1874" or "Around the Pangkor Treaty of 1874" DVDs) and grabbed a few. Otherwise, I would have been reduced to being a complete fool waiting at some non-event...

Logistically and economically, it was a bad trip for me. Imagine having to attend a function in Kuala Lumpur until evening then rushing to Raub some 110km away after escaping the madness of Kelang Valley traffic jam only by 9pm. Then the next morning, I had to rush another 70km to get to this teaching institute only to set up a stall with not much people in sight.

As it is, the following morning, I have to be back in the Kelang Valley, in Petaling Jaya to deliver a speech on being Malay and what it means... So I didn't have much rest in between. But yet, I drove to Kuala Lipis because I respected the first lecturer's efforts to help promote my books and his invitation.

Miscommunications, logistics and economics aside, visiting the institute has its good points. At least it proved my commitment and words. When I say I would do something, I would do it regardless of the obstacles and rewards. And at least ammenities such as the bridge above made the trip rather worthwhile...

There... how often do you find a hanging pedestrian bridge like this, much less in a teaching institute?

A look at another part of the institute...


Parts of it look like a hill resort...



And here's the lobby to the main office. That's all! :]