Baby Al-Rasyid's own little adventure...

Here is a picture of my baby Muhammad Al-Aminul Rasyid's very own Malaysian international passport made last month when he was barely 38 days old. With this passport Al-Rasyid then entered Singapura (I prefer this rather than the Anglicised word Singapore) along with me and wife in a road trip which covered a number of places around the state of Johor. As it turned out, by the time we returned home, we have clocked a total distance of 1,820 km. A new series of stories regarding the adventure have already been started in the Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU . A supporting one will follow suit in this blogspot soon. With that I wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year 2010! Cheers... :]

Siti Fatimah, the pious one

Pix from the Net...

Peace be upon you all. It's been a while since I've made any voluntary translation for the website http://www.shiar-islam.com/ . The last one was in the article Siti Fatimah and her family posted almost 2 months ago. It happened that the original material is part of a series on Ahlul Bait, the family of Rasulullah which is yet to be concluded. So today I felt like continouing the effort and here is the result.

Getting to know the Ahlul-Bait of Rasulullah SAW:
Siti Fatimah, the pious one

By Ustaz Syed Hasan Alatas

Translation by Radzi Sapiee

BISMILLAHIRRAHMANIRRAHIM. In the name of Allah, the most Gracious the most Merciful.
FATIMAH AZZAHRA, the Prophet’s beloved daughter followed the footsteps of her father in the way she led her life especially in abstinence and piety. That is why she is also called "Al-Batul" (the very pious person).

Her daily grind in managing her household while carrying out responsibilities towards husband and children, milling wheat with her own hands until it is full of blisters, helping the poor and those in need, assisting in battles nursing the wounded including her own father and many other functions, all that never stopped her from carrying out the prescribed worship especially at night. Said her son Saidina Hassan:

"Every night I see my mother praying especially on Friday night, I heard her always supplicating first for every Muslim men and women and this made me ask:

‘Why do you never supplicate for your own self the way you supplicate for others?’

My mother just answered:" ‘We have to supplicate for our neighbours first, then only for our own family!’ "

Hasan al-Basri once said: "In this community there is no woman with such piety to rival Siti Fatimah Azzahra. She just went on praying until her legs swell.

"What is done by Siti Fatimah is exactly the same done by her father Muhammad Rasulullah SAW and he love others more than he love himself."

Fatimah Azzahra grew up and was raised under the patronage of her father the Prophet and guided by her own husband Imam Ali bin Abi Thalib KWH, a foremost Islamic fighter. She saw with her own eyes the hardship and struggles her father had to go through in defending and spreading the teachings of Islam. She and her own family experienced first-hand the sufferings of her father and husband in many battles until they finally gained victory.

A wedding on top a hill in Janda Baik

Here's one on a fun outing today...

Earlier I went again to Janda Baik in Pahang to attend a wedding function held high on top of a hill.

I said I went there again as last week I was also in Janda Baik to spend my time at another part. Anyway, this trip turned to be something quite special as the place I have to go to lies on the highest resort available in the already high Janda Baik. It's just the road is too narrow and the parking limited leaving the guests no choice but to park along the road...

So I was forced to walk up. The problem is my wife have to follow suit along with our 2-month old baby...


Luckily after 100-metres walking or so there appeared a 4WD vehicle which was made into a shuttle. The room was limited. But at least my wife can climb onboard with the baby. Being a man, I don't mind walking all the way up. Here's the view as I was about to enter the resort grounds where the wedding was held...

Here are the other guys who also decided to walk up. They also came with their womenfolk who were also picked up. Actually the driver of the shuttle asked us to wait for our turn. But we just couldn't wait. What's the problem with walking anyway? After all we are men and our women were safely being ferried to the top.


There, it shouldn't be that far now...


At last, the courtyard of the resort and the wedding reception...


And that's my dear wife (in blue) with baby already waiting at the entrance...


OK. We arrived sometime after 3.30pm while the program says the wedding reception would start at 3. As it turned out a number of guests have yet to turn up and these included the groom's family members. As have been shown before, the narrow road leading up to the top along with the lack of parking space which forced the cars to be parked down the road has blocked the way forcing everyone to take turns to be ferried up. That took some time but that's no problem with me... thank God, I was not as late as I thought...


Whatever your misgivings, once you are up here all mistakes are forgiven. You should see the view but here I have yet to catch the best, trying instead to capture the bride and groom posing (I'm sure you can spot them yourselves) before they walked on...


Here's a sample. One to the left of the pool outside the resort's main building...


Here's to the left where lies a gazebo and the musicians who provided the numbers...


By this time most of the guests, mainly family members have arrived...


Everyone got to admire the view as they picked up their food. For the record while Janda Baik itself stands at about 1,500 feet above sea level, this resort is some 500 feet higher...


My wife and baby took the opportunity for a pose...


Another one at the pool.

So the festivity went on...

Meanwhile I was more inclined to enjoy the views, more so as the winds shifted the clouds and mist to form a variety of scenarios...

It is so refreshing to be here. The last time I was on top this hill was probably 5 years ago. The resort was still under construction then and I thought it was a house belonging to a tauke sayur or something... no offence... :]

For the record the resort overlooks acres of vegetable farm...

Look closely in the picture and you can also see the cars parked way down below snaking up the road...

Here's a view of the main building...

As I walked back up past this man-made waterfall, I had another deja vu. For the record I had at least 3 deja vus in the two and a half hours or so I was here...

Soon it's time to check out what's happening at the entrance...

Some of the guests were about to be shuttled down on a pick-up truck..

It's also time for me and family to leave. But not before I took another good look out. Mind you, there were times when I was inside as it rained outside and caught glimpses of the view through the glasses and I began to get the same feeling I had while resting at a lodge near the top of a certain mountain in Switzerland, sometime in 1995...

And this is a video clip of the view as I was shuttled down by pick-up, my wife inside while I stood at the back. Too bad, I only started recording after having passed through the steep parts. I was so engrossed with the rollercoaster ride that I only realised it should be recorded only after some time. Never mind, this should give you an idea of how fun it was. I also have a number of articles on Janda Baik which could be accessed through the following links.

My latest trip to Janda Baik and the number 22222! (posted July 2008)

Janda Baik revisited again... (posted October 2007)

Janda Baik my resting place (September 2007)

So refreshing Janda Baik! (June 2007)

Good lord! Where are my manners? I forgot to say this. Congratulations to Nana and husband. Thank you Faiz, Kak Aina and family for inviting us to this beautiful wedding. Good night! :]

Rushing on to Lata Kinjang...

Finally the last story for this blogspot regarding the latest trip to the East Coast made in the recent fasting month of Ramadhan. Continued from the article The tight winding road down to Tapah.

Immediately upon arrival to Tapah I head northwards...

The time then was past 6.30 pm or so and we still have another 16 km to reach our next destination, a place called Lata Kinjang...

So I rushed and rushed and rushed...

I want to get to Lata Kinjang before it turns dark...

Besides Lata Kinjang is situated in a jungle and my wife and I were fasting. We must break our fast upon dusk as prescribed by Islam but we have no ration on our side and very limited time to reach Lata Kinjang.

But first we must pass through a place called Chenderiang...

It is a small town which I couldn't remember ever being at...

My wife was asking me to stop for food...

I said if we stopped we could miss the superb view offered at Lata Kinjang. Besides it should not be far away now...

Well, it was getting nearer alright but not as near as I thought. The signboard which says "Lata Kinjang 1 km" is not referring to the remaining distance to get there, it was actually referring to the next junction to get in!

Anyway we soon reached this bridge...

The bridge crosses over the North-South highway. It is from the highway that I first saw the superb waterfall that is called Lata Kinjang, one of the most magnificent waterfall I ever saw anywhere my whole life!

To cut the story short I managed to reach Lata Kinjang just before dusk, my first time ever reaching here despite having seen it from the highway many many times. Thank God there's also a stall nearby for me and wife to break our fast. With this I end this series of stories based on my latest visit to the East Coast made during the fasting month of Ramadhan ya. Cheers! :]

The tight winding road down to Tapah

Continued from The lower parts of Cameron Highlands - Habu and Ringlet...

We soon reached the state of Perak...

A little further down the road we could see that the town of Tapah which is situated at the foothills leading to Cameron Highlands is still 48 km away...

One could see stalls like these selling stuffs from the jungle by the roadside... stuffs like the tasty but smelly petai picked from its wild tall trees...

Mind you with the many tight bends one have to face, the trip down from Cameron Highlands could be daunting for many...



Thank God for the greenery which offers some respite...

Hmm. This marking stone shows its 191 km to Kuala Lumpur. Luckily the tight bends only last up to a point near Tapah. By the way I also have a liking for the number 191. For me it signifies the end of a phase and the beginning of another....

As we negotiated more bends, memories of a childhood trip up Cameron Highlands through the same route crept to mind...

I remember telling myself. When I get up there I would try to catch the clouds with plastic bags so that I can bring it home...

Apparently I've watched too much cartoons. I remember seeing one where a small cloud followed a character back to his room and on to his bath. Then it started letting out rain along with a little thunder and lightning.

I thought I could have this experience myself when I finally catch those nasty little clouds I often saw lingering up the the hills from far away. Little did I realise that the minute I am actually up there, there are no such things as solid fluffy clouds which one could grab at, what more catch or drag around... just plenty of mist and fog and that is what clouds are actually made of! :]

Anyway we soon came across a decent straight...

Down the route one could also find a number of settlements like this...

Here's the first one I saw with a rather modern shophouse...

For the record, there are many Orang Asli settlements along the way go Cameron Highlands, natural homes for the Malaysian aborigines or indigenious tribes.

Another 24 km to go to Tapah...

We were getting close to a famous place called Lata Iskandar...

What makes this place famous? You think you can figure it out from this pix?

There it is, Lata Iskandar. Lata is a Perak word for waterfalls. Iskandar is the Eastern equivalent of the name Alexander. So Lata Iskandar is the Alexander Waterfalls. Which Alexander are we talking about? Well, I leave it up to your imagination...

The river which flows down Lata Iskandar...

And another view of the mountains that are part of the main range of Banjaran Titiwangsa...