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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.
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.
We also took the time to visit the famous traditional village called Kampung Morten...
Now, this village in the middle of the Melaka city is already something to behold to during daytime. At night the strategically-placed lightings made it a virtual wonderland!
That's our daughter Erin and son Haziq posing in front of one of the lighted houses...
Then we saw this bridge...
It might not be completed but it was enough to give a wider and more interesting vista...
Later at night we went to the jetty of the river Melaka right in the middle of its city...
Actually we came here to take the famous Melaka river cruise. However we arrived a bit too late and missed the last ride which if I'm not mistaken was at 11 pm...
So I decided to do something else. I went to check how the river cruise works, particular how they managed to keep the water at optimal level making it navigable at all times impervious to the usual workings of high and low tide...
First, a quick education about the Melaka river. Let it be known that the half a kilometre stretch or so leading out to the sea you see nowadays are all part of reclaimed land. That means the estuary used to lie half a kilometre or so inland compared to the estuary you can see in this picture with a bridge cum highway crossing.
This is the watergate system which controls the water level. I understand it is made based on the system employed in London especially the canals passing through Camden...
And here's a look back towards the jetty where I took the first picture. The jetty should lie near the original estuary as could be seen 20 years ago.
From the floating restaurant one could easily see the small hill called Bukit Supai...
So while waiting for our meal to be served I decided to pay a visit...
Here's a look to the left as I was about to climb up the steps...
A look towards the floating restaurant from the top of the staircase...
On to the top of Bukit Supai. Note the pair of cannons waiting...
At one side of the hill facing the Linggi river mouth is an old tomb, I don't know belonging to who...
On top lies a fort which used to be operated by the Dutch more than 200 years ago...
I understand it was once opened and operated by the Bugis Malays before the Dutch took over...
One fine afternoon in December, after spending some time in Port Dickson and Tanjung Tuan in Negeri Sembilan we arrived at the small village of Kuala Linggi in Melaka.
There is this floating restaurant we want to go to...
It is situated at the mouth of the river Linggi, an important waterway into Negeri Sembilan which is also a natural border between that state and Melaka.
We first went to this restaurant sometime in September if I'm not mistaken...
Then, we arrived at night. So this new visit in December was our first in daytime...
Here's a pix of Al-Rasyid who was then just over 2 months old...
Here's our elder children Haziq and Erin walking around the restaurant's main building.
From here one could get a superb view of the surroundings. By the way it was almost dusk when we arrived. But still there was enough daylight...
Mid February, me and wife made a little trip to a bay called Teluk Pelanduk in Negeri Sembilan...
Situated some distance south-east of the resort beach of Port Dickson and its quite maddening holiday crowd, it offers a tranquil escape from the hustle bustle of city life and everything else.
Teluk Pelanduk is actually closer to the mouth of the Linggi river. For the record, the river, at least for half its length, is a natural border between the states of Negeri Sembilan and Melaka...
A zoom to the south from the spot I was standing at to take the previous picture shows the floating restaurant which lies off the village of Kuala Linggi in Melaka. Kuala is the Malay word for estuary and thus Kuala Linggi means the estuary of the Linggi river...
We drover further south-east to savour more tranquil views...
That's when we came across an interesting looking food-stall and decided to have tea. By the way it was way past 6 pm then...
Ah. That's my dear wife and baby...
This food-stall has its own calming aura being situated at such a nice spot besides the open waters that is the Straits of Melaka.
We went further south-east and saw this little island. If not for the fact that it was almost dusk, I would certainly take the time to cross the small wooden bridge to get on it...
From here we could get a closer view of the hills at Kuala Linggi...
Oh. Anyway this trip to Teluk Pelanduk, our first ever was made so that we could join the wife's secondary school reunion at a nearby resort. This is the only picture I took from the meet. That's all! :]
One fine afternoon I decided to walk up into a newly-completed apartment block in my housing area Bandar Tasik Puteri...
For the first time since settling here end of 2008 I finally caught an arial view of the area!
For the record, Bandar Tasik Puteri which is located some 14 km west of the town of Rawang has an area that is said to be twice as big as the townshop of Subang Jaya...
Coincidently, most of the shop retail business (is that what you call it? You know, mini markets and such) here are set-up an conquered by the Acehnese, mainly those who seek shelter after the Tsunami of 26th December 2004 devastated their homeland. I understand some also came earlier as political refugees following the pre-Tsunami persecution of the Acehnese by troops from Jakarta who wanted to clamp down any attempt by the locals to resist the Indonesian central rule from the island of Java. Whatever, you could say this mood of mine to present an article based on arial views of Bandar Tasik Puteri do have an Aceh connection...
Peace be upon you all. After almost a month not making any new posting in this blogspot, I am pleased to inform that yesterday I've just returned from a new trip to Aceh. Compound that to the fact that I also went to Aceh in January before returning on the 1st of February. Now, I'm not sure if I've told you readers about that but it should give you some idea how Aceh has been on my mind. Otherwise how could I make 2 trips there in the last 2 months?
Anyway, the point is I have rather plenty of stuff to be turned into new articles here. That I would do in due time, be rest assured. But first I'd release some stuff about a few local trips made in December last year. And then only you my dear readers would get to see the new stories on Aceh ya... cheers! :]
