BERPETUALANG KE ACEH: 2010-04-04

-----------------------

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".

-----------------------

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, April 09, 2010

Celebrating the Prophet's birthday in Aceh : The historical sites at Banda Aceh

After the ship that got stranded we went back to the centre of Banda Aceh to visit some historical sites... among it were those shown here...

This is the tomb of Sultan Alauddin (or Alaiddin) Ahmad Shah Johan Berdaulat who ruled Aceh 1727-1735. The tomb lies within a ground known as the Bugis Dynasty King's tomb area. Me and wife have brought our baby Al-Rasyid in the previous visit made in January 2010. But it is only in this visit that we got it correct... by standing and touching the headstone, not the footstone as we have done before...

Our friends Puan Suzana and husband Haji Muzaffar were more intrigued with the headstone of another ruler, a grandchild (if I recall correctly) of Sultan Ahmad...

Next we visited what is said to be the tomb of Sultan Iskandar Muda. For the record this ruler of 400 years ago is touted as the best and most powerful Aceh ever had...

Nearby lies the burial ground of the most recent rulers and some family members. Have a look at the article Makam keluarga kerajaan (Tombs of the ruling families) just posted in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) earlier. Now it's time to put video clips of these visits at my Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU. Note that this is the 464th article in this blogspot...

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Celebrating the Prophet's birthday in Aceh : The ship that got swept inland by the Tsunami of 2004

OK. Let's continue the Aceh stories based on the latest trip made at the end of February 2010. Continued from Celebrating the Prophet's birthday in Aceh : Enter the tomb of Syiah Kuala... .

After the tomb of Syiah Kuala we went to another part of Banda Aceh where lies this ship which was swept some 5 km (or was it 5 miles) inland by the Tsunami of 26 December 2004...

In my first trip with the wife to Banda Aceh in 2009 we went here only to see it from outside down there (refer to The Aceh trip stories... in order from ground zero until the end...). This time, as the wife took care of our then 4-month old baby I made it a point to climb up all the way to the top-most part of the ship and savour the view...

Indeed the ship offers a good view of Banda Aceh and its surroundings...

As far as I could see, Banda Aceh has very few buildings taller than 5-storeys high and this ship seemed to provide a vantage view of things from higher up!

There, our friends Kak Suzana and Haji Muzaffar getting to grips on the surroundings with explanations from one of the guys who showed the way around...

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

First trip back to Muar for the year 2010

OK. An excursion from our recent stories regarding Aceh...

Last weekend, me, wife and baby Al-Rasyid returned to my native hometown of Muar, Johor, our first trip there for the year 2010. This is a picture at a wedding we attended on Saturday...

We next attended another wedding at another part out of town...

As the crowd converged it was raining cats and dogs outside...

Here's my dear wife with Al-Rasyid...

If I remember correctly, this is our baby's first taste of orange and he seemed to really like it...

Sunday morning we visited a favourite stall near the mouth of the Muar river...

Next we went to the recreational area fondly known as Tanjung (the cape). That's when I realised another species of monkey have joined the local population there.

This is a hill I saw besides a school some 20 km to the east of Muar town...

Here's the part of Muar river at a place called Tanjung Olak...

We came here because I wanted to check how the place fits into a dream I had about 2-3 years ago...

Next we visited the mosque at Kampung Raja in Pagoh...

Al-Rasyid 'posing' at the pulpit...

We took the opportunity to visit the tombs beside the mosque. For the record here lies the only known tomb of a Melaka Sultan in Malaysia, that belonging to Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah who ruled Melaka 1477-1488 AD.