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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.


Thursday, November 04, 2010

The river besides a stall at Hulu Langat

Further uproad from the Semenyih dam towards Hulu Langat's small town of Pekan Batu 18 lies this roadside stall.


Apart from food and beverage people tend to stop here to rest besides a river.


There's a simple makeshift bridge to cross to the other side.


A look to the right...



A look to the left...






Stopping at Semenyih dam

Continued from A night event at Putrajaya.



The following day, Sunday I went around the Semenyih/Hulu Langat area and stopped at the Semenyih dam.




It's been a while since I passed these parts and this time I brought the wife and baby.



The vast body of water still look impressive.


I won't talk more about this dam. I think I've already said a lot when I made the article Fooling around the Semenyih Dam... 3 years ago.




A night event at Putrajaya

Away from the Brunei stories for a while...


Last Saturday night I went to mid-town Putrajaya and found some going-ons...


There's this sign... GIVE... in front of the Istana Kehakiman or Palace of Justice. What gives? Or rather, give what?


There's plenty of people in yellow...


Ooo... there's a charity event going on. Apparently during the day they had a walk or run...


Anyway as far as I can remember this is the first time I spent sometime at night at these parts of Putrajaya.


Actually I came to rendezvous with some guys. At least there's something to fill the waiting time...


Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Views from the jetty at Muara

Next we went to the ferry jetty complex at Muara, a small town which lies at one end of the Brunei border.


It is located at a part of the Brunei bay which meets the Brunei river.


Officially the Brunei river has its mouth about 13 km south from here, slightly off Pulau Chermin (look at The island called Pulau Chermin). But the way the Brunei bay is formed with a sub-bay around made these parts look like it is still part of the Brunei river, a very wide part that is...


Directly across the jetty lies an island.








To the north lies another island creating a small opening to the open wide waters of the South China Sea. And on the left of the opening is an embankment from which I had viewed the waters around the day before. See Mouth of the Brunei bay/sub-bay?. For the record this is the 600th article in this blogspot.


The island called Pulau Chermin

4th August 2010, after visiting a few other places, we stopped at a part besides the Brunei river where lies this elevated walkway.


It seems there are interesting vistas to be enjoyed...






From here one could get a good perspective of the width of the Brunei river and how it extends into the Brunei bay.



But what interests me most is an island called Pulau Chermin.




Walking to one end of the walkway, I tried to have a closer look.





The island has a place in Brunei's history books when one of its rulers moved his capital here only to find he was caught in a ploy to dethrone him leading to years of civil war. Aside from that I could feel a certain mystical aura surrounding Pulau Chermin. Somehow it reminds me of Pulau Besar in Melaka and I believe this island has much more than what is being told.


Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Mouth of the Brunei bay/sub-bay?

Continued from The beach at Muara.


After walking for some time we could see what lies at the end of the beach...


There's a long embankment forming some sort of boundary.



Across is an island which if viewed from the sides or from on top (such as could be seen using Google Earth) would appear almost 10 times as long as the width seen here.


The island and embankment form some sort of sub-boundary for a vast body of water known as the Brunei bay.


The bay extends some 40km to Sabah with a sub-bay reaching 25 km inland and 12 km across. Mind you, the land you see towards the horizon is just an island about 3 km from the embankment.

Now time to check the embankment...





I went all the way to my satisfaction.



A look behind. Looking at the formation I could say that the embankment began at the mouth of the sub-bay which connects to the Brunei river. Depending on how you see the sub-bay, you could say it is also effectively the mouth of the Brunei river..


The beach at Muara

Continuing the Brunei stories...


Tuesday 3rd August 2010, my third day in Brunei. After visiting a number of royal tombs we headed for the small town of Muara where lies a beach facing the South China Sea...



It might not be the closest beach to the capital at Bandar Seri Begawan. In fact Muara is quite a distance from the main town.



But there's something I wanted to see. And it is located at the eastern end of this beach. What is it? Look at the coming article. To be continued...