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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 soon arrived at Arau...
Arau is the royal town for the state of Perlis and from the station you could see its mosque.
As we head further north limestone hills began to feature prominently in the background.
This seemed to go and and on as we head toward the northernmost border of Malaysia...
Notice the cave on this one. For the record this is the 515th article in this blogspot.
After Gurun we arrived at Alor Setar.
Looking at the station, I'd say it is among the more interesting-looking stations probably because of its tower...
From the station which is situated at the southern fringe of the town of Alor Setar we passed by the town...
A prominent landmark of Alor Setar is its telecommunications tower.
Once you leave town its back to rice fields filling the view.
Here's Alor Setar in perspective to the rice fields and development around.
Soon a new day began to dawn...
By then we were already approaching a main station in the state of Kedah...
Welcome to Sungai Petani...
Time was around 6:20 and people were springing into action.
Soon, Kedah's highest peak Gunung Jerai came into view.
At this juncture we were at Gurun, a town situated at the foot of Gunung Jerai.
Time was about 6:45.
Thus there was enough light for one to enjoy the views around.
This 4,100-feet high or so mountain is considered mystical by many.
As for me, it's never tiring to look at Gunung Jerai and its imposing presence, what more Gunung Jerai is the only mountain within a radius of 50 km or so from here...
These parts of Malaysia are almost 100 per cent low flatlands and you could see rice fields all the way up to the horizon.
And so we went around Ipoh to pass time. After midnight we returned to the railway station to catch the next service, the 1 am train that will bring us all the way north up to Hatyai in Thailand.
Oh. This is a poster promoting interesting places which could be accessed by rail.
Since we still have an hour before the train arrives, we just relaxed at the waiting hall...
Here's a look at people waiting at the platforms...
Soon our train arrived, almost in tandem with a train which is heading south.
While there's not much you can see at night, I still took pains to snap some pictures including this one at the Kuala Kangsar station.
This one is in Taiping...
At a station further north the train stopped quite long...
It is at the Bukit Mertajam station on mainland Pulau Pinang.
The train stopped so long that I had time to venture inside the station...
Mind you, the time then was around 5 am and I've barely caught a few winks due to the excitement travelling on train...
Since we have time to kill in Ipoh I decided to revisit the mosque of Panglima Kinta. Named after a noble with hereditary title given to the headmen in charge of Ipoh and its surrounding areas, it is landmark which sadly few would notice.
The informations says the mosque was built 1898 in memory of the late wife of the then Panglima Kinta. It is the oldest mosque in Ipoh...
For me it is a good place to relax and recharge...
Here's photographer Faliq checking his equipments before going inside.
Time to enter...
The main praying hall.
It has been my habit for sometime to take solitude in such mosques...
Apart from the architecture and design there's something about old mosques that make calms me down...
Perhaps it's the aura from days gone by...
It is good to make abolution than pray for peace and a calm state of mind.
Just outside the mosque lies this mausoleum...
The plots here are reserved for family members and kith and kins of Panglima Kinta...
Now time to get inside...
Al-Fatihah... let's recite the Quran's opening verses for the dead.
