Here's a view at the entrance into the main cave of Batu Caves...Take a journey across space and time through the multi-dimensional door that is the soul of my being... For the Salik (Arabic for traveller, also a Sufi term for a searcher) merges in him the raw qualities of an earthly being nicely blended with the divine qualities that belong to Him, the Alpha and Omega of everything.

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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.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Inside Batu Caves...
Here's a view at the entrance into the main cave of Batu Caves...A climb up Batu Caves...
OK. All city folks should know where Batu Caves is situated at. In fact it is quite reknowned internationally as the place were more than a million people annually converge to celebrate the major Hindu festival of Thaipusam, the biggest such event in the world outside of India...
Batu Caves houses perhaps the biggest concentration of Hindu temples outside of India...
Visits are often made not only by Hindus but also by tourist and locals, at least because it is the only limestone hill with caves easily accesible from the city...
Batu Caves is coveted by the Hindus such that they also have the biggest statue of a Hindu deity in the world outside of India.In Temerloh for a dish of ikan patin...
After the wedding the ceremony in Jengka is complete and done, we immediately head back for Kuala Lumpur. On the way we stopped at Temerloh, a main town beside the Pahang river...
Here's a look at the bridge across the river...
We were near these row of stalls...
Actually we stopped in Temerloh to sample the local delicacy, ikan patin (a type of fish) cooked in a style called masak lemak gulai tempoyak. Sorry, I'm not good at translating culinary delights and related terms.Too bad the charges were rather exorbitant... perhaps the stall owner took advantage of the fact that we're outsiders stopping for their famous local dish without knowning its actual price. Never mind that, it did taste good. We console ourselves by saying that it's not often we get to enjoy the ikan patin masak lemak gulai tempoyak, quite famous in Kuala Lumpur too, at its place of origin!
Anyway, the stalls were near the old bus stand...
Then we saw these riverside parts which looks more scenic...A visit to Gua (cave of) Kota Gelanggi - Gua Balai and out...
Back to the spot some 2 km from the entrance...
As it turned out, there's 11 different caves within the Gua Kota Gelanggi complex while we had time to visit only those easily accesible from the stony path...
We had a look at these parts of the complex. There's some youngsters practising absailing...
Oh, these parts are called Gua Balai... which literally means the cave of the hall...
As the way in and up looks not so hard, we decided to make a climb...
Here's a look inside... roomy enough to set a quite a number of tents...
Another part with a small opening...
A look at the entrance from inside.
We then immediately head out. Actually there's another cave between Gua Balai and Gua Tongkat. But it looks like the way inside is much harder to climb. Besides the people who took us on their van had to leave while we ourselves still have to attend another part of the wedding in Jengka by noon. That's all! :]A visit to Gua (cave of) Kota Gelanggi - enter Gua Tongkat...
As it turned out, the first cave (there's a series of caves inside the Gua Kota Gelanggi complex) is 500 metres away from the entrance while other caves are at least 2 km away or so!
Luckily at the entrance, we met a group of people in a van on their way in. They offered us to join them, so we gladly went along. That not only save us the problem of either having to walk on or retrace our steps to take our car in... we managed to go in comfortably without having to pay the RM5 per car charge for vehicles going inside!A visit to Gua (cave of) Kota Gelanggi - the way in...
The is the limestone hill seen on Saturday morning...
Famous for its caves, it is known as Gua (cave) of Kota Gelanggi...
Like on Friday the previous day, we had problems finding the way in...

































