BERPETUALANG KE ACEH

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

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.

Monday, December 14, 2009

The lower parts of Cameron Highlands - Habu and Ringlet...

Continued from The tea plantations at Cameron Highlands...

The journey downhill towards Tapah is continued...

We soon arrived at another major settlement in Cameron Highlands...

This one is called Habu...

After a bend or two we decided to make an excursion...

For here lies another plantations...

But instead of tea we have strawberries. Hmm... wait a minute, do you call this a plantation or a farm? Now I remember, they themselves call it a strawberry farm...

Having missed the more well-known strawberry farms in the upper parts of the highland (we passed the upper parts at night remember? Look again in the article The night trip from Gua Musang to Cameron Highlands... having passed that road we don't what to repeat it as our time for travelling were running out) we were grateful for being able to get a box of freshly-picked strawberries here...

Next we head out to another major settlement, Ringlet...

We were still in the outer parts of Habu when we saw this bridge...

After a small distance passing the bridge I can't help from stopping...

For the view is so good, I must stop and take good shots with my camera...

Why, a look back and you can see this lake with a view that reminds me of the few days I spent in the mountains and countryside of Switzerland in summer 1995!

Further on the road rises a bit to give you this view of the lake...

Then it starts to go down-hill again as one enters Ringlet...

Just like Tanah Rata, the town is bustling with activities...

It's just Ringlet is not as picturesque being more a settlement for locals who are mainly farmers.

p/s: Note that this is the 414th article in this blogspot. Cheers and good night for now! :]

The tea plantations at Cameron Highlands...

After visiting Parit Falls, we left Tanah Rata by taking the down-hill main road to Tapah...

Further down at the roadside lies a certain station of much interest...

A stop with a cafe facing a certain view...

... the tea plantations of Cameron Highlands!

While I understand there are similar plantations at other locations none is as picturesque as this...

Besides it also has a shop selling freshly-packed tea of various blends...

If there is another place that could match that station it must be this one just a kilometre or two further down the road...

Facing the same hillsides but at a slightly lower altitude, it also has a restaurant with a similar picturesque view...

Parit Falls...

From Robinson Falls we move to Parit Falls...

Actually both waterfalls are made from the same river but Parit Falls lies further upstream...

If to get to Robinson Falls I have to drive 2 or 3 km downstream before taking a walk into the jungle, to get to Parit Falls I have to simply walk into another part of the jungle through an entrance near the local park of Tanah Rata...

Further on you could see this hanging bridge..,

From the bridge you could vaguely see the falls...

A closer look at Parit Falls...

Return back to the local park....

And back to Tanah Rata town centre...

Views around Tanah Rata

Continued from The night trip from Gua Musang to Cameron Highlands...

1st September 2009, a morning view of Tanah Rata...

And a view to the right from our hotel room of course...

Soon it's time to check out and explore more of Tanah Rata...

For the record Tanah Rata is the main town in Cameron Highlands. It is called Tanah Rata (literally the level ground) as it lies on a relatively large plateu. The highlands is situated at 1,800 metres above sea level. Most parts lie on gradients of hillsides and are hardly level...

At the local park lies giant replicas of vegetables signifying Cameron Highland as a famous place for vegetable produce...

Here one could see a certain river running through it...

We went further towards the greens...

Green houses like these are common where vegetables and flowers are grown in a controlled climate, green houses which when lighted at night glows like some sort of giant radio-active alien worm or centipede as shown (although not as clear as viewed by my own naked eyes) in the article The night trip from Gua Musang to Cameron Highlands...

We soon arrive at this part of the river which runs through Tanah Rata...

I left the car to take a walk into the jungle...

This is where the river gives way to a waterfall, the rather famous Robinson Falls...

We next went to the local TM (Telekom Malaysia) apartments to check out the rates and the view, maybe for future visits. For the record, my wife is a TM employee and she can get very good discounted rates...

One could already catch a superb view of Tanah Rata from the car park...

And here's my then 8-month-old pregnant wife posing just outside the lobby with our little car in view...