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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, December 29, 2011

Aidil Adha eve at the famed Al-Mashun mosque of Medan

Peace be upon you all. It's been over 3 weeks since I've updated this blogspot and almost a month since I made any story on my Medan-Banda Aceh trip November 2-13. So let me continue from where we left off in the last article on the subject, The Saturday market at Parapat.


What happened was we left Parapat after 2 in the afternoon to head for Medan. While we did made a few stops here and there it was the busy road condition which lead us to reach the biggest city in Sumatera after dark. Thank God we got a nice hotel situated very close to famous Al-Mashun mosque, one of the still standing proud landmark from the days of the greatness of the Malay kingdom of Deli. So after refreshing ourselves we immediately headed for the mosque.





For the record it was the eve of the Muslim festive day of Aidil Adha, a major celebration made every year on the Muslim calendar date of 10th of Zulhijjah (the 12th month).



We came a bit late at night when most people have left the mosque as to have some quiet and privacy.






OK. While this blogspot is used to support the main storytelling in my main blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU, the truth is there has been a disparity.


The storytelling there has reached a point where we were about to leave Medan after staying three nights while this article is set on our first night in the city. So this is actually 3 days behind...







Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Muar river near the FELDA of Jelai

Just an excursion from the storytelling on places visited in Sumatera such as Samosir Island and the town of Parapat...

Just over 2 weeks ago I brought the wife, son and two stepkids to places in Melaka and Muar. Then we slept over at my sister-in-law's place at the FELDA (federal settlement scheme) of Jelai, Negeri Sembilan and not far from it lies this wooden suspension bridge.


It crosses over the local portion of the Muar river. Here's a look downriver.


The bridge lies off the rural road connecting the FELDA of Jelai to the small town of Pasir Besar which in turn lies on the road to the much bigger town of Bahau.


A look upriver. Further up lies a very interesting place just 2-3 km from Bahau. Look at the old article Where Muar river meets Jempol in Negeri Sembilan....



Saturday, December 03, 2011

The Saturday market at Parapat

Continued from The boat ride from Tuk-tuk to Prapat.


Arriving at Parapat we were greeted by this sight.




Then we were told this is the Parapat Saturday market.




Well, we're not here to shop. But what's the harm in looking around.


By then we have booked a hired car to Medan. It would leave at 2, after getting a number of passengers and we had time to explore also the nearby permanent market.





The boat ride from Tuk-tuk to Parapat

Greetings earthlings. In the previous article on this blogspot, The place where Samosir island meets the mainland I've said this : "God willing I will show some really nice pictures in my next round of postings, pictures taken as we left Samosir by boat to get to Parapat Saturday afternoon." Well. Now comes that next round. So feast your eyes...



Saturday 5th November 2011. Came the time for us to leave Tuk-tuk and the island of Samosir.


It's a fine beautiful day as we looked around waiting for our boat.


There, that's the boat.




Soon we're on board.




OK. When we entered the island 2 days before, it was already dark. So we didn't get to see the scenery.


Saturday was different. We came out at noon and the day was nice albeit a bit cloudy. The vista was really open... wide open and certainly eye-opening.


There. Just look at the mountains of Samosir island as we left.








But the boat was not ready to fully leave the island yet. Instead it stopped at a different part of Tuk-tuk to pick up passengers.




Now we're leaving.







After some time we could clearly see the town of Parapat on the mainland.





Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The place where Samosir island meets the mainland

At the end of the article First appreciation of the beauty of Samosir island at Tuk-tuk made 4 hours ago I said watch for the next article. I was then thinking of showing some really beautiful pictures to be shared of Samosir island and Danau (lake Toba). Then I went through my picture files again and find out that the best pictures were actually taken the following day, Saturday. But at this moment I'm still taking about activities done on Friday when the best sceneries were caught on videocam in HD (high definition).

Sorry to say I can't share what's on the videocam here as it is meant for a different project. But I did snap other pictures with the camera (yes, I brought a camera and a videocam although both devices can fairly do the job of the other). Well it may not be the best but it should do...


After making a semi-cricle round of northern part of Samosir we arrived at Pangururan, the island's administrative centre. At its fringe lies a bridge which connect the island to the mainland.


Here, only a small body of water which looks like a river or maybe a canal divide both lands.


Crossing the bridge we took a road up a slope.


From here we could have a good look at the northern part of Samosir.


Turning anti-clockwise one could see a part of Danau Toba opening wide.


And here's a look at a part of the mainland. God willing I will show some really nice pictures in my next round of postings, pictures taken as we left Samosir by boat to get to Parapat Saturday afternoon. :]



First appreciation of the beauty of Samosir island at Tuk-tuk

On to the 888th article of this blogspot. Continuing from The waterfall of Sipiso Piso.

In the last article I have shown how a high waterfall called Sipiso Piso is connected to the northern part of the vast lake called the Danau Toba. Now let me add, the surface of the lake lies 900 metres above sea level. At dusk we arrived at the shoreline town of Parapat and immediately got a ferry to cross the lake on to a big island called Samosir. Here are pictures taken the following day, Friday 4th November 2011.



Thank God we got a nice and affordable room at a resort in Tuk-tuk, the island's main town. Mind you, Samosir is about the same size as the island of Singapore! From the room we walked about 100 metres to get this view. And what breathtaking view it is... the vast freshwater lake, the mountains in the middle of the island which rose to more than 1,600 metres above sea level...



I've mentioned in the previous article that Danau Toba is formed from a crater created after a big volcano explosion said to have happened 74,000 years ago. The mountains surrounding the lake is the mouth of the crater while those situated on the island is the heap formed after the explosion. Look to the middle right of the picture. Notice the gap? To the right is the southern part of Samosir, to the left is the mountains on the mainland.


Turning back towards the resort it's time for us to explore the island. At first I just wanted to stay one night here. But the beauty of the scenery made me decide to stay one more night. And for the day we rented a motorbike to go around. Watch for the next article... :]