NOVEMBER 2014 ROYAL BELUM VISIT

It has been several months since I am back here on the blog. Not that it escapes me to pen down the happenings and observations that passed by through the days of the past weeks but directions towards other obsessions perhaps divert the attentions.  By doing that I too missed out from getting close to other blogger and friends especially who continue to pen down their stories and observations. Never to worry since the writings are there and only a click will get you to read them.

Where do I start to reel back the past months that have been filled with activities? I guess several throw backs with pictures would do it. My camera at the ready helps to capture the activities, happenings , observations etc keeping the records which otherwise would be lost and erased the next moment. Here in the confined of the smart phone or the camera the vivid scenes or characters are kept intact. It helps especially when you need to recount or recollect as I am about to embark on.

The opportunity to be at Putrajaya fortunately allows us to meet with families. On one occasion my sister and her family joined us for a good morning walk by the lakes near the home. Added to that there was the opportunity to attend a wedding invitation of one of the members of Presinct 16,  a close knit group akin to being in our own kampong   

         With our sister and her family at an exercise station near one of the Tasik at Putrajaya

  The homes at Presinct 16 Putrajaya

           

    Would it dawn upon yourself to meet with a nephew, a former student of the school when I was the principal and friends who joined on a cycling trip to Perth at the reception? The linkages continue when the Precinct 16 community group organized a trip to Royal Belum Perak. 

                            

7-9 November 2014 found 25 seniors ( 5,6,7 Series) embarked on a boathouse for 3D2N adventure into the Belum Valley in Perak. It was a testing time for the 7th Series to keep in momentum with the younger group but the activities pushed all to enjoy what was programmed and Belum Valley is a place to be visited for those who care and love flora, fauna and the treasures of our jungles and lakes. It was also a return to the base where who had moved into a year and more ago when a tourism project under the Northern Corridor Agency was implemented.   Lakes, waterfalls, fishing and the comforts of the  'houseboat' with outboard motors for trips to the islands and places close by plus the warm serving of breakfast, lunch and dinner with fresh water fishes servings etc plus the camaraderie helped to make the trip a successful one. It makes us think why we would go visiting places beyond our shores when here it is the best of its kind. 

                                At Sg Rouk Waterfall, one of several to be discovered at Belum

      Members of Precinct 16 Putrajaya who traveled  by bus to Belum and the two of us joined them after our drive from Alor Setar.

         The house boat which can take up to 40 passengers complete with the amenities you would find at home. The owner and guide Sdr Abd Mutalib an ex-army officer familiar with Belum would assure comforts as well as safety and guidance.. 

          BELUM ( land before time) sits astride the East -West Highway as you drive from Jeli to Grik and crossed the two bridges at the lakes. It also joins to the Temenggor Lake at its southern and eastern part.   

 

  They had their fun and excitement fishing in the lake.

  Not necessarily being in a Jurassic Park but you will admire the giant growth of existing trees at Belum

  You may choose to stay in the Boat House or stay in the several chalets built for Northern Corridor or the Royal Belum Authority

An opportunity to visit a 'Kampong Orang Asli' is possible since there are several in the Belum Valley. You will notice their homes are built of natural materials found in the jungles.

Now should you need or feel that the adventure into the Belum Valley is your next program for a family visit do feel free to contact if you should need a helping hand. I can assure you even the family would love and enjoy the short trip.

A MOST GRATEFUL PROJECT

I know she must be grateful for the current project that Anak Arshad Architect has been monitoring as the lead consultant for design, construction and completion of a mosque at Bakar Arang Sungai Petani Kedah. As an architect an opportunity to design and see the completion of a mosque is an opportunity that comes not too often. When it does you can be truly thankful to Allah SWT.   Thankful and trusting that it could see the building being used in good time. AAA has designed and completed mosques before and the opportunity and trust given allows for creativity in line with the request and option of the owner or department. However in this case the design and construction of the mosque is sponsored by a single person who naturally bears the complete package of its cost himself. We know there are persons who take upon themselves to contribute for such construction. However meeting one ourselves and working in association with his hopes and commitment is another matter. Thankful that there was that trust and opportunity. Yes not always you get an opportunity to design and build a mosque together with the team of consultants, the contractor and especially the donor. 

A recent visit on site allowed for inspections, feed backs and comments of the project with actions to be taken by the contractor for immediate actions for completion by designated date. Surely the mosque committee and the jumaah want to see a quick completion so that they could use the mosque if possible during Ramadan. The donor rightly must himself be happy to realize that his objective has become true.

Though the pictures may show that the building looks ready for use there are other issues to be solved and completed before it can be commissioned. In the following weeks further inspections will be done to justify that all procedures are adhered  to. Much as many look forward for the new mosque to be opened for public use, the team of consultants too wants to see that the project would be handed over with blessings and satisfaction of the donor and the committee members of the mosque. However several other departments including Jabatan Ugama Islam Kedah have the last words.

                                                        

Main Hall   (Dewan Utama )

 

                                                         

second floor for Muslimah

                                       

The new Extension of Masjid Abu Bakar Al Sidqi Bakar Arang Sungai Petani with the old mosque at the right corner

 Signages

             Dewan Serba Guna ( Open hall on the ground floor)                  

                 

From the Open Hall on the ground floor can be seen the classes for (Tadika dan Kafa), ablution hall and 'dewan Urusan Jenazah'

(Upon completion and official opening of the mosque, a follow up will appear)

Kita sama-sama mendoakan yang terbaik dan mengharapkan masjid mendapat sambutan penuh daripada jumaah sekitar bakar Arang Sungai Petani dan tidak lupa syukur serta bertambah rezeki kepada perdermanya

THEY DESIGN FOR OUR COMFORT

Often we come across designs that delight our senses but do we stop a while to admire and heap thanks to the designer and establishment that give comfort as well as peace of mind. The opportunity to travel within and outside the country allow me to look at things, discover the people's ability to design things and naturally offer the best. More often just grateful that  they are there for our convenience while of course thankful that there are people who cares for comfort and esthetic for fellow humans.  The past may have their establishments rendering cultural and historical significance while the present seek for the best that can be given.

I am talking of 'comfort room', 'men and women'. 'Damas' and 'Caballeros', in short 'the toilet'. We used to hear of dissatisfaction over Malaysian toilets and invariably agreeable to the conditions then prevailing. That there has been improvement and a great change is undeniable. Now everyone is likely to have a peace of mind when approaching the 'gentlemen' or 'ladies'. Many of course place a small levy for usage.

Our recent visit to Bandung Indonesia surprisingly disclosed facilities or conveniences that should be emulated by many. Have a look at the following photographs and you will agree with me that it is 'extraordinarily' exceptional and first class.

Our normal search for the 'comfort room' this time was  rewarded by a pleasant surprise. We not only saw the normal narrow corridor that led to the zone but instead was greeted by this wide pathway towards a lighted or bright zone with entries left and right to the 'peria' and 'wanita' (men and women) sections.

At the end of the corridor, we came upon this pool with fishes and greenery, the left turn led to the 'ladies' and the right to the 'gentlemen'. I was unable to have a look at the other sector but what was registered on camera of the right section pleased the eyes and rightly showed that the establishment really took pain as well commitment to give the best without spending much for the upkeep and maintenance.

The 'gentleman' zone is enclosed with creeping vines as a privacy factor yet continuing the greenery of the whole public toilet at a shopping small in one sector of Bandung City.

It won't be fair if I only choose to show the 'public zone' of a foreign country which fortunately or otherwise we had the chance to encounter. Therefore following this, one at home ground will need to be exposed, congratulating the community concerned at their efforts to improved a much talked about topic or issue at one time. 

OUR UMRAH MAY 2013

EACH PERSON'S EXPERIENCE WHILE AT MAKKAH AND MADINAH IS DEEPLY REGISTERED IN HIS OR HER OWN SELF. APA PUN KITA BERDOA DENGAN PENUH HARAPAN DAPAT BERKUNJUNG LAGI INSYAALLAH PADA MASA-MASA AKAN DATANG.. 

Our 'umrah' recently was taken right after the PRU2013, a day after that eventful day. It was the first time that we  traveled on NAS Air a chartered flight that carried passengers to Jeddah / Madinah. It seems now there are several carriers that carry passengers to both cities, either the normal air carriers like Mas, Emirate, Saudi Air or the Air Asia and several chartered airlines. Depending on the agencies that arranged your flight and services, you may find yourself on the right airways only later. Unless of course you choose to fly on your choice of air carrier.

That is however not the main subject matter of this write up. It is more to have a look at several photos accompanying for what they are worth. 

Our travel on the Makkah - Madinah 400 KM highway on a GMC vehicle allowed us to see more of the country- side than had we traveled on the bus as usual. I managed to get this photo as the car was traveling of the sun setting behind the hills near Madinah.  The time registered on the photo is that on Malaysian time. Giving a difference of FIVE hours you would get the time of the moment

It would be hard to get a picture of Al Haram from the air, but I managed to get this photo from the 42nd Floor of a hotel, showing the development and construction works on going. I believe you can identify the Kaabah and the jumaah circling. However notice the large extension works on going, extending to the hillocks behind. Hoping it could be ready by Haj time this year. 

As many hotels are sited around Al Haram the extension would make them be a walking distance away except for the few standing in front of King Abdul Aziz Gate.

The whitish flooring is a section of the top floor of the mosque which have seen jummah at prayer here especially during Ramadan. The extension is made around it and especially at the top corner of the picture.

Al Haram at night seen from the entrance of the multiple hotel sites close by

 These are the wheel chair brigades at Al Haram specific to the Saie section. For many who would be unable to walk all the way  these gentlemen would assist. However many now come with their own wheel chairs and noticeable too motorised vehicle the like of 'wheel chair' being used.

 My wife attending to her mother who needed the use of the wheelchair. This was one we brought along.

A portion of the pilgrims on wheel chairs facing the Kaabah. It is good to see people helping out when ever they see jumaah requiring help especially those on wheel chairs.

I would guess many wheel chair users would be at Makkah and Madinah and surely provisions would be made to offer better facilities for them especially in crowded spaces.  

We could take it as a link to what Malaysia requires too in such a situation.

....

This is the clock tower, now completed since we last saw the building in 2010. It stands so magnificently that it could be seen from the air as our plane was coming to land at Jeddah Airport almost 40 kilo metres away. Whatever it serves its function of reminding the time  ..........

A WEEK'S ITINERARY THAT WAS

OUR  activities or daily workouts may come about through planning or casual happenings, filling the moments and times in many forms and ways. We may have its program for the week governed by our designation or that of our other half and the family too. Then the free moments or spaces are left to our discretion to either fill them up with activities of our choice or remain gaps or nothingness. Nevertheless it cannot be so since we would know how to fill those moments with distinctions.

One thing for sure, the multiple activities that colour our lives get lost in the daily myriads, one superseding the other and therefore hard on us to recount them, much so those in the immediate past. Strange however, we tend to remember or recollect the past much easier. Notice how the elders and the sick could recount their past but fail to remember recent events.          

People used to keep diaries, noting down stories or episodes particularly special to them. How lucky they are, knowing that the truth, the specifics and the data remained intact. However personal diaries have become objects of the past. You will be a lucky person to meet up with one person who still keeps his or her diary. Our savior comes in a new form.Digital cameras, computers, smart telephones, Ipad etc all help to record moments of our lives  in a much better format than approaches applied years ago.

I appreciate the activities that have taken place last week. Parts could be from our own program while others developed by themselves or with the assistance of others. I would not easily recount the activities of the past seven days without the snapshots as captured by the camera. Here beginning Thursday evening and ending Wednesday I could easily retraced the activities with profound details.

Yes the technologies that we carry with us serve us in more ways than one.

                    Thursday 3 May  7.00 pm -  Friday 4 May 2012 9.00 am

A misty morning at Teratak Warisan, Several cars in the compound with their owners already awoke since 5.00 am . In fact a 'Qiamullai' was organized for the night in preference for the old home as a base. Friends, relatives and neighbours participated. Dinner, supper and breakfast added to the excitement in a quint setting.

 

It was befitting that the old home saw activities while bringing back its former grandeur.

House on stilts of course has great assets for the ground floor,  

It was a change to sit underneath the house on the mats and the odd furniture, after breakfast while lulled by the cooling morning breeze.  

    Friends who were together in Mekkah in 2010 and the group leader attended. 

                                        Saturday 5 May 2012   11.30 am

 They were at the 'tahlil' on Saturday morning

                                         Saturday  5 May 2012    9.30 pm

                        

At SMSAH soft launching of the school 50th anniversary

This fully residential secondary school will be celebrating its 50th year come 2013. As a young teacher in the early beginning of the school 1975 - 1978 it was good to be back and meet some of the former students. The school achievements were naturally the pride of the past and present.. The school orchestra performed and a credit to the school.  

  

We found ourselves on the holiday island of Langkawi on  Sunday 6 May 2012 and at Pantai Cenang found the decorative bamboo mat as part of the wall a treasured piece. Do they still produce this 'anjaman buluh'?

                Father and son but the decorative bamboo panel was the focus

                          

                                                   A happy girl she is                                 

      Monday 7 May 2012 a shopping mall in Langkawi, picking up interesting decorative applications as part of the deco.Bamboo poles for one.

 Tuesday 8 May 2012 breakfast at MacDonald, discovering the advertised menu 

                                                    
                       Langkawi Airport, Its tax free shopping a great puller

                                        
Gunong Mat Chincang and the Hanging Bridge viewed from the top cable car- station

                             
                      Parts of Langkawi Island, view from the Cable Car Station

                                                         

At Telaga Harbour yachts and boats anchored. Facilities available here make this part of Langkawi a great place to be included on the tour

   Feeling much at home as if they are ours. Not to worry there many boats for hire now. Make your choice and you could sail into the sunset with dinner included.
                                   
                          Wednesday 9 May 2012  9.30 am at Kuah Jetty

                
                      The young boy seems to declare that all were great.

A  good seven days gone and what other activities are ready for us in the following week. One for sure we will receive a busload of visitors on Friday as my sister and her husband accompany them from Kota Bharu on a visit to Kedah. Not often you get the opportunity to play host and hostess.