Meeting The 'Locals'
...... I got lost! Right after I was fully charged with positive energy, I retraced my steps back, in the cave, seeing the limestone formations from another angle gave me more surprises! The return trip isalways faster, very soon I was at the entrance I firstcame in. There, I saw a staircase leading up to a viewing point. Thinking to have another perspective of Gua Kelam and Kaki Bukit, I went up without hesitation. It’s easy to hike up with steps, but when I was at the viewing deck, the view was almost blocked by trees, thus I decided to challenge climbing up further. The next part up had no steps, and had sharp rocks, thus I had to be careful. But I made it up in the end, and was rewarded a full view of the Nakawan Range! I managed to get a nice view of Kaki Bukit and its surrounding! I completely didn’t realise how quiet the place became, suddenly I felt weird and thus decided to descend. While going down, I couldn’t find the staircase,I kept going down the same path, I wasn’t lost but going around in circles. There was no cellular service here so I couldn’t use Google Maps, I started to panic. I felt a cold wind blowing, not paying attention to the ground, I stumbled on something and fell, injuring my leg. Bleeding, I used a few pieces of dried leaves to cover the wound. Worried, I knew I had tocalm down. Once the bleeding stopped, I was determined to get out of the place. Suddenly I heard voices, how relieved! I then found the staircase. Very soon, I saw a group of university students being led by the staff of the Gua Kelam park. The staff was surprised seeing me walking down from the staircase! He said it’s very dangerous up there. I then explained I didn’t see any signboards saying it was dangerous. He told me once a group of professional hikers got lost on the nearby hill, and when they found a way down, they were at the Thai side of the border. ...... Gua Kelam is spooky Then our topic changed to Gua Kelam. Grandpa told me that Gua Kelam is very ‘dirty’, he meant in a haunted way. He told me he always saw ‘beings’, especially at the basketball court, he even saw them playing basketball, and sometimes when he wanted some fresh air at night after not being able to sleep, he can see them walking in front of his house. Grandpa: “Well, actually they are not bad, when you are used to them, you won’t be afraid anymore. Most important thing is they never disturbed me, likewise I’ll never disturb them.” FuFu: “Agree! We must respect each other, even we are living in different planes.” Grandpa: “Exactly! I If you ever meet them, don’t be afraid, you must tell them you are a tourist, coming here to visit and have no bad intentions. As long as you don’t disturb them, they won’t disturb you too. When grandpa’s friend came, I said goodbye andwalked to a kopitiam for lunch and waited for my bus to the next destination. ...... -- Get the book now. --
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Meetings At Field And Rivers
...... Exploring the paddy fields by foot is not a badchoice. Walking on, I suddenly saw a straw hatmoving in the field, moving closer I saw it was afarmer. He was probably in his 60s – 70s, but when he spoke, he sounded like a young man! He was digging a waterway to drain the water as he mentioned the crops can be harvested in 10 days. This farmer was very friendly. He said I came at the right time as the paddy stalks were golden. Knowing I came from Kuala Lumpur, he suggested I walk to Sungai Burong to catch the sunset, elaborating there will also be many birds to spot there. I followed his advice, and took the shortcut he told me about. The journey got even more wonderful I came to the river mouth after 15 minutes ofwalking. There were many fishing boats here.I wanted to try the local mee udang but the stall was closed. Then I continued walking till a manmade embankment, searching for a good spot to catch the sunset. It was low tide, and I could see some creatures moving around in the mud. Behind mewas a mangrove, and many birds were flying homefor the day. I found a rock to sit on, and observed a flock oflarge birds in the sky, there were so many of them! How impressive all were moving in a uniform shape. As for the sea in front of me? It was nature’s stage, the waves nature’s band, and the birds the dancers — what a great natural play! After a while, I ventured around. There was a couple enjoying the sunset too. And also a photographer with his tripod capturing the scene. I struck up a conversation with him and found out he was from Tanah Merah, Kelantan, and has been in Pulau Pinang for 10 years. He has made Pulau Pinang his home with his family. He was truly intrigued with my travels by bus and knowing I walked from Pekan Genting to Sungai Burong, he offered to give me a lift to the bus stop after sunset. I was very happy to hear this! We both continued watching the sunset while snapping away the shutters. ...... -- Get the book now. -- Walk into paradise
I got off in front of Kampung Tasik Raban and walked around the village a bit. Not only did they have well preserved traditional Malay houses, the place was alive with wild ducks and chickens. I followed a few, chasing them like a child. But unexpectedly they brought me to a beautiful spot that overlooked the lake. There was a pakcik about 100 meters away fishing, and several abandonedsampans. I continued walking and passed another village by the lake, there were ducks swimming here and also a man with a group of children in the lake. How wonderful, a natural swimming pool! I greeted the man and observed the children for a while. I then went on to the designated sightseeing point of Tasik Raban. There’s a quietness and calmness from the still waters of the lake reflecting the surrounding mountainscapes. With touch-me-nots growing all around, and their yellow flowers in full bloom under clear blue skies, it felt truly like paradise. I speak good Bahasa Melayu! Suddenly, grey clouds started to gather and not long it started pouring. I ran to a small hut, there I met two makciks and a pakcik, we shared the hut while it rained. They were very friendly and shared their food with me. We enjoyed eating and chatting together, completely ignoring the sudden downpour. They praised that my Bahasa Melayu (BM) was good. Well, BM is our national language, I have been speaking BM since I was young, although I havenot been in Malaysia for 10 years, not speaking itoften, I still can’t forget it! Pak Din: “Both of us are from Kota Tinggi, we went to Taiping to visit my sister. She brought ushere today.” Kak Nona: “What are you doing here alone?” FuFu: “I am currently travelling around Northern Malaysia by bus. I don’t have a car, so I took a busfrom KL, to Tanjung Malim, Bidor, Tapah. ... Andtoday I’m here in Tasik Raban. I’m heading to Penang, Perlis and Kedah. ... Nice meeting you guys today!” Kak Nona: “Do people still travel by bus now? In Malaysia? That’s interesting, sounds exotic!” ...... -- Get the book now. -- A Library Visit
...... The librarian was very friendly. Once I stepped in she smiled at me. I love the way she welcomed me, it made me feel comfortable immediately. I asked her if there were any books related to Kampar? She immediately brought me to a corner and took two books out, ‘Kampar 100 years 1886 – 1986’and ‘The Trenches of Kampar and Memories’. Hooray! These books recorded the history about Kampar for over a century. ...... Young ladies love taking photos Kampar was very conservative in the 60s, even as fashion trends changed to more revealing wear, the women couldn’t follow them. Under such circumstances, they came up with an idea to gather on certain dates, dressed in skirts, and meet up at Kampar’s most famous garden. They wrap their skirts in paper bags while making their way to the garden. Only to change upon reaching. After taking photos, they would change back and head home. As they can’t wear revealing clothes on a daily basis, they draw satisfaction from wearing them to take photos. This activity caught on and soon became a thing for many women on weekends. Developing a black and white photo cost $1 per piece that time, colour would be $1.50. It was expensive at that time yet many were willing. willing. There was another group of people who also liked taking photos. For those ladies who were married, the reason they went to the photo shop was to ‘let their bad luck be absorbed’. They strongly believed before going to gamble, they must let the camera absorb their back luck. Thus they could do better at the casinos. Does this trick actually work? But interestingly after a while, these ladies would go to photo shop to have their photos taken regardless if they won or lost. It must have become a habit! The Trenches of Kampar and Memories Kampar was directly impacted by WWII. The planes, bullets, bombs, and the marching of soldiers had disturbed the calm of Kampar. During the war between the British and Japanese, localsfled Kampar town. Even before WWII, the Japanese had sent spies to Kampar. Most of them who came to Kampar set up shops selling Japanese wares, a private school for the rich and royal family members, photo shops, and even a prostitution centre to gather info, get familiar with the surrounding topography, draw maps, and familiarise routes that connect with Kampar. The prostitutes were all Japanese, in total there were 10. The centre had a massage and spa service, business was very good. The rich especially British soldiers loved to go there! When the prostitutes were serving, they would often ask, “Which military unit are you from?”, “Who is the person in-charge?”, “Where are you based at?”, “How long are you going to be based there?”, “How many military teams in total?”, “How many of you guys in a team?”, etc. These questions seemed like normal questions during a conversation, and hence the soldiers would unknowingly reveal secrets. As for the photo shops operated by Japanese spies, most of the cameras and photo paper were all imported from Japan, and they sold it at a cheaper price to attract people to develop the photos there. Most often customers were made up of British military who could afford. They indirectly allowed the Japanese to gather information from the pictures, where have they been, with whom, etc. ...... -- Get the book now. -- Pre-order: 13 May - 31 May 2019
My Journey By Bus Perak • Pulau Pinang • Perlis • Kedah A bus ticket get you places, an open heart gets you hidden Malaysian experiences. My Journey By Bus RM 78 Free delivery nationwide Mystery gift Publication Date: July, 2019 Number of page: 272 (Colour) ISBN: 978-967-14983-1-6 Pre-Order Now! 😊 ① Payment with a bank account, kindly PM for the details ② Payment with debit/credit card, myjourneybybus.weebly.com/book.html ③ Payment with PayPal account, myjourneybybus.weebly.com/book.html ④ For International Delivery, myjourneybybus.weebly.com/book.html |
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