Gunung Jerai with Pakciks!

I've just read an article that UN has come out with a statistic that stated Malaysia is the 9th Most Visited Country in 2011. Hurray! 'Some' Malaysians love condemning the tourism people for spending a lot but it seems that this fact by UN didn't get them interested? 

(Source)

Anyhow, 2 weeks back me and my Geng Pakciks went to Jerai Hill in Kedah for hiking. Jerai is almost 1000m height. I know that it would be difficult, but as I said previously, time with my Pakciks are moments that you need to cherished every moments I could. So I was up for it!


With a start, there are 1000 stairs that we need to go through before starting the hiking. But having a weak knee does not help at all. I'm truly sorry to Pakciks for them to bear with me waiting while I got myself up the hill, but seriously the pain was too much :-(

The route after the stairs is okay though. Sometimes it is steep, while some places are not. Still I would need to stop for once in a while (Sorryyyy again). Along the path, there are some kind of weird 'words' that were tagged on trees which I believe was the 'jin' or 'bunian' which were released by their masters as some people said this place was widely known for that purpose. Seram kan?


But the scenery, the structure and color is breathtaking. The trees are sometimes contrast in color even they are the same kind. That is simply weird, but interesting though. Many big, I mean BIG trees which must have been hundreds of years there. As it gets higher, the temperature seems to reduce and before reaching the peak, you'll meet again with stairs which are not as steep as the one at the start.


And at last, at the peak, at the summit of Jerai, I finally get it through! Hip hip, hurray! On top of the hill, there is a Residence Hotel. A nice place where you can see the paddy fields and seas. Superb. There are restaurants where you can enjoy meals (which I don't have the chance as the place were full) and mosque. Penat semua dah tak rasa bila sampai atas, it feels worth it.


After performing Zohor prayer, we decided to get down as we planned to go for a swim at the foot of Jerai. Believe me, going down is not as easy as climbing up. The pain on my knees was twice as before. I was tryingggg soo SUPER DUPER hard not to complain or moan as these Pakciks were moving quite quick and it would break my heart to disappoint them. 


I didn't remember how long did we take to go down, but when a lady at a stall asked the time we take to go up, Encik Nine answered with an exaggerated answer, and of course, the lady was amazed. Hehe. He thought the lady was asking about the time we went down. Tapi serba salah nak betulkan, biarkan je. Bagi that lady seronok, Nine pun seronok... Hihi. 


Instead of swimming, we simply 'took a bath' at the stream. Going there for a swim is something I would not suggest.


I know these Pakciks will MOST PROBABLY took a lesser time if I was not around but I'm 200% sure that they didn't mind at all, but still, I feel bad.
Maybe I should put a second thought next time to join this kind of activity. 


p.s. Waiting patiently for our Pakciks trip to Vietnam :-)

Visit Perak 2012 - Sungai Klah Hotspring

And my journey continues! Next trip - Sungai Klah Hotsprings!
Located about 10 minutes drive from the exit of Sungkai (PLUS highway), this place is also known as Felda Hosprings. The entrance is RM12/person and you can go to various pool, from cold mountain streams to hotsprings.


My department held our Family Day here. There is a package where you can find chalets to stay, games that they could organized, lunch or dinner treat etc.


Sungai Klah Hotsprings is one of the hottest points in Malaysia, where there is 1 point which has been converted into a egg boiling pool. You can buy eggs to boil them, and instruction on how you wanted them to be boiled, 1/4 boiled, 1/2 boiled or hard boiled. It depends on how long you put those eggs inside the pool. 


Plus, there is also a reflexology features, where the jutting stones under the water can help the blood's circulation in our body. A colleague of mine said that if you managed to go through the reflexology route without any much pain, then you're in good shape. However, if you don't, then there is something wrong with your body. I'm not sure about that though. 


You can visit the water theme park surrounding the hotsprings which is the 'hot stuff' of Sungai Klah especially to kids. Maybe the park is not as fancy as Sunway Lagoon or Bukit Merah, but Sungai Klah Hotsprings can definitely offer more with its hotspring pools at many levels of temperature.


Listed as one of the icon of Perak, Sungai Klah Hotspring is definitely an amazing getaway for families to chill.

Warkah Terakhir Rosli Dhoby.

I was watching a malay drama last Sunday, Kashaf Imani. I didn't get the chance to watch the ending of the telemovie as we had a guest at our home. So I googled it and I found this drama series, Warkah Terakhir Rosly Dhoby on youtube. It was played by the same actor of Kashaf Imani, Beto Kusyairy.

It's a true story on a 17 years old Rosli Dhoby, intelligent with nationalist spirit. He was keen to build up the Sarawakians when he started to volunteer becoming a part time teacher at Sekolah Rakyat (People's school) for free. He then joined the PPM, a party fighting for the Sarawakians against the British, then he was pulled in to join Rukun 13, a subsidiary of PPM which the approach was rather different which was to fight with blood.

The drama also slotted in the elements of family ties, friendship and love in Rosli Dhoby's life and how was everyone got affected by the decision when Rosli Dhoby finally was 'forced' the Rukun 13  to kill the British Governor in Sarawak on the 3rd of December 1949. He was then charged for murder and executed.

"Menuntut ilmu itu juga adalah jihad"

I might not agree how Rukun 13 (Pak Bujang, Ramli and Morshidi) on getting Rosli Dhoby to be involved in the movement of Rukun 13, as to me, Rosli Dhoby was already a jihadist, a hero on building knowledge among the Sarawakians children. He voluntarily be a teacher at a Sekolah Rakyat (People's school) where the Sarawakians sent their children to school for free. Rukun 13 might get someone else instead. I believe he could do more. But anyhow, I could not judge more as the experience was of course different back then. 

The sacrifices made by Rosli Dhoby was huge and it is embarrassing for us today to claim what had we done for this beloved country. It would be tiny as to compare to his, and he was only 17. Rosli Dhoby was truly a hero, a nationalist to the Sarawakians, and of course, to Malaysians.

So guys, please take good care of the country.

It's not easy to be where we are now.

Well done Beto Kusyairy. You really made me feel. Great acting.

This drama series is by far the best one so far.


Al-Fatihah to Rosli Dhoby. Semoga perjuangannya diterima Allah SWT dan ditempatkan di kalangan orang-orang yang beriman.

Freedom.

We are moving to a world where everyone was fighting for freedom.

But how actually do you define freedom?

Freedom is too subjective. Everything we do has a restriction of limit or border with rules and regulations. It's just how far would you put those lines.

"Perlakuan manusia tanpa peraturan dan had akan membawa kepada ... "

I would not write much on this.

Let the world decide.