Posting kali ini banyak bergambar. Ambil masa 4 hari baru siap. Maybe 4 minggu lagi baru posting seterusnya?:P Selamat membaca dan melihat gambar;)
gambar hiasan - merenung langit
Ada orang suruh saya menulis begini…
“Saya bertemu dengan seorang putera kacak di sebuah istana lama.. Sungguh tidak disangka2 dia muncul, setelah lama saya menunggu.. Dia adalah seorang Prince Charming yang saya nanti2kan”
Saya rasa jikalau saya bermula dengan bercerita begitu, mungkin sebenarnya saya sedang berfikir untuk menulis novel. In which, I am really not good in writing about feeling towards the opposite gender. After all you wont think I am writing this kind of stuff after a long silence, would you? heheh tak mengapa, saya sendiri sudah tergelak besar dan rasa nak 'pengsan' bila disuruh menulis itu atas nama saya. So since menghargai rakan yang memerah minda memikirkan ayat2 itu, saya quote sahaja daripada dia:P.
Oh, another news.. This time my writing will mix a lot on English and Bahasa Melayu (Malaysia?). I’m sharing my experiences and point of view. Jadi maafkanlah saya yang mencampur-adukkan bahasa.
So what was actually happen?
Last weeked (From Saturday to Monday), I am considering myself as utilizing my leave and visits to Ipoh to really explore the places there. Went to Ipoh initially for a wedding dinner of one very close colleague (her love story itself already feel like being in a film), we (me, my junior/friend Laili and her brother) started our journey by car a little late at 2.30am in the morning of Saturday. Arrived there at about 5.30am in the morning where I was really sleepy (and tired). It was an adhoc change of the original plan to go back by early Saturday’s morning, due to urgent matters we were rushed preparing our luggage – Thank Allah for everything was in. After Subuh prayer, we have a rest (in peace). At about 11.30 am, we had our brunch at a café/restaurant next to Open University in Ipoh before continue our explorations.
Saturday, 20th
I did not planned to go for shopping in the first place. Our first location was Greentown Shopping Complex. Did some window shopping there, ended up bought two blouses. After that we went to Jaya Jusco. Was looking for one good camera, and in need of it since I want to capture my trip this time. After quite sometimes I managed to get my own digital camera. I think God knows better, at last I believe I get the best one as this is among the latest edition. Watched in a Korean drama about the camera used in the drama that can be attached to the TV and use remote control to play it back (is it already here for quite sometimes already?). My camera is something like that. AlHamdulillah. After all the money I save to get this. :) (but still I think I can get better offer and free bits if I bought it in KL.. if I have more time to negotiate with the salesperson..)
Went out from JJ Ipoh, arrived to the house at about 7.30pm, rushed preparing ourselves for the dinner. Arrived there at about 8.30 pm, saw familiar faces among the crowd. There were so many people attending the wedding. As this is the first time I attended an Indian wedding, we were kind of lost. I tried to ask around (as the bride informed us she already reserved several tables for us) and we managed to get our seats. Had some chit chat, ate and took photos.
After the dinner, we went to the town to have a drink with my colleagues from KL. Went to one of the warung near Saloma Bistro (not sure if the Bistro is still operating or not) Someone stopped my friend and I, asked us about the Royal’s family names. We were a little bit confused, answered few of the questions and unable to answer the rest. My friend is from Ipoh. So she knew at least the name of the Sultan (King) and Permaisuri (Queen). I knew the King’s name and the King First Son’s name only. Hehe Kuala Lumpur and Melaka has no King after all. Had teh tarik and sotong kangkung, my colleagues invited me to join them staying at Casuarina hotel. Apologized to them as we already had our own plans.
After that, they went back and we (didn’t went back obviously) with our traditional baju kurung and kebaya went to the Night Market. I mean, it was in the middle of the night and it is still operating the business. It is a real Night Market. Most of the stuff avaialable are handphones casing, handbags, bags, shoes etc. Did some survey to find a handphone and camera’s casing. I bought one for my camera.
I forget what time did we arrived home, went to sleep and woke up in the morning of Sunday, 21st.
We went to have breakfast at the café next to the Open Uni, which is near to Lokin (not sure how to spell it). This cafe actually owned by the brothers of my friend. I tried one of the special menu - roti bakar with special homemade jem. A must to try. Highly recommended. Jem istimewa diperbuat daripada buah2an tropika.
Lokin, also known as Memory Lane is a place where you can get all sort of things from the antiques to the latest items.
I saw a number of antiques lamps, typewrites, old coins, knives, keris, parang (panjang pendek semua pun ada), needles, benang, lampu, wayar, spannar, candle light stands, old fashion handbags, shoes, used shoes, old magazines, dulang, periuk belanga etc etc. banyak betul barang. Dan dalam senarai2 barang lama itu, guess what did I found? This 1 set VCD of latest drama/soap opera Korean Movie: Fireworks , currently playing at NTV7 every weekdays night. Peminat2 barang2 lama mesti berminat nak berjalan2 di sana. Duit syiling lama boleh dapat pada harga RM2.50 sekeping. Oh, ya antara barang pelik yang saya jumpa ialah kupon letak kereta lama…
duit-duit lama & syiling lama close-up
perhiasan dulang lama
What did I bought? Buah salak. :D
Middle of the day, we went to Muzium Ipoh. Unfortunately, it was close due to maintenance and will be opened only on middle of February. Ada sebuah kubu persembunyian semasa serangan udara di sana. Kami ambil gambar (dan bergambar di situ juga). Inilah rupanya tempat persembunyian itu. Batunya keras dan tebal.
kubu persembunyian serangan udara
Then, we headed to Stesen Keretapi Ipoh. Took some picture of a tree named 'Pokok Ipoh', planted in the middle of small taman in front of the railway station. So, the place was called 'Ipoh' by the name of the tree. Reason? Maybe because of the tree's benefits. Read down here..
stesen keretapi ipoh (under renovation)
pokok ipoh
info pokok ipoh
After that we went to OldTown Café (3 tingkat youuu..) at Greentown Business Center. Had the famous White Coffee and Toasted Bread there. The dishes price there is OK, menu is just like the other kopitiam (chiness coffee house). It is air-cond, nice sofa, nice interior design, and the waiters/waitresses are all equipped with small walkie talkie (just like the one used by the bodyguards)..wahhh hebat.. eheheh .
I went there with my friend and her younger & youngest sisters. The youngest sisters (called herself ‘Ya’) is a 15-years-old girl who is very active in Basket Ball. A player of her school, she ordered one bread (I don’t remember the name.. something more or less like ‘iron bread’ and ice-blended hazelnut coffee. To her the ice-blended tastes a little bit bitter, but to us the adults we feel it is nice. Her sister was teasing her saying that she needs to get used with the bitter taste if she wants to grown up. She responded with, “Kalau macam ni, taknaklah besar sampai bila2”. Nevermind, we concluded that she has not fully developed her coffee cells in her body yet.
signature dish for OldTwon WHite Coffee - toasted bread
..... the iron bread...... eaten by Ya...
Laili's sisters
Later, my friend and I went to err… tak tahu nak panggil apa, tapi kedai yang jual pasu bunga, dan bunga dan juga perhiasan untuk perkahwinan. The prices there are not bad. Quite cheap. I bought two stroll of ribbons (untuk perhiasan bila beri hadiah). Then we walked to another shop and another shop, bought few more items. About 45 minutes there, we went to Gunung Lang. Laili’s sister accompanied and showed us the place.
Gunung Lang.
It has a small lake there, with really Big fishes. I think the height of the fishes on average more than 1 meter. The counter sells fish food at 50cents per bag. There is an island, a small one in the middle of the lake. To go there by boat, you need to pay RM5 (pergi-balik) for return-ticket. But not so much activity to do here. Children playground, and nice view. . There are a lot they can do here to put some attractions, such as service for kayaking, water-bicycles, horse/donkey riding etc. I think there must be a reason for not offering that kind of services to the visitors. I heard the boat-rider talked about mysterious lake-animal that appeared at night time, or latest by the time they close the place. Last boat back to the land is by 6.30pm.
view from a tower on the island
to penonton Meteor Garden: jalan ni mcm dalam cerita tu kan?
Lewat petang.. kami pulang..berehat sahaja. Tidak ke mana-mana.
Rancangan asal akan pulang di malam hari. Usai mandi, kami menonton CSI di Astro. Duduk2 sambil minum teh dan makan roti bakar, i can't stand my eyes. So at about 12.00 mid nite i excused myself, informed Laili to wake me up when they want to make a move, went back to the room to have some short sleep. with full attire, and socks as well. lastly i found out i woke up at about 6.00 am and was still at the same room.
Monday,22nd
We started our day with a breakfast at the same cafe. I choosed to have the bread with special homemade jem because i knew that it's gonna take some time before i can taste it again.
Discussed about our next 'check point', Laili proposed to go for Mee Kari /BeeHoon Soup at Megoplax Shopping Complex. So there we were, after some went-a-around and sure-or-not-this-is-the-way since the pilot appeared to be consufed with the roads. hehehe. She claimed it has been sometimes she went there, and usually she didn't go out much if she came back hometown. OK, you are forgiven dear. :P
After had our meals, we walked aroung the place. I saw ice-cream counter selling my hard-to-find ice cream flavour there.. Chocolate Mint. Requested for the ice cream, unfortunately it was too hard to scoop. The counter lady suggested other flavours ice-cream, but i just want to have that flavour, not ice cream. Sadly, i cancelled the request. Gosh! Kenapalah sesuatu yang saya suka tu susah betul nak carik.. :P
Walked around and did bought some cookies because they look cute. hoohoh i just want to taste those cookies. Those cookies were in the shape and colours of apple, corn, strawberry, pineapple etc. I bought the corns. Actually it is a pineapple tart. But it is very nice. The taste, a little bit sweet.
Next, we moved to Kellie's Castle... (the place where the 1st paragraph mentioned).
Kellie's Castle aka Istana Kellie
reka bentuk tingkap dan pintu berbentuk kubah
Ada banyak papan tanda/penerangan di situ. Salah satunya mengenai jalan ini..
Jalan di koridor bawah... dan koridor atas...
jangan biarkan hidup anda diselubungi misteri...
Dikatakan, ada orang selalu nampak roh tuan rumah berlegar2 di jalan ini. Betul ke tidak saya tak tahu. Tengoklah gambar kat atas, mana tahu nampak sesuatu? :P
Rumah ini sangat tinggi. Ada 4 tingkat. Dan tingkat teratas, kita boleh naik lagi sehingga ke bumbung. Di atas tu tiba2 saya rasa salah satu fear factor saya ialah tinggi. Saya rasa gayat. Tiba2 tidak boleh berdiri. Tapi ambil gambar macam2 pose kami buat di atas sana. Kelakar juga. Sebabnya ada sebatang pokok yang sangat menarik, kami jadikan latar belakang gambar2 kami.
Kediaman Kellie ini ada dua bahagian; bahagian baru adalah istana 4 tingkat dengan beberapa belas bilik. Bangunan ini tidak pernah siap sebenarnya, sebab tuan rumah tersebut meninggal ketika membeli perkakas rumah di luar negara. Bangunan kedua yang bersambung dengan bangunan baru melalui jalan luar adalah rumah asal keluarga Kellie. Bangunan tersebut sepatutnya 2 tingkat, tapi tingkat 2 sudah hampir tiada. Ada 3 terowong rahsia dibina semasa pembinaan Istana Kellie. Untuk pergi ke sini, perlu melalui jambatan batu yang merentasi sebatang sungai yang dalam. Ada pengurusan yang menjaga kawasan ini, untuk itu setiap pengunjung dewasa dikenakan bayaran RM5.00. Ada juga kedai makan. Jadi tak perlu risau lapar dan haus.
Belum habis mengambil gambar, tiba2 bateri kamera sudah habis. Kami berehat sebentar di wakaf berhadapan bangunan. Sambil minum dan makan makanan ringan yang dibawa. Melihat jam, rupa2nya sudah hampir 3 jam kami di situ. Panas dan berpeluh, saya buka cermin mata. Kami berbual2 mengenai istana, kawasan sekeliling dan membayangkan apa yang pernah berlaku di situ dan bagaimana keadaannya kalau istana tersebut siap.. Ketika itu kami lihat segerombolan orang lama sekali di kawasan hadapan, di atas jambatan.
A: Apa diorang buat tu? Lama betul kat sana...
B: Entah, ambil gambar kot. Tu banyak kamera.
Tiba2 ada seseorang datang ke arah kami. Dia tengok kami, kami tengok dia. Dia senyum, kami senyum balik. Dia tengok bangunan dan ambil gambar di sekeling, kami tengok bangunan dan tengok dia balik. Cerita bangunan tadi sudah berubah.
A: Tingginya orang tu.
B: ..Hmm..
A: Rasa2nya dia tinggi tak?
B: Tinggi.
A: Angguk2..
B: Dia main futsal.
A: ?? Macamana tahu? (takkan kenal kot?)
B: Kaki dia panjang.
A: Oh, yer? Kenapa futsal?
B: Sbb orang yang main bola, kaki dia lain.. (dua2 blank...) Ok, dia seorang outdoors.
A: Setuju yang itu..
Kami diam. Kemudian tiba2 ada suara.
A: Agak2 dia dah kawin?
B: Belum. Mungkin dah.
(selepas bertukar2 pandangan...)
"Dia mungkin dah kawin. Mungkin belum. Kalau belum, rasanya dia sudah berpunya".
Kami bersetuju.
Kenapa tiba2 dia menjadi perhatian?
Sebab dia mengingatkan saya kepada orang ini..
Saya fikir mungkin juga.
Tapi kata lain, saya menghargai kecantikan sebenarnya. Orang yang kami temui ini (tidak diketahui namanya), antara orang2 yang Allah kurniakan kecantikan. Kerana saya pernah terfikir betapa cantiknya (kacak?) Nabi Allah Yusuf, betapa indahnya para malaikat yang menjadi dugaan bagi Kaum Luth, bagaimanakah gambarannya. Dan melihat orang2 yang cantik (perempuan sudah ramai kan?), terus mengingatkan saya betapa kerdilnya ciptaan saya ini. Jadi kalau ciptaan yang di hadapan mata sudah sebegini cantik, bagaimana pula dengan Nabi Allah Yusuf, dengan Rasulullah SAW dan tentukan betapakah cantiknya Sang Pencipta itu sendiri?
CSI semalamnya berkisar seorang suspek seorang jurugambar profesional; dikaitkan dengan pembunuhan gadis bawah umur. Gambar2 di rumahnya banyak gambar2 gadis bawah umur dalam keadaan b*gel. Simpan gambar2 gadis bawah umur boleh dikenakan tindakan, tapi tidak jika atas nama seni. A tiny line between these two conditions kan..?
Dalam perjalan ke Clearwater Sanctuary (saje nak tengok tempat apa ni..rupanya Golf Club & ada juga tempat memancing); kami sambung berbual.
A: Boleh tak kalau kita ambil gambar lelaki tu tadi?
B: Atas dasar apa?
A: Ialah, atas dasar seni. Appreciation of the arts. He's one of the arts. Bukan senang kan nak jumpa lelaki yang macam dia. Almost perfect creature.
B: Berlandaskan apa? Dari sudut yang mana..?
A: Kalau lelaki minta ambil gambar perempuan, macam tak susah atau pelik sgt kan? kalau perempuan ambil gambar lelaki? Kalau dari sudut Timur (ketimuran)?
B: Kalau dari (sudut) Timur, mungkin boleh. Walau macam tak biasa.
A: Kalau dari sudut agama?
B: Hmm..tak boleh, kot. ...
A: Yelah, rasanya tak boleh juga sebenarnya.
Rupanya ada hikmah kamera habis bateri.
Kenapa tak boleh? Tgklah pendapat masing2, tapi bagi saya takut ada masalah hati nanti. :) Sedangkan menjaga hati (dari mendekati sesuatu yang boleh mendatangkan kepada keburukan) itu juga perisai ilmu supaya tak hilang begitu sahaja dan diri supaya tak hanyut dengan fahaman sendiri. Lagipun nak dibandingkan ntah gambar sapa2 yang terjumpa di net dan seseorang yang kita tahu mana nak cari, yang kedua lebih bahaya kan.. ? Allahu'alam.
Teringat perbualan dengan Mudin beberapa tahun yang lalu. Tentang lelaki cantik dan perempuan cantik. "Perempuan cantik, bila berjalan ada satu syaitan bersamanya. Lelaki cantik, bila berjalan ada 2 syaitan bersamanya. Bermaksud lelaki yang cantik itu lebih banyak godaannya dari luar dan dalam". (betul tak Mudin?;) )
Jadi bagi lelaki2 cantik di luar sana, semoga anda tidak kalah dengan godaan & dugaan dan sentiasa mengingatkan diri anda. Dan bagi yg melihat lelaki yang cantik (saya jugalah itu) moga2 Allah pelihara hati2 kita.
Oh, ya..sebagai penamatnya, selepas Clearwater Sanctuary kami berkemas dan pulang ke Kuala Lumpur... Jam 10.30 malam Isnin terasa terubat rindu bila menjejakkan kaki ke rumah. After all, "Home sweet Home".
:)
Notes:
* Gambar lelaki di atas adalah Kang Ji-Hwan, pelakon lelaki Korea.