Old relic...!

I can't believe the sound I heard was came from a very old relic!


Today, I went to a wedding party at Kampung Bahagia, a few kilometers away from Teluk Intan of Perak but this time, Kompang Java was played. The instruments were looked very old, then I asked one of the Kompang players about the Beduk or Big Drum.

He said, the skin was about 20 years old and the drum body was older... even he can't remember when was it made. He said, the drum was already there in 1950's.


So, it must be older... much-much older than me.

He said the body was made from a kind of Jackfruit tree. Can you imagine how big the tree was? Very-very big...

At least 60 years old...

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FromTaiping with Memories

I was once studied in Taiping, it's a boarding school. And after 21 years, I tracked down my memory lane: from Char Koew teow to Taiping Lake garden to Taiping Zoo ... and to Maxwell Hill or Bukit Larut.


Seems like the town hasn't changed much.

Taiping Lake Garden

Bukit Larut

Pasar Lama Taiping

Bukit Larut Tea House

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The Malay Kompang

It's a Malay tradition to have 'kompang' played in a wedding. It has nothing to do with the wedding ceremony however it's a good 'traditional beat' that is being taken out by modern music and paid deejay.

There are types of Kompang and this one is known as Kompang Jawa. A major diference with Kompang Malayu is the big drum made from cowhide, known as 'Beduk'. Other Kompang players may use Gong to replace the Beduk.

This is my niece's wedding.

This Kompang group was founded by my late father and the tradition is kept alive, thanks to my brother.





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Sungai Perak - it's not sport fishing, we just love the meat...

Back in Perak, we used to go fishing in several rivers but in recent months, we were fishing in Sg Perak or Sg Kinta. Our favourite fishing spots?... ah! They are not something like floating pontoon or platform. It's more like these...




Clear sky...




Sometimes.. raining




My fishing rod...

 It's wild and dangerous as it used to be. Yes, these are our spots since some 22 years ago!
This is because we are looking for some exotic tropical fish such as 'Jelawat', 'Ara-Ara', 'Lampam' and ' Sebarau'. I understand that we can buy these fish at the wet market but trust me they are all from ponds or aquaculture fish. And of course the taste is different.





Jelawat




Ara-ara but others may call it in different names




Lampam Jawa

 We used to fish fresh water prawns or 'Udang Galah' at different spots in those years but now, fresh water prawns are seasonal and years of erosion of the river banks due to tropical heavy rainfall had changed their habitat a bit. Now, it is advisable to get on boat or 'sampan'.

We still do fishing occasionally and we have our fishing gear in the car boot, always .. and ready for action.




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One night in Kuala Kangsar

Kuala Kangsar is just 15 minutes drive North of Ipoh via PLUS highway. And some 15 minutes more from the Kuala Kangsar exit, you'll arrive at the heart of the Royal town of Perak. The infamous landmark of Kuala Kangsar is Masjid Ubuddiah, a beutifull mosque painted in royal yellow, black and pearl-white.

In November 2010, we went for a holiday in Kuala Kangsar and we spent our night at Kuala Kangsar Rest House, located on a hill not far away from Sungai Perak. In fact, we could see people fishing on its sandy river bank from the balcony.

A view from Kuala Kangsar Rest House balcony, 4pm

Catching river monsters...

The next day, we went to pottery village known as Sayong. We bought two huge clay vases. Just before that, the owner explained to us the process of making the vase. Hmm... interesting.

Labu Sayong

The oldest known rubber tree in Malaysia can be found not far away from Malay College Kuala Kangsar. Its age? More than 100 years.

Malaysia's oldest rubber tree

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