Tana Toraja where death is fun!

Quiet village of the Toraja at Kete Kesu

Proud and strong and untied tribe of Toraja

They bury their dead by the cliff face

I was taken in a catacomb..bit eerie but a good experience!

In the catacomb and I feel like an intruder!

Me again, fascinated by everything!

Or rather when someone dies there will be a big celebration and sometimes the remaining living relatives will have so much debt on them that they have to declare bankrupt.
It took three of us 10 hours and 40 minutes to complete a distance of 378 kilometers to reach Rantepao in Tana Toraja, but it was worth the trip.
The blue blood will bury their dead on the face of a limestone or a granitic cliff, why I do not know but nevertheless I found it unique.
Before they bury their dead they will celebrate by having a water buffalo fight and then the animals will be slaughtered for a big feast.
Well all of you must see how the Toraja lives and may be we can learn something!

Lunch with the new Yamtuan of Negeri Sembilan!

Posing with Yamtuan Besar Tuanku Muhriz and Tunku Ampuan Besar Tuanku Aishah Rohani, after the lunch.

He is definitely a well brought up young man and the future king. With Tunku Besar Seri Menanti Tunku Ali Redhauddin, the eldest son of Tuanku Muhriz.

I am being the first to be formally introduced to the Yamtuan!

Me and my old Negeri buddies, Mokhtar (standing) and the great Kamel at the Istana!

Duli Yang Maha Mulia (DYMM) Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus Tuanku Muhriz ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir, will be installed as the 11th Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan this coming month of October.
The installation will take place at the Royal Town of Seri Menanti from 22nd to 28th October 2009. A historic ceremony indeed, since the last one was held in 1968, when the late Tuanku Jaafar was installed the 10th Ruler of the state.
The announcement was made by Yang Amat Mulia (YAM) Tunku Besar Seri Menanti Tunku Ali Redhauddin, the eldest son of Tuanku Muhriz.
After the announcement I, and few others, was invited to have lunch with the man who would be the official king of Negeri Sembilan, and I found him to be a real people's king when he hosted the lunch without very much fanfare and strict protocol.
Speaking in his negeri accent, he and his wife, the new Tuanku Ampuan Besar Tuanku Aishah Rohani binte Almarhum Tengku Besar Mahmud, spoke and exchanged views without making us uncomfortable, hed dhas a very god sense of humour and I really appreciate that.
Tuanku Muhriz is already more well liked by his subjects when he dropped in at various mosques in his state unannounced, especially at the many mosques in Seri Menanti doing his Friday prayers.
He normally drove his old BMW with his unobtrusive body guards following him from afar.
A mark of a very considerate man! I believe I have my "old king" back to rule my state that is so steeped with so strong customs and traditions that one simply cannot ignore!
Daulat Tuanku!

My sauna and jacuzzi in the jungle!

My green dimension!

Enough water for 20 people at one time without re-pumping!

Our tubular well. It went 180 feet and struck gold!

My avocado trees that I planted!

My hideout plus the new annex where the sauna and jacuzzi lie!

I can now brush my teeth with total joy!

I will be spending a lot of time here thinking?

Another view of my new sink!

My sauna!

And yes! My jacuzzi!

Remember my house in the jungle well I have an additional extension made to it.
I have decided to have a tubular well, about 180 feet down, and lo and behold we struck water, a lot of water!
So the water is being pumped, via electricity, to the annex where I will have a nice shower, a jacuzzi and a nice toilet where I can read, while doing it, and listening to the jungle sound at the same time.
Below are some pictures I like to share with my friends.

Our beloved Gimp is gone we shall miss him.....

Gimp
1994-2009

Our beloved Gimp cat-person died very early this morning and he was with us for 15 human years, he is now buried behind our place where it is green and peaceful, just to let you all know. Gimp loved to lie down on the balcony floor every evening to watch the birds, especially. . May he rest in peace! Thank you!

To the upper reaches of historic Sungai Tembeling

We started at Kuala Tahan

Up river for the next four hours to Kampng Gusai

Final destination Gusai

Healthy water bufallo of Kampung Gusai

Sharing the planet

The only coffee shop at Kampung Gusai where I had nasi dagang in the morning

Orang bateq children

Who is staring at who!

The upper reaches of Sungai Tembeling in early morning where the air is crisp and cool!

Wonder what happens if this planet is rule by water buffallo!

The same river used by the Indian Sepoy employed by the British to quash a rebellion led by legendary Malay warrior Mat Kilau and his followers.
Mat Kilau harassed the British troops in the 18the century in Pahang namely around the Kuala Tahan area near the present day National Park, and Mat Kilau was chased by the British soldiers and the Indian Sepoy, but Mat Kilau fled to Terengganu using the now famous mountainous Mat Kilau Trail.
One day the British tricked Mat Kilau into surrendering, saying they were ready to accept defeat. As usual the Brits reneged on their promise and rounded up Mat Kilau and his followers and kill them.
I was there recently after twenty years, the last time I visited Kampung Bantal, Kampung Mat Daling and Kampung Gusai. Twenty years have not changed the villages for people still bathe by the river and they have to use long boat to get to Jerantut or to Kuala Tahan.
From Kuala Tahan we took a long boat to Kamping Bantal and then to Kampung Gusai. The trip by boat took us about four hours and how I wished there was a road from Kuala Tahan to these villages.
Along the way I took some pictures and would like to share them.

Obama: The next President of the world!

(This what I wrote back in January)

Hi!

I still remember my late father exclaiming in distress: "Oh my God! They shot Kennedy!" when JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. I was just a young kid then and I could not understand it, but I do now. I do now understand how a symbiotic relationships that is crucial to a survival of anything, especially between countries.
Malaysia could not have survive alone with Indonesia during the confrontation, if the Western power did not come to its aid. Malayan would speaking Japanese if it was not for the Allied forces defeating the Japanese, not that I mind if we speak any other language of colonisation, as it is today Malaysians speak English, but you know what I mean. We are talking about someone helping us to preserve our way of life.
Enough deviation already, but Barack Obama will bring fresh hopes for the world to live in peace, Republican right wing policy must be defeated. Like Kennedy, Obama is now touted as the future leader of the rest of the world, why? Because, America under any loony toon as a leader can just order the cruise missiles to be fired at anyone or at any country that is deemed as being "against us", to quote Bush Junior.
I just hope that Barack Obama will be THE candidate for the democratic party for the next US president comes the US presidential elections this November.

Good luck to you sir !

Weekend at my jungle retreat with my favourite people...twenty five of them!

My jungle retreat where twenty of my kinfolks gathered for a sleep over, barbecue, story-telling and a walk in the jungle!

Iman Azura and Ika, my nieces finally went to bed at three in the morning.

The early risers, two of my brattiest grand nieces Anis(in white) and Sarah (in red).

My other grand-nieces Faris and Shahira. Shahira asked: "Tok Lang what are you doing!" and I said: "Shhhhhh! I just want to embarrass you parents to the world!" She said: "Okay!"

The two brats again!

Spill over in a tents!

My cute niece Iman Azura and her favourite uncle!

Thats all we did eat!

It took me months to gather twenty five member of my family, including my 89-year-old mother Siti Awa Jaman, at our jungle retreat and finally two weekends ago I pulled it off. They came and they slept by the verandah on the kitchen floor and they love it.
One of my cute nieces, Roza, said just moved the coffee table and the sofas and "let sleep on the floor, as long as there bare no creepy crawlies," she said.
Five slept on the serambi using army cots and the rest in the kitchen, and many more in a pop tent.
So we barbecue chicken, beef, fish, hot dogs, corns, beef burger and we also barbecue vegetable such as aubergines (terong), ladyfingers. Oh yes we also barbecue one of littlest member of our family...no just joking!
At night we were telling stories and once in a while we ill jump when we hear strange noises coming at the back in the jungle. So the verdict? They all want to do it again. Enjoy the pictures!

Cheers!