DUBIC KE JANDA BAIK

Hari kedua, Grup DUBIC keluar dari concrete jungle into real jungle, dimana anginnya lebih nyaman dan segar. Destinasi kali ini ke Janda Baik. Tapi awas dong, Janda nya baik tapi perjalanan menemui Janda amat mencabar.






Bertemankan 2 teman speda dari Malaysia, Bapak Olmo dan Bapak Suhaimi, kami sudah siap untuk berspeda, bermula daripada Hospital Orang Asli di Gombak. Bapak Saiful nampaknya yang paling excited. Difahamkan Pak Saiful pada awalnya telah bertemu seorang gadis dari Gombak secara sepintas lalu. Langsung terpikat dan tidak sabar lagi untuk memulakan perspedaan dan mencari gadis Gombak. Sabar Pak Saiful, izinkan saya perkenalkan grup kita pagi ini. Dari kiri - saya, Pak Olmo (orang PJ aje), Pak Ardiman, Pak Tonto, Pak Saiful, Pak Suhaimi (orang Telekom la). Jurukamera nya Kahar, anak Pak Ardiman.







Udara sejuk dipagi hari sungguh memberangsangkan. Setiap kali aku berspeda disini, rasa hilang stress.





Memang al maklum Jalan Gombak ke Janda Baik tu mendaki. Bapak Olmo dan Bapak Suhaimi punyai speda jalan, lalu dengan sekejap waktu sudah jauh kehadapan dan hilang dari pandangan. Tapi ini tidak mematahkan semangat Bapak Saiful. Walaupun berspeda Mountain Bike dengan tayar off-road, beliau juga memecut, melintasi Bapak Ardiman! Gambar yang dapat aku ambil pun blurr, maklumlah, terlampau laju Babak Saiful ni.







Kalau dah laju sangat, beginilah akibatnya nanti..............bapak Saiful dan kudanya sudah pancit!






....dan perjalan seterusnya perlu didorongi oleh Bapak Ardiman, yang memang banyak bertenaga. Lain kali Pak Saiful harus lakukan pacing, heh...heh... begitu lah ya kalau umur kita sudah menjangkau separuh abad. Tapi, semangat dan mental attitude tetap positif ya



Dan Bapak Tonto pun apa kurangnya. Motosikal pun dipotongi!!! Err...kurang pasti saya samada motosikal tu baru menjelma semasa foto diambil....Tapi kan Pak Tonto tu sidekick Lone Ranger, jadi pasti bisa memotong motosikal kan????







Jalan terus menunggak dari mula hinggalah ke km 18. Pendakian secara terus telah mengakibatkan kecelakaan kecil sekali lagi. Kalau semalamnya ban basikal Kahar kebocoran, hari ini rantai basikalnya pula putus. Mekaniknya pasti McGyver Ardiman.





Setelah disambungi, nyata sekali rantai basikal nggak bisa meneruskan pendakian ke Janda Baik. Keputusannya -- make a U-turn back. Wajah Pak Saiful melukiskan kehampaan kerana nggak bisa ketemu Janda yang baik. Tapi at the same time, beliau juga mencuri senyum, maklumlah bila U-turn, yang pastinya jalan menurun!

So, it was just a short ride. Disebaliknya, ini memberi peluang kepada tetamu dari seberang untuk meneruskan sight-seeing diKL disebelah petang

Esoknya mereka berangkat pulang. Sampe ketemu lagi bapak-bapak kalian

DUBIC DI PUTRAJAYA

Mei 2, 2008

DUBIC Adventure. Begitu lah nama kumpulan speda yang menjejaki Pelabuhan Kelang kemarin. DUBIC adalah acronym bagi DURI BIKING CLUB, iaitu satu kumpluan penggemar speda MTB dari sebuah tempat yang bernama Duri, terletak di Sumatra. Mereka yang datang kali ini dikepalai oleh Bapak Ardiman. Bapak Ardiman merupakan kenalan ku melalui alam siber. Tegap orang nya, bertugas disebuah syarikat minyak yang besar di Duri

Bapak Ardiman kali ini membawa anaknya, Kahar untuk bersama. Dia seorang jejaka yang punyai banyak potensi. Dalam bidang renang, beliau top 5 di Indonesia bahagian breast-stroke. Top 5 di Indonesia bukan calang-calang. Juga seorang juara tilawah al-Quran. Memang Bapak Ardiman ni seorang bapa mithali.




Bersama dalam rombongan ini Bapak Tonto. Tinggi orangnya, memang saiz ahli gusti. Teringat aku cerita western cowboy Lone Ranger yang punyai side-kick bernama Tonto. Barangkalai inilah orangnya! Hanya "kuda" beliau kali ini punyai 24 gear dan tidak makan rumput!

Dan yang sentiasa tersenyum dan selalu bikin banyak jokes, Bapak Saiful. Baru pensiun dan punyai prinsip hidup yang relax. Beliau masih mencari barang-barangan yang bisa dibeli dengan harga RM1 !!!

Jam 7:30 pagi, mereka sudah sedia menanti transportasi untuk ke Putrajaya. Cuaca pagi ini agak membimbangkan kerana ada rintik-rintik hujan yang sudah turun. Tiba di Taman Warisan Pertanian di Putrajaya, the sky became beautiful. But first thing first. Sarapan pagi sebelum berspeda. Ada juga segelintir kaki-tangan pejabat kerajaan di Putrajaya yang sedang makan disini.

Destinasi pertama adalah Masjid Putrajaya. Di pagi Jumaat, sudah ramai tourist-tourist yang mengunjungi kawasan ini. Tidak dilepaskan peluang, pose pertama dari DUBIC team pastinya melatar belakangkan Masjid Putrajaya yang tersergam.

Kemudian kami terus berspeda di Boulevard dimana pejabat-pejabat kerajaan berdiri tegap, setiap satu punyai architecture yang berbeza-beza.

First stop, Kantor Perbendaharaan. Sebagai kenangan bersama, aku pun masuk pose sebagai ahli associate DUBIC Adventure!

Bangunan yang kedua ini aku sendiri kurang pasti. Not a very good tourist guide ya.

After several more photoshoots, we headed for PICC, Putrajaya International Convention Centre.

Dalam perjalanan. speda Kahar mengalami sedikit kecelakaan. Ban sudah kebocoran. What's Ban? Tube! But as true cyclists, they came prepared. The chief mechanic was Bapak Ardiman and I noted his excellent skill. He would make a good touring buddy for me.

Tasek Putrajaya yang dibikin manusia juga merupakan destinasi speda. A ride by the lake and around the residential areas was a must. I planned to bring them on a tour of the wetlands but two things prevented me. One was time, as today is Friday hence to stop for Friday prayers. Keduanya, local tourist guide (Azudin, Penghulu Speda Club Putrajaya) was uncontactable. He was to be the guide.

And we finished the ride back at the Dataran Putra.

Tomorrow, we shall take the challenge of cycling to Janda Baik using the old Gombak - Bentong road. Bapak Saiful was looking forward to this ride.

MENJEMPUT RAKAN SPEDA DARI SEBERANG

PORT KLANG

Tanggal 1hb Mei, 2004, aku punyai tugas menunggu 4 rakan-rakan speda dari seberang melawat Malaysia. Mereka berasal dari Duri, Sumatra. Nama tempatnya agak "tajam" tapi yang datang adalah disebaliknya. Aku mengenali salah seorang dari mereka, Bapak Ardiman, melalui internet. Walau digelar "bapak", orangnya lebih muda pada Bapak Ramli (iaitu saya). Beliau banyak membantu memberi maklumat semasa aku berspeda solo di Padang, Sumatera bulan November 2007. Baru kali ini aku akan bertemu dengan beliau dan rakan-rakan speda lain.

Sebagaimana dijanji, aku tiba dijeti pelabuhan Port Klang jam 5.30 ptg untuk menunggu ketibaan mereka. Aku diberitahu kapal bakal tiba dalam masa setengah jam. Untuk menghabiskan masa, aku ke jeti pelabuhan Pulau Ketam, terletak disebelah. Aku pun tidak pernah berkunjung ke Pulau Ketam. Teringin juga hendak kesana. Mungkin ketam dipulau ini lebih enak dan murah. Tapi aku tidak akan mengajak rakan-rakan ku dari PGM untuk ke Pulau Ketam. PGM bukan satu persatuan ala politik. Ianya adalah Persatuan Gaut Malaysia!!!!

Boat feri ke Pulau Ketam adalah sama bentuk dengan feri laju di sungai-sungai Sarawak. Ramai juga aku nampak penggemar-penggemar memancing yang baru pulang dari memancing. Berapa banyak ikan yang diperolehi aku tidak tahu kerana kotak simpanan ikan ditutup rapat-rapat. Ah, tak mengapa. Inikan hobi masing-masing. Tapi awas "dong" (tumpang bahasa Indon sikit), jangan bawa pulang ikan bawal dan bilang sama ibu Ikan bawal ini hasil pancing. Kok nanti ada perang besar dirumah dan tali kail jadi penjerut lehir bapak-bapak kalian!

Aku nampak dua kapal dari Indonesia mendekati jeti. Yang dihadapan dari Tg Balai sementara yang dibelakang dari Dumai. Rakan speda ku datang dari Dumai. Ini bererti kapal Dumai mesti menunggu sehingga kapal Tg Balai memuntahkan passenger dahulu. Ditambah dengan pemeriksaan immigrasi dan muatan feri Tg Balai yang melebehi 100 penumpang, kawan-kawan speda ku terpaksa "terkurung" dalam boat hampir 2 jam.

Penungguan agak memenatkan kerana air-cond dalam boat sudah dimatikan. Harga disel kan sudah naik melambong. Apabila giliran boat dari Dumai tiba, aku nampak 4 speda diatas boat bersama banyak muatan-muatan lain. Speda dan barang-barang lain sudah pun diturunkan tetapi penumpang tetap terkurung diatas boat.

Dari jauh aku sudah nampak jejaka yang berupa Bapak Ardiman. Pastinya beliau tidak tahu yang aku sudah tahu siapa dia. Heh...heh...

Waduh, lama sekali menunggu. Matahari pun sudah terbenam.

Akhirnya dapatlah juga ke-empat empat wira speda dari seberang menjejaki kaki ke Pelabuhan Klang.

Dan kerana masanya sudah agak terlewat, aku terus membawa mereka kerumah untuk jamuan Nasi Kerabu.

Esoknya kami mempunyai acara speda di Putrajaya.

PEDRO SAYS : "I'LL WAIT"

Someone is coming home for holidays. There's happiness in the air. There are things a-plenty to do - friends to meet, stories to catch up, gossips (forbids), foods to be spoilt to, Euros to spend (Do I Need It?), Laps to tackle in the pool to burn the extra extra calory intakes, fly back to Kota Baru to meet grandma, etc, etc, etc. Whoa...2 weeks will be too short with the To Do List mounting up.

So, when is my Mimi coming back ah?

I'm so sad and missing my dear Mimi

I'm waiting...and I'll wait by my favorite spot at the balcony for my Mimi

IT'S ALL HISTORY NOW

Two days prior to the election, I “Firefly” back to Kota Bharu, albeit a 2-hour delay. Reminds me of the early days of Air Asia when planes were scarce. Arriving at noon, it was perfect time for Nasi Kerabu at my sis’s place in Peng Chepa. My mother was there too, hale and hearty and of high spirit. Alhamdulillah. Just another reason for my regular trip home.

On the way to my sis’s place, banners in the mother tongue of the Kelantanese were everywhere. Barisan Nasional (BN) was going all out to capture the only state it had not yet won.

"For the sake of our future" BN said.

"Don't promise if you cannot deliver" boldy said BN

Resisting with all its might is PAS. It was to me, a David vs Goliath - the might and muscle of BN against the inner toughness of PAS, backed by its spiritual leader, Tok Guru. Of course, it’s all history now!

This was Battle Royale.

BN started the first salvo with the war cry “PADE DOH 18”, launched by enthusiatic BN Kelantanese probably somewhere in KL, led by a non-Kelantanese. In the media, there was no report of a counter attack by PAS.

On the ground in Kelantan however, things were different.

So, here I was, back in Kota Bharu wanting to experience the “war” in my birth state. Both BN and PAS were wooing the Kelantanese “di perantauan” to return. Free passage were offered. I paid for my own trip. And I paid for my wife too.

BN promised big. Awang Adek was already “appointed” Mentri Besar in anticipation of a big win. We all know the result. It’s all history now!

Pointing a finger towards the sky, Anuar Musa only asked for one vote for Kelantan

PAS claimed that when Anuar points towards the sky, he could only point to the “BULAN” and not to the “DACING”. And PAS gladly obliged Anuar with the Satu Undi that he asked for.

Such are the lighter sides. Of course, it’s all history now!

I suspect PAS had read, and read, and read and applied “Sun Tze Art of War”. PAS was prepared to defend its turf at all cost. For a start, PAS had stolen some war machines from MINDEF.

A green helicopter was on standby, and can only remained on standby and will not fly. It looked rather vintage, so it must have been stolen from the Mindef Muzeum!

Another tank guarded Jalan Morat with the "Tank Commander" waving a flag in one hand and a rifle in the other hand, hanging by strings to create motion as the wind blew. Bijok..bijok. Ambo tabek spring!

A huge green tank was strategically located along a road in Kota Bharu, with its machine gun and bullets ready to fire.

Up close, the machine gun could be used for firewood to cook my all time favorite Nasi Kerabu. The bullets, nicely tied with rafia strings would make a great decorative item for groups of people in the hinterland of some remote countries.

Behold, PAS also had a bunker in anticipation of a BN “attack”. It’s at the stronghold of PAS candidate, HJ Takiyuddin in Bunut Payung , his nest or “sare”. The bunker was armed to the teeth.

PAS had the multi-purpose machinegun-cum-grenade launcher. This machine gun is serious stuff. It cannot convert to firewood, but can double as “ejuh” (exhaust pipe). Its red grenade launcher would be useful as rear blinkers for night cycling. Thus, true to its name, this is a real multi-purpose machine gun!

And Hj Takiyuddin has employed a mercenary to help fight the war. Fresh from his highly successful combat duties in Burma in Rambo 4, Nik Rambo was flown in straight from there. Up above the bunker, he was on a 24-hour duty overlooking Jalan Bunut Payung. He looked a lot slimmer though and must have missed his budu when he was fighting in Burma. His trademark long hair is now covered ala Yasser Arafat, with sunglass to avoid recognition and BLUE uniform to further confuse BN. Nik Rambo however retained his awesome Bow and Arrow tipped with another blinker.....I mean... grenade, but now colored green.

BN on the other hand prefered the great white shark, aptly renamed the Great Blue Shark to comply to BN’s color scheme. With it’s jaws and razor-sharp teeth looking menacingly in Jalan Peng Chepa, Jaws also glitters at night. Sadly though, a day after the election, PAS was enjoying Sharks Fin Soup in celebrating their victory and It’s all history now!

I have to mention here that Tok Guru was and remained a telling factor for PAS’ success in Kelantan. No matter what was said or promised by BN, Tok Guru’s way of life had always become a symbol of peace of mind and heart. The promise of a new stadium, a grand bazaar, oil reserves off Bachok, etc, etc were all “hardwares” that meant little to the Kelantanese majority.

Tok Guru moved deeper into the “software” – the heart and soul of Kelantanese. Banners of Tok Guru in solitary loneliness offering his hands in prayers pricks the conscience of most Kelantanese.

And when he invited Kelantanese to sembahyang hajat and pray for PAS victory, the whole stadium was three-quarter filled by 3.30 a.m. Men and women, young and old came. Cars triple parked and there were no emotions for blocked cars which lasted till 8 a.m. All emotions were in the stadium, praying to fight the massive onslaught. Of-course, it’s all history now!

Come election day, I moved around observing the polling. I noticed a young Chinese couple in PAS’ tent.

Was it by coincidence too that this Chinese old man was wearing a batek-like green round neck? I didn’t ask him.

In Kg Terbak in Tumpat where the Siamese community lives, both parties was also wooing the Siamese community with their banners.

The war is now officially over. BN and PAS had fought a great battle. The victors would cherish the moments while the losers would have to lick their wounds and get ready for another battle.

My hope would be for both "enemies" to now continue and live in harmony.

IT'S ALL HISTORY NOW!