Thursday, April 26, 2007

New Agong day and a volcano sightseeing


The thirteenth Agong, i.e. the Grand Sultan of Malaysia, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan, a sultan of Terengganu state of Malaysia has been installed, glorified, and officially invested this morning in a full Malay Sultanate Custom Practice at Istana Negara (National Palace), Kuala Lumpur.

It's one of the national traditions that one of the sultans from the 9 sultanate states will be elected as the Grand Sultan, The Yang Di Pertuan Agong to rule the constitutional government, National Ruler of Islam, opening and closing of the Parliament and in general, as the official Ruler of Malaysia for a five year period.

Tuanku Mizan is the second Agong to be crowned and glorified at a younger age below 50 years old (he is 47 this year) after the late Sultan of Perlis, AlMarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail.
Speaking of coronation day, i tiba-tiba teringat Coronation Street. Not that i am a loyal follower of british soaps but heck, there was a time (sometimes laa when there's not much to watch on the telly and saje suka2 develop some interest in watching some lower middle class and working class british doing their best dramatic scenes, shouting, hanging out in their local pub and so on) when i did switch to Eastender (1st choice, on the basis of dwelling in london but a westender naturally ) and then Coronation Street, the oldest of all the soaps and still running after half a century with the same theme tune and those boring and gloomy Manchester weatherview from the rooftop.


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I went to Bandung last week. One of the must-see places there is the Mount Tangkuban Parahu (Sundanese words literally translated as perahu tertangkup in malay or in english a capsized perahu boat or an upturned wooden boat). It is located at the north of bandung, in the west provincial region in Java Island of Indonesia. It is thought to be a dormant volcano but is gradually gaining its active level day by day. We can actually smell the strong, pungent smell of sulfur, which is one of the indications that a volcano is still remaining active. Some whitish and yellowish smokes continuously emitting from that volcano crater too.



Tangkuban Parahu Volcano crater view from the top side.





Hello people, come and visit this famous volcano in Bandung.

This Tangkuban Parahu volcano is reported to have last erupted back in 1983, that was 24 years ago. In 2005, this area was closed due to a sudden increasing activity and bulding up of gases measured by the Javanese volcanologists as a result of the tectonic activity sensed at the Anak Krakatoa , another active volcano in the southern tip of the Sumatra Island.




* Next update, the blast from the past as tagged by Pugly.

6 comments:

The Pisces Man said...

So, if it was closed last time, how come it's reopened? Is it safer now? Beraninya you... yeah, it's nice, but luckily you didn't faint over the sulfur smell.

So, drink plenty of Sirap Bandung? Guess that's how it got its name coz it's originated from there?

Roving Soul said...

wow. that was cool manal. i didnt realise bandung offers more than shopping spree! maybe cos no one else talked abt the volcano after their visits except you! hehe. NOW, i wanna go bandung :)

ManaL said...

The pisces abdun man,

I tawakkal jer la abdun because it was more of the curiosity rather. We've heard and seen a volcano in movies, tv documentaries, text books and so on but we never actually encounter a real life one. You may want to google it or wiki it to see more pics of it from the far.

No sirap bandung la....the only food that is suffixed with bandung word is Laksa bandung. Mee bandung muar also non-existence!

ManaL said...

Nurelsa ,

Typical activities there, this shopping spree. Well, i was lucky i went there with our lecturer colleague who happens to have been originated from bandung and jogjakarta even though she's born in malaysia. She still keeps in touch with her immediate and extended family members there.

I forgot to mention about the entrance fee. It's Rph 6000 per person or less for the locals and Rph 50,000 per person or more for the foreigners. We were lucky to be paying the local fees as our supir (driver) managed to convince those people at the postguard that we are of mixed-indo-malay visitors.

And also be careful of those local people at the mountain who hounded us around trying to sell the souvenirs. I think i'm gonna blog more about this bandung trip in the next entry or so.

Adib Noh said...

I love to be in Bandung and I still have friends at ITB.I hope you enjoy your trip to Bandung.

Btw, did you hear about the legend associated with Tangkuban Perahu?May be you can share the story with fellow readers.

My last visit to the gunung berapi was more than 10 years ago.

ManaL said...

Pak Adib ,

Yes I've read about the legend somewhere on how it got its name. Sundanese legend that is.

UNfortunately, we didnt manage to pass ITB since it is not in our route. We saw a few universitas there too.

What i like the most is its temperate weather. It doesnt get warmer than 24 degC most of the time.