How about Iftar by the lake this Ramadan

Muslims will be welcoming  the holy month of Ramadan on the 6th of May 2019.It is that time of the year where every Muslims,rich or poor awaits and to be able to fast during that month is a precious gift  from us to our Creator.If you wish to go on a spiritual journey during this month,it is only a week more to go.

As always most hotels and restaurants will prepare a special buffet for the breaking of fast and the Bukit Merah resort is of no exception.The management has prepared a special program for this year's Ramadan called Gerbang Iftar Nusantara buffet.

Their highlight will be a boat ride around the 7000 acres lake before the breaking of the fast and then you can indulge in their sumptuous buffet by the lake.Imagine dining by the lake with your loved ones during Ramadan with the stars above you and maybe the moon too. It will definitely be a memorable night.

Yours truly had the privilege to review their buffet last week and I take my hats off to the chef Noorul Qamar Mohd Noor for preparing a beautiful and delicious buffet."Menu will be different every day and there will be 50 types of food for this Ramadan."he said.Besides the usual dining at the table,guest can  also dine on the mat just like the Malays of the olden days.Price is RM45 for adult  and RM35 for children, senior citizens and OKU.

Eating on a mat like the olden days 

There are plenty of food  but I  would rather you go there and see it for yourself. The presentation of the food was superb. Kudos to the Chef.

Ends

Rumah Tiang 16

The house with 16 pillars is what the title of my post means. Situated in Lenggong  which is a UNESCO  archaeological site, this small town gained the world heritage title because the oldest skeleton of a human being in S.E.A was found in one of the caves.Called the Perak Man, he now resides in the archaeological museum in Lenggong.

So Nash Jalaludin, the owner of the homestay invited me to stay at his ancestral home and I gladly accepted. Together with my husband I arrived at the house on the 23rd of April 2019 around noon.Obviously I was enchanted by his way of welcoming his guest. Dressed in a traditional baju Melayu, we were given a tray of drinks made of flowers and daun pandan, a cold face towel with the bunga kenanga frangrance. Nash then recited a pantun and I was supposed to reply with a pantun but I was speechless! Lunch was then served and his wife cooked noodles for us.

The next day Nash took us to a padi field and we had our breakfast at the stall facing the padi field. It's quite an experience for us. A real Kampung lifestyle.

Breakfast facing the padi field.

Then come the moment that we waited for which was a trek to one of the caves. There are many caves in Lenggong and he took us to Gua Kajang.  He said that it probably got its name from the orang Asli word Kajang which means Shelter. During the stone age, hunters used this cave as their Shelter. In this cave they found two skeletons from the stone age and the bronze age but both are not as old as the Perak Man. How did they differentiate the period? Well during the Stone  age, the corpse was buried in a foetus position and during the bronze age, the corpse was buried like the normal position.

The cave from the front. 

I have been to caves around Ipoh but this one in Lenggong is different.I could imagine the cave men using this cave as a Shelter.It is really beautiful and I wish other adventurous people especially the youth would be able to explore the Lenggong caves.I would have ventured out to see the rest of the caves but time was not on my side.I had another appointment at Bukit Merah Resort.

The sad part about our UNESCO archaeological site is because the authorities left it to rot.The boardwalk,Gazebo and toilets were in dilapidated state.Why are we not looking after it?Are we not appreciative of what's given to us?I remember going to another UNESCO site in Jogjakarta.The Borobodur was so well kept and the numbers of tourists that visits it.No one visits our archaeological site because we never bother to tell the world about it.Who do you blame?