Portrait of Penyengat

Happy Islamic New Year! I had the day off in light of the occasion and Adik and I set off for the Island of Penyengat at sunrise. After an hour and a half on two buses to Pungurr, another hour on a ferry to Telanga we took a wooden boat across to Penyengat.

Adik tried to sneak me into the main mosque but no bule allowed.

There are no cars on the island. That means no honking, no exhaust, no constant harassment from ojek and taksi drivers.

This run down building was once a palace. What's left is smaller than most houses in Canada but judging from the grounds behind it it was probably once about the size of your average suburban Qualico home.

This was the princess' home until she, the last of the royal family, died in 1998. (Adik and I are plotting to buy this and open a hotel as there are none on the island.)

A Woman washing her clothes in what was once a fountain on the grounds of the princess' house.

Sorting and cleaning clam shells.

Laundry day

I so badly want to live in a house on stilts so I can fall asleep to the sound of the waves rocking beneath me

Chicks

I had forgotten flowers exist

jalan jalan

We stumbled on a wedding rehearsal

Fisherman mending his nets

 

 

Christmas goose?

The Island had a lot of gnarly trees growing in the most seemingly inopportune places, like this abandoned burned out building

Many Muslims go to Penyengat on the New Year to make a wish at the graves of the royal families which are all over the island. While they make their wish they wrap a yellow cloth around the grave marker.  This was the grave of my new favourite royal Raja Ali Hajid. He has words of wisdom on signs all around the island which makes for a great scavenger hunt. We only found three of at least twelve and my favourite is:

Jika hendak mengenal orang berbangsa

Lihat kepada budi dan bahasa

(translation: If you want to understand a person's country

you must study his character and language)

New Year's prayers

The locals make wishes at their ancestor's graves all year long. The white cloth used for this means around every corner is a little village of ghosts

We turned around a corner and discovered this magnificent boat being built

 

 

This is the makam (grave) of Habib Sheik Bin Habib Alwi Assegaf, one of the direct descendants of the Prophet Mohammed, who came from South Yemen during the first Arab migration to the east.

Monyet

 

Penyengat

Bahasa Word of the Day: cita-cita (pronounced - cheetah cheetah) = patience