Teaching Trip at Kota Tinggi!

Salam ladies and gents.

           So since the first entry was not all that, I decided to post a second one. *excited nih ada blog! ahaha!* This time I will be sharing bout the trip I took with my family of common interests, the family of Silat Melayu Keris Lok 9 Malaysia. Before Ramadan, there was a request from our fellow Johorians that our Cikgu Rozman come down and teach and evaluate the family in Kota Tinggi. Since Kota Tinggi is not as much as a stones throw away, and have insufficient gurus, they resorted to inviting Cikgu Man to come down and show them his skills by having a workshop in Kota Tinggi. Alhamdulillah, Zamri Adam and Ustaz Zaki the most dutiful of coordinators manage to successfully handle the program. The family of Johorians really enjoyed the workshop and they wanted us to come visit them again.


So here are some pikchaz that they took during the workshop.

This was on the first night. Sesi Pengenalan.

          So we arrived during Friday evening around 2230 hours, took 5 hours journey from Shah Alam, and immediately went to the Kota Tinggi gelanggang to meet the Johorians. So the first night over we had a ice breaking session since it was the first time we came down to Johor. So Cikgu Man and I introduced ourselves and followed by the rest of the family.

          The session ended about 0030 hours, we had to end it early because the next session was in the morning so we wouldn't want to be late (which we did anyway because I had to take a crap at the last minute). Meh. I was tired and worn out from the journey, so was about to turn in.. I was just about to lay my head on my pillow and dream of fantasies which are never meant to be revealed to men and women of all ages when SUDDENLY, A WILD SACK OF DURIANS APPEARED.. OMG! The host, which was Ustaz Zaki's in-laws, hollered from the kitchen "Eh, abang! Mari la makan durian niwh!" (with a semi-javanese accent). Aku pun terus bangun n duduk depan durian la. Hahahah.

Cikgu Rozman & Ust Zaki sental le durian.

          Meanwhile, at the dining table.. Zamri menyental pukulan dari "berkat" (a javanese term for food which has been brought back or 'tapau' from a kenduri) brought back by Mak (Ust Zaki's mother in-law).

Om nom nom nom.

          So this was the result after we beat each other in a durian fest. I ate only a portion of it. *In denial* We couldn't finish the whole lot so we just left it for breakfast. Unfortunately, somebody ate the remaining without any of us realizing. Hurmm. So the durian fest ended around 0200 hours and left the contestants basking in the wonderful, strong and pungent smell of the king of fruits.

There was still a whole lot more where that came from.

          The result of eating too much durian would be what?? I dunno coz I slept like a rock after that. But it seemed to take toll on Cikgu Man  who couldn't sleep until 0500 hours. Hahaha.

          I don't know bout you guys but I've never imagine eating a horseshoe crab (belangkas) before. Well we had the opportunity to eat them at Johor! And may I say... ME GUSTA!! Haha, there was hardly any meat it is because people usually eat the eggs. Mind you I couldn't even find the eggs! It turned out to be in their shells, I would have taken photos, but I was to engrossed with the meal that there was no photos of the food left. Nyahahaha.

Ustaz Zaki with his soon to be cooked "Belangkas".

          The food.. Omg the food was EXTRAORDINARY!! Indeed, I personally like the Johor assam pedas which was cooked similar to any assam pedas EXCEPT, it had black pepper. MWAH! Very naise.

"Okay semua, LANCAR! Bagussss" - Cikgu Man

          So on the first day of the workshop, we just practiced the usual basics of Senaman Tua and Lok 9. Nothing unusual except for the countless time of airplanes passing over us. It appears that Singapore is very close to the area, we could even see people smuggling items with towboats and small rafts. *Am I allowed to reveal that? Oh well.* Then in the afternoon we had the belankas lunch.

Meh. Sedap gler ko korek idong.

 
           There was a TWIST in the afternoon session! Supposedly we were supposed to go on a boat ride around the selat, but the tides were high and the boatmen did not deem it safe for travel. So Ust Zaki improvised by taking us to this Jojo Rakit place! Its kinda like huts which a literally floating in the sea. Luckily none of us had sea sickness or we would've canceled the program.



 

Macam ni ha, pakai. Gulung2 sampai cini.

Mengankat Keris.

           I couldn't risk dropping my new Sony Ericsson Xperia X10i *yeah mmg aq nak show off* into the sea so I don't have any pikchaz of the whole place but these are some which was in the Jojo Rakit. The first pikcha was a tutorial on how to properly don on a sampin in accordance to adat istiadat Melayu. So we showed them how and why it is important to wear it like that. If you are ever interested for an explanation, please kindly come to our gelanggang. Nyahaha. The next one is a tutorial about Mengangkat Keris procedure, where it is performed before playing with the keris. It is really unique to see that every single item or gesture in the Melayu culture has to do with something closely related to Islam. I mean like really close. Fascinating and useful to know. Any nee peeps would want to know? Pleas refer to explanation of first pikcha.

Cikgu Man demonstrating the Kerambit. Gotta love Fadli's Expression.

            Also! We had an arms tutorial, well more like an ice breaking to let the Johorians become more familiar with the 5 weapons that must be mastered by all pengamals (practitioners). Those 5 would be the Keris, Tumbuk Lada, Kerambit, Sundang and Selengan. We did not have time nor strength to continue with detailed explanation of the arms. Moreover because Cikgu Man had not fully recovered from the durian fest hangover. Haha. So we ended the workshop around 1830 and headed back home. Later that evening we turned in early since everyone including me were out of breath.
 

Wak Sumiri with Cikgu Man.

Wak Sumiri with uh... KACAK MEISTER!

        


















           The second day of the workshop, Ust Zaki invited a legend into the ceremony. He was none other that Wak Sumiri, the founder of Silat Harimau Malaysia. The legend was a humble old man but when talking about silat and Melayu.. Even my balls shrunk. Haha. He was really emotional and bold about it. A true legend, as people have said he is. For the last day of the workshop, we had a cert giving ceremony and several demos from Silat Jawa, Gayong, and Sendeng which are also learned by our family in Johor.
 

Family in Johor!

           Overall, it was a hell of a trip! Plus, the Johorians were, or rather, ARE the best company of hosts that you will ever receive upon arrival. I really felt welcome and at home in their presence. Such a wonderful experience and we from Shah Alam will definitely come back to Johor. So thats all of it for the second entry. Imma chiao now and update the blog when I havazz the timezzz and the ideazzz.

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