'Any publicity is better than no publicity'

For those who have been following my blog with regards to Gempak Desa Astro which I have been covering and promoting, with regret as owner, writer and the one responsible for its content, I would like to announce that I will cease to continue writing about it, due to reasons that is sadly or shall I say too frivolous to mention.

Felda Palong 5.

..is venue number 6 for the Gempak Desa Astro roadshow. It is also the venue that I did not attend. However courtesy of our dedicated photographers Hazwan and Apai the following images were captured.

There were familiar faces among the crowd, which totaled close to around 4500 people. There were those who were from the last venue in Keratong who travelled all the way to Palong to attend the concert for the second time.

6 venues done, 6 more to go.

out of order

After 5 venues straight riding every weekend totaling more than 1500 km, my body mechanism has finally given the signal to run through the pit stop. Exhaustion, stress and the usual no break affair has finally taken its toll. 

Dr. Aminah has given me the mandate to take a break and a good deserving rest for at least two days. 

Yes ma'am I shall listen to the experts and shall continue as soon as I recover. 

I must also salute my most reliable buddy the ST1100 who has served me well and whom  too deserve a good overall service at the workshop.

mee kaki ayam

They say it tastes good and out of curiosity thats what I ordered from a new food joint called Noodle Station in Platinum Walk Setapak (near Uptown). 

I had a tough time trying to stay focused wondering as to where or what has these tiny feet been up to before ending up in the cooking pot. 

Apparently this is the 8th outlet (being the 1st in KL) to open outside Kota Bharu Kelantan, where it originated producing home made noodles with quite a variety of dishes to choose from.  For those kaki noodles this is the right place to be. 

 

Felda Kahang Timur, Kluang

... about 535 km to and fro Kuala Lumpur, again on a solo ride through the occasional rain pouring southern national highway. A small rural plantation settlement totaling about 400 homes with Kahang Barat as neighbouring kampung. 20 km away is the Gunung Berlumut, locally famous for its waterfall.

There are two famous landmarks found here in Kluang

1. the Kluang prison and

2. the original Kluang Station Kopitiam.

This is also the 5th venue for Gempak Desa Astro held last Saturday the 29th Nov. 2008

As usual majority of the artistes are from the Akademi Fantasia fame, among them are Syawal, Akma, Noni, Edlin, Hazama, and non AF stars like Farish, Tam and Alam. Performing to a crowd of about 2000 locals, the weather was very kind indeed.

To preserve the working relationship with various parties I have been 'instructed' to remove an article I wrote in this blog which is deemed unsuitable for public consumption.

Well its the risks of doing 'live' shows.

Its the same risk of riding solo at high speed on Malaysian roads with darting monkeys, iguanas and even wild boars. - Ride Safe !

Heritage of George Town

Now that George Town has been inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage List, (an effort made by Malaysia since 2004), it now runs the risk of loosing it.  

The heritage guidelines states that there is a five-storey limit on new buildings within the core and buffer zones of the heritage zone. However four high-rise buildings were approved within strict MPPP guidelines where the tallest, a 23-storey property got the nod 10 days before the Unesco listing.

The Golden Twilight Question : - 

Freeze the approval and run the risk of being sued for hundreds of millions or allow George Town be struck off  the World Heritage list.

It now seems obvious that we need to use more than just a polish to bring back the luster of the 'Pearl of the Orient'. What a shame, hopefully there will be an amicable solution in sight.

Felda Keratong 2

The nasi lemak was awesome. One of the most simplest, delicious and 'lemakest' nasi lemak I have ever tasted. (the artistes can vouch for that too)

Its 5 pod beras to 1.5 nyiok kelapa revealed the Makchik who insisted that we call her 'Mak'. She also invited us all to stay at her house to save our money on hotels which we had to politely turn down. Talk about rural hospitality to total strangers.

This is Felda Keratong 2 the 4th venue for Gempak Desa Astro with a turn out of over 7000 people which so far happens to be the biggest, involving over 60 polis personnel and 50 rela volunteers.

the artiste line-up with the locals posing for a photo shoot.

3 live wire of the group from Akademi Fantasia fame. Ustaz Dini uniquely using cartoons to preach while Ustaz Akhil sang to preach. Very appealing sermons.

It was again another exhilarating solo ride from KL to Keratong, Rompin Pahang totalling 212 km return.

Overall at this venue, the crowd was good, the food excellent, the hospitality very accommodating and the weather was well, made for riding.

Felda Chini 3

is the third venue for Gempak Desa Astro and its location is about 30 mins away from the mythical and legendary home of the Naga Seri Gumum (Malaysia's very own Loch Ness Monster).
Tasik Chini offers tranquil and peaceful surroundings and is believed to contain an ancient sunken Khmer city at the bottom of it as vouched by the local Orang Asli.

Black & white bodied squirrels, monkeys, wild cats can be seen running wild with the occasional horn-bills hovering across the tree tops.

As usual the locals came out in full force to enjoy the weekend with their favourite artistes.

Major mode of transport in the Felda Settlement is of course the motorcycle and it was a pleasant surprise to find that it comes in various forms and sizes.

The journey this time was made up of three bikers and a pocketful of tranquilled memories.

Felda Jengka 3

... is part of the Jengka Triangle (Segitiga Jengka), which is the largest FELDA settlement in Malaysia.

For this trip it was a solo ride from KL through the Karak highway exiting Chenor onto the plantation trunk road totaling a distance of about 176km, one way.

The lovely tree-lined road that leads into Felda Residence Tekam where the artiste and Mr Client stayed. It is situated in the middle of an oil palm plantation and is one of the six ecotourism and agro-tourism resorts managed by FELDA Agricultural Services Sdn Bhd (FASSB).

modern facilities with swimming pool in the middle of nowhere.

35 minutes away from this wonderful resort is Felda Jengka 3 which was the 2nd venue for the Gempak Desa Astro held on the 1st of Nov 2008.

Again scores of locals swamped the event in an effort to enjoy a musically filled carnival with their favourite idols which usually don't happen that often.

We were better organised this time and quicker in setting up since we have learned quite a bit from the experience of the first venue in Semenchu, Johor.

Indulgently, the ride back home was cool and relaxing passing through undulating hills of plantation territory with the occasional scampering of 'ayam kampung' running along the road shoulder while avoiding the unsuspecting cows and billy goats crossing without warning. It was full speed ahead onto the East West highways before meandering through the tight corners of Karak and heading onto the middle ring road on route for home.

GDA@Felda Semenchu

Gempak Desa Astro Roadshow

.....was successfully launched last Sunday at the very first venue (new season) in Felda Semenchu, 42km from Kota Tinggi Johor.

The weather was very kind indeed and the local folks had a jolly good time dressed in their best with children appearing as early as 7.00 in the morning.

Overall turn up was very satisfying, guesstimate around about 2000 people including the nearby Felda Ayer Tawar and its vicinity.

• Straight ahead to Kota Tinggi • partners in crime

Some interesting observations…

• The local folks tend to remove their shoes when they enter the thematic tents.

• The kids were literally lying on the floor sleeping and play fighting with each other while watching Ben 10 on 42" LCD screens generously displayed within the premises.

• There is no way one can implement strict rules on illegal vendors mushrooming at strategic areas as the RELA security guards happen to be their friends from the same kampung.

• The kids at an early age displaying profound skills (demands of a future mat rempit) in performing 'wheelies' on their bicycles

• The historic victory of Liverpool beating Chelsea was telecast 'live' witnessed by the locals. (hehehe... got to put that one in)

Geng-Geng Gempak

Our newly designed tents, artist t-shirts, mobile stage, environmental graphics & programes

A small show for us with a BIG meaning for the locals, and Mr client so far has been very cool...... as the sales were very encouraging. Who says the desa folks lack purchasing power?

One down, eleven more venues to go.... and the corners and bends snaking through palm oil territory makes the whole journey an euphoric 'kundiger' and challenging experience for a high powered two wheeler 'mat rempit'.