Mission 2019 #02: Serendah Waterfall.

Salam.

As mentioned in a previous post, we are on a mission to go to as many waterfalls as possible, as per the list in the website here.

For our second mission, we went to Serendah Waterfall in Rawang, Selangor.

To get there from KL, we took the recently completed Rawang Bypass Highway.
It took us from Selayang to Serendah, bypassing Rawang town, which saved a lot of time.

Serendah Waterfall is located near Kg Orang Asli Serendah.
The surrounding areas are filled with modern housing estates and traditional villages.

When you reach the corner junction near Telaga Tujuh, make sure you take the left fork.
If you use Google Map, it will direct you to the right fork. Do not follow that instruction.
The slip road that goes to the waterfall from the housing estate has been closed. The map was not updated.

Serendah waterfall is well known to the locals and is easily accessible. The lower waterfall itself is just near the parking area, and the facilities are fairly well maintained (good enough considering the standard of Malaysian maintenance culture.) It is suitable for a family picnic and day out.

There is a wading pool and a cascading vertical waterfall that you can enjoy. However, on the weekend we were there, it was crowded with people picnicking and bathing in the pool. It was too crowded for us.

We decided to trek to the upper falls. The road in the beginning was paved but at higher level the road was red earth, not paved. However, the trek was easy, with low incline uphill.

We trekked for about two kilometres uphill with only the sound of the jungle around us. On the way, we saw a few spots with waterfalls and pools that are suitable for dipping and napping with soothing noise from the white water streams. We trekked until we reached a clearing on the hill where the water becomes a small stream which lazily snake along. There was a remnant of a broken dam. (I think the river used to be small dam.)

After reaching the clearing, and saw nothing interesting there, we trekked back down and chose a quiet spot with no other visitors. It was peaceful and quiet.
Lying on the rock napping and letting the white water washed away the stress.
No noisy picnickers and no scrambling for spaces with other people.

After spending about one hour at the spot, we moved on to a newer lower spot for another round of dipping and sunbathing.

Overall, we spent about 90 minutes trekking and two hours in the water. It was an enjoyable and relaxing day. We were tired but re-invigorated.

Overall, the trek was easier than the trek at Lepoh.

I would recommend this if you want to picnic with the whole family. However, if you do not like too much crowd, either avoid this or take some time to trek to the upper falls for a quieter picnic and surrounding.

Have a good day.

Song Review: ВДВОЁМ (Vdvoyom).

In 2017, I was posted to Europe on a job assignment for about a year.
While researching the pop culture songs of the host country, youtube recommendation algorithm introduces me not only to pop songs of the host country but from all over Europe.
Thus, my repertoire and music playlist expanded to include wonderful songs from all over the world.

My music playlist now include songs from Russia, Turkey, Spain, France, Netherland and other countries.
I do not understand the lyrics, but they say music is a universal language.
(In any case, in this age of Google Translate, you can translate anything.)

One of my favourite song is ВДВОЁМ (Vdvoyom) meaning "Together".
It is a duet by Nargiz Zakirova and Maxim Fadeev.

Here is the youtube link or you can watch it below.

 

 

 

 

I like everything about this song.
I like the song.
It has inspiring lyrics.
The music is upbeat pop rock.

 

I like the voice of the singers.
They have strong but soft voice.
Nargiz's voice is "serak-serak basah" like Ella and Maxim's voice is strong and also "serak-serak basah" like Ramli Sarip.

They are Russian version of Ella and Ramli Sarip.

 

I like the music video.
It has a beautiful storyline.
A one legged dancer that keep on dancing no matter what.
It is inspiring and uplifting.

 

This is my go-to music video when I am faced with challenges.
If a one legged dancer can keep on dancing, who am I to give up?

The one-legged dancer is determined, almost ferocious in his willpower.
His partner is supportive and patience and compassionate without any sense of pity or sympathy that can be condescending.
She treats him as an equal notwithstanding his lack of limb.
She knows he does not need sympathy nor pity, he just needs her by his side, an equal dancing partner.
The dancers radiate these in their dance movement.

All in all, good song, good music video.

I give it a 5/5.

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Full lyrics and translation.

Vdvoyom (Вдвоём)

 
Мы можем стать с тобой сумасшедшими

И нас разместят с тобой в разных палатах;
А может мы с тобой, как два гения;
Как будто два Нобель лауреата?
 

Мы можем стать с тобой океанами

И нас разделят с тобой материками;

Мы можем стать с тобой вечно пьяными,

А может мы ангелы над облаками?

 

Мы вдвоём вокруг Солнца на Земле день за днём,

И под ярким самым и под дождём вдвоём!

Всё на свете вместе переживём

И когда-нибудь в один день умрём; мы вдвоём…

 

Мы вдвоём…

 

Мы можем снять с тобой фильм на Оскара

И не получить его из-за погоды.

Можем стать с тобой в море мокрыми

И нас за своих примут пароходы.

 

Мы можем стать с тобой океанами

И нас разделят с тобой материками.

Мы можем стать с тобой вечно пьяными;

А может мы ангелы над облаками?

 

Мы вдвоём вокруг Солнца на Земле день за днём,

И под ярким самым и под дождём вдвоём!

Всё на свете вместе переживём

И когда-нибудь в один день умрём; мы вдвоём!

 

Мы вдвоём вокруг Солнца на Земле день за днём,

И под ярким самым и под дождём вдвоём!

Всё на свете вместе переживём

И когда-нибудь в один день умрём; мы вдвоём…

 

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Together

Chorus:
We could both become crazy,
And we'll be placed in different asylums.
Or maybe the two of us are geniuses,
Like two Nobel Prize laureates.

We could both become oceans,
And be separated by continents.
We could become eternally drunk,
Or maybe we're angels in the clouds.

First Verse: Nargiz
We're together, around the sun, on the Earth, day after day.
In the brightness and in the rain we're together.
We'll survive anything together,
And someday we'll die together, on the same day.

Second Verse: Maxim Fadeyev
We're together.
We could produce a film worthy of an Oscar,
And then not get it because of bad weather.
We could become wet in the ocean,
And then the ships will think we're like them.

We could both become oceans,
And be separated by continents.
We could become eternally drunk,
Or maybe we're angels in the clouds.

First Verse: [x2]
We're together, around the sun, on the Earth, day after day.
In the brightness and in the rain we're together.
We'll survive anything together,
And someday we'll die together, on the same day.




Translation credit.
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/vdvoyom-%D0%B2%D0%B4%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%91%D0%BC-together.html#songtranslation

Black hole confirmed.

About two days ago, on the 10th April 2019, the first ever image of a black hole was unveiled by scientists.

The phenomenon known as a black hole was predicted by Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Any previous drawings are only models based on scientist's prediction of how a black hole would look like. But now, scientists have captured the real thing.

Credit: bbc.com

 

You can read the news here or see the full press conference by the team that captured the image, here.

 

 

 

The image may not looked like much. But what it does is that it confirmed the existence of black holes with actual image. It contributed to our understanding of the universe and how the universe works.

 

The image was captured by a team of about 200 scientists from all over the world. The team was called the Event Horizon Telescope project.

 

To capture the black hole in a galaxy about 55 millions light-years away, you would need a telescope as big as the Earth. We do not have a telescope that size. But what we do have are many powerful, high altitude telescopes spread across all over the Earth. When you combined their observation power in the same direction, you get an Earth-sized telescope. (Obviously, I am over-simplifying this, but if you want to understand further, click on the youtube video above.)

 

What does this mean for the rest of us humans and Earth?

Well, scientists predicted that there is a black hole in the centre of our own galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy. And since black holes suck everything around them, this means that, eventually, our own galaxy, including our own solar system, will collapse into that black hole.

 

So, Armageddon is coming.

But do not worry. 

This will not happen soon, it will only happen, trillions of years, if not billions, in the future.

 

By that time, planet Earth would have been dead already from the dying Sun. 

 

Destiny Disrupted (A History of The World through Islamic Eyes): A Book Review

The book is promoted as a telling of world history from the perspective of the Islamic world, from the time of the Prophet to the fall of the Ottoman (Uthmaniyyah) empire until the present days. The author's contention is that many history books are written by western writers which tell world history from a western perspective. Reading western history books, you get no real understanding why Islamic culture and countries are the way they are now today.

The book sought to remedy this. It sets out to tell the stories of the rise and fall of the Islamic
empires and the history of the rest of the world from the perspective of those Islamic empires; and along the way, explain why many parts of the Islamic world of today is in chaos and many more are lagging behind scientifically, technologically, socially, politically and economically.

The introduction chapter breaks down the age of modern history from Islamic civilisation perspective. This gives the reader an outline of the history. It skips the history of pre-historic men and pre-Islamic civilisation. Since Islam began in 6 AD, there is no Islamic perspective for those history. If you are interested in those history, reading any history books by any writers will do. (In fact I will also do a review later of another world history book to complement this book. If you are Muslim and interested in not just Islamic history but also world history, you should read both books.)

To illustrate the point that this book is from Islamic perspective the author made a comparison on how Western historian versus an Islamic historian would divide history.

Typical Age of history by Western historian.
1. Birth of Civilisation (Egypt and Mesopotamia)
2. Classical age (Greece and Rome)
3. The Dark Age (rise of Christianity)
4. The Rebirth: Renaissance and Reformation
5. The Enlightenment (exploration and science)
6. The Revolutions (democratic, industrial, technological)
7. Rise of Nation-States: The Struggle for Empire
8. World Wars I and II
9. The Cold War
10. The Triumph of Democratic Capitalism

Age of history from Islamic Civilisation perspective.
1. Ancient Times: Mesopotamia and Persia
2. Birth of Islam
3. The Khalifate: Quest for Universal Unity
4. Fragmentation: Age of the Sultanates
5. Catastrophe: Crusaders and Mongols
6. Rebirth: The Three-Empires Era
7. Permeation of East by West
8. The Reform Movement
9. Triumph of the Secular Modernists
10 The Islamist Reaction

Hence, the chapters of "Destiny Disrupted" are arranged according to the Age of Islamic history above.

(Side note: If you notice, both historical age above correspond to what Ibnu Khaldun called "pattern of history", but this is subject for another post.)

The first chapter was crammed with a summary of the history of ancient civilisation up to the point of the fall of the Western Roman Empire around 5 CE. This chapter set the context within world history for the beginning of Islam.

The second chapter is when the story starts, in Mecca, with the birth of Islam. From here on and throughout subsequent chapters, the author moved on to detail out the rise, conflict and eventual fall of the Islamic empires.

The writing is detailed, the sequence of events and narrative are easy to understand.
The analysis of events and its cause and effect, are enlightening and provides casual readers with an understanding of the multitude of complex events that are refreshing and honest.

For example, to illustrate why the Industrial Revolution started in Europe and not in the Muslim world (nor in China), the author analysed the history of the invention of the steam engine (and geared machinery in the case of China).

Europe was not the first civilisation that invented the steam engine. The steam engine was first invented by the Arab Muslim (and the Chinese first invented geared machinery). 
But the invention of the steam engine did not spark an industrial revolution in the Muslim world, but did in Europe, which led to Europe becoming the world leaders in technological innovation and modernisation. (And this advancement in technology, is one of the reasons that makes them the powerful nations that they are today.) The author clearly explained why this is so in a carefully detailed analysis of the social, political and economic environment in both societies that led to this different result. (*See also footnote.)

This kind of analysis and many more will lead you to understand the tapestry of events and history; step by step, by historical event to the next, like a domino effect; that culminate in the situation where the Muslim world are today.

The author's analysis showed that before the West came to colonise the Middle East and the Far East, the Islamic civilisation collapse has started from within and when the modern West came with their superior firepower and ships, the so called Islamic Golden Age was no more and did not have the capacity or capability to withstand the assault, either technologically, militarily, economically or politically.

It is time that we stop blaming the West for our failures as a nation or as a civilisation.
Yes, they colonised us. 
But that is the past.
We are now free.

But unfortunately for us in Malaysia, when we embraced Islam, we also unwittingly inherited the scars of civilisation's collapse that happened in the Middle East. The collapse of the Umayyad (Umayyah), Abbasid (Abbasiyyah) and the Ottoman (Uthmaniyyah) empire. We blame the west for the fall of the caliphate, without even analysing the history, and take  it upon ourselves to "avenge" the long gone civilisation instead of focusing our efforts in not repeating history. By analysing and understanding history, we can move on and improve and ensure mistakes of the past are not repeated.

This book is a must read for all history buff, especially history of the Islamic Civilisation. Also, a must read for any Muslim that is ready to re-examine his perspective, to be open minded and be critical of his own historical perception and be honest in trying to understand historical baggage, shape a new way forward for the betterment of his children and grandchildren.

I recommend this book 5/5.


*Footnote: The author did not discuss this in his book, but the invention of the printing press has similar effect. When Gutenberg invented the printing press, the Islamic empire at the time (the Ottoman) knew about the invention.

However, the invention was rejected and was not adopted for wide use in the empire until 250 years after its invention.

Coincidentally, the Islamic empire adopted it 250 years late, and now many of the Muslim world are in a situation similar to the western world was 250 years ago. 

More or less than 250 years ago the US was in the midst of a war with the British empire (American Revolutionary War), France was in the midst of a bloody revolution (the French Revolution) while also at war with the UK (the Seven Years War). The Western world was fighting, internally, and with each other then, and now 250 years later, the Muslim world are in the same situation; we are fighting, internally, and also with each other. Look at current world news, and you will see that I am right. All because the printing press was adopted 250 years too late.

Am I over-simplifying history?
Why is the printing press important?
Why was it rejected by the Ottoman?

This will be discussed in future post.