Monday, May 14, 2012

Day 2 | Siak - Centre for Malay Culture, Indonesia

When my aunt ask me (last year) to accompany her to Pekan Baru on a mission to trace our Malay Heritage (and perhaps to visit few of our relatives here), without a doubt I jump to the opportunity. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone sounds too good to be true.

Day 1 was great where we met Pak Tenas Effendy at his home where we learnt on Malay Heritage and Culture, it was an eye opening for all of us. You can read further HERE.

The plan was that early morning of 2nd day, we will all travel to Siak which is about 2-3 hours from Pekan Baru (depending on which rood you take) to learnt and see more of what Pak Tenas mentioned the day before.

Siak Sri Indrapura is a town in Riau province of Indonesia and it is the capital (seat) of Siak Regency. Siak Sri Indrapura was the centre of an islamitic Malayan kingdom which enjoyed its golden age from the 18th through 20th century. Sultan Abdul Jalil Rakhmad Syah founded the kingdom in 1725. He was the first in a family tree of 12 sultans who would reign until 1945. In November 1945, the last sultan, Sultan Syarif Kasyim II, sent a cable to the president of the Republic of Indonesia stating his loyalty to the republic, and he contributed his properties to the struggle of independence. 

Hard to believe that Indonesia use to have Sultanate huh, we are so use to it being a republic.

A little of geography for everyone.... For those who wonders where in the world Pekan Baru is; it's practically "facing" Melaka (Malacca) on Indonesia soil. You can travel either via air or sea, obviously the later takes longer in time.

The journey takes us pass a few "famous" bridge. Kinda forgot the name :p

The road heading to Siak can be very barren at times.... that can make the road trip abit mundane.

After a few wrong turns and hours of delay, we finally reach Siak, the first sight was amazing. As I said in my previous entry, their mosque trademark is colourful dome!
We decide to stop for lunch first, note on the restaurant name - Selera Setia Raja (Royal Taste?! Hope my translation is accurate). The food is very similar to Malaysia local Malay food - masakan padang.

We finally arrive at Siak Palace (Istana Siak), it was built by a German architect hence the architecture doesn't resemble our local's. One of the most valuable collection is the Sultan’s Throne Seats are wrapped in gold.

No!!! As we arrive there very late, we didn't manage to take a walk inside. Gerammm...

One thing I notice here is that Siak is superbly clean, SQUEAKY CLEAN.... See it for yourself, despite that they have stalls in front of the Siak Palace, the road cleanliness is their highest priorities. Respect!

I don't know why this picture was taken, but I guess I like the yellow colour bridge. Hahhah....

Makam Pahlawan Sultan Syarif Kasim II dari Siak or basically it's tomb.

This is the most fascinating thing I experience in Pekan Baru, buying petrol from bottle. Serious!

Makes me laugh like crazy!
 
We reach Pekan Baru at dawn, it was a long drive.

*Scheduled post*




Hyperlink : Wikipedia, RanselHitam
Hashtag : #PekanBaru, #lilyriani #lilyrianitravelholic #Indonesia




8 comments:

Biqque said...

in cambo, they have bensin in bottles too :)

Zara~AB said...

i've been to Pekan Baru before. The peoples there claimed that Pekan Baru is the cleanest town out of all in Indonesia.

MasZuber said...

tak jauh sgt sebenarnye dari malaysia..agak2 naik tongkang berapa jam la ek

Anash said...

you have taken good choice....
tagged along with them..
...
jembatan kuning tuh walaupun pendek aje tapi beriya-iya been constructed such 'heavy facade'...kagum seketika...

kira said...

i been to pekanbaru end of last year but miss the chance to visit siak. but i manage to visit Kampar. pekanbaru is one of the cleanest city in indonesia...the cleanest must be palembang.

btw, kalau tak silap atas jambatan siak tu ada theatre dan restoran

Anonymous said...

I dah 4 kali pegi pknbru..btol sgt...pknbru kota plg bersih seluruh indon..:-)

Beni said...

Cool blog brother! come around to Jambi! :)

May we meet in Selangor!

http://putellaking.blogspot.com/2012/11/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html

Beni said...

cool post bro! May we are selected on MSS 2013! Please come around to Jambi! :)

http://putellaking.blogspot.com/2012/11/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html







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