Pekan.

Had a trip to Pekan for 2 days - the Royal Town of Pahang. Never been there before and frankly, its been a while since I had the opportunity to indulge myself enjoying (while working nonetheless) the forest greenery and lush lustre view of the mountainous region of Titiwangsa... O_o (enjoying the view while driving thru Karak highway heh ^_^)

And yeah, I just learn how to appreciate nature and "whats left of it" at the very best.

Treebeard

Pekan to me is a very quite town, full of old Malay houses - which is such a rarity this days compared to the other places around Malaysia. The people are very friendly and quite proud of their hometown - sharing passionately with me about how deep the history Pekan have.

As you all might know Pekan is the old capital of Pahang before it shifted to the current one at Kuantan. So it did has an "ancient" feeling, not so many modern development and yet soothing to those who want to seek serenity, quite time.

It felt kinda special to me, cuz maybe it is deeply rooted with the ancient Malay kingdom and the myth and adat that surrounds it is not ubiquitous - with its naga's myth and Orang Asli old wives tale - the story is strictly Pahang and can't be found somewhere else.

Well, the reason we came here is to help the Pahang Museum rebrand the Abu Bakar Museum - thats been left for renovation for quite a long time (Its been 2 years maybe?) and we have to collaborate with Ramli Ibrahim (as a thought "provocateur)" and specify what kind of "identity" - specific to Pahang and Malay generally - combining with the expertise from architect from Japan. The museum director is quite open and a visionary, a historian researcher himself so the knowledge that we had to absord was truly abundant and yeah... it is quite tricky and we have to be extra "careful".

How can we conceptualize the image or rebranding a modern look of an old palace - yet not losing its intrinsic yet ancient value and somehow strictly Pahang?

How can we make the usually "tedious" journey in a museum interesting?

What can we do to make it very "special" so that people from afar or near come to this place out of curiosity - not out of one of the venue embedded inside a boring school trip and "packaged" trip...? -_-

An interesting opinion came from Ramli that seems to me very true, "Japanese is a minimalist. Part of the Chinese is minimalist. But are Malay minimalist?"

He also coined the adage of "angin" or "semangat" that deeply connected with the Malay since ancient times and how is it make us very "unique".

En. Mazlan - journalist from the Seni Beladiri Magazine - advising us about Silat in Pahang and its role in shaping Pahang history... O_O

Mr. and Mrs. Nagata ^_^

After the meeting we had a tour around the museum to thoroughly understand the layout and its significance to the overall experience.

 Old Sultan's Cadillac maybe?

The birthplace and the original kampung of Malaysia's 2nd Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak - father of the current Prime Minister.

And then we got to stay in Melati Inn - the old Maria Menado (the late Sultan Pahang widow) bungalow (palace) turned hotel. The architecture make me so feels like I'm in one of the P.Ramlee movies with all its 60's-70's kind of atmosphere -  relate with the old-style wood furniture (don't know whether its the original or not) and yes, the room is quite nice... (but no service mind ya -_-) Very suitable for all the backpackers out there ^_^

...and they also said that room no 7 is haunted and my room is no 8! O_O

Good thing I slept like a baby, not even noticing whatever kind of paranormal activity thats been happening there... huhu :'(

The 2nd day, we got access to the museum archive - analyzing which and what are the important thing that can be highlighted. It is quite a sight really, an opportunity to indulge myself closely with all the craft done by the old Malay craftmen - we called them Pandai Kayu, Pandai Besi (similar like Japanese living National Heritage) but sadly, the lacking of recognition from our own government and media let to the demise and extinction of this declining profession... T_T

This is the late Ramli Malek - Pahang Batik artist and entrepreneur.

Books, books, and more books... O_________O

Thats it... I think. Can't give to many details cuz its strictly confidential ;p

p.s: Reminiscing back into my old days learning Cekak and realize how strictly important it is to learn about our own heritage and to conserve it for the next generation. 

Very, very interesting indeed.