Deerland, Lanchang, Pahang.

 

Situated some 3 km from Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation, is a private own animal park named Deerland. I thought it was a deer farm and that was it. But Deerland is very interesting and family friendly place. Highly recommended for you.

If you came to this post via google (and not from my previous post of Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre - http://farizghazali.blogspot.my/2014/06/kuala-gandah-national-elephant.html) Deerland is in Lanchang, an hour and a half drive from the city of KL.

My wife's dream is to have a place like this.

Heliconia walk way.

See how we get to push the strollers around. Its clean and teduh. I've been to a zoo in some country that's not really clean and smelly and muddy. It's fine if you are alone, but not for the kids. Deerland is really clean. And we had the whole place to ourselves as a bus load of teenage students (not so clean and smelly) just left the place.

It's clean.

And in Deerland, you will come across deers. And you'll get to feed the deers. For a minimum entrance fee of RM6 this place is cool. Even if it's RM20, it is still worth it.

A beautiful deer.

And more deer..

The animals are well kept.

Zahin feeding the animals. Obviously.

Gemuk dan Bersih.

And further down is another place which houses huge deer. Menakutkan jugak kalau sorang sorang dalam hutan jumpa satu geng rusa macam ni.

And then you'll get to see birds. Different types of birds.
I used to read all the writings about the animals displayed. But now with children, not any more.
So I have no clue what kind of bird is this.

But I know this guy. He got kung fu. He's the one in Kung Fu Panda. He's the valiant.
When not acting, he's here. 

And this guy is the actor in Over The Hedge.

He loves it. 

My son wants to take this home.

And very friendly creature. These small animals are being kept in cages during the night.
So cats or snakes would not eat them. What is this I have no idea. We  were going "look,
it moves like a squirrel, maybe a rat.." with the kids.

Birds..

And flowers.

MashaAllah.., And this amazing, beautiful bird. Just amazing.
Golden Pheasant.
I'm going to do a batik design based on her.

Itik cantik di kolam yang cantik tapi tak over decorated..

This place, although caged up with signages and everything, doesn't have that zoo feeling. It feels personal. It is personal. This place belongs to a couple. Looking at the animals, I wonder how much he spends to get them.

Dah mood sedap, apa bende pun cantik masa ni.

And just before leaving, you'll see this. Good idea.

And guys, please donate. Like me, see.

And that man who sells the ticket and take care of the shop is actually the owner. Friendly Abdullah.
"Minat," kata dia.
This Deerland is his, doing it for the love for animals. He used to have bigger animals
but the government took them away. You have to have permission to keep endangered species.

Zahin with something on his head. I do not like lizard.

And in front of the deerland a construction is taking place. Abdullah says that it will be a tiger-land thingy. So I think I will be back here maybe next year.

Love this place.

Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre.

For those animal lovers, or those married to an animal lover, this is a place for you. Its not that far, its clean, its free, it’s a no time limit place to actually see elephants up close. You are a family man trying to get your children to love animals, this is the place.

Basic Where?
Kuala Gandah is in Lanchang, Pahang. Some 2 hours drive from KL. After the Lanchang toll take right. No signage will be visible until a few kilometers away. Typical of Malaysia. Why? Because the government encourages you to stop and communicate, face to face.., with humans. Aku approach makcik tu sorang, dia terus pusing masuk rumah. Takut kot..

Nearing the place, you’ll come across a sign that says DEERLAND. Equally intresting, but later on that.

Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre is not too big. Just nice. Not too much walking needed. Very family oriented and stroller friendly. We arrived at 10am plus. You have got to register to get in and you are in for free. I really think Perhilitan should have a tabung outside for donations. A few metres nearing the show place, we heard elephants and my wife (instead of the children) was trilled.

Official Entrance Sticker

Basic What Is This Place?

We got to see the baby elephant and personally ask a lot of questions (or was it just 2?) to the care taker. This is a place where Perhilitan would place elephants saved from the wild and put it here. Some, like the baby elephant here was separated from the heard and was reported by the locals. So Perhilitan took it here.

Another one was trapped in the forest. Perhilitan save it. Some were taken away from Felda sebab kacau ladang orang. Others were injured or hurt. These elephants will then be given name according to the place they were found. Maybe most of them.

9 months old baby elephant. Aku tengok dia makan rumput.

Having 2 children plus a baby, this was fun for all of us. Nak bagi makan kena beli tebu. RM3 je satu ikat. Kami habis around 7 ikat including 2 bungkus kacang. Kacang tu share gajah dengan anak-anak. The advantage of having not too many people around and no time limit, you can really observe and take time bagi makan gajah ni.

After nearly 2 hours we decided to have lunch. The best part of the show is the 2 pm gajah mandi. So everyone left for lunch and will be back by then. Within walking distance there was not much choice to eat here. Perhilitan’s own cafeteria with 1 or 2 lauk and 2 other stalls outside. But that was enough for us. If you are a non rice eater foreigner, pack some lunch. 3 groups of foreigners were hanging around eating ice cream and junk food while waiting. Kesian..

There’s a surau some kilometers away for zohor.

At 2pm suddenly 2 bus load of students arrived. One from Shah Alam and the other one a group of chinese students I think Malaysian la. So we walked quickly to get infront. In front of what I wasn’t sure.

Not many people in the morning. Tourist came for the 2 pm Elephant Bathing time.

Bought a handfull of sugar cane for them.

Elephant Show
At 2pm a group of elephants with their trainers entered the ring. They were being introduced and some acts were performed. I was not looking because I was again feeding the elephants. Looking them straight into the eyes. Mana tau boleh communicate ke ape..

2 pm Elephant Show

They have lots of cut papaya for tourist to feed the elephants.
Papaya free. Tebu bayar.

Right is the main stage and left is a place for you to sit.

My Nat Geo shot.

Elephant Bath
Then the elephants marched down into the river for their afternoon bath. You should take your children earlier to the river side so they could have a better view. But the bathing process was like for half an hour, people do give up their spot for you after a while. The adults elephants will then march back to their hotel room and then the baby elephants come.

Talking on the phone eh..?

The river was deep enough for the elephants to be fully underwater.

Bathing With The Elephant
To have a chance to bathe with the elephants, you need to pay. Earlier in the main building where you registered, is a table. Ten for adults and 5 for children. Plus an additional RM30 for err.. service fee? So, my family paid RM60 to give the elephants a bath.

Make sure you have your orange sticker as proof. Stick the sticker for your children on you. Better that way. After 30 minutes wait, we had our chance to bath with the elephants.. to bath the elephants. 2 baby elephants and 10 to a group.

 

Waiting by the river.
I got my children to stand in the water at waist level while waiting so they would not be so cold later.

Our time. While the previous group was doing like 15 minutes, we had only around 3 minutes of bathing time.

Tapi bila tengok ada 2 anak gadis baju melekat tengah tunggu, aku boleh agak
kenapa keluarga aku diorang kasik 3 minit je. Cis..!

The experience was lovely, the place was nice and clean and beautiful. The toilet had shower. The guys here were friendly. I love Kuala Gandah so much that I posted pictures in my facebook.

And guys, please also visit Deerland http://farizghazali.blogspot.com/2014/06/deerland-lanchang-pahang.html

Nasi Lemak

Nasi lemak, teh tarik, air suam.

Cuit - Cuit Ust Kay: Penat vs Rehat

السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

CUIT-CUIT UST KAY (Isnin, 5 Rejab 1435H)
Penat Vs Rehat !

Pada suatu hari, Saidatina Fatimah r.anha mengadu kepada suaminya, Saidina Ali bin Abu Talib r.a tentang kesakitan pada tangannya kerana terlalu letih gara-gara menggiling gandum untuk membuat roti. Saidina Ali r.a berkata "Ayah kamu telah datang membawa balik tawanan perang. Berjumpalah dia dan mintalah seorang khadam untuk membantu mu".

Rasulullah SAW tidak mampu memenuhi permintaan anak kesayangan baginda itu. Baginda bersabda "Apakah kamu berdua mahu aku ajarkan perkara yang lebih baik daripada apa yang kamu minta daripada ku? Apabila kamu berdua berbaring untuk tidur, bertasbihlah Subhanallah 33 kali, bertahmidlah Alhamdulillah 33 kali dan bertakbir Allahu Akbar 33 kali. Ia lebih baik untuk kamu berdua daripada seorang khadam"

PENCERAHAN :
Inilah penawar ringkas yang Nabi SAW ajarkan kepada anak dan menantu baginda bagi meringkan keletihan dan kepenatan daripada kesusahan hidup mereka berdua.
Penat atau letih kita semalam, hari ini atau esok alangkah beruntungnya sekiranya kepenatan itu dikira sebagai satu ibadah. Kata-kata yang mudah tapi payah melakukannya.

Entahlah mengapa semenjak dua menjak ini Ust Kay mudah tersentuh dan hati ini mudah terharu.. Mungkin juga, bila Ust Kay melihat betapa hebatnya sahabat-sahabat yang telah banyak mengorbankan masa, tenaga, wang ringgit dan segalanya untuk jalan dakwah ini. Semuanya all out ! Ke sana…dan ke sini, untuk menyentuh hati-hati mad’u yang sangat dahagakan ilmu agama.

Menyaksikan sendiri kegigihan seorang sahabat sejati berdakwah di bumi Keningau Sabah tanpa mengenal erti penat lelah misalnya, menjadikan hati ini rasa cemburu dan malu. Cemburu kerana sahabat itu mampu berdakwah sehebat itu, sepenat itu dan malu kerana tak mampu melakukan perkara yang sama. Kenangan Ust Kay meninggalkan bumi Sandakan satu ketika dahulu setelah berdakwah pagi, petang dan malamnya kini terbit pula rasa kekesalan di hati. Di saat mad'u dahagakan rohani, da'ie pula meninggalkan pergi... satu kampung mengiringi !

Dalam berdakwah, baginda Nabi Muhammad SAW tidak pernah berehat ! Maka apa pula hak kita, sebagai orang yang mengaku ummat Nabi SAW, untuk berehat? Untuk bersenang lenang? Untuk bermain-main dan berseronok-seronok dengan keluarga atau berpeluk tubuh sahaja.

“Wahai hamba yang dhaif, Allah Ta'ala akan menilai penat lelah mu yang sedang berusaha di jalan dakwah. Majulah. Jangan gentar dan jangan menyerah. Allah pilih kita bukan kerana kitalah yang terbaik. Tetapi sebenarnya Allah memilih kita untuk memberi peluang kita membaiki diri sendiri. Majulah, sahabatku... majulah !” Pujuk hati ini bermonolog sendirian..

Allah itu tujuan kita, kan? Syurga itu dambaan kita kan? Sahabat-sahabatku, bukankah syurga itu indah ? Susah-susah kita di dunia ini, ini bukanlah tempat kita. Jadi, teguhkanlah hati mu walau rasa tak larat sekali pun. Senyumlah para pendakwah sekalian. Senyumlah... ke arah syurga yang sedang kita usahakan ! Bukankah janji kita mahu berjumpa semula di sana nanti? Bukankah kita mahu berehat dan bersantai di syurga? Jadi kenapa mahu mengalah? Ayuh kita teruskan dakwah ini...

فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا
"Oleh itu, maka (tetapkanlah kepercayaanmu) bahawa sesungguhnya tiap-tiap kesukaran disertai kemudahan."
(QS. Al-Inshirah : 5)

KESIMPULAN :
Sempurnanya tarbiyah hanya apabila kita boleh menjadi murabbi, mendidik dan membentuk manusia kepada Allah. Sempurnanya dakwah hanya apabila kita boleh menjadi da'i, mempunyai mad'u dan melaksanakan akitiviti menyeru manusia kembali kepada-Nya. Sempurnanya jihad hanya apabila kita boleh menjadi mujahid yang tidak kenal erti penat dan jemu berjuang sebagai dai'e dan murabbi dengan penuh sabar dan sedia berkorban.
Wallahu a'lam - Pilih penat didunia rehat di akhirat atau rehat di dunia penat di akhirat? Ust Kay.

Marah

Bengang Budak-Budak..

Pastel Colour in D Minor