Kita mulakan dengan ini... Gambar yang diambil dari sekitar kuala Sungai Muar... Menurut satu cerita, nama Muar itu sendiri diambil daripada perkataan "Muara" yang bermakna kuala sungai.
Let's start with this... A picture taken from around the mouth of the Muar River... According to a story, the name Muar itself is taken from the word "Muara" which means the mouth of a river.
Kelihatan di kanan hujung adalah bangunan Umno Pagoh setinggi 12 tingkat (ke 13 atau 14, saya pun tak berapa ingat) yang pernah menjadi bangunan tertinggi di Muar selama lebih 20 tahun... Di kiri pula ialah masjid jamek kedua Muar, dibina hampir serupa dengan masjid utama pertama di seberang sungai!
Seen far right is the Umno Pagoh building which is 12 storeys high (or is it 13 or 14, can't remember properly) which used to be the highest building in Muar for over 20 years... On the left is Muar's second main mosque, built as an almost exact replica of the first main one just across the river!
Ini adalah bangunan Umno Pagoh itu daripada dekat. Kalau tak salah ingatan, ia siap dibina ketika saya masuk sekolah menengah tahun 1983 begitu.
This is that Umno Pagoh building seen from near. If not mistaken, it was completed when I was entering secondary school in 1983 or so.
Saya masih ingat perasan teruja saya sebagai seorang anak Muar. Itulah kali pertama terdapat bangunan "pencakar langit" di Muar! Sebelum itu, tidak pernah ada bangunan melebihi 5 tingkat di bandar ini...
I still remember my excitement as a Muar native. It was the first time we had a "sky-scraper" in Muar! Before that, there was no building above 5 storeys in town...
Di sebelah terletak bangunan Sultan Abu Bakar yang menempatkan beberapa buah pejabat kerajaan. Ia merupakan salah satu bangunan lama yang tercantik di Muar.
Besides is the Sultan Abu Bakar building which houses some government offices. It is one of the most beautiful building in Muar.
Daripada bangunan Sultan Abu Bakar, menyeberangi sebuah padang hoki, terdapat sebuah lagi bangunan ikon Muar...
From the Sultan Abu Bakar building, just across a hockey field lies another iconic building in Muar...
Inilah bangunan Sekolah Tinggi Muar... Sekolah ini sendiri dibuka tahun 1902! (Sempat menjenguk ke website http://www.highschoolmuar.com/ untuk memastikannya... Setelah membuat carian melalui Google ). Oh... Gambar ini diambil daripada sudut lain pula, dua simpang daripada bangunan Sultan Abu Bakar tadi...
This is the Muar High School building... The school itself was opened in 1902! (Had the time to have a look at the website http://www.highschoolmuar.com/ to check... After searching through Google). Oh... This picture was taken from a different angle, two junctions away from the Sultan Abu Bakar building...
Di penghujung jalan hadapan sekolah ini, empat simpang ke hadapan iaitu di pertemuan Jalan Mariam (ya, baru ingat... Itulah nama jalan ini...) dengan Jalan Abdul Rahman terletak rumah lama tempat saya membesar dahulu...
At the end of the road in front of the school, four junctions in front that is the meeting of Jalan Mariam (yes, now I remember... That is the name of this road) and Jalan Abdul Rahman lies the old house where I grew up...
Berbalik pada bangunan Sultan Abu Bakar tadi. Gambar ini diambil daripada bangunan itu menghala ke pusat bandar. Di sebelah kanan adalah bangunan mahkamah dan di sebelahnya bangunan polis trafik...
Back to the Sultan Abu Bakar building. This picture is taken from that building heading towards the town centre. On the right is the courthouse and besides it is the traffic police building...
Berjalan menghala ke pusat bandar dan anda akan dapat melihat banyak kedai-kedai sebelum perang (Perang Dunia ke Dua) seperti ini...
Walk towards the town centre and you would see many pre-war (before World War II that is) shops like this...
Banyak kedai-kedai lama di sini dibina sekitar tahun 1920an...Many old shophouses here were built in the 1920s...
Begitu juga masjid jamek Muar. Ia dibina tahun 1920an, ada yang kata siap tahun 1927... Letaknya di tepian jalan yang sama dengan yang menghadap kedai-kedai tadi tetapi pada arah yang bertentangan iaitu menghampiri kuala Sungai Muar.
So is the main mosque of Muar. It was build in the 1920s, some say completed in 1927... It is situated beside the same road that fronts the shophouse above but at the opposite direction nearing the Muar river mouth.
Saya sempat meletakkan poster promosi terbaru siri buku "Berpetualang ke Aceh" sementara menunaikan solat di masjid. Insyaallah selepas ini saya akan meletakkan gambar-gambar Muar yang diambil melalui perjalanan menaiki bot menyusuri Sungai Muar. Sila lihat blogspot BERPETUALANG KE ACEH sebentar lagi. Sekian!
I had the time to put up the promotional poster for the "Berpetualang ke Aceh" book series while doing my prayers at the mosque. God willing, after this I will put some pictures of Muar taken while going on a boat-cruise of the Muar river. Do have a look at the blogspot BERPETUALANG KE ACEH afterwards. That's all!