This was the first time we really decided to go to Negeri Sembilan. Before this we only passed through the state from both Johor and Melaka to go to Pak Chaq Kamal's house. Little did we know that we missed this beautiful and rich culture of the people originally from Padang, Sumatera - the Minangkabau custom and the adat perpatih - a very martriarchal society and one which I'm not sure whether they still put in practice or not.
After we're done with Tareeq's doctor's appointment that day (13 January 2014), we went back to Pak Chaq's for a little while. Then we proceeded to Negeri Sembilan. Since it was already late and we didn't really know where to head to, we decided that the museum would be the best bet. It's almost 5pm. Getting to the museum wasn't that difficult.
The museum complex was majestic! And beautiful too. Loved the roof.
I'm not sure whether they still build houses with roof like this but most of the kampung houses along the way had this kind of roof.
There's no entrance fee into the museum. And most of the exhibition halls were under construction. But we managed to enjoy the exhibits in the main hall. This was the sample of skeletons of the Perak Man. They don't have many original and local artifacts.
Another exhibition hall that was opened was the stamps and philately gallery. Quite a number of exhibits on the various stamps used in Persekutuan Tanah Melayu and then Malaysia. A display of an old postman's motorcycle caught Papa's interest.
There's also exhibits on monolith rocks (behind Zoey - whatever they were. I haven't googled about them yet). Anyway, these rocks and the history (or myth) were pretty happening in that state.
Outside of the main building, there were 2 old palace buildings. Both were in black and beautiful. Both were decorated with intricate carvings.
The interiors in both palaces were very simple - but still with abundance of intricate carvings. Both were built from wood. Both did not use any nails. Furnitures were scarce. They reminded me of Papa's grandma's house in Bukit Mertajam. Papa, Zoey and Tareeq were sitting in the grand reception area of the palace.
Nothing can beat the carvings. Mostly were in flower and khat motives. The doors were not in the normal height. So we had to stoop before entering.
The palace on top looked fairly simple but to me it's more beautiful than the one below.
There's an attic in one of the palaces. But like other spaces and areas, it's empty. It was already late. We needed to make a move. But not before one last picture of Zoey and Asha.
The road back home was a scary one. We used the road heading towards the mountains as a short cut to get back to Kuantan. When there was still daylight, it was beautiful. We also got to see the beautiful Minangkabau houses. Most houses were built on small hills on both sides of the road. And most were small.
We stopped for dinner around 7.00pm or so. Then, the trip back was harrowing. We almost skidded off into the ravine because a long truck was taking a wide cornering area and we had to swerve to avoid from being stuck under its belly. Luckily Papa was driving.
We did arrive home late that night. Hadui! So much adventure with our little car. But we loved it anyway!
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