Ali Buntut: Members' Profile

Ali Buntut is a fellowship (brotherhood actually, it's IN OUR BLOOD) of like-minded (give and take about 2 unit of the Buntut Scale of Sanity) young (as well as the 8 letter double word that starts with well and ends with hung - doesnt apply to a certain member though) rebels (what, anarchy rules dude *multitude of hands gestures*) who risk their life (more seldom than often than not) for cheap thrills (gotta admit, driving CK's car and sneaking into shopping malls during the after-hours is cheap), spreading awareness (spray painting roads and signs) and discovering life-sized truth about... afterlife (no comment left).

So, I figure we must be quite an interesting bunch of individuals. With that, I composed, circulated, collected and collated a profiling questionnaire exclusively for the members of Ali Buntut. And here are our thoughts:













And there you have it - the facets of personalities within Ali Buntut, our ideas and thoughts, our hopes and dreams. What with all our differences, all (but one, who also coincidentally didnt fit the YOUNG double word characteristic - refer above) agrees on one thing - ALI BUNTUT is gonna be BIG. Watch out for us.....on roads and signboards.

Abandoned Series - Pekeliling Flats

Finally, 3 months since our reconnoiter of Pekeliling Flats, we are back in action. The glorious band of iron-balled lads returns to roaming in the forbidden darkness yet again. Haunted or not, abandoned lots reeking eeriness and condemnation become our purlieu. With each venue vanquished, we etched in history our ventures onto the less trodden paths. Long live Ali Buntut!

This time, we return to tie up the loose end we left hanging 3 months ago - Pekeliling Flats. We traveled to subject matter in a 3-man team, but only 2 made it into the building. Our honorary 3rd member activated flight mode.



From what little research i did on Pekeliling Flats, i cite from Wikipedia:

"Better known as Tunku Abdul Rahman Flats was the second high-rise apartment building in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia after Suleiman Courts. It was built in 1964. The 11 blocks of the flats (Block A, Block B (both demolished on 2006), Block C, Block D, Block E, Block F, Block G, Block H, Block J, Block K and Block L) were located on Jalan Pekeliling (now Jalan Tun Razak) and Jalan Pahang. On 2008, this flats will be demolished to make way for development. It will mark an end an era when public housing resembled matchboxes in which 10 people sometimes lived in a room."

Demolition in 2008 my ass. Its 2009 and counting and its still hogging up the space. Well, to our benefits anyways so heck.

Standing at its full height of 17 floors (counted and audited), Block E emanates forsaken darkness that saps your energy as it encompasses you. As before, the horror value of the building was just as charming.





Stepping through the threshold (no door), we were greeted with filth everywhere, aching both our sights and smell. There was a lift shaft to both sides of the entrance, both stripped off the metallic vessel they used to accommodate. Here's looking up an empty lift shaft:



The center courtyard is littered with assortment of garbage, presumptuously thrown by tenants from all levels whilst vacating their units.



Without wasting much time, we progressed up the stairs steadily. The ambient light wasn't much to complement our sights but it was there through the windows (or lack thereof). Guided with only 2 mini torchlight, we had to watched our steps through the ubiquitous filth.



Once in a while, we were displaced by the various sounds reverberating through the flats. The water dripped like steps of a man on our tail. The banging of something solid against the zinc roof sounded like someone just jumped on it. But amidst the ghastly environs, we persevered....







We got caught sight of some graffiti promoting a Mr Yuci:





Taking a break, we made ourselves welcomed in this unit still occupied with abandoned furnitures.





Before long, we reached the 17th floor....but how do we get to the rooftop? After a quick look around we discerned the stairway to the roof to be across the other side. Crossing seemingly empty rooms to our right, we soon reached the other side...



Remember the lift shaft we looked up? Here's the shaft looking down...



Taking the final step onto the rooftop, numinous panorama came into view. 17 floors glossed with confining darkness and peppered treacherous trash separates the ground level from the seat in heaven. Take a gander for yerself...


One side overlooking the LRT railway...


With Petronas Twin Tower somewhat faded against the background the other side (no thanks to the current haze attack)

We took some shots of ourselves as trophies...





...before Chid marked his territory from 17 floors above ground. I should have saved some pee myself...



And here is the view of my car from atop Block E. Sitting in the backseat of the car (it's subtle, but it's there) was our honorary member Ckent, all safe and sound.



Then it was time to go. So down we went...





Now, all the up, we had little disturbances save for the random sounds. However, on our way down the stairs from the 12th to 11th floor (i think), i felt this raspy dry tickling against my left elbow and left back. I was startled a little, thinking i might have stepped on a branch or it might be "that". Shining the spot where i got "tickled", it was totally clean, which was kinda queer what with nearly every other floor space filled with rubbish. There wasn't even an insect in sight. Nonetheless, i shrugged it off as nervous attack. Going down another floor, on the very same spot i got "tickled" the level before, i got same feeling again. Now, this time i was freaked out. Again, there was nothing solid anywhere near me that i could have brushed past. From that floors downwards, i crab walked all the way, splitting my sight between my front and back. Fortunately, the feeling never came again.

Finally, reaching ground floor, we took a final shot at the entrance in our glorious Buntut pose...



Yet again, we survived unscathed...save for this little mark on my right hand which i only noticed the next day. Could it be.... a stigmata?....

Back to the Origin - The Founding of A** B***** - Part 2

Ever woken to the first rays of the fiery star, in the middle of the hill next to a serene waterfall? Ahhh, the air was fresh, temperature cool, birds chirping, and my feet HURT LIKE HELL!!! Walking was a torture for the 4 of us (Alan, Chid, Ckent, Keeps) as blisters plagued our sole and the areas between the toes. Ouch!!

We packed up our belongings, cleared the site and headed to the godsend mamak for breakfast. Upon reaching, the mamak wasnt yet opened for the day's cycle of providing miracles to wretched adventurers like us (or serving pabulum to their sane regulars, whatever). We played Big 2 until the stall opened and had our breakfast. When we were finally sated, it was near noon. And off we went...

A good night's rest did us all some good - revitalize our spirit, refresh our mind, rejuvenate our body and restore our mood. But it wasnt long before the latent fatigue and caustic blisters gave us hell for every step we took. Left (ouch!), right (ouch!), left (ouch!!), right (ouch!!!)...

Sign near the Genting Skyway

Along our ascend to the peak, we had a Chinese couple in a battered white van offering us a ride to the top. But by then, we were steel-hearted on finishing the remaining length on foot so we politely declined. As we hiked up, we could slowly feel the effect of declining oxygen supply as well as cooler air. Hated one but loved the other. We were huffing and puffing but we were barely sweating anymore. Around early evening, we reached the level where trees are coniferous (whatever was it called again in Geography...). We took the chance to have a break whilst enjoying the rare geographical atmosphere.

Late evening now. We have been walking for close to 8 hours. Our moment of anticipatory joy came upon seeing this sign:

WEEE!!!! Only ONE, LAST, MEASLY kilometer to go. Piece of cake....or not.... What do u know, the last kilometer turned out to be the ultimate torture as the ground seem to steeped up threefold! *#$@#$!@#!

When we FINALLY covered the final km and reached Genting herself, we were so dead tired. All plans on sneaking into Outdoor Theme park, vandalizing First World Hotel, hunting down restless phantoms, infiltrating the Casinos, etc were casted into oblivion. We found a grassy spot at the corner of the Genting's Auxiliary Police marching compound and camped for the night.

The view from our campsite

The cold night fueled Keeps inherent affinity to fire as he went at fire-starting again, incessant gusts of wind notwithstanding. We were all at it for hours, before Keeps finally achieved a triumphant swell of a fire. Then we went to sleep.... except for me.... who was arrogant to NOT bring a sleeping bag along. The windbreaker of mine as well as the tent did little to curb the bone-chilling wind. As expected, i stayed up all night, teeth chattering, bone freezing.

So, i went for a walk (yea, ouch!..damn blisters) around Genting to warm myself before heading back to our campsite. Apparently while i was away, a couple of cops came and inquired our I-L-L-E-G-A-L stay at the compound. Somehow, we managed the sympathy vote through and got our peace.

Then i got back. Not wanting to make helluva noise creeping back into the tent, i sat down next to the tent and started sleeping. Until i got a call. At 3 in the morning.... which i answered.... to Chid asking if i were outside the tent.... and was told Keeps, being bloodlusty as he is, was gonna strike me through the tent with our trusty parang thinking i was a robber. Phew, talk about near death experience.

Next morning, we awoke (except me, i stayed awake the whole night) to a bunch of cadets going through their routine morning march. We packed up sluggishly and shamelessly strayed across the compound with a haggard visage amongst the impeccable looking cadets. We went straight to the mamak near the Genting Skyway counter for breakfast before we boarded the Skyway.

Aboard the Skyway, we savored the alternate route we had contemplated taking - yup, along the Skyway maintenance road. What a journey it would have been...

We got off the cable car and bought our bus tickets, having to wait an hour for the next ride out. So we wandered off to the nearby horse paddock and had ourselves some time with one muscular beast...

And FINALLY, we were on our way back home. Having put ourselves through physical hell, mental torture, poor hygiene, lousy comestibles, our conception of life were torn down and
remodeled. Never have we covered so much ground on foot in our daily lives because we simply NEED not. A car trip would suffice any distance we needed to traverse. A can of icy cold Coke, abundant and easily procurable in our common purlieus, was a luxury we couldnt have when we wanted it most. I wouldnt say it was a smart thing to embark on this adventure, but i sure as hell didnt regret it one bit. In fact, it was probably the best thing i've done yet. ^_^

Ckent was the stranger i got to call friend after this historic journey.

P/S: This momentous quest conceived the fellowship of like-minded wayward chaps with proclivity to challenging emprise and fey rendezvous. We are simply cleped ALI BUNTUT.