Ostrolia Aku Datang

Author: Wan Noorliza Publisher: Lejen Press ISBN: 9789670591568

THIS little travelogue describes the experiences of Wan Noorliza while studying in Australia.

The author uses a mix of Malay and English; I guess to make the writing more relatable to the younger generation who tend to speak in both languages nowadays.

The anecdotes contained in the book are told in individual chapters. Fortunately, each of these standalone chapters is arranged in such a way that there is a good story flow from beginning to end.

This makes the book interesting, and fun to read, but some of these stories are so interesting that you wish there are more to their tales.

The author deftly describes her encounters with various people in Australia, which she manages to relate to memories of her family back home, making her experiences that more interesting.

One drawback to her writing style is that she is so focused on relating her experiences that she often forgets to describe what it is like to travel through Australia and the sights she encounters – which, for a travelogue, makes the country seem unforgivably dull.

Though I understand that she can choose what she wants to write about, I was expecting to read a lot more about the country, considering that it’s in the book title!

Nevertheless, this book still has enough gems to make it worth spending time on it. – Shahrul Fahmi