Barrel of fun...

Kak Lina's family , SLing and Apang.....

As the year comes nearing towards the end, surprises will somehow appear out of no where to give a booster. However, surprises like visits and opportunity to meet up with friends and former colleagues are hard to give it a miss. The older folks used to say that meeting old friends will somehow bring about to a lot of joy than sorrow. I must agree that it sure does bring wonderful memories. Last Friday, SLing and I had the opportunity to play host to our former colleagues, Norlina Kamin and Rusni Jitah Singh and JWee's very first babysitter, Lusia Stevens a.k.a Apang. Meeting them put so much joy in my heart. It has been ages since I saw them and the opportunity to meet with them was an opportunity I would not miss. It was so kind of Norlina's brother to send our two Sabah guests down to see us and spend a night at our place while Norlina and family would go back to JB the very same Friday evening after meals.

Ikan bakar and colgate smiles.....

 I guess, I must say that it was such an honour and gratifying feeling being able to see all of them.I was so glad to see Kak Lina and her two children including her brother and mother who came along with them. I marveled at Kak Lina's strength and tenacity despite being in so much difficulty after her husband left her and her children in a lurch a couple of years ago for another woman. Knowing how much she had to pick up her life and re-built her life including caring for 3 growing up children certainly is one huge story of encouragement. My heart was filled with so much respect and marvel at her for picking the pieces of her life up and continue to live on for her children , care for them and nurture them. What a woman! Knowing that she is doing okay now brought much relief to my heart and also so much joy for her. 

Taming Sari Tower with me, Apang and Rusni....

As for Rusni and Apang, I am just so happy to meet this colleague of mine and my one time student in person. Both have grown so much in years. Rusni was my colleague when I started my teaching career in SMK Tenghilan, Sabah. She was awesomely fair, firm yet friendly person and still very much the same. Over the years , she has become family to me and SLing as we shared BBQ meals and great fun together. She and her housemates would be our temporary babysitter before we left for home In Melaka after finishing our teaching days in SMK Tenghilan. She was also the athletics field coach whereas I was the athletic team planner cum athletics track coach. We worked well as a team together with other teachers in order to bring glory to the school, district and the state we served. She is a great netball coach and netball player too.  

Apang & Rusni - River Cruise....

As for Apang, she was my student and JWee's babysitter. As a student, she was my hockey team defender and a good one too. She is also bright , studied well and eventually she is now a teacher. She has always been playful but courteous but also a person of strong and good character. She was a good babysitter to JWee who was a couple months at that time and she really took care of our baby. I am forever indebted to her as she took care of JWee when he was just a baby and she really took care of our baby. Today, she is a dedicated teacher in one of the rural school in Kota Belud , Sabah and she teaches hockey in her school and district. It was just so nice to see her and Rusni again as the last time we met was about 10 years ago while I have not seen Rusni since I came back from Tenghilan, Sabah which is about 20 years now.

Coconut Milkshake stall plus goodies

That evening as we ate and spoke about how well my former students were doing, I am so glad to hear that most of them had been working as teachers, educators, Govt.Departments and even as farmers manning their own lands. It was also sad to hear of the passing away of several former colleagues ( teachers ) and also what had happened to some of the teachers and students too. In my heart , I am so glad to meet up and have Rusni and Apang in my home. That night after dinner at Medan Ikan Bakar Pernu, Alai, we talked, laughed, had some sorrowful moments and also enthusiasm all thrown in a mixture of feelings as we spoke of our friends and colleagues. The ride of memories back to the yesteryears seemed so fun, close and funny yet poignant, sentimental and meaningful as we spoke fondly of everyone we knew. To me, it was good to know that everyone in one way or another is contributing to the raising of standards of knowledge and living in that Land Below the Wind state. I am so happy that many of my students had become teachers and creating good perspective of life there. That day, I slept at 4.00am in the morning and it was well worth the waking hours listening to stories of everyone I knew.

KakLina's family, Apang and SYuen

It was satisfying that I wasn't just another West Malaysia teacher in the school who was there just to fulfill my 5 years there. Most important was I wanted to encourage and help these students to better themselves and to be a changer in their society. I must say that I have always questioned myself if I had been an effective teacher in that sense. I must admit that I wasn't a good academic teacher but I was a good coach both in athletics and hockey. My methods of teaching these young one are not textbook stuff but more to unconventional teaching methods of school of hard knocks, hard words and plenty of heart. I don't know how else I can do it. I must admit that I tried my best in the academic and the sports field to inspire these young one to really make a change in their society. This is what that is always playing in my mind - did they make it? Have I played my role in encouraging them? or due to their "hatred" for me, they have finally succeeded? I guess, the greatest yardstick for me is when you get a former student like Apang and colleague like Rusni Jitah Singh coming by to see you and with warm embraces does tell you a lot! 

Rusni, SLing and Kak Lina

My heart was so overwhelmed with great emotions as I received hugs and embraces of such love. It does warm an old heart like mine la....I tell you! It doesn't need a thousand students to show that as it only needs one who will go out and inspire others with your passion. That day, I felt that rush of relief that students everywhere will be encouraged and loved by my former students who are now educators and leaders in life. The passion and love lives on....... It is a great feeling......

Anyway, I brought Rusni and Apang for some great food fare, sight seeing and Malaccan hospitality. We zig-zagged through the busy Saturday streets in Melaka and continued to show off great Malaccan food and sights before they board the bus to Kuala Lumpur for another adventure in that big city. We laughed a lot that day and we also had so much fun together. They had to tell me that they are stuffed full before I get them more food and more calories to their bodies! Sure, the Nyonya laksa, mee goreng, Hawaiian toast, special egg toast, pineapple tarts, kedodong juice, coconut ice-cream special, juices in bottles, the coconut milkshake, nasi lemak, ondeh-ondeh, samosa, popiah cili, crepe cake plus ikan bakar such as stingray ( ikan pari ), barramundi fish ( ikan siakap), cuttlefish ( sotong) and lala filled their food veins, pipes and stomachs! Taming Sari Tower , River Cruise , A Famosa , St.Paul's Hill climb plus night walk at happening Jonker Street were part of their simple tour diet during their visit to my hometown.

Me and my Sabahan beauties, Apang & Rusni

I guess, when Rusni & Apang stepped aboard the bus to KL, my heart was sad seeing them leave. I guess, parting is such a sweet sorrow in many sense. I really missed these two brave, creative, funny and happy-go-lucky women. They were young woman and girl when I met them. Today, they have become women of stature, strong and confidence. As I saw the bus leaving the terminal, I wished I could have more days with them so that at least, I could be transported to the days of fun, laughter and sheer joy. I will miss them, alright.... 

So, to Rusni Jitah Singh and Lusia Stevens, thank you for sharing your simple lives with me and the memories we shared in the last few days were truly memorable, fun and they do add up more years to my life! That's for sure! 

Breaks and reflection......

Today, I write with fond memories of the places I went in November as I took a break from work. Like all stressed out father,  such rest are rarity but when you get it, make sure you make the best out of it. I really did that and I just wanted to spend as much time as possible at some nice places and I did. I am always intrigued and fascinated by archaeological places, museums and places of interest plus the lure of good food. Yup! Nice places and the tummy rumblings go hand in hand when travelling......

We started out with a trip up north for my buddy, Rosli daughter's wedding in Bedong and a trip to Lembah Bujang Archaeological Museum  nearby. It was a wonderful experience of understanding what took place at these places a long time ago. The best part is that the museum is free of charge and very well kept indeed. As for the outdoor upkeep, I must say I am equally impressed with the cleaniness and the well kept place. The model "candis" were exceptionally interesting and there is something mystical about them too. 

You may ask what is so interesting and mystical of such places and artifacts, right? Well, for one, you could see the strategic placement or the placement of balance in the building of such places of worship. A lot of emphasis was given to ensure that these so call "candi " is properly balance and depicts harmony flow. It is like the entire "candi" will be surrounded by harmonious flowing running water which will create the ambiance of harmony. From the stones cuttings to the art works and stone carvings, they were really interesting. It was really interesting to note the Buddhism and Hinduism influence to these "candi". Interesting indeed, I tell you. Well, this is just my perspective of things as I see it. The experience there was truly wonderful. One that I cherished a lot.

The other place which I truly enjoy was the trip to Bukit Mertajam to visit St.Anne's Church. I must say, this is truly one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been to. Never mind the denomination or whatsoever, the church is such a majestic one. 

As I sat at the old wooden pews in the church and with the gentle voices of choir singing from practising carollers, it was truly an experience of a lifetime. I must say, I was overwhelmed with such thankfulness in my heart knowing such beautiful church is in place. The architecture of the church is absolutely great and majestic. It is just so awesome being in this church and the experience alone is so worthwhile. I love the artworks especially the wood carvings, the bronze or metal works of art depicting familiar Biblical stories, the rustic wooden pews that adorned the congregation worship hall and the wonderful mosaic works adorning the historical wall. 

The worship hall was just great and I felt the peace in my heart and simple adoration for His presence that day. It was a great feeling. Even my sister felt she was at some overseas church and never knew it was such an experience. The other great experience is that one would get to know the Story of Jesus to the Cross through the works of art around the vicinity area of the church. What a great experience! Blessed and humbled are what I felt while at that place of worship!

Butterfly Farm in Teluk Bahang was the next destination my family and I went during our short break. Though the entrance fee was a little stiff as the area was quite small but it is still a great surprise for me. The butterflies are beautiful and I enjoyed them thoroughly. Maybe one would complaint that there are many of the same species of butterflies but I must say, there are truly amazing. Multicolored butterflies flying by and making a pit stop at your hand or head or shoulders can be quite an experience if you are a nature lover like me. However, it does get quite uncomfortable as the place was not that big and there are plenty of visitors to the farm. I noted pertinently that there are a lot of social photographers at the farm. Yeah, I must admit that this is a photographer's haven if one wants to shoot pictures of the unique butterflies.

Then , there is the over-rated Colmar Tropicale place in Bukit Tinggi. There was so much said about it and so on but sadly, to me this is just another theme resort. Incidentally this is a French theme place. Sure, the buildings are nice and so on. It is a little damper for me just like the weather then while the journey there was arduous and long plus there is an entrance fee too. I guess, there is so much hype in it but overall, it was still a nice cool place to go just to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city life, I guess. Anyway, I bought some pastries from one of the bakery and they are stone cold!  I really wished they could have warm the pastries a bit before packing them for us to eat. It would have been a better experience, I guess. 

Anyway, take not the beauty and attraction away from this place as the idea of it is good. Looking at the pictures of it, I too would have given my mom and dad a hard time by constantly harassing them to bring me there for my holidays! As for the Japanese garden, I must say that the road towards the garden is horrendously steep while the steps ( I hate steps!) up to the garden was my nemesis indeed! The Japanese garden was well kept and clean but just too little to see. 

I guess, my next memorable experience was hopping in and out of hotels like E&O and Rasa Sayang Shangri-La Resort.  These are truly beautiful hotels. Rasa Sayang Shangri-La in Batu Ferringhi has a truly beautiful beach front and nice relaxing lawn to go with it. The facilities are great though I wouldn't afford to stay here, to be honest. Everything was nice and cosy. I just truly love the feel of this place and being able to walk around the place with SL and SYuen are just as good. 

However, Chi Spa did not sound that nice in Hokkien and so, I did some signs which disgusted SLing but we both burst out laughing at the end. Guess, just two old people having a lighter moment in life!!! It was just a nice day enjoying simpler things in life. Yeah, we had so much fun just visiting hotels and E&O is the other great hotel too. We walked from the old wing to the new wing and got a shock in our lives when we enquired about the room rate! Thank God, my heart did not skip many beats or else, you'll probably know where I will land........

Anyway, thanks to my brother-in-law, Tee and my sister, we were able to sample the Seberang Prai food fare again which was a real delight to us. Thanks to Felicia, we got our coffee fix together with some nice bread while spending time with son, JWee and also with Felicia were priceless. I never could understand how one could live by a 780 sqft apartment and still go to work sane each day. There space is simply too small but obviously there are people who still could do it. I shudder at the thought of how on earth is JWee gonna have his own place if prices of apartments/condo in Penang keep rising to the 600k to 700k range. 

I often wonder if there is any hope at all for the citizens of Penang unless you already own a place n the first place.  I guess, I am pretty lucky in the sense that I do have a landed property which I could call home and snug nicely each night at my rustic bed. I guess, I should kiss the ground called home and wished I hadn't complained too much. A roof over the head is better than none, right? Yeah, breaks like this makes you realised just how blessed you are in your life and so I have learned! And so I have learned.............

Bedong Wedding...

About a month or two ago, I received a Malay wedding invitation from my buddy, Mohd Rosli Hj.Osman who is in Taman Lembah Bujang, Bedong, Kedah D.A. It was quite a shocker at first but after realizing that it wasn't his wedding but his daughter, Ieda's wedding SLing and I were invited to, it was a sigh of relief! Honestly, I could not remember driving such a far way to attend a wedding but I was determined to attend this one. The prospect of meeting again my buddy, Rosli is indeed the greatest reward for me at this stage of my life.

You see, Rosli was my flat mate and fishing kaki when I was teaching in Sabah. Rosli is small built in nature, soft spoken, calm and a man of few words. He was a real friend to me and he introduced me to catch fish with drift nets in the shores of Mantanani or some sea shore near Kota Belud those days. He would take me and Cikgu Malijin Lagoh with him to the sea and we would put on our drift nets and gathered whatever fish which hit the net and divide our share equally. He was like a brother to me during my early years in Sabah and he often taught me a lot about life. He is a good man and he gave me a lot of encouragement when we were in Sabah. We caught river prawns together and fished for fresh water fish in the creeks and flowing river near our school flat. It was simply marvelous being with Rosli and his wife, Kak Zan. 

This couple always welcomed me and my housemate for meals with them whenever we could and we were close friends. The hospitality shown by Rosli and his wife gave me a lasting impression in my heart. The BBQ sessions, the mahjong session ( taught them  how to play mahjong ) and our "going out to the sea session" were really fun times. The bounty was always good and we were always thankful. I learned what it meant to be thankful from these two great teachers of mine namely Rosli and Malijin.

So, coming back to the wedding invitation, I was more than willing to drive down to Bedong just to attend the wedding and catch up with my buddy , Rosli. I immediately told SLing that I am not going to miss this wedding date. Days passed and soon, I made my way to Bedong , Kedah but not before stopping at Lembah Bujang for some archaeological lesson at the Lembah Bujang Museum. I did not inform Rosli that I was going to make it for the wedding just to surprise him. 

So, imagine the shock and the joy of his face when he saw us as we walked to his home in Taman Lembah Bujang! I immediately hugged my small frame long lost friend while SLing embraced Kak Zan. For once, tears filled my eyes as I hugged my good buddy, Rosli. Maybe it was awkward for the people at the wedding to see us like that but I really missed this good friend of mine. He also felt touched and we told each other that it has been too long we have not met up. I shook Kak Zan's hands and I told her thank you for inviting us for the wedding. I could see that there were tears in the eyes of Rosli and Kak Zan as Rosli took us to a nearby table. He repeatedly told me how happy he was to see me at this wedding and I told him that the joy is mine and it was a real honour to be able to come by.

I then chatted freely with Hafiz , Rosli's son who was just 5 years old then when he was in Sabah. I spoke fondly of his dad, Rosli while he spoke of remembering me and SLing when he was a boy then. I was honored that he could remember us and we chatted about work, life and his mom and dad. I remembered Hafiz being a young limping child then but he had soon went through an op to rectify the limp and now, he works as a bus driver for an express bus company. So proud of him helping out the family on his sister's wedding and he spoke fondly of a lot of matters which had happened while we were in Sabah. 

Though SLing and I weren't able to see the bersanding part of the wedding, we were just happy to see Rosli and Kak Zan. As we posed for photographs and were introduced to all their children ( they have 6 children ), four of their children could recognised us while 2 of the younger ones couldn't as they were born in Kedah. I felt so much joy in my heart as I get to see my buddy and like most Malaysians, there weren't any barrier between us. We are just good friends breaking through all the nonsensical barriers that had burdened us all our lives. 

As we bid farewell, I guess, SLing and I felt so much joy and honour to be able to regain the sweet memories of friendship, love and respect for this couple, Rosli & Kak Zan. What an honour! What sweet memories! Rosli said it right when he said, " See you again, my friend. I've got 5 more to go! " Yeah, I look forward to attending my good buddy's children wedding in the future. 

Be blessed, Rosli & Kak Zan!