Aeon meetup

Another New Year Reunion

This year we returned to Sitiawan for Chinese New Year because Teik Sing and family are back home from abroad! The last time we met was over two years ago when they visited us at the Tenth Floor, when Ezra was still a baby! We met at the biggest shopping mall in Sitiawan, which in itself still causes cognitive dissonance with me because Sitiawan had no malls when I lived here and we had to travel far and away for me to reach any mall. In any case, full complement of our families including Ivy met up in the afternoon. We occupied two tables at Secret Recipe to talk and stuff! Teik Sing and Michelle gave us a really well-sculpted NCC-1701-D USS Enterprise as a gift. I also received a drawing of BB-8 by Ashley, who is turning out to be an excellent artist! We gave Lat’s Kampung Boy and […]

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Chicken and stuff

Childhood Friends vs Chicken Wings

I called up Nazri to find out if he was in town for Eid and discovered that a bunch of folks from school were. There was a plan to meet up later that night at Aeon, at a chicken wing restaurant that I never went to before. Before long, Shahmar, Nazri, Sam and I had assembled there to talk of old times and new. Because the meet up went into extra time, the wives and children (including Ain and Irfan) went for a showing of Hotel Transylvania 2. We had to vacate the premises and relocate to the nasi kandar restaurant outside the mall to continue, where we were later joined by Din. All in all, it was an enjoyable time meeting childhood buddies.

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Yay! Sun in the water!

Weekend at Sitiawan

Last weekend, we balik kampung to Sitiawan. Coincidentally, we got to attend my cousin’s wedding in Ipoh on Saturday. All except Opah Irfan went to the community hall where the wedding took place. She was unwell. As a bonus, we discovered some nifty new roads heading into the capital city of Perak by way of Batu Gajah. Yong Neni and her newborn with Yong Ain together again. We invited them to visit us in Perlis if time permits. It would be great to have them as house guests and show them the sights. Later that night, Atok and Opah took us to dinner at a restaurant of Atok’s old acquaintance. We drove past the restaurant many a time in the past, but failed to notice it. The ambience was good. The food was great. When Vin and Sila return, we should totally come here for dinner at some point. Irfan […]

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Not the DS9 Promenade

Salam Aidilfitri from Sitiawan Again

Semalat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri and Eid Mubarak from the ol’ hometown. From the our household, who are spending the Eid at Irfan’s Atok and Opah’s place. We drove home from KL at 2am. Everyone except Ayah Cik, Cik Dik, Yaya and Adik! Whom we all miss. Lumut promenade at the waterfront was all lit up and filled with merry makers and street vendors. Irfan met Qayyum and they talked about the Transformers. They also saw Transformers the Movie. The last day before we left, there was a gathering of old ACS schoolmates at Nazri’s house. I met old friends I’ve not seen in more than 25 years! We casted off early for our journey back toward KL at 3am.

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Opah’s Orchids

It’s the school holidays! So we headed back to Sitiawan to spend time with Irfan’s Atok and Opah. [[image:sitiawan-garden01.jpg:The pond has a school of koi in it:center:0]] When we arrived, some orchids hanging at Irfan’s grandparents’ garden over the koi pond were blooming. It was quite a spectacular sight as the following photos of the individual plants show. Does anyone know what species of orchids they are? [[image:sitiawan-garden02.jpg:Some yellow orchid with a red centre:center:0]] [[image:sitiawan-garden03.jpg:Some red-speckled yellow orchid:center:0]] [[image:sitiawan-garden04.jpg:Some violet orchid with a yellow centre:center:0]] Someday we might even have some place with our own garden. Someday.

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Concourse of Aeon Sri Manjung

Happenings at the Beginnings of the Year of the Snake

Meanwhile, the three-night balik kampung back to Sitiawan for Chinese New Year was somewhat enjoyable. The traffic was not too bad, and no one lost their sanity. We left the city early, during the time where no one is sure they’re awake or they’re dreaming, and often, you’d wish for the other. Fortunately there was no sign of Mi-Go shadowing us from above. Nor of any Shantak. Also, I prepared awesome tunes for the return trip. Well, awesome to me, that is. On the first night we ate out with Atok and Opah. We tried out a new restaurant which had some tasty Thai food. It was not made of Thai people. On Sunday morning, the Sitiawan contingent, made up of Atok, Opah, Ain, Irfan and I had a Skype chat with the Ohio contingent which consisted of Ayah Cik, Cik Dik, Yaya and Little Adik Rafe. Rafe, now foot […]

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Year Minus one group

Schoolmates From A Thousand Generations Ago

Nowadays when I return to Sitiawan for Chinese New Year, I rarely get to meet old ACS classmates. It’s because either they’re away at the in-laws, or their family has moved elsewhere, or I don’t communicate to anyone my balik kampung. This year I had two meet ups! The first was with Teck Chee and Cheong Lee at the new mall, Aeon Sri Manjung. They were a year younger than me at school. We had a great time talking about old friends and where they are now. Later that night I met my former classmate Sathya. I met him right at this white wall where I had some sort of coffee and Star Wars talk ensued, as they are wont to be when Sathya is around. Gnana was also present but also via Sathya’s iPhone. And initial plans were made for a class reunion in the near future. Who wants […]

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Mutant zombie tooth

How Everyone Lost Their Tooth In Sitiawan

We balik kampung to Sitiawan the other week and everyone – Irfan, Ain and I – lost one tooth each while there. Irfan extracted his own tooth even before we arrived at Atok & Opah’s house. He proudly showed his freshly drawn molars. He’s been doing it a lot with his baby teeth lately. Then, we thought we’d visit the government dentist for a check-up, because it’d be less expensive than going to a private clinic in Kuala Lumpur. Ain had a wonky tooth and she had that extracted. Come my turn and the dentist discovered a dead tooth. It was a different colour from other teeth and the top part was brittle. Ain had complained for a long time that my mouth had a strange smell – a rotten smell. A silvery, glistening needle was produced and I swallowed my fear, and allowed the cold metal to plunge into […]

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Middle Earth Role Playing

The Great Nerd Archaeological Dig of Sitiawan

Earlier this month, we went back to my hometown of Sitiawan where I dug up my old stuff in my cupboard and wardrobe, then posted them on Google+. Here is a compilation of the posts, along with further elaboration, as well as a new photo near the end. Ancient cache of geekery unearthed at my parents’ house included a single Bill Mantlo / Gil Kane’s Micronauts comic. I’m sure there was another where the ‘Nauts battled a gentleman by the name of Professor Prometheus – at least on the cover. I don’t remember much of what’s inside.   I found a pair of old Dazzler comics – featuring the mutant disco performer who transduced sound to light – still readable with their pages still intact. Several years later, she would be a member of the X-Men. I bought the West End Games’ Star Wars RPG module titled Crisis on Cloud […]

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Wisma Ganda view - The town mosque. Check out the land behind it, still unused. It's filled with houses now

The Sitiawan Of Old

After 1990 I don’t think I can consider myself a citizen of our old, sleepy town of Sitiawan. I was always away most of the time, either to school, or to work. Since then I don’t believe I’ve stayed in Sitiawan for more than a couple of weeks. Usually it’s just for a couple of days. So if you’re familiar with Sitiawan as it is now. Picture it in your head: the four-lane roads, shophouses as far as the eye can see from Simpang Empat, road dividers with designated u-turns… That’s not the picture I remember if I think of Sitiawan. Here’s a series of photos of the town that Atok Irfan took back in the old days:   And later, as a teenager, you’d ride your bicycle there with your friends to take a dip in the water, then explore the jungles around it and meet some old Malay […]

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