Nostalgy #3 - Five Years of Bonding

Imagine the scenario. You were twelve years old and were thrown into a remote place with no room, no TV or no moral support to call your own. Imagine too......spending the next five years of your life in this "God forsaken" place with only short holidays in between the torturous years. However, I won't ask you to imagine the horror of the horror... the bathrooms cum toilets that you have to share with hundreds other students with unimaginable conditions.

With these brutal scenarios, you least expect to forge anything meaningful in your life,right? Wrong....the friendship you fostered and nurtured in this atmosphere would later on turn out to be the most meaningful relationship one can ever hoped for. You will realise that after all those rat-race, corporate ladder pushing and business menovere, the friends you had during those five 'torturous' years remain the only people who could really understand and still accept you.

They already knew your faults and shortcomings and you don't have to hide or pretend with them. In other word...you are at ease wit them because you can let your hair down. That is...if you still have hairs by then! When you lived in a fully residential (boarding) school, you will almost always end up with the same friends who shared the same 'tortourous' years with you.

I was fortunate in meeting some of these friends from the boarding school  and  I guess you could tell from the photos.....how happy, loud and cheerful we were and its good to know that nothing and nobody has changed.  To all SAJOHANs......here's looking at you, kid!!!! Be Cool........

you could have changed your name, your job or even the color of your hair but everybody knows that deep down, you are still the same old person. you can't fool them by being what you are not. even if you're the richest person on earth, we would still treat you the same....so please leave your ego, your attitude (problem) or your arrogance at the door.  

We survived the most torturous part of our lives and nothing could be any worse.....right?You DID GOOD guys (and gals).......keep it up !!

till we meet again.....hos cakalin ......au revoir..........adios.......cao.........!!
remember, remember, the summer of 2011....

OUT OF ISTANBUL - NOSTALGY

Right Click and Listen to this beautiful piece by Richard Clayderman while you read the post.
Many things can trigger our senses and bring us to the world of Nostalgy and the composer created this beautiful masterpiece to accompany us as we travel back to time. It's a Nostalgy moment for me today as I reflect on my life on this wonderful birthday of mine.

Richard Clayderman Nostalgy

Istanbul Time Out......Nostalgia Time In

Nostalgia # 1

While it's Istanbul timed out, Nostalgia is certainly in for me now. In my last week at this tropical paradise, I have managed to 'make myself invited', rendevous, meet up and even bumped into people who had walked through my life previously. Today, I am not going to talk about Istanbul even though it remains dear to my heart, but of my short stay in this marvelous country called Malaysia.

CLICK HERE for Terengganu Tourism Info

Terengganu, at the eastern coast of Malaysia, remained beautiful and unpretentious till today. You will be surprised to know that Trengganu, even with its many oils wells (which generate the income or revenue for the country), still remain one of the poorest country in Malaysia. It bleeds my heart to see that the people of Trengganu are still as humble, sincere, honest and poor as they were decades ago. The finding of fossil oil and the eventual set up of the petroleum refinery complexes by the petroleum giant corporations mean that the cost of living in Trengganu has shot up many times over and at times are at par with that of Kuala Lumpur, the capital city. Unfortunately, the workers salaries and benefit packages are not rising fast enough! But...did they complain? Now, perhaps you would understand what I meant when I said that they still remain humble, sincere, honest and ......NICE!

there's a cruise boat going thru' this arch bridge...this is near to the spot where the Annual Monsoon Cup Festival is .. its almost midnight (during weekend) and the young people do not have many other places to go....

this Chinese village has been declared a Heritage site and is being preserved by the state government. It really is a beautiful heritage village...

closed-up view of the carvings on the screen....I was told that the craft-men went to Turkey to study the design and re-created this design motif here....its very intricate and nice...

would you believe that this is part of the market complex? I was told that the architect is the famous Architect Prince from Terengganu.....NICE !!

whenever the marketing makes you tired or you need some respite from the heat and the sun....

you can always use the pergolas to rest and watch the activities that was going on..

see..?? how nice and clean the market areas are......

would you believe that this is a market area? did they ever stopped for a while and admire the view and smell the flowers? Notice how serene the scenery is....as serene as the folks from Terengganu....

king of fruits...Durian. At night, this place would be jam-packed and you CAN be caught in a traffic jam as people shake and smell the Durians before buying them. 

two famous dishes from Terengganu...Laksa and Nasi Dagang.....you have not lived....if you have not tried these !!

what are they doing? well...the 'poor' lady in the middle is trying to split open the 'buah belinjau" after frying them in a dry sand. The trick is to eat them while they're still hot after being fried in the sand. The problem is...the 'poor' lady could not cope fast enough to meet the waiting palms of those 'vultures' ha ha.......just too many people waiting ... 

see the similarities here ??? he he...Oh Oh...I'll have to go into hiding, so if you don't see me.........photo copied from 

                                      http://theazon.com/2011/07/feeding-time-for-small-birds/

when we were small, the shells would then become our prized "manicured nails".......clever, huh?

Without sounding biased (since I had my schooling there), Terengganu has one of the most beautiful beaches in Malaysia (if not the world). Its people are really wonderful, cheerful and simple folks. My cousins remain true sisters and brothers to me till today. We grew up together and we understand each other without any need for  formality. Even if you disappeared for years without contacting each other, you will still be welcomed and treated no differently when you returned. Ever heard of the "love mean never having to say you're sorry"? Yes...you don't have to explain anything...they'll still love you just the same. Great ehh? But ..only in Terengganu.

The local folks like to say the phrase "it's ok...nothing to it". And to top it all, when talking to someone, they normally refer to themselves as 'hamba' (or slave)! For generations they have been implanting into their mind and soul....let it be...it's okay....don't bother! So....things rarely changed in Trengganu. No... let me re-phrase that....nothing's changed in Terengganu. While me and my cousins could still laugh (my daughter said that we sounded like "hyena") till the house trembled whenever we met....my heart still bleeds for my fellow Terengganu folks. But..if they are not complaining....why should I....No??

they're both teachers and claimed that they're very strict with their students... but wait till you see us together....we are just like a pack of hyenas......oouuuhhhhhhhh!!!! Thank you Ni and Na....Je'taime !! And thank you,too to Zah, Gee and the rest....!!

Nostalgy #2 : My English teacher says "YES"

Today, I bumped into my english teacher (when I was a sweet young  thing of 17!) at a local restaurant. It was really an honor when your teacher could still remember and recognise you after decades have passed on. Or could it be that I was without any make up (really...not even a lipstick) and was dining eau-naturel?

Ms. Satrina (formerly Miss Satwinder Kaur) was my favorite teacher and it was great to have bumped into her. And we were laughing our heads off recalling all the antics that happened in the class decades ago. She was an icon as she was young, pretty, fashionable and fun to have in the classroom. So much so that I had to confess to her that I purposely 'flunked' the 'class selection test' just so I could be in her class. It was worth it and I would do it again, if necessary ha ha. But...can you cheat for a second time? Why not...human has short memory,right? Beside...the other teacher liked to practice her high-pitched voice to see if she could break the window panes with her 'screeching'! Ah..ahh...not for me. Plus..."To be or not to be" (by Shakespeare) never excite me. I'm more of a  "Mills & Boons" and "Sydney Sheldon"..wink, wink! Well, I guess it turned out fine..I still got distinction for english, Yippee !! Though I still could not understand what "To be or Not to Be" is all about ??

Sorry for the quality of the photo..shot from my son's mobile phone. and he's probably nervous when he found out that both were my teachers....wow..double trouble! She coolly walked to me and asked if I were the lady who lives in Istanbul! For a moment there, I thought I was famous ha ha...turned out..she had read my Blog. Phew..I hope she didn't find too many mistakes...

Cikgu Shariff (her hubby) was our teacher. One day, he took some students to our National Park (Taman Negara) in Pahang and he never returned. I mean, to teaching.  He loved it there so much that he resigned immediately and got a job in the Park ! He remains active with the wildlife world till today and is now in the midst of setting up a zoo in one of the states. Bravo teacher....somebody has to protect our animals !!!

Seems that she has read my Blog and she said its "Okay". YES....if the English teacher said YES to your 'piece'...... then, I guess it is really okay. Phew.......i must remember to cross and dot all my t's and i's now...or even use the 'spell check' more often !!! Psst......do I need to behave myself now??? I was told that she left our school after teaching us for two years. Err...teacher...did we 'demoralise' you in any way? I mean, I know that we were 'naughty' but...... !!!

To Ms. Satrina and husband, Cikgu Shariff. (Singh!).....you helped to mold us to what or who we are today. We remain indebted to you for the rest of our lives and we hope that someday, we too could touch someone's life like you did. Thank you......from the bottom of our very hearts !!!