Dataran Pahlawan

I knew it as Padang Bandar Hilir, the open area bordering the Famosa - St Paul's Hill - and the many primary schools. Mother mentioned that when she and Father first arrived in Melaka to set up home, this area was the sea which later, like most coastal areas near Melaka town, became reclaimed land. We called this padang "the Reclaimation Ground". Later when the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra chose this spot to proclaim the date of Malaya's independence, they changed the name to "Padang Pahlawan".

The Famosa and St Paul's Church in the background bare witness to the ever-changing happenings since 1511. There used to be a hawker area nearby with their push-carts, where you could get all sorts of food - mee rebus, rojak mamak, rojak china, satay, cendol, ice kacang etc.etc... Eating in the open, sitting on little stools, with the sea breeze blowing, is something I really miss.

Today, the Melaka Government has upgraded the area to attract more tourists and business. Below the padang now is a huge shopping complex called "Dataran Pahlawan".

One of the entrances to the Padang from the Bandar Hilir school complex.

The soon-to-be opened Carrefour building bordering one edge of the padang.

Architectural structure facing Carrefour building ...

Here's the Mahkota Parade shopping complex bordering yet another edge of the padang. The tall buildings behind it are the apartment complex of Century Mahkota Hotel.

Thus you can see the tremendous changes done to the former Padang Pahlawan. Not bad eh to good old Malacca! Want to go brisk-walking there in the early mornings, anyone?

Today is the last day of 2007. Goodbye 2007.... Welcome 2008... Que sera sera ....

The New IT Era

Fantastic this IT (Information Technology)! I'm far, far from being an IT fanatic or know its jargon - megabytes, ram.. apa tu? The first time I bought my computer was about 20 years ago that also to do word-processing.... Word Star, Lotus .. and the printer used the ribbon-type, real cumbersome. Well it was better than using the typewriter where you couldn't erase any mistake. And if you wanted to produce many copies then you had to type on a special stencil paper. If there was any typing mistake, you used a red liquid to cover it up. Then you sent it to the office to have it 'psycostyled'. Wow! Now we have the fotostat-cum-scanning-cum-printing machine all in one, a must addition to your computer. Life is that easy... and the digital camera - wonder of wonders! No more buying expensive films or wasting money on printing unwanted 'bad' pictures. Snap a shot, look at the 'playback', don't like it... well just delete it. You can choose which picture you want printed or transfer it to a picture folder in your computer. No need for picture albums crowding your cupboard. Furthermore the pictures in the albums turn yellow and fade after some years.

This Senior Citizen has discovered Internet and Blogging. When did I start to blog? I had to keep a record/jurnal of all the activities organized by the Lembaga Kebajikan Perempuan Islam (LKPI), Daerah Melaka Tengah, of which I am Secretary. Instead of just jotting it down in my log book, I thought why not create a Blog in the Internet so that I can add in photos too, hoping that other LKPI members can also read it at the same time. Someone mentioned that the other members WILL NEVER read my jurnal because being veterans themselves (most of them) they are computer illiterate, preoccupied with the housework, religious classes or whatever. But I don't care... I created the blog to please myself. Thus was born (with the help of Alang) 'Diari SU' in Malay. http://lkpimtm.blogspot.com/

Walkathon 3/11/2007 to collect funds for orphans and single mothers.

An activity - Hadrah Presentation at Puan Seri Datuk Hjh. Zabedah's house in K.L. 16/11/2007 - daughter's wedding

But the writing was limited to activities of LKPI only which don't happen often. I want to write more, I want to write every day... so I created another blog, this time in English, so that I can share my anecdotes with a wider audience. Welcome 'Puteri Hang Li Poh'..... So now, have digital will blog....

"Khatam Al-Quran"

This morning, I attended a "Majlis Khatam Al-Quran" at Kak Som's house (pic. above), Batu Hampar, Peringgit. Four of her grandchildren had completed reading the Quran and one grandchild would be having his "cukur jambul" ceremony. It was a very grand ceremony indeed.

When we arrived, we were served delicious kueh-mueh (above). See the green karipap-like kueh? Actually it's like kueh dadar with coconut filling. Don't like the colour though...

Then the 4 celebrated VIPs arrived accompanied complete with bunga-manggar bearers and the kompang.

They were seated on a special dias in the hall. The boy and the girl next to him were siblings while the other two were their cousins, the one with the pink baju from Kelana Jaya.

They took turns reciting the Quran receiving positive responses from the guests.

After that, there was the "cukur-jambul" ceremony. Here you can see Nek Eton blessing the baby who was fast asleep despite the "commotion" all around him. Good baby ... may Allah bless you and look after you always. Amin.

We were served lunch - nasi beriani kambing with all the accompaniments. Before we left, we were given a bagful of goodies each. I will say it again ..."It was a grand ceremony indeed!"

Children's Art

Heard about the Malaysia-Japan Children's Art Exhibition held at the Melaka Art Gallery. So I took our budding artist there this morning to get an inspiration. Besides the representatives from the two nations, there were also displayed entrants and winners of several competitions held.

For example the above - school children from Form Ones in Melaka sent in their design entries for a cow decoration. Outline of the cow was given and they were required to fill in the design. Interesting results could be seen.

And then this one from a Primary School child in Japan. Notice how straightforward and naive the portrait is from the child's point of view. It's so refreshing.

What about this one? I like it - no fuss or over done. Nothing wrong if the moon or stars or the sun or the clouds are given human faces. This child wants to show 'happiness' and he/she has done it successfully.

This one you will notice is more skilful in its craftmanship. Of course because it was done by a 15-year old. The artist has more control over his/her movements and the composition is pleasant to the eyes. Do you like it?

Ladies Outing

Yesterday, Thursday 27/12/2007, I took a bus load of WI Bukit Baru members for a day trip to Kuala Lumpur. It started well but ended with a bit of drama. OK, I'll let the pictures do the talking ....

'Rombongan Cik Kiah' in the comfortable bus supplied by Tong Bus Service.

The first place visited - Hjh. Zainun's house at No. 2, Jalan Pejal, Taman Melewar, K.L. We were invited for her grand-daughter's "cukur jambul" ceremony.

The proud Mum and Dad introducing the cute baby to the guests.

After lunch, we visited the Memorial Library of P.Ramlee at Jalan Dedap, Setapak ...

... where some people bought several momentos to bring home.

"Tak boleh ambil gambar dalam sini," said the man. But I'd already taken .... Sorry!

Then we went to Masjid Negara for solat, after which .....

....three pretty maidens all in a row... awaiting .....awaiting .....awaiting....

.... while three others a-buying..... a-buying .... a-drinking ....

Later the bus took us to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman for shopping, the group's favourite activity. TAR was not that crowded that day.

SOGO as always was packed with shoppers during its sale....

The uninterested, including yours sincerely, enjoying a meal of mee goreng and ..

rojak at the mamak's restaurant nearby. And then here's the drama ....

Meanwhile, the bus was cruising around to kill time. About half hour before it was supposed to pick us up, I received a call saying that the bus was involved in an accident near the Bank Negara viaduct and would be late to arrive because the driver had to make a police report immediatelay. It seemed that a motor-cyclist had lost his balance and without the bus driver noticing it, had fallen onto the road. The unlucky man and his bike went under the bus! The bus had run over his left toes (only big toe left) and also his motorbike. Luckily the bus was stopped immediately by other motorists, otherwise you can never tell ... The poor bus driver was unduely shaken, suddenly seeing all the blood. He had to make a police report. That was why he would be late fetching us. It took him about 2 1/2 hours to settle his business. Some of the ladies didn't mind having to wait because they would have an extra 2 1/2 hours to shop! I had to cancel the last planned visit in the itenary - look-look at the new Pavilion. Ah well ... maybe another time, insyaAllah.

Celebrating Christmas

Outside Madam King, Jalan Bunga Raya, Melaka.

I had a few fond memories celebrating Christmas. The first time I remember when I was in primary school. My late uncle Maulud took us children to a Christmas party at his office, the Rubber Research Institute at Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. I don't remember what we did but I do remember the beautiful little toy porcelain tea-set shaped in Santa Clause's head I received as a Christmas present. Another time in Secondary School, we had this Eurasian family as friends. Their children attended the same classes as Alang and I did. We were quite good friends. So one Christmas, Elaine and Eveyette invited us to a Christmas party at their home in Klebang Besar. I remember having to practice the 'tarian lilin' before that because I had to present an item for their family Christmas concert during the party. We received presents too. I think I was given a doll.

Much later when I was studying in USA, I was invited by my friend's family to celebrate Christmas at their home in Huntington, Long Island, New York. Naturally I was thrilled because at that time, foreign students were seldom invited to American homes. Susan, Tom and I left West Hartford for Huntington a few days before Christmas to prepare for the great day. There was a lot of secret buying and wrapping of presents. We hanged Christmas stockings at the fireplace for Santa to put in some presents. I had one too. We put up and decorated the Christmas tree with silver tinsels, sugar candies, and all the glittering deco and little lights. Finally they put an angel at the top of the tree. When the light was switched on, the tree looked so grand... Presents were arranged at the foot of the tree.

On Christmas eve, everyone dressed up. I put on my red, velvet baju kurong (red - very appropriate for Christmas, ya) and dangling gold-coloured necklace. The orang putih were oohs and aahs! Then we had the Christmas dinner with roast chicken and cranberry sauce plus the Christmas pudding. (I remember I tak selera makan ....) Only family and very close friends were invited. After dinner we adjourned to the basement where there was a short concert. Naturally I was asked to perform 'something from your country'. So I did the tarian lilin and everybody was thrilled. You know before my arrival, this family had not even heard of Malaysia. So the globe was taken out and I pointed out the whereabouts of Malaysia. Before midnight, I followed them to Church (just curious nak tenguk). The church's interior was decorated with lots of red poinsettias, their Christmas plant.

I joined them when they sang Christmas carols and hymns (better than sitting doing nothing, kan). Well, being an ex-Convent girl, I know most of them by heart. When it came the part of the sermon, I dozed off z..z..z....(it was getting very very late ma!). I felt Mom Cindy nudging me to wake up because the pastor, she said, was looking at me in between his sermon!

After the service, we went home just as the snow was falling lightly to the ground. It was some experience! Of course the next morning everyone in the house got up late. Ginger, the youngest in the family, was the first to rush to the Christmas tree to see what Santa had brought for us during the night. All of us were in our pyjamas and house-coats (tak mandi lagi). Presents were exchanged and opened. I received many presents even my stocking was stuffed to the brim with little neccessities like panties, socks and the like. Cindy was thrilled with the patchwork pillow I made for her. The others received souveniers from Malaysia. I was so happy to be able to experience a real Christmas with my American family and I will cherish the happy moments forever in my heart. Thank you Susan and family.

Resolutions ... Resolutions ....

The year is coming to an end - both the Masehi year and the Hijrah year. Do you have a New Year Resolution? I never have one. Well ... maybe when I was younger. But resolutions remain resolutions because somehow they tak jadi! These days, any day is just like another, so no need to wait for the beginning of a new year to make a resolution.

This time I want to make a resolution - to lower my blood cholesterol level. I have this problem for a long time now. I go for quarterly check-ups at the Government clinic. The good doc said, "Watch your diet! Exercise! .. blah ...blah..." Recently a friend mentioned she read in the Internet one method of lowering the cholesterol level. So I want to share it with anyone here who is interested. You can get the ingredients below from the Organic Shop in Melaka Raya i.e. if you are in Melaka.

GRIND :

3 parts Flax seed,

2 parts sunflower seed

1 part almond

Keep the mixture in a bottle. You can sprinkle it on top of your toast, on your nasi lemak, roti canai, nasi campur, mee rebus, whatever ... or even stir it in your favourite drink - milo, coffee etc. Hmmm.. that's not too hard, is it? The taste might be slightly strange at the beginning.

Well, I'll give it a try and let's see if it does work in February when I go for my next check-up.

Good luck to Puteri!

Sunday Delight

Lunch For 4 at "Tomyam Klasik", Bukit Beruang.

Clockwise from top :- tomyam seafood, fried kailan with salted fish, kerabu mangga (best in the world!), sambal tumis udang and sweet & sour kerapu. Middle :- mixed vegetable soup. Not yet arrived :- chicken pandan.

Our friend, Kak Pah, was very grateful (syukur?) to Allah for fulfilling one of her wishes. So she treated us - Nas, Bibik and I - lunch at "Tomyam Klasik", an award-winning Malay restaurant at Bukit Beruang. The food was lavish and abundant. At the end we 'cleaned' all the plates!. It was delicious, furthermore we were very hungry ...

Thank you, Allah.

Saturday Happenings

It has been an active Saturday. Happening No.1 - I attended a Majlis Baca Yasin and Cukur Jambul at a friend's house in Kampongku Sayang, Bukit Baru. We also read the Maulid D'Bai whereby during the nasyid and selawat, I accompanied them with the gendang.

The lucky baby in Mum's arms receiving blessings.

From there I rushed to Happening No.2, driving very, very carefully through the weekend traffic jam in Melaka, to Melaka High School in Banda Hilir.

Sekolah Tinggi Melaka a.k.a. Malacca High School where I taught from 1969 - Feb.1973

The banner at the front gate.

... for the following occasion - A gathering of the school's old boys (Malays) coinciding with the Hari Raya Kurban celebration. I must thank Wilmie Jalius, my former student, for insisting that I should attend the gathering. Being curios, I accepted the invitation because I too, would like to see how my 'boys' (inc. Wilmie) whom I last saw 35 odd years ago are faring.

There were a lot of changes to the old school that I was familiar with, so much so I got lost getting to the meeting place. Luckily Wilmie was at the front gate to direct me - I could recognise him immediately even after all these years because he was a spitting image of his father who happened to be a family friend. Thank you again, Wilmie! You HAVE grown - well of course ....

Took a shot of the School's Surau from the ladies section

I arrived just in time for the reading of the Yassin and Tahlil after which it was time for the Zohor prayers. I was surprised that there were only 4 ladies accompanying the prayers cause later I found out in the dining hall, half the crowd were ladies... maybe they had their reasons, ah well... After short speeches by the VIPs, we adjourned for lunch. I didn't eat much. No.1 because I was not hungry. No. 2 - I met many old boys who remembered their Art teacher / class teacher and were excited at my presence. Some I could recognize vaguely although their physic might have changed. They came from far and near - Zainal Yatim, once the naughty one, came with his family from Penang. He is now a big shot at CIMB Bank in Penang. By the way, Zainal mentioned that he named his first-born daughter, Nazli (after me?) How sweeet! Juwara, the once shortest kid (always a 'juwara' I used to tease him), now managing his own business, came from Gombak, K.L. Another came as far as Kelantan for this gathering. Yet another now a university lecturer came from Tanjong Malim. They mentioned several happy incidents which I had forgotten. They introduced me to their families. We laughed at the memories and I told them how happy I was to see them successful in life. Sorry I didn't snap many photos because I was too busy talking and laughing!

Managed to snap one with Zainal (left) and Juwara. I taught them in Form I. Thank you 'boys' for making my day.

Before long I had to take leave. It was pouring cats and dogs outside but I had to attend to another happening. Happening No.3 - This time it was a wedding invitation to a house near my place. It was already late but several guests were still there. Thus ended a busy Saturday for this happy Princess. Thank you Allah ....

The wedding at Birat's house, Jalan Durian Daun.

Lest we forget

Hari kedua Raya, pagi Jumaat. Pagi-pagi lagi Bibik and I ziarah tanah perkuburan Bukit China tempat bersemadi ayahnda dan bonda tercinta serta Along yang dikasihi.

AL-FATIHAH

1) Ayahnda HJ. ABBAS BIN HJ. YATIM - meninggal 15 Mei 1973.

2) Bonda HJH. KHADIJAH BINTI UNDAH - meninggal 8 Jun 1997.

3) KakaK (Along) AINON NORAINI BINTI HJ. ABBAS - meninggal 22 Desember 2006.

SEMOGA ALLAH SWT MENCUCURI RAHMATNYA KE ATAS ROH-ROH MEREKA DAN MENEMPATKAN MEREKA BERSAMA ORANG-ORANG YANG DIKASIHI. AMIN.

Raya - food & plenty of food

Since only Bibik and I were left at home for this Raya, I decided that we didn't have to prepare any food as was the usual practice in most homes (expecting sis-in-law, Yan, to bring some over from her home!) Thus at 7.30 am, we went happily to the Fathur-Rahman Mosque nearby for the Raya prayers. We were the first to arrive. Slowly the crowd trickled in and soon the praying area was occupied.

Fathur-Rahman Mosque, Pengkalan Rama

The ladies listening and reciting the takbir raya.

By 9.15 am the service was over. When we returned home, we waited for Yan and Azlan with the food. Shortly afterwards they arrived with ketupat, rendang ayam, sambal kacang and sambal tumis - enough to feed a family!. I am a small eater, so you can guess where the extra food was kept.. in the fridge, to last us till Sunday (when Tati & family returns)

What Bibik and I had for breakfast.

Then we went for Raya visits to friends' houses. First to Kak Eton's (where we met all her relatives) and luckily they had lots of lovely desserts.

Kueh som-som, cocoa jelly, caramel pudding and fruits at Kak Eton's place.

From there we visited Kak Pipah's home where there was more eating of ketupat etc..etc.. Oh my poor tummy. The past 9 days I fasted and suddenly my poor tummy must have had a shock! Later in the evening, Bibik and I visited Kak Sharifah at Klebang Besar. And you guess correct - more eating. However, I excused myself because I just couldn't take it anymore.. well maybe a little bit of the mee-goreng, it was so tempting ... When we arrived home about maghrib, who should come but Kak Timah with MORE food. Oh my goodness ... to the fridge, Bibik!

Kak Timah brought kueh lemper pulot, kueh chang, kuah lopis and rendang ayam. For two persons?

Thank you Allah for Your rezeki.