Wednesday 14 January 2009

41, Taman Indah Baru

Original post by Mr Tan Jin jack

Words in red-- edited By Tan Jane June

Here's a post specially dedicated to my old house in Lukut. 41, Taman Indah Baru.
As you would know from my profile, I was born in Klang, but actually raised in Port Dickson.
(Not for me though, I was born in KL, and raised up in PJ, Shah Alam and Kland until the age of 6, started my primary and secondary education in PD.)
I spent 1-2 year (I believe) at Bukit Samudra before moving to this house, (that time we didnt have enought money yet, so we rented a house when we first moved to PD), which I spent about 15 years there. (I guess it's less time for me, as i went to INTEC and IMU, but i do go home on weekends if possible) Now, I am a proud resident of a bungalow in Green Street Homes, S2 but I have to admit, I do miss my old home. (Yes, me too!!) But then, it has been sold and will no longer be ours.

Anyway, I will try to introduce my old home, which cultivated me to be a academically gifted student, which shaped the me today. This home is just about 2200sq feet, including the compound.

Some of the pictures suffer from poor quality. It's wise that you don't open them up to see in detail. You'll regret.This picture was taken one day when we went back to PD to 'zhap' our things. Obviously, we were no longer staying there already as you can see the rubbishes were being cleaned out and put outside. (I miss the deco for CNY la, we used to help mama for the decos) So, shall we proceed to the living room?


This is the living room, quite small isn't it?
Don't get me wrong, I did grow up with a TV and most of the furniture are being brought over to the new house that I currently resided in, so you'll see it to be less packed. To the left of this picture will be the master bedroom, and on this plan, it will be sure that the TV was at the left of the photographer. (The table in the living room used to be my study table as i would only be at home on weekend.) So, how it became in the end?


This is it. A clear and spacious living room. If you looked up the previuos picture, you can probably find that there's curtains. We actually intended to leave the curtains for them but they decided not to take it. What a big waste. They wouldn't know it will be at least RM500 to settle all the curtains, unless they know how to sew it.


If you wonder what the heck is the window in the living room, then the answer is here. (the place i miss the most, used to be my private bedroom and study room when i was in secondary school. But it was invaded by xiao dee ever since i moved to college) It's the study room. For the time I left this house, it's study room, but it had had many purposes throughout its service in this 15 years. I can remember vividly it was once the bedroom for we 3 siblings. (that was when we were all still very young) There's a double decker, and the bottom had a pullable bed at the bottom. That was a great moment. And, I guess at that time it also served as a study room as well.
So, after a few years, when the upstairs had finally converted its status from store room to bedroom, this room had actually converted to be a personal room for my sis. (See, my personal room but unfortunately only for a short period of time, i used to study a lot in that room when SPM was around the corner.) That was her study room, and bedroom but everyone had access to it easily. And don't know change how many times it finally got developed into my study room. (thanks to me, my generousity that donated this room to you and me have to migrated to upstair and be the parasite to hoi's room.) But on the wall that had the little drawing, it actually had my poor piano on it. And, to tell you a secret, the table was placed there because that direction fostures study luck!


A bad angle about the room after clearing off. But, it provides a picture anyway.
Moving futher in, will be the kitchen.


That was the kitchen where I mastered my cooking skill. (Kitchen is not my base, as i don't cook very often at home, but the most of the time i spent here is to makan, and of course help my mum with cutting and washing of the ingredients. But to be honest, i spent very little time cooking here. Comparatively, i cook more in UK) At the corner, was a stove. This image was taken with a warm yellow light on, so the image seems a bit yellow. A dining table was supposed to be there (left of the sight), and touching one end of the wall (the unseen wall at left.). That dining table was indeed a very legendary one which I think is older or about the same age as me, but still looks very sturdy and solid. Well, it's made from niato (spelling?), a wood that can stand humidity quite well. (What happen to the dining table? We used to fight for nice seat in the dining hall which could get chill air from the wall fan. Because it's a wall fan, and it could only blow to limited direction) Same wood is also used for the kitchen cabinets as shown. (it used to be attacked by rats and cockroaches at night sometimes, and we had a lot of rats catching and cockroaches killing projects going on...)


The clear-off-ed kitchen. The condition of those cabinets are still okay, IMHO. But considering it was under humidity attack for 15 years, and the wood still held through, it's quite impressive. BTW, do you note the spot on the third door from the right? It was made by me as I accidentally tore off the formega layer. If you stand on the place where you view the empty kitchen, the stair that leads to the hidden upstair is on your left.


Indeed, the house doesn't come with an upstair. The upstair was made from scratches. I don't know why the idea came into my dad's mind but the upstairs certainly serve us fine, as a storeroom at first, and then our bedroom.



Those two pictures are the view on the upstair. First towards the right and second towards the left. There should be a bed with frame on the 2nd picture, where my bro slept. (So this is Hoi's room and i was just a parasite in this room with least power at all... No right to choose which bed i could sleep, no right to choose when to switch off lights, no right to trun on my own music....Coz i only use this room on the weekends and also holidays... Very cham de...) The first picture shows the old mattress that we used to sleep, but we switched to a newer one before moving into the new house. Those are leftovers. (Parasite like me didnt get to sleep new mattress, i had been sleeping on the old mattress til we moved into the new house) If you asked why my bro got the right to sleep on a bed with the frame, then I can tell you right away that it's because that upstair was said to be belongs to my bro. He's the first person to spend a night there and also one of the main contributors in converting the store room into a bedroom.

I regretted that I actually didn't shot any photo for the master bedroom while I don't find it necessary to shot the toilet and the ACTUAL store room. Anyway, please continue to read this thread, we'll talk about the compound.

Yes, it is like that. I am lucky to actually has photos of the green compound. (Wah, got tropical forest de feel..) Apparently the compound wasn't cleared as early as the others and hence it's preserved while the photos were taken. Very green right? Very 'forest-like' isn't it? No doubt, that's our old house, and one of the pride that we own. It's managed by my parents. There are flowers like orchids, fruits like mangoes, flavours like pandan and spices like curry leaves. (Mama planted flowers and papa grew fruits...) We really appreciate the environment. (Not really, coz this place made our house got more mosquitoes) Despite the small house, every guest is amazed by our little forest! Too bad, it's now like this..........
So, you call it deforestation? We really feel sad that the new owner has no appreciation on the floras, but leave it. We have moved a majority of them to our new house, and our new land is becoming greener and greener!


Hmm, just an extra picture to add before I end this thread. A wild grass that grows strongly from the crack of the cemented car porch. Hope everyone can behave like that, be a strong one. I actually tried to destroy it (without very brutal force though), but failed. I hence left it like that. Guess, it's now being destroyed by the new owner.
Hope you enjoy my post that comes with photos. Rarely I did that!

Now only i can understand that how much effort my mum and xiao dee put in to clear the house for the new owner with my dad and hoi working. I feel so guilty for not being able to help and my mum even fall sick after working too hard for the cleaning...
So long, 41 Taman Indah Baru...
No matter what happen, PD is still my hometown even now my house is in Seremban...
I am proud to say that I am from PD....

Saturday 3 January 2009

My Christmas Break- Episode 4: Day 3 in Vatican City

So Day 3, we set off to the Vatican City, the smallest country in the world. We visited their museum and art galleries.

There were a lot of pictures and painitngs in the Vatican Museum that shows the history of the Kingdom of Rome. And this picture is the one i like the most because i understand it. The two person in the middle were Aristotle and Plato, the knowledgeable philosophers in Rome. Most of the pictures were telling stories of the crucifixion of Christ. I could hardly appreciate them as i'm not a Christian, but i could appreciate all their hard work on painting on the wall and the roof. It's amazing!!!


And this is the art work i love the most in their art gallery. It's a very artistic work that shows the crucifixion of Christ.

And finally, we arrived at the Sistine Chapel. No cameras were allowed but it was too crowded in the Chapel and everyone was taking picture and the guards just coulndt be bothered to stop them. So, i also quietly took pictures in Sistine Chapel.

The famous painting done by Michelangelo especially the one just above my hands. It describes that how God created the world. And the picture above my hands was showing that Adam (the first person in the world created by the God) on the left and also the God on the right. They were so closed together but yet they still couldn't touched each other. My friend was explaining to me that this shows how eager the God wanted to help the human.
And me trying to copy what Michelangelo drew by posing two of my fingers as close as possible but not touching each other yet..

Our last destination on Day 3, was to the St Peter's church and St Peter's square.

Look at the crowd... We have spent our time in St Peter's from day time til night time coz it was around the time for sun set... And we had a chinese dinner that night and went home to rest after that...

My Christmas Break- Episode 2: Meeting random people

I should start my story from Day 0, before setting off to Rome, I spent my time in this restaurant-May Flower in Liverpool. I sang K with the other seniors and met the first random people in the trip apart from my Preston seniors, who is Miss Hiew Sing Yee, a Liverpool Y4 but doing placement in Burrow in Furness, originated from Miri.



Then early morning at 0430, we set off to the Liverpool John Lennon Airport and met another two random people of the trip. One was the Wythenshawe Y4, Mr Yee Kim Wah and the other was a freind of my housemate, My Tony Lau ( a combination of Tony Leong's and Andy Lau's name).

Actually i cant say he'sa random person as i do know him, just that we weren't that close before the trip... I discover that he's a joker, has very good skills in posing the poses of the statues.


So this is Mr Tony Lau, originated from Sandakan, who is currently working in Manchester, and he's the only non-medics in the whole trip.

And then, on Day 1 in Rome, here i met another joker of the trip, Mr Yap Kok Hooi who spoke a lot of Cantonese and me became Fleur's translator all the time when she didnt understand. Mr Yap is from Kulim, Kedah and is currently studying in Dundee Y5, going to graduate soon.



Then on the same day, we met 3 other seniors that flew from Edinburgh to Rome.

So, now i introduce you this nice gentleman from Kuching, i actually know him through his brother and also my good friend from Kuching. I feel that he always being bullied by his friends but he seem to enjoy it... So he'sot really a random people as i knew him when i was in IMU, and he is.. Mr Tay Poh Sen.


Then i shall introduce you this lady that is not afraid of cold at all. While i was wearing 3 layers in Rome, she only wore a thin jacket. I wish i could have that kind of power to withstand the cold in UK.... Her name is Lee Yan, and sorry for not konwing her surname, and she promomisd to come visit us in February.


Then the next random people is Mr Soo Kok Foong... But he's a half random people coz i know him but he doesnt know me... Simple reason, i still remember that he ragged my group during our orientation by stealing our group flag... But i dont think he still remembers it... Picture taken on the Rialto bridge in Venice... I like the view...


So now we have all 13 memebers in Rome, including myself, Fleur, Wilfred, Siew Sing, William and Emily.

And then here i met another 2 girls Seet and Yee Leng ( I hope i spell the name correctly)
They are on R1 and L3 position.

Last, but not least, the whole Mentakab gang who were in the same car with me for my Aviemore-Aberdeen trip.
From the top row, left to right, Miss Esther Ng, Miss LiLi Hong and also Mr Hew Kent Keat.
Ad the bottom left is me and the bottom right is the host of Aberdeen, Mr Liew Yen Eit.

It's too bad that i dont have their individual picture. But i really had lots of fun with them...

A trip that mixing with the random people...
At the end of the day, i gain a lot of random experiences...

Friday 2 January 2009

My Christmas Break- Episode 3: Day 1-2 in Rome

Day 1 in Rome, I arrived in the faternoon and went to our B&B to leave our luggage. Then by the time we left the B&Bl, it was already late noon and the sky was getting darker. We went to collect Kok Hooi and after that walked down to St Giovanni in Laterano (It's a very nice church...) And we found a place for dinner and walked to Colosseum to look at its night view. Dang...Dang.... The night view of Colloseum, and i couldnt believe that it was just loacted at the road side.


Then we walked back to our B&B after recruiting all 13 members of the trip and we all had a good rest and started our memorable journey the next day.

Day 2 in Rome, our first destination, to Piazza di Spagna, it is pronounced as Spain-nia, the 'g' is silent.

When you walk up the Spanish Steps, you could see the view of entire rome and the most busy shopping street, Via Condotti. This is where you can find all the barnded products but that was not my place of interest as i only had limited budget for the trip...

After that, we decided to walk along the River Tevere all the way to Paizza Del Popolo, a big open area where they had one of their Christmas market.

And then we spent some time to look for the restaurant for lunch, after that we walked to the Pantheon, which has converted into a place of Crhistian worship from a temple. This building is one of the building that renders the ancient monument in Rome and it has a hole on top of the dome. On the floor, there were small holes as well to drain away the water when it rains. I do not understand why it was designed that way, maybe because that's special...

,
And that were my hands forming the circle to enclose the round hole.

Last destination of the day, we went to the famous Fontana di Trevi. Itss name came from the 3roads (tre vie) that converged on the paizza. It appeared in the tvb drama, 冲上云霄。Visitors could throw a coin over the shoulder into the fountain if they wish to come back to Rome again. By the way, the central figure of the statues is Oceanus.


However, i did not throw the coin as i believe that if i were to go back to Rome, i would still go back even if i did not throw it.

The end for Episode 3.

Thursday 1 January 2009

My Christmas Break- Episode 1: The Christmas tree

I have never paid attention to the Christmas trees in Malaysia because i don't celebrate Christmas at all. But ever since I am in the Western country, i try to understand their culture and i notice that Italian can make more creative trees than the English...


This was a huge CT that i saw in the cetral of Cardiff and it was as high as a building of 4levels.
This golden CT was the first one i saw in Italy. It was made by the Ferrero Rochie Chocolate Stall in the train terminal station.


Next, it's the transparent CT which i believe would be very beautiful when the lights on it are on. This was located in the Piazza di Spagna in Rome.


This CT looks very simple but look at the tip of it, it has a Mercedes sign, it's a Mercedes CT. This was located at the junction of Via Condotti (which is known as the street of branded products) and Via Del Corso.

Dang...Dang... Dang... Dang...Dang... The Madacascar CT situated in the shopping mall in Rome. Cute lei..


Another normal CT but with special decorations. The round circle things that hang on the tree are drawings on paper plate drew by the little kid. It was found in Venice.

Another creative CT that made by card board. It looks plain without decoration but i like it because it's simple... This was displayed in one of the shops in Venice.

This is the most creative CT that i ave seen in Venice. it's made by the wooden sticks and stack them accordingly by lenght.

Last, but not least, my favourite CT... with the hanging socks that form a "J" shape. I have the feeling that this was specially made for me, J.J.Tan....

天堂与地狱只在一线之差

天堂篇
新的一年,有新的希望。打电话给老朋友,聊了一番,超开心的,毕竟真的好久没联络了。之后,与堂妹整家人上网,我还有机会和他们讨过年的红包。虽然不能回家过年,但公公已答应把我的红包保留起来,等我暑假回家时给我。一切都那么美好,直到小弟打电话来。。。

地狱篇
家里刮了大风,都散了,全部人的放弃了。可是,在怎么样,我也不能放弃他。和他通了电话,真的好难过,我好担心他,可是他说他已张大了,不用担心他。难道只就是人长大了,翅膀就硬了,那为什么我的翅膀就没硬过?只想对他说:珍惜现在所拥有的,回家吧 回到最初的美好。。。