Late Friday night, November 24th., 1995; early Saturday morning, November 25th.,1995; a great time to sleep in bed until late Saturday morning… My cell phone (not smartphone – not invented yet) rings.
Half asleep, half awake, I stretch my hand to the bedside table – nope, the phone is not there. Somehow, the phone stopped ringing. So, I did like what any normal person would do… continue sleeping.
A few very short moments later… my cell phone rings, louder and longer this time. I stumbled out of bed, followed the trail the sound led and found my phone on a chair some distant few metres away.
“Hello”, I said, without checking the LCD screen to see the number from the phone on the other end of the call.
“The flowers have not arrived yet!” It was Jeannie. “O.K. We will just make do with whatever flowers are available”, I said.
“No! The flowers have to match the rest of the decor. They have not come from Cameron Highlands yet!”, Jeannie said, sounding frantic. “You find a florist that has these flowers”, she asked.
Great, I thought to myself. I don’t know the difference between a Jasmine and a Marigold.
I could live here. I love the movement of the waves in the sea.
In Starbucks, relaxing after the drive.
The drive up from Subang Jaya was crowded with traffic on the highway, right up until after Seremban. Then, it was clear right up to P. D. town.
The last time we were in P. D. was in February. Jeannie and I had a great time then. We are looking forward to a great weekend here.
One of the first times we noticed when we got in was that the town seemed pretty quiet for a Saturday afternoon. After all, this is supposed to be a tourist and holiday getaway for people around this area. However, we are not complaining. It is more comfortable this way.
We drove around town, remembering the places we visited in our past trips here. The town is growing in size. There are more modern amenities and eateries available now. Our favourite, Billion Supermarket is still there, going strong, faithfully serving the needs of the people of Port Dickson. We have purchased things from this establishment on several of our trips in the past. It is the place to go to. Probably to be seen at, too.
There were several cafes other than the usual Starbucks. However, Starbucks offers a great view of the sea, while sipping on our coffee beverages and pastries.
We (meaning Laura, though she let us decide) chose Starbucks at the Waterfront. Starbucks is one of Laura’s favourite cafes.
Starbucks at the Waterfront has a really nice view of the open sea of the Straits of Malacca. After ordering a coffee beverage, Jeannie chose a table next to the cafรฉ’s wide frontage view.
The view was good from here. The sun was blazing, the reflection of its rays from the sea helped it look hotter than it was. All the same, it was very hot on its own, not needing help from the sea.
The sea was greenish / brown, coming in to shore, calmly. The smell of salt water in the air (OK… That’s a bit of exaggeration. Haha. My sense of smell is not tha-a-at sensitive) was over-powering, where clean, clear air, escaped my attention. However, it in no way deminishes the fact that this was a welcome scene instead of the gigantic (in some cases) concrete buildings structures that seem to block out the skies in the cities, the traffic and so called urban modernisation of transport, leaving behind it’s harmful emissions, as well as unwanted noise crowds.
There were a couple of tug boats anchored, lazily about 100 metres from the shore; looking very Mexican siesta type, not in an immediate hurry to change the pace of their current lifestyle. If they had a choice, this would be it, year in, year out.
In the distance, over the horizon, we could see ships going up and down the Straits.
We spent a bit more time enjoying the comforts of Starbucks before we made a move to our hotel.
We got to the hotel within a few minutes. Our rooms were comfortable and inviting that the next thing we thought of doing was nothing. However, the white beach was beckoning us for a walk on it. Later… Maybe.
I am overly tired, I think.. What a day today was. It is not over…yet. The time is only 11.30pm. I am yawning all the time, so much so that when I yawn , it does not seem to be in sequence. Before I can finish one yawn, another one comes.
I was working on 5 new articles for my upcoming book over the past few days and I was falling behind. This was on top of my usual daily tasks to do…one of them is an article everyday. So far, I have had an article published each day, every day; over the last 488 days. Whose keeping count? Not me. WordPress is.
WordPress keeps tally and has been sending me notifications each time I publish an article consecutively, each day.
The Batik Influencer (My wife, Jeannie) and I, the Hatted Writer; set up a booth at first floor (F1.08) in Amcorp Mall this weekend. I could not get an article out in time to inform our friends, families, customers, readers and followers that we would be in Amcorp Shopping Mall. The details of our booth are below.
It was a good day at our booth. We met many people who came over for different interests. I met with a lot of people who were giving me advice for the book. I will definitely try to take everyone’s suggestions into consideration. Many fantastic ideas. A close friend suggested that I write an article about him. I’m not sure if he meant it.
I took a short break from manning our booth, to go visit a good friend, Mahmud and his wife; and see their new hats on sale. Mahmud is the guy I buy all my hats from.
I came across a green and red flat cap. It really looked stunning. The colours of the cap “called out to me”, “Take me, take me”๐. I was trying not to hear the “take me” pleas. Hahaha.๐
My short break time ran out rather quickly. I told Mahmud that I will come back and see him tomorrow. I like this flat cap.
Funny thing happened a couple of times while I was trying on this red and green racer flat cap. I was wearing my tweed newsboy cap when I went to see Mahmud. I removed my newsboy cap and put it on top of the other caps on display as there was no where else to put it while I tried on the new hats. Twice, people came up and straight away went for my tweed newsboy cap. I told them that that it was my cap. Both the guys said that my newsboy cap was very nice.
A bit of new information. The newsboy cap is also known as a baker’s cap. I will inform Sarah and Joanne of Good Ground Bakery the next time I go there, wearing this cap.
JEANNIE’S OWN label Batik Cape Creations had the “wow!” factor that drew many people to our booth. Most of the pieces were sold, with only a couple remaining, which will be sold by tomorrow.
It was a fun day today. Looking forward to meeting more people tomorrow. You may want to suggest what subjects I should write about for the 3 articles I have outstanding to include in the upcoming book. It will be fun to meet with you all. See you there.
Me, wearing the New Yorker newsboy cap.
Amcorp Shopping Mall, Booth 1.08, 1st Floor, , 8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia Date: October 26th & 27th 2024: Time: , 10.00am to 5.30pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)
Another day has gone by. For multiple (not “many”. The word “many” may seem like a word for the commoners. haha๐๐[1 emoji for each “ha”]) people, the countdown to Christmas has begun. They are just short of putting on their Santa Claus or Santarina outfits. Our house has half the Christmas decorations up already. (It is beginning๐ถ to look a lot like Christmasโชโช๐ต) I’ll let you in on a little secret: whisper (come closer so you can hear…er… see) – We’ve not taken them down last year…or the year before that. They’ve been up all this while.
We (my wife, Jeannie; and daughter, Laura) were stuck in the usual traffic jam on the Federal Highway, on our way back to Subang Jaya, after I picked them up from their offices. Today seemed unusually slower than other days. This time in the car, with the family; is generally quality time.
The first thing on our “day-on-day” meeting agenda was “how was your day?” Laura and Jeannie will share the going-ons and stuff like that. There is always lots to share about. I find this interesting because we become involved, to a certain extent in their daily activities, even though we were not physically there at that time. We do this every evening, after work. It is a bit different in the mornings, on the way to work. Both, Jeannie and Laura will start their work, sort of; thanks to technology – using their laptop computers and mobile hotspot technology.
Laura was dropped off at the gym. Jeannie and I continued on our way home. The usual, “Dinner – what shall we will eat?” statement / question came up. We both thought, “chap fan” (pronounced “cha-p fun”) at T23. Chap fun or jaahp faahn is mixed rice (dishes). It is quite common to hear it referred as “economy rice” as the prices are reasonable.
The other day, I heard my mother-in-law refer to this restaurant as “723”. I thought that all this while we must have been reading the sign wrongly as “T” instead of “7”, more so because the first character is stylised. It made sense as many Chinese restaurants are named in numbers. This is evident in Klang for example, along the Persiaran Raja Muda street. However, when searched on the internet for the actual name, it is stated at “T23”.
When we got to T23, we got into the queue (not “lined up” – that’s for schoolchildren๐) and waited our turn to get a plate with rice served, first. As I don’t eat rice, I got an empty plate. Jeannie got a plate with rice. Then, we walked along the aisle, served ourselves (self-serve) from a choice of about 100 different dishes. Once we picked our choice of dishes, we paid at the cashier at the end of the aisle. He calculates the price of your meal and charges you accordingly.
Then, we went to the adjoining room, the dining room; where we chose a table to sit at, and comfortably had our meal there. There are fans and air-conditioning to keep the temperature cool and comfortable as you enjoy your meal. At times, it can be quite cold which makes it uncomfortable to sit in that dining hall.
There are also people who will “tapau” (to pack back or takeaway) their meal, too.
My meal: Beansprouts with beans, lady’s fingers, baked beans with fried egg, white tofu with mince meat, Japanese tofu and curry potato.
At the back of this dining hall, there is usually a pot of hot soup, for customers to self-serve free. There is also hot Chinese tea and hot & cold water that customers can help themselves to.
The meals as always, were delicious. I am quite sure that all the dishes they offer are delicious. Eating here does take away the chore of having to cook at home, especially if you want a variety of dishes. Another thing is that you don’t have to wash the dishes. This is a very ideal set-up for those coming back from a tiring day at work, possibly having to go through traffic jams and wanting to have dinner without having to be involved in cooking and washing dishes.
T23 is opened throughout the day until 10.00pm, everyday. They have many outlets in the major cities and towns. We can come here everyday and eat different dishes as there are so many to choose from.
Jeannie’s meal: rice, brinjal, lady’s fingers, sweet sour pork and white tofu.
For dessert, we popped in to Berry’s cake house next door, and bought a loaf of chocolate layered sponge cake, sprinkled with lots of chocolate rice on top. Yum.๐ Couldn’t wait to have a go at it. It was a long 5 minute drive home. Then, not 1; but 2 slices of the cake. ๐Tomorrow, exercise to work off the calories.
At the dining hall. Rows of long tables and chairs.
Chocolate rice sponge cake.It tastes as good as it looks.
It was T23
NOTES: 1. Also spelt as jaahp faahn (Chinese: ‘mixed rice’) in Cantonese
From over 100 countries. Thank you to each and everyone of you for your support through all the various forms of social media and communication. I enjoyed meeting multiple readers / subscribers / followers in person whenever the opportunity was made available.
As one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers, Michael Schumacher once said, “Records are meant to be broken”. I am looking forward to the next 50,000.
There has always been a belief that when I write, I offer people the perspective of my thoughts, views and how I see things.
There are writers who are journalists in the true sense of the word where they record events as they unfold or have already unfolded.
Then, there are the investigative journalist types, more commonly known as reporters. Clark Kent and Lois Lang of “Superman” come to mind. – They investigate for big scoops in news. They investigate “teaspoon” size scoops, too. It depends on the experience, the tip off contacts they have, and how desperate they are for what they may deem as newsworthy.
There are many other types of writers. The question you might ask is, “Where do you (meaning me) fit in to all this?”
I have not figured that out yet. I take keyboard typing and thumping as to computer screen, pen to paper, an artist paint brush to canvas, a figure skater to skating rink…. you get the drift.
I believe that each time I start writing a piece, I have a blank canvas where a few things come to play: My dreamer mind – This is where everything flows, randomly – words, pictures, scenes of the past and that has yet to happen (the future). My thinking hat – I try to rationalize things and facts and put them into perspective. What should I write today? -There are times where I just have everything thought up in almost an instant and have an essay up in no time. Or, I am inspired to write up a quote. My writings are based on what I would like to share with people. Just like the artists as they splash paint on canvas and picture a painting. The same goes with music composers. They come up with something they want to share with the world, and the world adopts it. Take Trio’s “Da Da Da”. It hit the Top 40s. What people want me to write – Wow! I am indeed, honoured. The confidence the readers and followers (bless their hearts) of Leatherpotato.com have, have offered and suggested topics that I should write about. The spectrum is so wide and far-reaching, that I don’t know where to start. Many of these are excellent suggestions. I have taken note of them. Interesting. I need to get into the groove of a subject. Yes, I have to get into that subject and feel its vibes. It has to stimulate the senses. Then, work on its potential.
One of these readers is my close friend and La Salle school, Klang (1) classmate, Mohan Singh. He gave me an idea of what my next book should be about. The angle he thought I should work from is very interesting. Food for thought.
I love to write. I still remember the time in 1967, when I was in my Standard Three (Year 3) B classroom, situated on the floor above then tuck shop (canteen) of La Salle School, P. J. (2) My table was by the window. Standard 3 was the afternoon session. I used to often look (more like stare) out the window and dream. While watching the current primary school being built. Most of the time, I would dream of what I would like to be when I grew up. Being a writer was not one of them.๐
My writing is as simplified as possible so that it can be easily understood. Then, when you look at one of Picasso’s paintings, you began to question the meaning of the word “simplicity”.๐ค
Dreaming should be a subject major. I highly recommend it. It’s fun.
NOTES: 1. Klang is a city in the west of the state of Selangor, Malaysia. 2. Petaling Jaya or P.J. as it is more commonly known as, is more a suburb city in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.
How time moves slower than a snail gostan (1) moving in reverse. On an analog watch, which has a “second hand” (Don’t really know why it is called a “second hand” when really [yes, not bluffly] it is the third hand [then again] why is it called a hand?) indicator, one can sweat cold sweat, waiting impatiently for it to move another second forward. After writing / typing on the Logitech MX Mechanical the last sentence, I think I can become a lawyer, what with it having sub-sections and sub- sub- sections, don’t you think so? ๐๐ค๐๐
In the day’s “slowness”, I seemed to have been able to tick off more things and “go to(s)” as completed. Makes sense: more time to do more things and “go to(s)” as completed. We were in Klang (2) (famous for crows, hence the term “Klang crow”) by about 10.00am. Met Malcolm, my youngest brother; at our parents” house. While he took our dad to the doctor’s clinic to get the dressing on his (dad’s) head changed (dad had a fall, actually [there that word goes again – ambiguous] 2 falls, one on Thursday, last week; the second fall, the day after that. Dad is still trying to out do Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible stunts), I kept mum company.
Was back in Subang Jaya (3) by noon, and took on the role of “keyboard warrior”; clickity clacketing on the keys, getting words to form, from thought, flowing right through my veins, to my fingertips, tapping on the right letters of the keyboard to form words and sentences. In that order, I think. Or could it be words and sentences formed through thoughts, telepathy-ed (4) (the “-ed” part is to create a sense of already done, past tense); to the computer screen, and will somehow magically show up as visible words and sentences, as per how I want it to be when my fingers tap-dance across the keyboard.
Patrick, Mary, myself and Jeannie; with Hazel taking this photo. As usual, we are gathered at the table with food – curry puffs and nyonya kueh (5) from a popular restaurant nearby their home.
It was Patrick Archibald’s birthday, today. The Archibald family are dear friends of ours. Jeannie gave him a call and asked if we could meet up. He; Hazel, his wife; Mary, his daughter and his father-in-law; had just arrived back at their home from the mountains in the east. (6)
Jeannie and I, bought a small birthday cake and went over to Putra Heights for coffee…er, tea. They all drank tea, except for… yes, I had coffee.๐We have always believed “birthdays” are blessings. Not only are they milestones to mark how far we have come; they are also “pulling rocks” or steps to help us move on to the next phase of our lives… the future which starts the next moment forward.
We had many stories and happenings to catch up and bring everyone up to speed on. Lots of laughs. The families’ bonding grew even stronger from what was already “strongest”. The evening was so pleasant, so relaxed, sooo nice…it was fun. Now, Patrick being a year older; has to play the role of being even more wiser than before. Big responsibility.๐ฅณ
By the time Jeannie and I got home, it was coming close to…dinner. Oh yes, food again.
NOTES: 1. “Gostan” Origin: Malay โ it means reverse and is a contradiction of the nautical term โto go asternโ Gostan is used in scenarios where you need someone to go reverse/backwards. This usually happens in driving situations when you overshot at a destination or turn. 2. Klang is the royal city of the state of Selangor in Malaysia. It is steep in history, diverse in cultures, and famous for the wide spectrum of food choices. 3. Subang Jaya is a bustling city, with multiple things to do and never seem to have enough time trying to do all of them. The choices of shopping complexes, food, outdoor and indoor sports, did I mention food? ๐. It is a well planned, self contained city. One does not need to travel out of Subang Jaya for anything…maybe to the airport? 4. Telepathy is the supposed communication of thoughts or ideas by means other than the known senses. 5. Curry puffs is a delicious Malaysian snack. Nyonya kuih is a delightful offering of sweet and savoury traditional cakes synonymous with teatime in Malaysia and Singapore. (In Malaysia, anytime is a good time for food.) Nyonya kuih reflects the rich heritage of the Peranakan Chinese or Baba Nyonya of Melaka, Penang and Singapore, with its colourful spectrum of Malay and Chinese culinary traditions. 6. Genting Highlands, in the state of Pahang; is a hill station located on the peak of Mount Ulu Kali in the Titiwangsa Mountains, central Peninsular Malaysia, at 1800 metres elevation.
This unfinished draft, popped up on my ideaSketchpad or sort of popped up; an essay that I worked on in December 2022 / January 2023. Now, to add the finishing touches.
Nov 30, 2022, Dubai, U.A.E.
This was on our (Jeannie , my wife, the Batik Influencer) and my trip to the U.S. to visit our No.1 daughter, Laura; for the first time since August 2019. We were there to also attend her graduation from university.
We were met at the O’Hare International airport in Chicago, by Laura’s university swim coach, Dr. Duesterhaus; who drove all the way from Decatur (about 3 hours south-west of Chicago) to pick us up and take us to Decatur. American hospitality – unmatched.
Our meet up with Laura when we got to Decatur was immensely wonderful. Four years, well; almost four years of Whatsapp video calls, Whatsapp messages, emails – and now, in person. What joy!
8.00pm, December 1, 2022, U.S. time. Reunited after 30hours of travel.The scientist from the movie “Back To The Future” looks like me here, except his hair is white.
The picture above was the first family together reunion shot as we got into the house. We didn’t want to take any pictures outside because we could not wait to get in the house. It was freezing cold. Decatur winter. Thank goodness it was just a breeze and not the infamous winds blowing that night. It would have made it all the more uncomfortable to get from the car to the house.
Y-ee-e-s-ss-sss?
Picture on the left โข of me in the bedroom, already at work, putting an article together, while at the same time, trying to catch up on reading.
There is nothing like reading physical books, being able to flip pages, and hear them flipping at the same time. get the smell of the ink on paper (the smell may no longer be there. You can imagine the smell of ink as the letters, words, sentences and paragraphs, newly set ((printed)) on paper dries up).
Reading from a screen is alright for a few minutes, I guess; before a notification, message or advertisement pops up to distract you. It is the only 1 (one) time you’ve got; and everyone, company or distractor is trying to get a piece of the action – your time. Here’s the thing: you don’t have multiple lifetimes, whether running concurrently or one after another. You’ve got one shot at making the only life you have – spectacular; which means using it the way that it is going to inspire you, and others, too.
Don’t forget to grab my book when it hits the shelves in the near future.๐
Windowed view of the outside world
The picture on the right โฃ of the “Windowed View Of The Outside World” gave me a glimpse of a real live view or what I otherwise saw on tv of an American neighbourhood. Winter, trees without leaves, snowfall flickers on and off, lightly. Houses were basically square or rectangular, mostly 2- or 3-storey, many with a mix of brick, stone, concrete and wood.
This view was my view for a month, as I sat at the table each time, with the window not going anywhere, right in front of me. I am a dreamer. I love to stare outside and let “my mind is my playground” wonder. Think of it: There are no two 1 seconds, or two 1 minutes, or two 1 hours the same. Every moment that has passed is already a different phase. If there is a camera fast enough to capture the transition from one moment to another, you will notice the difference.
It is here at this table, that I wrote a couple (or more) of articles on how robots, like a trojan horse, is taking over the world. I also wrote about how we are easily giving up our rights to decide things for ourselves without putting much thought into it – all in the name of making lives easier for us. Food for thought articles. And more. I found it fun writing those essays.
A must have for this writer – coffee in many forms. In this case “Kopiko”.
The real thing.
Getting some work done at the Coffee shop. I think this was the River Coffee Cafe.
Laura introduced us to the local cafe, the River Coffee Cafe in Decatur town. It was a cool place to hang out, chill or get some work done. The atmosphere was right, great place to have coffee, some light bites and for us, to do some light work.
In this whole time we were in Decatur, I missed my good friend that I met in my last trip to Decatur, Dick Black. He had just moved to South Carolina a few days earlier. We are still very much in contact through social media.
Spending time with Laura when we were there – there was magic in every moment. I think we cannot or should not spend time trying to think up of what to do or plan what we should do with big chunks of time like weeks, months and years only. Let’s start with the little fellas like moments, seconds and minutes in the present.
I can see it, I can feel it. It’s heavy! My book is taking form. In the “real”. Two years or more. Now…
The manuscript is in its rawest form.
The manuscript in its rawest form.
The idea first floated about when I started leatherpotato.com. Wouldn’t it be nice to write a book? What shall I write about?
That is a question that many people have answers to, except me, I guess. However, I did have many ideas floating about. Yet, many a time, I’d sit in front of the computer and just stare blankly at the screen. Too many ideas… “noise”. Can you imagine, too many ideas?
I have been trying to get my first book out well over 2 years ago. I did not have any material. I started on something, then junked it. Then, went on to something else. Then junked it again. This had been going on for a “long” sometime. I guess I am my biggest critic.
Then again; I am a dreamer. To me, my mind is my biggest playground. Joanne Kathleen Rowling has an imagination with no boundaries. She wrote beautifully, her series of Harry Porter stories; she writes beautifully now. She recently x-ed (formerly known as Twitter) that she has at least another six books more in the writing. She never ceases to amaze.
Coming back to reality, the unpolished “manuscript gem” is only but the beginning. Now, the next round of work is about to begin. Putting the manuscript together. What goes into the semi-final manuscript, what stays out. That is going to be interesting.
When I had the chance or opportunity to start authoring a book when I left school or even when I was in school, I didn’t. I wanted to pursue other interests, which I did. Photography was one of them. Worked for a cinematography film company for a short while until they fired me for bringing my own camera and doing my own thing. That was a long, long time ago, a few years after I started my working career. It was fun while it lasted. I do not look back with regret. I am glad that I went through the several “stepping stones” in my life which has offered me the many experiences; many ups and not so many highs.
It shows, doesn’t it, the “doing my own thing” part?๐ค Even here, in my writings, I tend to do my own thing with the English language. Having fun.๐๐ ๐
But (not a good way to start a sentence, right? Just teasing you, the reader) these are experiences that have afforded me the honour of meeting and knowing all those people in the “experiences” that I may have not met otherwise.
I have to give mention to my classmate from La Salle School, Klang; who has a role in getting me to speed up the process of “The Book”, my first book and many more to come – Mohan Singh.
Mohan telephoned (rang, called, gave me a ring; not Whatsapped called me๐) me a couple of months ago (early May) and said, “I have read your writings that you have published. I think that you write well. Why don’t you write a book?”
I told him that I was working on it. Although several publishers had touched base with me, I did not give it much thought. “What? So soon?” That thought did cross my mind.๐ฒ”
“I know a publisher who is good at what he does. I can put him onto you. Have a chat and take it from there.”, Mohan said. So, that kind of sped the process up a bit. No, not really. It sped things up a lot.
The Batik Influencer, Jeannie my wife; and my daughter, Laura; are the “daily drivers”, ensuring that I put in the time to see this first book and many others to come, published and become bestsellers.
