FRIENDS STAND BY YOU EVEN WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN.
THEY RESPECT YOU FOR THE DECISIONS YOU MAKE AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR.
THEY ENCOURAGE YOU IN TIMES WHEN YOU NEED THAT “EXTRA PUSH”.
THEY UNDERSTAND YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE.
THEY DON’T JUDGE YOU – HOW COOL IS THAT!
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
Being 67 years old is amazing. I’m speaking with 7 days (1 week) of experience.
The prelude to being 67 years old started 2 days before my birthday when my childhood and schoolmate friend, Charles “Bijou” Rozario sent me birthday wishes with beautiful blessings. Charles himself, has a story to tell. Me telling his story will not do enough justice to it. He has to tell it himself.
This followed an awesome fellowship of a pre-birthday lunch. A phone call led to showing up 45 minutes later to pick me up. Patrick & Hazel Archibald – some of the dearest people to my wife – Jeannie, and I. Lunch was simple, yet delicious, relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable. Hazel’s father joined us for lunch. The impromptu-ness made it all the more a nice time to remember.
With Charles being the first to send me birthday greetings, I have received countless birthday greetings either in person or through the many communication avenues, mainly social media. I have read all the wonderful messages from all you wonderful people – what a way for me to give thanks for the 67 years of living experience and to usher in my 68th year.
I don’t know where to begin with thanking all you wonderful people – social media can be a boon as well as a bane. A boon where everyone connects with me and sends greetings. A bane when it becomes quite tricky in trying to trace back all those who sent birthday greetings for me to thank each and everyone of them personally. Haha. The many groups’ and threads’ feeds seem to get entangled with each other and with other posts’ feeds that I may miss out on thanking some people.
Thank you, each and everyone, family and friends; for the wonderful birthday wishesĀ and messages. These wishes and messages have given an extra oomph to the beginning of my 68th year of life.
On my birthday itself, Leslie Quak, my classmate from school and close friend, treated me for lunch at a restaurant called CapoDelCarne in USJ Heights – a quiet place, where we could talk at a leisurely volumed voice. The meal was good – we both had pasta, Leslie’s a different variant from mine. It was nice to be in the present.
Jeannie and I made it a point to go for mass in the evening at St. Thomas More Church. There, we were met by Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Perera, regulars of evening mass at this parish. They acquired a copy of my book, SPARKS OF JOY – SEIZE THE MOMENT. We also met my cousins, Dato’ Ronald Gomes and his wife, Datin Debbie Gomes, and; Christopher Nalliah and his wife, Evalina Nalliah.
The cousins and wives and us adjourned to Big Daddy’s for dinner. Big Daddy’s is a little restaurant & pub in Taipan, USJ. Serving mainly western cuisine; many of their patrons were there for the pub. It had a nice atmosphere.
The food was decently good. After dinner, we had what is known locally as “the cake cutting ceremony”. Candles were lit, all 67 of them, or at least it looked like there were 67 (when lit – had to qualify myself).
I cutted what looked like a fruit – inspired cake. Lots of fruit decorated the top of the cake. The cake was good. The cake should have been bigger to accommodate more candles.šš¤£
What a day July 10th was, and the days leading up to it. The highlight of the day was when I received a telephone call from my mum and dad with a help of their caregiver, to wish me for my birthday. Mum who is 88 years young and dad who is 93 years spritely, chatted with me for a while. This telephone call was a gift from my parents – a gift that a value cannot be placed. Grateful!
I had to make a statement for the next 66 years – I got tattooed with a tattoo (Stronger Than The Storm) which was partly designed by me. It means that I am the first one with this design. Soon was the tattooist. As usual, he did a great job.
OK. My report card for the first week of me being 67 years, going on 68 is done. In an article to come, I will discuss of what it feels like to be 67 years old. I am already quite qualified, and now, having just completed the first week of my 68th year. I have to admit, it is not like what I had envisioned, so you have hope, too.
I am not too sure whether it is age or whether it is because I am a writer, I tend to look at things differently. One thing is for sure.. call it stubboness…I refuse to give up my rights to think. A vast number of people today are giving away their rights without even as much of a flinch. It’s probably because…er…they don’t think.
One more thing…The next book title… coming.
Yes, I am trying to soak in as much of 66 as I can in its last moments.
Not too long ago, I was this scrawny 10 year old, who spent most of his time dreaming of how he could change the world with his inventions…that were yet to be invented. Many of these inventions would have put thew current sci-fi movies to shame.
As time went by….and it did at such a rapid pace; this young boy is now living the last few hours, minutes, seconds and moments in the end of his 66th year.
Early morning hours were captivated having breakfast at Happy Merry Chef with my wife, Jeannie. We both had a plate of wanton (pronounced as one ton) noodles each, which came with the usual as wanton noodles usually does. We also ordered coffee (Chinese local coffee); I had the peng (iced) version.
I can’t really remember if I have had the wanton noodles served here, over my previous visits. It came neatly served – sort of a nice presentation. It had quite a bit of gravy on it, however; it was not soupy or too dry either.
Jeannie heaped praise on its noodles, being “fine noodles”, which was nice. I don’t know about the noodles being fine or otherwise. It was good, all the same.
I was back home by 8.15am, and was soon on my 10km daily walk. It took a few minutes longer than usual to complete the distance. I guess I was doing a lot of pondering – 66 years worth of it in 2 hours šš. That’s quite a lot of years. I am grateful.
As I pondered…a beret…or two… Should I or should I not don one?
There were many messages on my phone, waiting to be attended to. I saw a “miss call” and a message that followed, “Are for free for lunch?” Patrick thought that it was my birthday today. I told him that it is tomorrow. But I was still available for lunch today. ššI returned his call and fixed lunch at Damen. He’d come and pick me up from my house.
I showered and was ready with a bit of time to spare and go through the rest of my messages.
Patrick & Hazel Archibald, and Hazel’s father, Mr. Ong; were at my house at a quarter to one. Damen Mall is nearby. We had lunch at the food court. I had a kway teow fried (I think) loaded with black pepper sauce gravy, and telur masak (fried egg). Hazel ordered the same but without the fried egg. Patrick and Mr Ong, both had noodles, not sure what variety, they looked the same.
My noodles was really good stuff. The presentation of the meal (you notice I am beginning to talk a lot more of how the meals are presented.) was good. The meal did not just look good, it tasted good, too.
The food court was such a pleasant setting, lots of space between tables and was brightly lit. It was comfortable. We had a pleasant time fellowship-ping, and catching up on news in general.
As our meal came to an end; Pat suggested a CEO coffee. ZUS Coffee was a floor up. Yes, coffee was a nice idea. We sat at one of the tables near the cafe and enjoyed our coffee. ZUS’ CEO coffee is pretty good.
I thought it was a nice touch to end the 66th year, spending some quality time with very dear and close friends like Pat & Hazel. I was soon back home, still sipping on my CEO coffee to go.
When I look back at 66 years, it seems like a very long time. Countless stories to be told. I am grateful for the 66 years – every moment of them. While I have learnt many lessons in that time, I am still learning. I believe that life is a constant teacher. We can never stop learning. One of the biggest lessons of all is that life is simply amazing.
A special mention to Su Yin. She is a super wonderful person. It is her birthday today. Happy Birthday Su Yin.
NOTES:
1. A beret isĀ a soft, round, and flat-crowned hat, typically made from hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, or felt.Ā It is known for its lack of a brim and its distinctive appearance.Ā Berets are often associated with French and Basque culture and have been adopted by various military units worldwide.Ā
Berets are also a popular fashion item, worn by both men and women to add a touch of style to their outfits.Ā
Berets are versatile and can be styled in various ways to suit different looks.Ā They are often seen as a stylish and practical accessory.Ā
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IN ORDER FOR YOU TO HAVE THAT NEW LIFE
YOU WANT SO BADLY, YOU WILL HAVE TO LET GO
OF YOUR OLD ONE…COMPLETELY.
NO EXCUSES.
LIFE IS TOO SHORT FOR YOU TO WORRY ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE WILL SAY ABOUT THE “NEW” YOU.
NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO OR DON’T DO, THEY WILL STILL TALK. HAVE FUN AND GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT.
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
Friday evening. The last weekend of February, 2024. Chap Goh Meh eve. Celebrations are on the way for many who celebrate the lunar new year celebrations, the last two days of it. More fireworks are expected to light and decorate the skyline tonight and tomorrow night.
In the meantime, the Batik Influencer has come up with some of her latest offerings, 5 of them at the beginning; However, before I could type “Jack Robinson” (and I type pretty fast; even faster still on my Logitech MX Mechanical linear (1), but not as fast as a bullet train…yet); two pieces were sold. She is working on more because we just confirmed that we will be running a booth at Amcorp Shopping Mall this weekend.
The Batik Influencer has come out with her latest creations. These are some of her newest creations and will be available at our booth this weekend.
There are a lot of ladies clothes accessories like brooches, bracelets and other items that are that are available on sale for those who want to add the bling to one or more of the Batik Cape Creations.
Like always, we; meaning the Batik Influencer, Jeannie; and I, Alan, the Hatted Writer; are excited to be at our booth where we will be able to meet all our friends and make new friends. It gives me the opportunity to meet with readers of leatherpotato, too. I hope to learn and get more input for my book that I am writing. You will be able to spot us easily. Jeannie, the Batik Influencer will be modelling one of her creations. I will be wearing my grey / white panama hat, with a red and black band just above the rim. It will be just dandy if everyone wears a hat over the weekend.
While I am creating this article and the Batik Influencer is miraculously coming up with more choices of her Batik Cape Creations under her own label, “Jeannie’s Own”, we are listening to some music. Right now, a vibrant song, “Nona Nona Zaman Sekarang” is on. This is the version sung by the super awesome Liyana Fizi. The music arrangement with acoustic guitar, base guitar and brushes on a snare drum, is superb. I have done a bit of research and found out that Liyana is based in Selangor. Hopefully in the very near future, I will be able to contact her, have coffee and perhaps do a write up on her.
On our way to Amcorp; we will stop at New Apollos and buy Nescafe ice kaw kaw. We will get the drink servers to fill our Hydraflasks with the Nescafe ice kaw kaw (2). Hydraflask does an excellent job in keeping it cold (or hot if you have a hot beverage in it) for many hours. We are expecting some sellers to offer a wide choice of snacks, cookies, cakes and sweets since it will be Chap Goh Mei. The meaning of ‘Chap Goh Mei is “the 15th day of the new year” which marks the 15th and last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations. (3)
We look forward to meeting with you all. We are gonna have fun. See you there.
1st Floor, Amcorp Shopping Mall,
Booth 1.16, Level 1
Amcorp Shopping Mall,
8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Date: Feb 24 and Feb 25, 2024
Time: 10.00am to 5.30pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)
NOTES:
1. Logitech Mx Mechanical Linear keyboard comes with the red switches which is the quietest amongst the other variants of blue and brown (the most popular being the red) for its accuracy and performance.
2. Kaw Kaw means thick or extra strong.
3. This auspicious day is also known as the Chinese Valentine’s Day. Traditionally, young single women write their names and phone numbers on mandarin oranges before throwing them into ponds or lakes, in hopes of finding a boyfriend or husband. Hopefully, they use permanent ink pens so that the water will not wash off the written information.š
As the Batik Influencer or “La Batik Influencer” and I, the Hatted Writer; were setting up our booth at F1.16 on the first floor, our first customer to purchase some Hotwheels vehicles, was Jason. Jason purchased some Hotwheels vehicles from us a couple of weeks ago, too. We had a chat about how he started his collection, which he says is still a small number. He collects postage stamps, coins and bank notes, too.
Not too long after that, La Batik Influencer had customers enquiring and purchasing her batik cape creations. She was in her element. We both; were having fun.
I was quite interested in getting a flat cap. Ok. It was more than just “quite”. So, I paid my friend, Mahmud, the specs and hats guy; a visit at his booth which was located just above us, one floor up.
I tried on the tartan flat cap, one that caught my interest last week when I first visited Mahmud’s booth. This time round, I tried on two other flat caps. I am posting pictures and videos here, of the flat caps I tried on. Which do you (readers) think suits me best? Leave your comment/s and vote in the comment section. Let’s see if your views align with mine.
I did quite a bit of research on the flat caps. Flat caps are rounded hats with a small stiff brim in front and are considered a culturally historic item of clothing. The origins of the flat cap can be traced back to Britain in 1571, when Parliament ordered all non-noblemen and boys over the age of 6 to cover their heads with wool caps on Sundays and holidays. It was said that this law was probably to help the wool industry.
Today, it is a trendy headgear that goes well for both casual and formal wear.
I won’t ask which is my good side because I look good all ways. Just saying. Haha.
I did not spend too much of time at Mahmud’s booth as we had a continuous flow of visitors at our booth. I will pick up the cap later today (Sunday) when I have some free time in between visitors and friends coming over to out booth.
The Hotwheelsāvehicles drew quite a bit of attention as they usually do, as people (more like seious collectors) could tell from the navy blue coloured blister packs that what I had on sale were all over 10 years old, with many of them quite rare.
One of my Facebook friends, Judy, came by with her husband, Derek; whose relatives in Klang are friends of ours. Two of them were my primary school teachers, in the late 1960s, early 1970s; fondly remembered by the boys of La Salle School, Klang. Judy was very happy with her purchase of the lovely navy blue / golden brown combination “Jeannie’s Own” brand batik cape. It was our pleasure to meet her and Derek in person.
You know how the saying goes, “Time flies by quickly when you are having fun”. It was as though we had just set up our booth and now, it was time to pack up. We look forward to being here again tomorrow morning. Till then…
I put this article together after 3.00am this morning.
1st Floor, Amcorp Shopping Mall,
Booth 1.16, Level 1
Amcorp Shopping Mall,
8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Date: Feb 03 and Feb 04, 2024
Time: 10.00am to 5.30pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)
So profound:
ā “WHEN YOU TALK,
YOU ARE ONLY REPEATING WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW.
HOWEVER, IF YOU LISTEN,
YOU MAY LEARN SOMETHING NEW.”
I try to emulate my friend, Jino Lim.
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
We thank all our family and friends for being with us during 2023. We are grateful.
We wish you all, only the very best for 2024.
It was another fun weekend at Amcorp Shopping Mall recently. This mall is renowned and famous for its “Flea Market” weekends since the late 1990s. This is a haven for collectors where one possibly can find almost anything from the past and present. Anyone who is on a hunt for a precious collectible, may be able to come across someone selling it at this flea market.
Jeannie and I decided to put up a booth, here, again. However, this time we were on the second floor, a one floor lower from where we operated a booth on 4 previous occasions (2 Saturday & Sunday weekends).
We had visitors, interested collectors of Hotwheels and other brands of diecast metal vehicles; and customers that started coming to our booth almost from the very moment we started our business.
Amongst the earliest was a pleasant lady, Elaine Ng. The moment she saw my surname, “Atkinson” on my http://www.leatherpotato.com QR code, she said, “Oh, you are Eurasian”. And that started a nice chat about her coming up from Johor Bahru to Petaling Jaya for the reunion of a very famous Malaysian music group of the 1970s and ’80s – The Strollers.
I told her I knew Michael Magness when he was in staying in Klang at that time, which then led to you know this person, and that person is related to so and so… Elaine’s mother is Eurasian. We found that we had many common friend connections. She bought one of Jeannie’s “LA” Batik Cape creations as a birthday gift for a relative that was going back to Melbourne, Australia.
Jeannie’s “LA” Batik Cape caught the attention of a young couple. Jeannie demonstrated how to wear the cape. The lady really liked the cape. She chose a particular design that she liked. However, she said she would think about it.
A short while later, her friend that was with her when she first visited us, came by and purchased the batik cape. He said that his lady friend’s birthday was in two weeks and decided to buy the cape as a birthday gift for her.
Jeannie and I enjoyed engaging with all the people who stopped by at our booth. We talked about family and things we liked. I explained that most of the things that we put up for sale were from my years of collection. From the things that were on sale; one could tell that I collected many things. Most of my collectibles were in mint condition. We made many new friends. We were having fun.
We had a lovely lady with her two teenage children, stop by our booth to look at Jeannie’s “La” Batik capes. Jeannie demonstrated the four ways that this cape could be worn, for formal as well as casual wear. This lady, Professor Dr. Joanne B. Y. Lim; tried on a cape of her choice, modelled in it, this way and that way; and purchased it.
We got to talking and found out that Dr. Joanne has many, many accomplishments, including writing on a wide range of subjects. One of her many projects she is working on is an mHealth app to recommend plant based diets to cancer patients. Wow! It is amazing. We will help in any way possible to spread the good works of this mHealth app.
Jeannie demonstrated how her “LA” batik cape could be worn to many people. Her whole range of batik capes were sold out. There were some ladies who even made bookings for these capes. Jeannie was having a ball of a time, talking about batik and demonstrating how her batik capes could be worn.
Time flew by when we were having fun. For Jeannie and I, meeting new people and learning so much from them about their cultures, hobbies and expertise in the various fields of work they are involved in was so gratifying.
We would also like to thank all those who came in support of http://www.leatherpotato.com by meeting and chatting with me. Thank you, too; for your interesting suggestions of topics to write in up-coming essays. We will collaborate with you on pointers for these essays.
By the way, the big green dinosaur seen in the pictures here; is sold.
We take this opportunity to wish our mothers (Jeannie’s and mine), Jeannie, who is Laura’s motherš; and mothers all over the world, “HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY”.
