#tartanflathat

INDIVIDUALISM, LOOKING SCOTS, FLYING AND THE BEACHES OF THE PENINSULAR

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

It was not the usual, everyday weekend at Amcorp Mall today. You are going to ask the question. Come on… ask the question… Everyday weekend? Everyday weekend here means Saturday and Sunday…with the occasional Friday and Monday off from work (sometimes longer).

The Batik Influencer (my wife, Jeannie) and I pulled up into a parking slot at Basement Level 2. Nothing out of the ordinary, so far. Started unloading our stuff, with Jeannie taking one batch first to our booth. Moments later, I get a call from her saying that there is a long line of upward travellers (1) because two of the vertical vehicle shuttlers (a bit of fun here) broke down. That meant that we had to ferry our things to our booth at a much slower rate. Anyway, we sorted out things pretty quickly – in about an hour (usually takes about five minutes).

The day went by pretty quickly with both the Batik Influencer and I, the Hatted Writer; having met multiple (American for the word “many”) numbers of people, who stopped by, chatted viewed the things we had to offer, acquiring some that caught their interest.

And speaking of interest, a Scottish man, wearing a kilt walked past. I called out to him and asked if I could take a picture with him. I mean, it isn’t every day you see a kilted (with proper bag, too) Scots walk by. His name, Matthew Crabbe. He said he isn’t really a full Scots. He is Welsh-Cornish, with some Irish and Scots blood; broadly Celtic. he grew up in a town north of Edinburgh.

The kilted Celtic and the tartan-ed writer.

One may be forgiven to think that this was a weekend of Scottish celebrations – I was wearing a red tartan (Scots) flat cap. Matthew donned a kilt because he wanted to express his individualism and not be lost in a crowd of same-same attire. I resonated with him as you can read in many of my articles. We had quite a few laughs. Matthew said he definitely will be back next weekend and catch up with me.

From flying to the sands on the beaches of the peninsular.

Another gentleman, Toh Beng Liong; while going through my book, SPARKS OF JOY -SEIZED THE MOMENT, came across a chapter: “Love Flying”. He was a former pilot, used to fly single and twin-prop planes. And that got us talking about his love for flying, too. Both his sons are pilots.

Beng Liong lives near the beaches of Port Dickson, and gets to walk along them everyday. That got Jeannie to talk about the beaches on the eastern side of Peninsular Malaysia. She hails from Kuantan, Pahang. The beaches in Pahang and Terengganu are beautiful. Beng Liong suggested we move to Port Dickson. That thought has crossed our minds. Will see.

NOTES:
1. Trivia
I thought I’d give A.I. or Artificial Intelligence a run for it’s money to see if it got the meaning of this short line. It bombed out! Did you get the meaning? Scroll down…further down…for the answer:

“a long line of upward travellers”:
“A long line of upward travellers” most likely refers to the interpretation of palmistry lines, specifically a travel line on the hand that is long and points upwards, indicating a strong likelihood of significant travel or foreign settlement and the potential for achieving success through these journeys. 

Further details:

Significance of Length: A clear, long travel line is generally interpreted as a positive indicator of successful and frequent journeys. 

Location of Travel Lines: These lines are generally found on the Mount of Moon in palmistry, but can also originate from the Life Line and extend towards the Mount of the Lower Moon or Mount of Ketu, or run parallel to the Life Line. 

Upward Direction: When a travel line points upwards, it signifies an intense desire and probability for foreign travel and settlement. 

Ambition Lines: Upward branches from the Life Line are sometimes referred to as Ambition lines, which are associated with personal achievements and can indicate a strong drive for success. 

“upward travellers”
“Upward travellers” can refer to a few distinct concepts within the travel industry: increased interest and activity in travel, magazine publications catering to high-end travellers, or specific technical applications like upward-travelling lightning strokes.

Here’s a breakdown of “upward travellers” based on the search results:

Upward Bound (Aviation Focus):This term is also used in the context of the Middle East’s aviation sector, referring to its transformation driven by strategic investments and technological innovation, particularly in sustainability. 

Upward Travel Trends:Multiple reports indicate an upward trend in travel intentions and activity across various demographics and travel types, including increased holiday travel, interest in cruises and international trips, and sustained popularity of city breaks for young travelers. 

Upward Curve Magazine:This is a triannual print and digital magazine specifically for independent air travelers who use corporate or private jet charters, distributed in-flight and in VIP airport lounges worldwide. 

Upward-Traveling Lightning Stroke:In a scientific context, this refers to a theoretical model describing the electromagnetic fields generated by a lightning stroke that travels upwards, often used in atmospheric and electromagnetic compatibility studies. 

Answer: People wanting to get to higher floors of the building using the lifts.

ALWAYS YOUR CHOICE

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

Friday – morning before the afternoon. Jeannie and Laura are on leave from work for the lunar new year (known as Chinese New Year [C.N.Y.]) holidays in Malaysia. The traffic was somewhat more than half, yesterday; meaning that many people have already left for their hometowns just to beat the expected long traffic jams, on the highways.

That is the “secret”. People leave a day or two earlier to avoid the jams and aim at coming back a day or two earlier. Picture this: they quietly leave home to get on the highway. Why is it a secret? It is because everyone thinks they are getting an upper hand on the next person to beat the jam. The only thing is that when get on the highway (“freeway” for the Americans), the traffic is at near crawling speeds – everyone else had privy to that “secret”, too.

back to the “Friday, morning before noon”. Breakfast. Laura is out already. Which left Jeannie and I with the question, “What do you want to eat?” But before that question was asked, I decided that we go to A.Y.C., an Indian restaurant, near our house. A. Y. C.’s tagline is “Always Your Choice” – catchy. Jeannie just noticed their tagline a few days ago. This tagline has always been there, however we never took notice of it until recently. Now, whenever we past the restaurant, the tagline will almost always be the first thing we notice on their signboard.

Parking our car is relatively easy around A.Y.C. and its neighbouring shops in the mornings. As we walk in to the restaurant, the food is lined up on either side of the passage. I saw the “doughnut” (donut for those unsure of the spelling) vadai and the bean vadai, both favourites of mine; on the right row of food. I told Jeannie I wanted one of each. I saw this fluffed up bread called “puri” on the left and wanted that, too. It was the last one on their tray. It was already nearing 11.00am so it is understandable that the breakfast offerings was almost all cleared. The restaurant would start preparing for the lunch crowd. From the dishes they had just laid out, it looked like it was going to be a vegetarian affair. The food looked good.

Jeannie chose a currypuff for her bites. A.Y.C.’s currypuffs are really tasty. The fillings are made from potatoes, marinated in spices, which does make the potatoes spicy, but not too spicy.

We both ordered iced coffees, Jeannie’s was with milk and sugar; mine was black, without sugar.

Simple breakfast. The doughnut vadai (vadai with the hole in the centre [polo?]), bean vadai, currypuff and puri which came with a sort of potato side condiment.

Our breakfast was good. We were relaxed, sitting at a table towards the rear of the restaurant, facing outwards. We always like to face out and watch the world go along with its activities.

I did get quite a few side glances and quick stares. People don’t seem to get to see other people wearing hats, let alone tartan flat hats out to breakfast. I maybe starting a trend for others to follow, who knows.

We were soon back home, as Jeannie then had to go to her mother’s place to help cook the CNY reunion dinner for this evening. At the time this article was getting done, Laura was already at Jeannie’s mother’s place.

Happy Chinese New Year’s eve and reunion dinner to all those celebrating the lunar new year festivities.