#travel

TIME TICK TOCKED WHEN A MOMENT SEEMED LONGER

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

It all started when I read somewhere (where? The memory  escapes me now)  that there is a place south of the state of Johore in Malaysia that is the southern most tip of Asia.

You’d probably think it to be Singapore, further than that is one of the islands in Indonesia…. To some in the western world, they have heard of Indonesia because of its holiday island of Bali; they’ve heard of Thailand because of Bangkok, possibly through multiple songs composed about the life there; they’ve heard of Singapore because only rich people live there possibly because of its near prohibitive property prices…you know where this is leading to…Malaysia? Where is that?

Now, with it’s second tallest building in the world – Merdeka 118, and it’s iconic (yes, iconic, and beautiful, too) Petronas Twin Towers, Malaysia is noticed. The Petronas Twin Towers officially held the record as the tallest building in the world. Now, several, new, taller buildings have come to the forefront.

Coming back to the topic of the tip… I was intrigued by the fact that the southern most tip of Eurasia is in Pontian, a district of Johore. I thought to myself, how nice it would be to visit this “tip”. Thinking… thinking… the thought drifted and was gone. That was it.

Recently, my wife Jeannie (who is the Batik Influencer), and my cousin Dato Ronald Gomes’ wife, Datin Debbie Gomes; and my cousin Christopher Nalliah’s wife, Evelina Nalliah; got together and were making plans for a holiday in Vietnam. It was a ladies only trip. The plan was firming up…until the earthquake in Myammar and the surrounding countries.

They still continued with the trip plan until another earthquake hit again. They decided to put their plans on hold. However, (not as a consolation), our plans on a weekend trip to Malacca, which is coming up real soon; is on. Keep a lookout for the news and articles / essays to come about Malacca, where the Portuguese, Dutch, English and everyone else wanted a piece of this state. There are canons and forts, hundreds of years old, as proof.

Spur of the moment.. more exciting.

Old charm of Yong Peng?

Jeannie said that she still needed a holiday… that we should go somewhere soon. Out of nowhere I said, “let’s go to the southern most tip of mainland Asia. It is located in Johore”. Jeannie immediately agreed and set out to chart our holiday. I suggested we go for a couple of days, and got our daughter, Laura to book our hotel online. All this took place less than a week from the start of our holiday.

Wall clocks… with different time zones?

The day came. We started our journey on time. We planned to have a leisurely drive along the almost 5 hour trip. The last time we took a leisurely trip down south, heading to Singapore, to watch and support Laura as she represented Selangor and compete in The Singapore National Swim Championships Open, we together with a couple of parents; made about 10 stops along the way to indulge in the amazing food the south had to offer. The trip down took us over 10 hours. We did the same thing on our return, but to different makan places. This was back in 2018. By no means did we exhaust the list of eating places because in Malaysia, we are simply spoilt for choice.

Jeannie and I are more conscious of how much of food we consume nowadays. Hence, we only made one stop this time. We decided that we wanted to stop at Maxims in Yong Peng because this was one of the places we stopped at when we were on our food extravaganza to and from Singapore. Why we stopped by here in 2018 was because Maxims had good reviews about its food.

I like the wooden table top. Nice grain. Nice colour. I think this is normal wood, not the expensive kind.

It must be quite a chore or a love for these kind of clocks to have to wind them up; each and every one of them, each day, every day. There are more clocks on the opposite wall and a grandfather clock standing in the middle of the room.

We ordered some kuih. Jeannie ordered a hot coffee, and I had a Kopi Ais Kosong (Iced Coffee with no clothes on [Black – no sugar, no milk]).

SPARKS OF JOY – SEIZE THE MOMENT : My recently published book, now in Maxims Snack Shoppe, Yong Peng Johore. This is our second visit to this establishment, our first being around 7 or 8 years ago.

I am not too sure why it is named a snack shoppe. I guess because of all the takeaway biscuits, cookies and cakes it has to offer, However, this time round, it did not seem to have too wide a variety, Perhaps, it was a Monday morning, with less people coming in when compared to the weekends or holidays.

It was not as how we had expected it to be – crowded, with customers flowing in and no tables free. It did have people coming in, but most tables were empty. It was Monday morning. People were working. Perhaps, some people have still not gotten used to the idea of the weekend switch, where Johore has switched to Saturday & Sunday being its weekend from the previous Friday & Saturday.

We soon were back in our vehicle, to continue our destination, to say “seen this, done that”. 😁

This is sort of a sago thing. Jeannie knows the actual names of all the kuih here. I just go by the looks, colour, smell and taste.

The ondeh-ondeh (green in colour), wrapped with coconut, was fabulous. Gula Melaka, strong – the perfect blend. Loved it.

Old charm with modern technology: Payment method and QR code.

NOTES:
1. Johore is one of the largest states in Malaysia. It has a thriving economy.

EVERYONE NEEDS A HOLIDAY

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

One thing that has remained the same in over 60 years is the view of the sea as we drive up towards Port Dickson (affectionately known as “P.D.”) town and along its coastline towards the multiple hotels and private homes. The sea is not sea blue (it has never been as long as I can remember). It has always been a chalky lime-green in colour.

Ponder: “To sea or not to sea”

Another thing that has always seemed to be the same is that the sun is scorching hot once it hits the 10.00am mark onwards to late afternoon. It does break if rain show up, and it shows up whenever it feels like it.

The beaches and sea have never failed to entertain. I can remember the days travelling in a little red and black mini – uncle Jeff’s and Aunty Val’s go anywhere vehicle. it never seemed too small or small. It fitted all 18 of us nicely and comfortably. O.K. Not 18 but close. There was Uncle Jeff and Aunty Val, Brendon, Shenton, Jennifer, Nigel and myself – that’s around 18, thereabouts.😉😂

As for a comfortable ride, I can’t remember. The adrenaline (don’t worry if this word seems like a tongue-twister and you find it tricky trying to pronounce it. Try spelling it out on the keyboard. I had to correct spell it several times before the right one stuck to the screen)… so, the adrenaline rush got us excited with the idea of going to the beach to play in the sand and water.

As we came up the last bend (it was a sort of slight slope climb) of the road and tuned left, we could see “paradise” on our right. It was not the end of that road, we, the kids; were not interested. Believe me, the scene which was everyuthing “sea”, was phenomenal…breathtaking to us very young kids in the late 1960s. By the way, Uncle Jeff and Aunty Val were the hip couple for us young Atkinson cousins; both good and everything (and I mean, everything) mischievous.

The recent trip that we (Jeannie, my wife; Laura, our daughter; and I) made, rekindled the days of the 1960s. P.D. is modern by today’s standards. The good thing is modernisation has not affected the sandy beach coastline too much. We still can feel some beach sand under our feet and see the sea. Let’s hope modernisation, urbanisation and every thing futuristic will leave this landscape remaining unchanged.

I would strongly recommend to take the break from the rush and dust (that too) you have always wanted, even if it for no rhyme or reason (I have not heard that phrase in a long time – English class😅). P. D. is a fairly short drive from Subang Jaya, P. J. (Petaling Jaya) or K.L. (Kuala Lumpur).

Sometimes, when we are too much into what we are doing, we may not be at optimum level. Taking a break, even it is for a short while, from whatever we are doing, especially if it takes up a good amount of our daily time; can do wonders. Have fun. We sure did.

This is how to enjoy the blazing sun, sea and beach – in the comfort of air-conditioning.😁⛱️

Difficult decision – Here, as we look outside, we are debating on whether we should go outside to the beach and get sun burnt, or stay inside and enjoy the air-conditioning.

WRITERS – THE WEIRD PEOPLE

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

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.😏

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”.🤔

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.

AN AFTERNOON AT STEEL RIVER

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

2nd Edition, May 2nd, 2024. 8.20pm

It was about 3.30am when I decided to hit the sack or turn in. It was a good evening, where I managed to publish an article and get some other work done. It did not take too long for me to fall off sleep.

I was up bright and early in the morning at 9.00am. It was a public holiday today, celebrating Labour Day. My cousin Chris, and his wife Evelina; was coming to pick Jeannie and I up at 10.30am, and together, we were going over to their friend, Allen’s place. Chris introduced Jeannie and I to Allen when we met at Grand City Restaurant in P.J. (1) a few months ago.

Traffic was quite smooth and after multiple x multiple turns, we arrived. I was trying to get my bearings to see exactly where we were in K.L.. (2) All I knew was that we were somewhere in Sungai Besi. (3) “Sungai Besi” is Bahasa Malaysia for “Steel River”.

It was good to meet with him again. His beautiful condo was definitely a place to unwind, chill and relax. Allen saw to it that it had all the trappings of comfort. In it, included a very large maintenance free, wall mounted aquarium. What else could one ask more of? The aquarium was his tv.😁

We weren’t there for very long as we had to leave, and take a short walk to a cafe for lunch by following Allen. A friend of his was joining us there.

As we arrived at the cafe, so did his friend, too. Introductions were made. Sidney is a very close friend and former La Salle School, P.J. classmate of Allen’s.

The cafe was Called, “Memorie”; with it’s tagline, “Taste of Eurasian”. That was going to be interesting.

The red door entrance. The first thing we noticed about this cafe / restaurant is that it is quite spacious. No knocking of elbows when you want to cut through the food with a knife and fork. Doesn’t it look Eurasiany? Very pleasant set-up.

We sat right inside, which was the front of a ship. No kidding. Jeannie said, we could stand in front of the ship and pretend to fly, like in the film, “Titanic”. Not to mention, sing the song, “I Believe I Can Fly”. Doesn’t sound quite right. I think it’s, “My Heart Will Go On”. Must be because I am not quite a fan of Celine.

Sitting on “deck”, in the front of the ship. Not sure who was going to sing, “My Heart Will Go On”. It is obvious from the wide spread of food on the table, our hearts were going to go on.

Jeannie and Evelina did most of the food ordering. I ordered the Shepperd’s Pie. Allen ordered a green curry noodle (I think) dish, which did not have any shrimp ingredient – just the way he liked it.

Clockwise,7 o’clock, The two “Alans” sitting together: Allen junior; Alan (Senior), also known as the Hatted Writer; Jeannie, Evelina (Christopher’s wife); Christopher and Sidney.
Clockwise,7 o’clock, The two “Alans” sitting together: Allen junior; Alan (Senior), also known as the Hatted Writer; Jeannie, Evelina (Christopher’s wife); Christopher and Sidney.

The food arrived quite fast. It not only looked good, it tasted good as well. The Shepperd’s Pie came with some french fries, some leafy stuff and half a cherry tomato. Yes, half a cherry tomato. So, the focus zoomed in on half a cherry tomato instead of the whole dish. That fact stuck in my mind. The Shepperd’s Pie had the usual mashed potato baked as atop layer of the pie. The pie’s filling was beef. I thought it would come with minced beef. Instead it came withy chunky pieces. Tasted good. In fact, all the dishes were good.

My contribution towards ordering of the food. This is Shepperd’s Pie. Looks good. Notice the half the cherry tomato? Decoration purposes (Only?).

There was lots, o.k., o.k., “multiple” stories told of school days and what they did. I had a little bit to share of La Salle P.J. School days as I studied there when I was in Standard One through Standard Three (Year 1 to Year 3 in “today’s terminology). I still remember when my Standard One class teacher, Mrs. Lee, came to our house one day to complain (share her concern), that I was slow in class. I didn’t think of myself as slow. I just did not want to waste time on trivial matters like Year 1 school work. I had big dreams and I was making plans on how to achieve them.💭😏

The wide array of Eurasian food ordered. Besides my ordering contribution of the Shepperd’s Pie, there was Devil (or is it Debil? Maybe, this is A.I.’s [Artificial Intelligence] way of spelling it, I don’t know) curry (Who in their right mind would come to a Eurasian restaurant and not order this primary dish?), the other two dishes were fish / seafood based). The egg omelet dish had not been served yet.

We adjourned back to Allen’s condo for coffee for some of us, and the hard stuff for the others. Sidney shared a lot about playing squash on wide courts, as he was still playing at tournaments “at his age”. I don’t quite using “at his age”, “at our age”, etc; as it is meant to indicate that we are suppose to slow our pace down, or we can’t do this or that anymore. So, here, when “at his age” is mentioned, it is meant to indicate that he plays in the “Masters” – indicating the seniors’ age group.

The view from the condo was quite breathtaking. It was slightly hazy. We were told that the night view can be spectacular. Looking at the picture below, you can see that construction for high rise buildings are still on the go.

By the time we left, it was half four, or half past four, or 4.30pm in the afternoon for some, and evening for others. We all thanked Allen, who was the perfect host. He invited us to go over again soon for another good “session” like the one we just had.

On our way back, we were met with sputters of rain along the way, nothing much. We reached home at about 5 on the hour. I thought I’d go on my 10km walk. However, the skies thunders gathered and before long, the rain followed.,

The view from Allen’s condo on the 11th floor. Menara Merdeka 118, the world’s second tallest building; can be seen on the far left. The KL Tower and Petronas Twin Towers, both amongst the tallest buildings in the world, can be seen from the left, just after the Menara Merdeka 118. Watching the vehicles go by, minus the pollution and noise from them; can be quite therapeutic.

Addendum (I wonder if we can call it this. By jove, we can. 😁): May 2nd, 2024; 8.20pm:
Allen added that I missed out on mentioning us reminiscing on some of the Malay hits of the ’70s and ’80s by “Freddie & the Flintstones”, “Search”, “Alleycats” and many more. Oh yes, and Allen is quite the singer and dancer: he’s a good singer, he’s nimble and he’s got the moves.

NOTES:
1. Petaling Jaya or P.J. as it is more commonly referred as, is a city in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.
2. K.L. or Kuala Lumpur, is the capital of Malaysia.
3. Sungai Besi is Bahasa Malaysia, which literally translates to “Steel River”. It was a historical mining town with many heavy industries such as steelworks, waste steel plants and other steel industries. Sungei Besi Tin Mine site was the largest and deepest open cast alluvial tin mine in the world and in Malaysia. The town has since developed from a large area of village settlements. wikipedia

LOVE FLYING

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

When I hear what seems to sound like a Cessna 502 fly overhead, I tend to look up and search for the plane in the sky and fix my gaze on it until it disappears from sight. It brings back memories of the fun flight I had travelling from Decatur to Chicago in Illinois. My first prop flight, first flight sitting next to the “ceiling fan” on the right. Well, yeah. Don’t the props look like ceiling fans. They are about the same size anyway (without the “s”😉).

Cessna 502. Absolutely a fun plane to fly in.

Truth be told is I always look up when any plane flies overhead. I just need to hear the sound of the engines. I still remember the time when I was about 7 years old. I stayed with Uncle Al and Aunty Leen (Albert & Aileen Atkinson). The year – 1965. It was probably the school holidays at that time. Uncle Al was the headmaster of Kampung Pandan School in KL (Kuala Lumpur).

They had a big house on the school grounds. Draw open the hall sliding doors, leads you to the school field. Nearby, was the then Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The Malaysian Air Force used the airport for some of it’s transport aircraft as well.

Every morning, when I was there; I would eagerly wait by the opened sliding door for planes that would fly very low overhead, when they were about to land. I still remember a de Havilland Caribou flying overhead making its decent. It looked like it was going to land on the school field. Well, it did look like that; to a 7-year old boy.

The dinosaur, literally in terms of size; the Airbus A380 super whambo (combination of whale and jumbo elephant); is fast becoming extinct as airlines find it too expensive to maintain. More airlines are pulling it out of service as days go by. Malaysia Airlines was gung-ho about it in the early 2000s, having ordered 6 of them. This may have been one too many. From news reports; 2 of these planes did not have any routes assigned to it.

This also may have been “you got. you think you so great? I oso got” (local slang). Buy first. Plan routes later. It was also timing as the 747 fleet were beginning to age. So, there is good reason. But was MAS, like many other airlines that acquired these beauties; out of sync with the times?

These big birds could pack up to 800 passengers without bulging at the seams. Most airlines may have custom-fitted their A-380s to seat 600 passengers.

Now, to fill 600 seats per flight. That would have been a challenge, as these seats would have had to be filled quickly. Business Development, Marketing and Sales teams would have had their work cut out for them. They had to compete against other airlines offering A380 flights, pricing, optimum flight departure and arrival times, days and date; the list not being exhaustive. These teams had to be on their toes at all times as situations changed faster than a heartbeat.

The next big challenge and the one which eventually signed the retirement of the A-380 and other large 4-engined jets was that two-engined jets were getting the same job done, with two engines less than four, which translated to a huge cost reduction as the average base price of these jets just under-cut the prices of the 4-engined jets.

I think airlines must have seen the writing on the wall (another “on the wall” quote) when they purchased these super-whambos but chose to ignore it as keeping up with the Joneses (other airlines) blinded their long-term judgement.

I had a sense of pride that Malaysia Airlines had the A380s in their stable. To a greater extent, it showed that the airline was modern and forward thinking. From the latest news gathered, Malaysia Airlines had no takers to the 6 A380s from them. They returned them to Airbus in exchange for new long-range twin-engine jets.

A380 super whambo. Isn’t she a beaut?

The Cessna 502 I think, with its swaying from left to right or vice versa when making the approach to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport will remain a fond memory for me. I sat just behind the co-pilot, I had a good view of the instrument panel and its workings. Looking out of the plane, I had excellent all round visibility. Nice!

Looking forward to my next flights.

NOTES:
1. Bilqis Bahari, “No buyers, Malaysia Airlines to return six A380 to Airbus?”; New Straits Times, September 26, 2022

DID ANY GOOD COME OUT OF THE “BRITISH COMMONWEALTH”?

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

The recent passing of an icon of monarchies, if I may put it that way; has left a void in the “system”. Queen Elizabeth II was ruler over Great Britain, the British Empire / the British Commonwealth for 70 years. Most (all) of the countries that were a part of the British Empire are self-rule now and are members of the British Commonwealth. She was also “Head of State” for some of the countries in the Commonwealth like Australia and New Zealand, for example.

Why do I say “icon”? When you talk “king”, “queen”, “royalty”; more often than not, Queen Elizabeth and the British royal family come to mind. No way does this downplay the importance or stature of royalty of other kingdoms. It is just that the British royal family is more in the news in this part of the world.

Why do I say “system”? Maybe, establishment is a better word to describe monarchies / kingdoms, so on and so forth. King Charles III, has a huge role to play in order to come out of the shadow of Queen E II, his mother; and perhaps, surpass it.

Coming back to the passing of Queen E II. Her funeral was on September 19th, with thousands of people paying their last respects to her.

There were also groups of anti-royals, anti-monarchies, etc, that chose this time to vent their anti-ismness. They have their reasons to vent against colonialization. I am not going to debate their reasons or give my views here, in this article.

It made me think: Did any good come out of this “British Commonwealth?”

I think people moved about and travelled to countries more freely, maybe with a feeling of being “safer” or accustomed to “being within the same umbrella of nations called The British Commonwealth”. If not, my siblings and I will not be here.

My grandfather on my father’s side (my father’s father) came from then known Ceylon to Malaya somewhere in the late 1920s or early 1930s. I am not sure whether he was in the British army at that time. My father’s father married my father’s mother and they had my father and his 5 siblings. That’s only half of the equation.

Charles & Julia Atkinson – Their wedding.

The Atkinsons in the 1970s

The other half of the equation is my mother. My grandfather and grandmother on my mother’s side, i.e. my mother’s parents, were also “imports”. They were both from Goa, which is on the central eastern part of India.

My mother’s parents first came to then Malaya, in the early 1900s. My mother’s father first brought orchestral music to silent theaters at that time.

The Gomes family – 1970s

The result of my father’s father and my mother’s parents coming to Malaya: My siblings and me…My uncles, aunts and their children, too. We are just a couple of families that are here as living proof, amongst the millions of others who share the same journey path as mine.

The Atkinson and Gomes families

So, yes, I believe there was a lot of good that came about the collaboration of countries within the British Commonwealth.

If groups of people want to propagate and champion ill-will and division among men; there are plenty of excuses (reasons?) to churn up. That’s the easy part.

I am all for propelling goodness, equality to all men, peace and kindness. Now, that’s a challenge. Anyone game for it?

“We Are Family”: Sister Sledge and Chic