Pak Idrus's Blog

It past 4 pm on this Saturday afternoon. Just done the laundry; washing done, and the load are in the Dryer. While waiting for it to dry I am whiling the time at the Serambi reading and Surfing the Net. Outside it looks like it going to rain. I could hear the sound of the distance thunder. The weather is getting cooler and I believe it would rain soon. Near me Tam the mother cat is sleeping on her favourites chair while Kenet is in a Box that I got yesterday for them to play; you know cats love to play in the box. At 10 minutes to 5 pm the load in the Dryer had dried. I took it out and got it folded and put it in the cupboard. The one that need ironing would be send to the Laundry nearby for ironing with the other pieces from past drying. At this age there are only two of us in the house all the time; the kids and grandkids come over only from time only. We do not have maid except the maid from our daughter's house would come to do the heavy cleaning. Other daily chore we did it...

It past 6 pm. It is getting dark and the sky cloudy. It has been raining lightly since afternoon. I like this kind of weather. It kept the atmosphere cool. I am enjoying the day passes by at the Serambi reading and surfing the net accompany by the two cats Tam and Kenet. Well folks that is an episode of life in the golden years.  One a second thought; it would be just nice to have a hot steamy glass of Teh Tarik.  Teh Tarik is a special tea concoction that is Malaysian. It is a mix of condense milk and hot tea. The image on the left shows the Teh Tarik at the Mamak restaurant nearby. This is the real Teh Tarik. It is served in the proper glass and taste like a Teh Tarik should be. Not like the one a friend and I had at the restaurant in the Village 2 at Bangsar the other day. It was served in a sort of a wine glass and did not taste like Teh Tarik should be. I know because at the restaurant of my late dad I used to make many cups of Tea and Condense me. It those ...

The Serambi [patio] at my home is where I often sit alone to read, have coffee or just to while the time away. It is here where my thoughts would wonder along and at time past memories would come flooding back. Yesterday on that beautiful Monday afternoon December 17, 2019 sitting alone at the Serambi  these thoughts came to mind. It about my late dad who despite being illiterate send all his children to school. It is because of his vision that all his children got educated. Personally, my personal success in life is because of that vision of him, schooling is the only way for a better quality of life. Thank you, dad and mom, for doing the right thing for us your kids. Alfatihah.  The image on the left shows the family with me one years old on the lap of my dad.  Have a nice day.

That day December 12 at 11 am on a cloudy Wednesday morning, for a change I went to Bangsar for a lunch appointment with a friend there. Bangsar is rather far away from where I live in Ampang. Actually, Ampang Jaya the housing area is in Ulu Kelang and Bangsar is on the other side of the city of Kuala Lumpur. One had to drive across the city to get there. So, it not normal that I would go there for lunch. I had my kid's driver to sent me there since I no longer drive across the city. I have been to Bangsar a number of times and I like the stores there. Most stores are of a different concepts than those at Suria KLCC. Just after 12 pm my friend arrived, and we went to look for a place to have lunch. We end having lunch of Mee Mamak at a high-end restaurant call Citrus. It turns out the Mee Mamak was really good but the Teh Tarek was not to my liking. After my friend left, I shop around and saw an item I like and on impulse bought it; it was really nice and I loved it. I have...

The Kenanga flowers in front of my house. The tree is more than 45 years old. I got the young plant from a friend in Terengganu and planted it outside my fence. It grew tall but I kept trimmings it so that it did not grow too tall, as well let it kept blooming throughout the years. The flowers give a fresh soothing fragrance that reaches my Serambi. Friends and strangers often ask for the flowers and I always obliges. In fact I have wakaf the flowers so that folks are free to take it wherever they need it especially for medicinal purposes. Many ask for seedling but this is one plant that is not easily to propagate. It got no seed thus the only way is to bud grafted it and even that it not easy. I have successfully done it and given the young plants to relatives and friends. Well folks I love this plant and it does served us well.. The Kenanga!  Have a nice day.

  ·   Woke up to a beautiful day in December 2018. Good Morning from Pak Idrus's Serambi.[image above] This morning my two cats Tam and Kenet give me another dead Mouse. I believe in appreciation for giving them a treat of Wet Food other than the dry biscuits. It felt really good to know that animals know how to thanks the hand that feeds them. A beautiful life indeed. Thanks Tam and Kenet. I was sitting at the Serambi and saw the workers from the local authority the MPAJ are cutting the grass in front of the house and it smell real good. I love the smell of freshly cut grass. It a free fragrance that nature gives us from time to time. That is why we must keep as much green around the house. It our source of fresh and free oxygen for our specie to survived on planet earth. I believe that the space at my Serambi have excellent vibes. The reason I am saying this is that I felt very comfortable sitting there and while the times awa...

With the New Media we get to makes friends in the virtual world. It could be done through Twitter or Facebook. Before this we only get to meet new friends at function or when introduced by friends or relatives but now it a different story altogether. On Facebook we can makes friends just by looking for friends on stranger's Facebook Tim eline or strangers from other FB Account can just add us as their friends by just clicking the Add Friends application on the Timeline. If we want to be friends we just accept or if not just delete. It is as easy as that. From then onward we just continue our friendship by reading friend's posting and from time to post comments on their wall. As we go on we could chat on one to one using the Messenger application on FB. Eventually the friendships became close just like in the physical world. The only different is that we do not meet in person like in the real world. We only communicate in cyberspace. Then things...

Whenever  I do not go out and lepak at the mall I would just sit at the Serambi and read a book. It was one of those day. It just 3.55 pm and the sky was cloudy, darker than it usually is at this time of the day. It looks like it may rain. I love the rain. Coming from the East-coast of Malaya, at this time of the year it rains cat and dog for days thus it kept the atmosphere cool. Folks had to wear sweaters to keep warm. I believe the temperature must have gone down since the coconut oil solidified. For me it was a nice time of the year where we get to wear cravat to work. I like wearing cravat and kept a few till these days. Well folks just daydreaming of the memory of my youth in Kuantan, my hometown. Ha ha!  Have a nice day.

They say things happened for a reason and I do believe so. Let me relate here two recent happening which I believe is the way our guardian's angel works. First I saw a comment in  Taib Wahab 's Facebook posting where he highlighted the demise three years ago of a close friend Mohamed Ibrahim which we fondly address as Mat Bra. It happened that Mat Bra was one of my closest friend when we were attached to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports since the early seventies. Through this posting I got connected with  Mar Ilyani Mohamed  the yo ungest daughter of Mat Bra. The second happening was a young woman the daughter of a family, a neighbour in Cendering where we live when working in Terengganu. She saw a FB posting of a photo of me and spouse having dinner with my nephew's  Hyree Ibrahim Kutty , her uni colleague. She  Julaillah Mohd Sarif  put two and two together and contacted me on FB. In the conversation I soon found out that both her parents h...

Yes, the personal space, a space of our own; a space in time and moment that we want for ourselves alone. A space that we want to be independence of anyone else. A moment in time that we want to jealously guard as our own and we have the right to have one; that special personal space in time.  As I journey on in life and getting there in my golden years, I yearn to have that personal space more and more and slowly and surely, I am getting there. It is not that easy, and I believe with perseverance and patience I would eventually get there. It does not mean that I want to be alone all the time. It is not that. I love to be with my loves one but that sometimes I do really need my own personal space. A time that I could dreams, whilst away in the clouds, contemplate, flirt in my mind and wonder of all the possibilities, to be able to spend time with friends on my own and on my own choice, without being subjected to other people reaction, want to be able to do my things my way. The ...

Yes, I am talking about rice, our staple food. That we cannot do without. It is our basic that we take daily. From breakfast to dinner and at time during teatimes where we had traditional cakes made of rice. Goreng Pisang [fried banana] cannot be Goreng Pisang without been coated with the rice flour. It would not taste as good with other flour. At time we just took this commodity for granted, as though that it is always there when we need it. That is why in the Malay culture it is a sin to throw even a single grain of this wonder grain call Rice. It must be given due respect for it has been the staple food of Asian for centuries. In fact, that's what made the Asian race resilience all the centuries. Another aspect that should be known about rice is that it does not take much doing to get it cooked and ready to eat. Whereas for wheat, it takes many processes before it could be eaten. In rice what one got to do is to wash it and steam cooks it. And Voila! In mere fifteen ...

Both my parents were illiterate and yet they send their children to school. Until this day I could remember that day in January 1946 when I went to school when the school was reopening after the war. I remember vividly my father holding my hand and walk me to the Malay School [Sekolah Melayu Teruntun] at Jalan Gambut, Kuantan. From the shop at Wall Street [Now Jalan Mahkota] we walk across the Padang. Then along the path near the Government Office buildings and the patch of grassland to reach the school. I was then seven years old and excited and happy.  When I was registered as a student my name was written as Idrus bin Abu Bakar. I was sort of shock and wondering for a while; why they did not write my name as Awang. All the while I was call Awang and never heard of the name Idrus. Then the teacher explain that my registered name is Idrus. It takes a while before I could get used to been call Idrus. In those days kids never get to see their Birth Certificate so I was totally lo...

I am back in Kuantan for a short break from the city life. Kuantan a small town on the east-coast of Malaya is my hometown. I grew up here and spend my childhood and my youth here. So, there are lots and lots of memories. In a way coming back here is sort of reliving those memories. I shall write some of it here. In the forties in the kampong where I grew up there was no air or water pollution. The well water was clean, and air was so refreshing. The word pollution did not exist at that time and no one talk about pollution. Now that with all the talk about pollution I realised that there was also no sound pollution as well at that time. The reason I am talking about noise pollution is that when we were living in the kampong in Kuantan we could hear every noise of the wild, the crickets, the frogs, the birds and everything else that makes sound. Since there were hardly any cars or buses, lorry or air plane flying by or any factories that create noise there was no noise polluti...

Every few months I would go back to my hometown of Kuantan, a small town on the east-coast of Malaya. I grew up there so I am always nostalgic of the beautiful days of my growing up period. As one get older one's early memories get clearer thus one began to have the feeling and the urged to be there and relived those wonderful moments again and again.. I have chosen to make Ampang Jaya in the state of Selangor as my home but Kuantan is never out of my mind. How I wished I had a house there and settled there after my retirement some 28 years ago. But then I found out that it not worth to have a home there where most of the infrastructures are still in a third world condition. The Kelang valley where my home is now first world just like living in the US or in Europe. So every three or four months I would get to Kuantan and live there for five days at time. Since I do not have any house there I have decided to makes one of the high-end hotel there as my home while in Kuantan. It  is ...

A few days ago; early in the morning I notice Tam the mother cat squatting on the window sill. On seeing me she made a small noise. I somehow knew that she wanted something so I went to the front door and open the grill. As I walk to the door she jump down and met me in front of the door. She move closer to me and brought my attention to a dead mouse lying on the floor nearby. She sat near the dead mouse and look at me. I then look at her and petted her back. she looks pleased. I knew at that  instance that the dead mouse is a gift for me. Sort of thanking me for always feeding her and her son Kenat. I quip to her thanking her for the gift and then she happily left. I then went into the house and told Asmah about it. Well this is not the first time our cats did this. It happened before probably they knew I no longer hunt for food thus that dead mouse is for dinner! ( did not want to post the image of that dead mouse) Well that is an episode of the story of my life. It always made ...

In January 1946 after the war schools were open after been closed during the war 1941 - 1945. During the Japanese occupation Japanese was the medium language at the school thus all my senior was taught in the Japanese language. On that fine morning in January 1946 I still could remember vividly my father held my little hand to the school and registered me at Sekolah Melayu Teruntun at Jalan Gambut in Kuantan. Malay kids could not be register directly at the English school. T hey had to be in Malay school for two years first. Only then they are allow to study at the English school. At the English school all the Malay had to attend to the special class before been integrate with the non Malay in the English school. We spend two years in Special Malay class 1 and 2. After that we join the non Malay in Standard 4. It was difficult for us Malay kids because we only start learning the English language for two years whereas the non Malay in Standard 4 class already study in English for 4...

On housing for the rakyat [people] Just build living spaces without the frills and not high rise condo. The price should be below RM100 thousands. Or build and rent to the rakyat. At home. Last week the switch for the shower at one of the bathroom stop working thus no warm shower lah. I call the handyman to come and fixed it. He came and on looking at it say he cannot do it as that kind of switch is no longer available. Since he is around I ask him to change another socket at the kitchen that need replacement. He got it it done and now could be use. I then call another handyman and today he came. On looking say it difficult but would try to replace it. After  working at it he say it could only be done if the two adjacent switches for the lamp inside the washroom be change as well because the shower switch is part of the set. Well I told him to get it done. Now it OK and there is warm shower for this bathroom. Well instead of just replacing just one switch, four of it had to be re...

The Federation constitution; Article 1-1 (1) The Federation shall be known, in Malay and English by the name of Malaysia. So we all are Malaysian. So folks let change and start building a nation based on the constitution; We are one people MALAYSIAN. 

At this juncture of my life I treasured my lifestyle; the freedom to enjoy my life my way. I have lived an active life all the years from my youth to the time I was working, making a living and raising a family. It was not that easy but both my spouse and me did it our way and had managed to retire early and continue to enjoy life. That is the reason why whenever I go out on a trip or just to lepak at the malls I just do it my way. To makes thing easy to meet friends from tim e to time I posted on my FB telling folks where I am at that moment in time. The purpose is to give me and friends the freedom of choice. If we happen to be at the same vicinity at the same time and want to meet without making an appointment, then we just meet for lunch or coffee or whatever to exchange notes or just to chat. By doing that we are free to enjoy lepaking in our golden years the way we like it. I meant well folks.  Have a nice day.

Like all Arts photography is never the same. It evolves as we move, we learn new ways of getting the best pictures whenever we click he camera. With today's technology we do not even have to click, we just touch the viewing screen and the image is captured perfect. The computer in the camera do the job of focusing for us. What would they think of next we all just have to wonder. Along the way a friend says the next time you take a picture with your digital camera use the RAW format. At that time, I was wondering what the friend of mine was talking, it Greek to me. Anyway, for an amateur photographer like me any new information to take better picture would be great. As for photography I am a kid again; always learning. And he warned me that RAW takes lots of data. It is best that I get a larger memory card. So, I did and now whenever I am out taking picture I always use the RAW format. In the beginning it looks like there was no difference but as I move along I found t...

Bukit Bintang is one of the oldest road in Kuala Lumpur. It name may have derive from the hill and the Stars that could be seen there on clear nights. So, on looking at the heaven one could see stars lighting the night sky. It became a picturesque sight especially seen behind the green hill of the area. Thus, folks in those days call it Star hill or in Malay as Bukit Bintang. From time to time I would just go there to walk and wander along to see the development and the thousands of tourists that throng the place days and nights. It is now one of the most popular tourists spot in the city of Kuala Lumpur. Here are some images that I took while there two weeks ago. The top picture show Icecream from Turkey sold along the road, the second picture show a classic  exterior decor in front  of a restaurant  and the other one shows the interchange where the monorail station is. Enjoy it folks much as I had enjoyed snapping it up.  Have a nice day.

It another Friday folk and almost the end of March 2018. Tomorrow is another weekend. It looks time moved so fast nowadays. Hardly we knew it already another month. Next week would be the last week of March 2018. This Sunday I would be meeting for the first time two of my Facebook friends. We planned to meet at 12pm at KL Sentral. Well as I had always say strangers are friends we have yet to meet. We have been friends in the virtual world and God willing we would be friends in the physical world as well. At my age I had to find an easy place to meet friend, as well for friends of my age group to meet too. Since I do not drive into the city anymore I found the KL Sentral is the best place to meet as one could get there by trains like the LRT, MRT, Commuter and of course by taxi or by Grab or Uber. I would be taking Grab there as that is the easier way to get straight to KL Sentral. Another choice for me is to drive my car to KLCC which is just five minutes away from my home, park t...

One of the building I am still as amazed as it was first open to the public is the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. It is not that far away from my home, just a five minutes drive to the parking lots of the mall. I go there often to enjoy the mall as well to shop or enjoy having meals at the restaurant there. Everytime I am there I always take some pictures of the interior of the building. Although I have been there countless time I am still amazed of the uniqueness of architecture of the building. There  is always something to see and enjoy at close  range. Above is an image of the translucent roof of the Suria Mall that I took a week ago using my EOS M5. Enjoy it folks much as I had enjoyed snapping it.  Have a nice day.

A few months ago, I surfed the net trying to find an outback resort in the jungle of Janda Baik, an enclave of the east side of the main range of Malaya, for a short retreat with the family. In Malay the main range is call the Banjaran Titiwangsa. Most of the forest in the main range of Malaya are some 160 million years old since it was not touch by the ice age. In the search I stumble upon the Twinkle Villa and decided to explore more from the resort website. It looks interesting with a concept of a private villa where the guests are limited in numbers. Since this is something new I then told my daughter Lin to check and maybe one of these days we could just go there. She did her homework and then make a booking to get the whole family there on the weekend that she is free. As usual with a three-generation family it difficult to get everyone along in one go. In the end she books a villa that could accommodate six and was allotted the Villa Resak. All the villas are names after ...

March 7, 2018 is the 78th birthday of my wife. The kids and grandkids decided to celebrate her birthday. It was done at our eldest daughter Ojie's house nearby. Here are some images of the special family occasion the evening of that special day. It does tell a story of love. Have a nice day.