Heritage tour to Malaysia

Why is it a heritage tour back to Malaysia?

(photo courtesy of Tako's Phone with my shaky tentacles)

Well, it is a long long story since my paternal granddad days.. My paternal granddad was a primary school principal in a village in Malaysia when my dad is still a toddler. SO lots of my dad's friends were in Malaysia, while my dad came back to serve his NS. So you can imagine, the heart-break he felt when he had to leave his friends. So this is a TOUR back to Malaysia to FIND all the old friends.

The trigger factor was from an overseas call that my dad received asking him to attend the wedding of my dad's childhood friend's son. So it is THE PERFECT timing or excuse for my dad to give an excuse to exhibit me too. I really felt that I am like a tako (octopus) on exhibition around the town and village. But the type of warmth that everyone showered on me and my dad is SOOOOO much! I was at the verge of tears.

(Photo courtesy of Google map and a little of my doodling..)

The whole trip was about flying into KL, then driving and eating upwards from KL, past Selangor, into Anson (where the wedding dinner was held) and further up into the kampung, Sungai Air Tawar. It was really hot blazing sun and i turned into a burnt tako - all red and well-cooked.

The surprise came came when we stopped by an optical shop to get new pair of contact lens as I dropped mine into the basin that morning. The shop was owned by my dad's friend. And I saw "Hobby Japan" November issue on the table! So the son is a GUNDAM fan too! We totally clicked, talking about the latest dream - PG strike freedom!

(photo courtesy of hlj.com)

Whilst chatting and flipping latest issue of Hobby Japan and Dengenki Japan, I made a pair of specs,a really retro one and a really huge one, occupying half of my face. Hahaha. Fellow gunpla fan shared with me that he had to get his gunpla kits all the way from from KL, so I say gunpla fans in Singaore is really quite fortunate. We do not need to travel for hours just to get our gunpla kits. The furthest I have travelled for the sake of Gundam in Singapore is to Seng Kang for the Gundam Fiesta which took me 30mins odd compared to 2 to 3 hrs drive to KL from a town, tsk tsk.. I am a lazy tako.

Saying bye to fellow gunpla fan, we continued with our trip, dropping by at dad's friends' places for chats. I was busy smiling and nodding my head. LOL.

HOTEL TOKYO~??

(Photo courtesy of Tako's Phone and taking photo whilst crossing road)

One morning we had breakfast at Hotel Tokyo!! so cool, i had breakfast in "Tokyo".. Okie, no, We had it at the coffeeshop downstairs (the one with yellow signboard).. LOL. The amazing breakfast took 2 hours to finish, it was a breakfast with rice, fish head, prawns, pork ribs, claypot chicken with yam, and squids. I was so full!

Now, we need to travel all the way to the village..

(Photo courtesy of Tako's Phone with blazing sun and my eyes half-closed.)

I have heard a lot about my paternal granddad, but he passed away when I was only 2 years old and I was not able to recall anything at all. It was sad when everyone shared so much about my granddad, but I could not even find a memory. But I am glad that I have heard so much about my granddad this time round in Malaysia, how his speeches touched the students and how he would patrol every night with a lamp in his hand to make sure that all the students were studying and not out playing. Till now, the adults (including my dad) were amused at how they would hear my granddad's wooden clogs clanking down the street and next moment, one would start hearing all the  doors banging shut down with all the kids running home to "siam" (avoid) my granddad. 

The village had shrank over the years, with youngsters leaving the village to work in towns and cities. But those who stayed on continued with their simple but contented lifestyle. Though simple, the smiles on their face is something that is really hard to find in our fast paced life here in Singapore. Their smiles really melted my heart.

Well, am back in Singapore now, can feel the pressure of fast-paces lifestyle building up. Wish i can curl up and sleep like the cat and ignore the buzz of life.

(Photo courtesy of Tako's Phone and me intruding into a little cat's personal space)

What was Ren doing when I wasn't around?

Hmmm, he was busy with JLPT and filling up his shopping cart. The cart accumulated to a whooping JPY28,000!! He even made a proposal for one item, which I had my eyes on the latest issue of Dengenki Japan which I flipped when I was in Malaysia.

So will I agree to the proposal so that Ren can make his PO in time?

And what was that item?

(Picture courtesy of http://www.kaiyodo.co.jp/100yamaguchi/index.php)

The 100th revoltech!! The only qualms I have is that the pose looks quite gruesome. But I still find it a nice addition to our collection.

Tako ('O')9