A Re-bonding for 5 Friends from Jasin

Standing from left: Gan,Daw Swan, me and Yakob. Sitting: M Elangovan

On 15 February 2014, we decided to meet for breakfast.

So, we gathered at the Kayu Restaurant in SS2 PJ  at 8.15 am to spend quality time together.

After having a good time bonding, we broke up after 4 hours of reminiscing and agreed to meet again soon.

The 5 of us are:

M. Elangovan: successful father of 3 children as well as LCCT taxi driver; still earning a living to see a son through dental college in India.

Lim Daw Swan: successful father with a daughter in God's ministry and a engineer of a son. Still works in a clinic.

Gan Eng Thai: retired and dabbling in investment instruments. One successful son in IT and a daughter still in college.

Yakob: successful father of 5, semi retired from the banking world with a daughter in law school.

Myself: retired - a daughter in an accounting firm and a son pursuing an accounting degree.

Gan brought his wife, Aileen for our memorable breakfast of teh tarik and rava tosai!

Long Walk, Lost Years

Engrossing Biopic

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a biopic of the first president of South Africa.

Fighting Apartheid

Imprisoned under the imperialistic Botha and some part of the DeKlerk regimes, this lawyer turned freedom fighter was kept in prison  in a remote island along with the pioneers of the ANC. For many years he lost touch of the goings-on, the growing up of his children, the death of his mother and son and the violent manner in which freedom fighters fought against apartheid.

Charismatic Leding

In his absence, his  wife, Winnie carried on the fight and she too was imprisoned for the cause.

In His Cell

Quite a good movie with excellent acting by Idris Elba as Mandela and Naomie Harris as Winnie.

Her Role in the Freedom Fight

The Book Thief-A Narration by Death

Family Love in Munich

Fancy having Death narrate a story for you.

In the book, The Book Thief, now as a vivid movie, the story is played out in war-thorn Munich from 1939 till the American occupation after Hitler's much feared Reich capitulated to Allied forces.

For the Love of Reading and Literacy

Liesel Meminger (played by Canadian Sophie Nelisse) and her brother, while on their way to live with  adoptive parents met with misfortune when her brother passes on.

Alone, she adapted to life in her new home with new friend, Rudy and soon with the mayor's wife and a fugitive named Max.

The Bond of Reading

Liesel earned the moniker, The Book Thief as she "borrowed" books  from the Mayor's wife when the mayor refuses her permission to visit and read in their house library.

Basement Search by Nazi soldier

As Death mentioned on the outset of the movie, no one lives forever.

Even Liesel for all the good she did, up to the old ripe age of 90, had to go, after spinning magic and love to all and sundry up to her grandchildren.

Devotion to an Adopted Daughter

Geoffrey Rush as the accordion-lover dad, Hans and Emma Watson as the thundering foster mother Rosa, makes this a most watchable fare.

Bunker Fraternity and Story-telling

The background music of John Williams is endearingly soothing for a movie with such a grave story-line.

Will it win the Academy Award?

Disturbing Genocide and Mass Murderers

Shocking Documentary

This documentary movie is about the annihilation of communists and other minority in the aftermath of the downfall of Sukarno in the 1965-66 period. It is truly disturbing especially when it came from the mouths of the protagonists of the inhumane acts themselves.

A celebration for mass murderers

The main characters in this documentary are Anwar Congo and Adi Zukandry who graduated from illegal cinema ticket sellers to death squad mass murderers and their recounting of their killing methods during this dark times of the Indonesian republic. Their notoriety includes killing by pulling wires around the necks of victims to extortion of Chinese shopkeepers as well as killing them; to burning whole villages that are associated with communists in Northern Sumatra.

Recalling the bloody times

Though the movie tries to rationalise for the assumed regrets of Anwar (who killed more than a thousand), the other characters do not unconscionably see any wrong in what they did.

Wire killing effectiveness

Today Anwar is recognised as the revered leader of the paramilitary organisation Pemuda Pancasila that will go into action to support the actions of both the military and the police because they believed that it is their job to rid the land of "trouble-makers"

Communist Village Carnage

To date, these mass murderers have never been held accounted for their crimes against humanity.

Chinese New Year Dinner of the Wooden Horse

One Year Happier

Once more, a majority of us old friends (literary growing old) from USM 1975 got together to have dinner to commemorate the New Year of the Horse.

Bountiful Future

Higher means better luck and prosperity

Higher,please!

Much Better!

Looking for salmon?

This time around (12 January 2014), we had it in an untried restaurant in SEAPARK. It is called the Restoran Kari Kepala Ikan Tiga. This is the third restaurant from the chain currently operating in Kuchai  Lama and Puchong

Good fish!

Lets eat!

Wah! Really good fish!

Kooi Ming, what next?

Bernard, how is the property market?

Eat slowly

Those who attended include:

Ooi Say Chuan
Toh Chee Kiang
Tan Lee Kiang
Derek Teh
Catherine Yeang
Chan Yau Kok
Yeoh Gim Ooi
Bernard Yeo
Jenny Tan
Tan Kooi Meng
Heng

We had, as usual, a rousing time, bonding with one another.

Curry is good

Some more curry,Ooi?

  Food-wise, the restaurant got three orders totally wrong.

Firstly, they substituted the shark-fin soup (we requested so in support of the dwindling number of sharks in our oceans) with the uncalled for black herbal chicken and pig stomach soup when all we asked was to substitute the shark fin with scallops. However, the soup was pleasing to the palate. So, no real complaints here.

I just arrived from Teluk Intan

Secondly, the curry fish maw dish did not materialised at all. We got instead one with squids. The curry dish was okay but we ought to have the fish maw which I believe is more expensive that the commonplace rubbery sotong.

Unfinished business,lah!

Thirdly, they dished out a plate of cereal prawns to us which we had cancelled earlier on and it was to be replaced with salted chicken. We took it back and they had to cooked the chicken dish instead. Took some time though for them to serve.

The dessert of longan and sea-coconut was just too sweet.

So,what do you think?

After taking some candid photographs and a group photo, we went to have a teh-tarik session at the restaurant at the side of Giant Supermarket in nearby Paramount Garden.

We even discussed a possible trip for those interested to Perth as Air-Asia is giving 20% off the standard fare in the next two months.

After talking shop for an hour, we bade adieu and planned again to meet on 31 May 2014.

No more food,lah!

Venue?

If there are no alternative restaurant, we have decided to go back to Golden Dragon City Restaurant in Paramount Garden.

Derek and Cat

Great outing.

The Philomena Odyssey

A Good Movie

Philomena Lee's tryst  on a fairground was to lead her to an unwanted pregnancy and the boy-child was subsequently taken away against her will and transported over the Atlantic Ocean to live with foster parents.

Judi and the real Philomena Lee

That in crux, are the foreboding  events that would lead to a journey for two of the protagonists as they traveled to America to find the boy, now called Michael Hess who has a brilliant career with two past American Presidents.

Visiting Lincoln Memorial

Sadly, too soon, they found that he died of AIDS.

Despite that, the story turned full circle with Michael actually going back to Ireland to look for his lost mother.

The movie is fraught with many issues particularly controversies  with regard to the  iron clad principles adopted by the Abbey that Philomena was raised in and its need to keep secrets even though such beliefs are archaic.

Unending Pursuit

Based on a true story, it may be boring at times as it is dialogue-based  but I believe that Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan did a wonderful job as protagonists Philomena Lee and Martin Sixsmith.

Like Nebraska, we are having senior actors and actresses  bringing beautiful stories to the silver screen this time around as we approached the Academy Award event.

Will Philomena win?

2 Momentous Photos

Way,way Down!

One is the most disturbing photo of all time-that unknown man who jumped off the World Trade Centre in New York in 9/11.

The other is the spectacular sunset as seen from Mars.

Scene of Sunset from Mars

Enjoy!