..... of tear jerking DVD

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) went through his younger daughter's collection of DVDs and found this one interesting since in the not distant past Y S used to have three dogs. There are loveable creatures which sometimes surpass some humans Y S has unfortunately come crossed in this life.

Hachi, an Akira Japanese puppy, was lost at a railway station. It was found by Professor Parker Wilson. Not wanting to surrender the dog to the pound, the professor tried to keep it despite disagreement from his wife. However, both Hachi and Prof Parker developed a rare invincible bond.

Hachi sent the prof to work in the morning and then waited for him to return home daily and in icy cold weather sometimes without fail. Hachi became familiar with the people around the railway station.

One day, the prof had a heart attack and passed over. Hachi still waited for the prof at the same spot and the same time every day without fail and refused to be moved. It slept under old rail trucks and was fed by those whom it knew.

Hachi waited and waited for ten years. It died of old age and also the cold while waiting for the prof !

Y S' mellowed soul was moved by the love and loyalty of an animal, a dog. Y S secretly shed some tears. ( Shamefully)

This movie was an adaptation of a true story in Shibuya, Japan : -

In 1924, Hachikō was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. During his owner's life Hachikō saw him out from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return on the usual train one evening. The professor had suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage at the university that day. He died and never returned to the train station where his friend was waiting. Hachikō was loyal and every day for the next nine years he waited sitting there amongst the town's folk.

Hachikō was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, showing up again and again at his old home. Eventually, Hachikō apparently realized that Professor Ueno no longer lived at the house. So he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachikō waited for Professor Ueno to return. And each day he did not see his friend among the commuters at the station.

The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachikō attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachikō and Professor Ueno together each day. They brought Hachikō treats and food to nourish him during his wait.

This continued for nine years with Hachikō appearing precisely when the train was due at the station until its demise..

Today the bronze statue of Hachiko sits in front of the railway station at Shibuya.

Blessed are those with loyal friends for they experience heaven on earth.

..... of trishaws

This is a basic Kelantan's trishaw which is more commonly refered to as " teksi ( taxi) " in Kota Bahru. There are many more beautifully decorated ones which Yours Sincerely ( Y s ) promises to take photos of on his next trip.

Don't you ever hail this mode of transportation as "beca" ( which is nevertheless the most correct in Bahasa Malaysia) If you do so, you will be stared at and NONE will stop for you.
" Beca " seems to be a derogatory term to the Kelantanese "taxi" riders . It only befits the old days migrant Chinese two wheeled sweaty rickshaw pullers with a soiled "Good Morning" towel around their necks, and who ran, hopped and ran.

Y S grew up with this mode of transportation. It had transported Y S with a cousin and later a friend to and from school for six years of his primary school going. When boys rode and performed stunts on their "Raleigh" and "Robin Hood" bicycles, Y S had to be contented with just watching. Y S' Pa was a protective father. Looking back, Pa prioritized safety and getting his kid to go to school in a "taxi" seemed to be the safest. Y S was "taxied" to school by one "driver" for six years !

However, after completing Std. Six, Y S protested loudly and "threatened" not to go to school without a bicycle. So, Pa reluctantly relented but before that Y S had to go through a "riding test." My good elder brother was made to follow me closely,to and fro school daily for a month. Then he followed from a distance and watched like a hawk. Finally he endorsed by "riding licence." And he still spot checked me on and off.

This was the extent of trouble my Pa took. NOW I see "Kampong" ( Village) kids from beside my housing estate as young as 7 and 8 years old riding motor-cycles without helmets and with more than one pillion rider at neck breaking speed and oblivious to other road users on public roads. WHERE ARE THEIR PARENTS ?


This type of trishaw is common in Kuala Trengganu. The passengers are in front, get the fresh air and also get a bird-view of the road scenery, and they also unfortunately double up as the bumper in case of an inevitability.

Those were the days .......................

..... of old kitchen appliances

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) recollects his mother's kitchen, way back in the 50s and early 60s. After the ancestral house was gutted down, it is getter harder and harder to recall. Anyway, Mum's kitchen was nothing to shout about. It was just a rudimentary affair, but not the wholesome and sumptuous food it churned out, two square meals daily, day in and day out, without fail.

Those days refrigerators ran on kerosene and only the rich could afford one. You could literally see a flame burning up the condenser to compress the air from behind the fridge. The doors of these fridges closed solid tight to prevent the coldness from escaping and had claimed a few careless fingers. Without this luxurious gadget, Mum had to go to the market every morning. And that was how we grew up with fresh produces from the farms and sea.

This (pic) was one of the appliances in her kitchen. It was a coconut grater or scrapper. The one Mum had was even better designed to look like a wooden horse. This was where coconut was grated for cooking or as a spread or filling for some "kuih" she made. A few fresh coconuts were always available in the kitchen, and you could never imagine the way Mum cracked the coconut shell - with one mighty chop ! Cracked !!!

Sometimes we kids were treated to the overgrown flesh that grew inside the coconut. And if we were down with fever, the coconut water was collected to be used as bath water to lower the body's temperature. And somehow this housewife remedy worked on us children.

As a gracious lady, you should not sit on the grater astride like a horse. God forbid ! You would be considered crude and unpolished. You had to sit sideway with your legs closed, like sitting pillion on a bicycle's cross bar, and uncomfortably grate away the coconut.

Sometimes Mum would sit astride when she offered a lift on the "horse" to my younger brother who is a few years younger than me. Of course, in Mum's absence, we played " Cowboys and Red Indians" with the grater becoming a "horse."

In the old days, we were always warned of the potential danger of the sharp blade of this appliance. Mum would never allow anyone of us to grate the coconut. She would do it herself, saved my eldest sister who had mastered the skill.


Anyway, progress has come a long way. Coconut grating is no longer a chore for the housewives. You have your friendly corner "Chai Tiam Ma" ( Your friendly sundry shop) to grate for you with this machine. You can even ask for grade I or 2 or 3, depending on what you want to cook and how you want to use the coconut.

So, gone are the days of our "wooden horses."

.... of churches

If you visit Europe, either east or west, you are bound to come across churches upon churches. Similarly your China's itinerary will be dotted with temples upon temples of all sizes and history.

This paricular church that Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) was awed by is located in the town square in Krakow, Poland It is St.Mary's. The original was destroyed by the Tartars in the 13th century. Well, invading forces always have the penchant to either loot, rape or destroy.

The present St Mary's was rebuilt in 1397 and it has a new tower added. The two towers, built by two competing brothers, are of different heights. If you gaze at this godly structure for a long, long time over one or two cups of coffee from the numerous outdoor cafes in the square, you can as Y S could, awe at the GREATNESS of our ALMIGHTY FATHER.


Similarly very much closer to home, the St Anne Church of Bukit Mertajam holds a very special place in Y S' heart. It is not a big church, just able to comfortably hold about 100 congregation, but it has the aura of the presence of God as of many godly places. Standing proudly on a hillock, this church commands a bird-eye view of the surroundings. The slope behind the church will lead you about 10 stations of crosses and a grotto that will mellow your soul and make you prayerful.

Her sister's church, a modern super structure of a few million ringgits, standing by her side does not ooze out that holiness as she does. So much for old churches.

Y S likes to pray in this old church. Or course, God is Omnipresent but praying in this old church some how gives you that tap on the shoulder. That assurance that He listens.


This is the hushed interior of St Mary. It is awesomely vibrant with colours. Every nook and corner is carved or gold plated and the stained windows are a sight to behold. The interior gives you an opulence of the elite of Europe in the days of old. We can only thank GOD that communism did not destroy such treasures.

This is the highlight of the St Mary's church - the 15th century wooden altar piece designed by Wit Stwosz. The three piece of panels have 200 carved and painted figures of Medieval life. They are folded into one piece and will open up slowly accompanied by Gregorian chants to show their grandeur before mass. It is another sight to behold !

BUT THE SAD FACT - On the day YS visited, there were more tourists waiting impatiently and armed with cameras to shoot the scene, than worshipers in the congregation. Two thirds of the church was cordoned off for tourists ! Very Sad !!!


This is one of the towers of St Mary. A lone trumpeter appears on each direction of the tower, north, east, south and west hourly and plays "Hejnal Mariacki." The sound echoes through the town square and everyone stops in the midst of whatever they are doing to appreciate.

Very quaint place.

LIFE IS FOR THE LIVING. EXPLORE On .....

.... of sickness and being sick.

Falling sick these days is a luxury. One of Your Sincerely's ( YS') siblings was hale and hearty but had a growth on his head and was pestered to take action. As you know, growths on the body are very, very unwelcome and in them lurk suspicions. You cannot live in peace until a biopsy is done and the verdict read out "benign" or "not guilty."

Y S' sibling checked in one of the supposedly best private hospitals in KL and he was probed by one specialist after another. From an ordinary surgeon, to a cardiologist, neurosurgeon, etc.etc. and the list is, of course, proportionate to the bill. ( You may have to be readmitted after seeing the bill. LOL) Being a top notch private hospital, it has to do a good and through job, so the poor patient is passed on to one specialist after another. One may enjoy the relay if he is on Medical Card but certainly not if you are forking out the expenses from your own shallow pockets.

Y S has a soft heart to see his hair shaved and so many tubes and hoses poked into his body since he was fine the day before he stepped into the hospital. Y S was told that he had taken several pints of blood transfusion. When one is hospitalized for curative treatment, the pain is bearable because one is seeking a cure. However, if one is in for preventive treatment, then the pain takes another dimension. However, the former might be too late for some patients and they are always blamed for not seeking treatment earlier. The latter saves life but need lots of reassuring and counseling to be properly accepted. He is lucky to have a good and caring wife to harp on him to get to the hospital. How many of us have such wives? Think.

The moral of it all is to take a breather once in a while and evaluate one's health. Y S even takes time going through the morning toilet ritual. Don't be in such a great hurry to get rid of your waste. It is part of your body, your system. Take a good look, study its colour, texture etc. Look out for any abnormalities and tell tale signs. These are all warning signs of the status of your system. They are like the red lights on your car dash board. Don't wait until they blink, blink and blink. Then it is too late.

Stretched bows were unstrung after a hunting sessions in the days of Robin Hood. Machines have to be switched off and allowed to cool down after use. Human bodies need the same. But, the folly of humanity is that everyone thinks that he is a "superman." Many brag of their ability to overwork (like the overdrive in our cars) . We overstretch our endurance and the damage accumulates and accumulates, waiting for a breakdown. What about maintainance service for the human body. The classic response is "OH, No time." Well, for those who have no time to exercise, they may have to find time to fall sick!

Life is a many splendoured thing. Live on.

....... of ice cream and ice balls.

This is the first generation ice grater Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) grew up with. It is just a sharp piece of blade mounted on a flat piece of wood with two supporters, acting as legs. In the days of old, this was the machine that grated delights to us children. Of course, to the "Magnolia'" "Hargendass" ( I know the spelling is wrong) and " Swenson" generation, this machine is a dinosaur but it is still being used by vendors selling "cendul" and " ice kacang " in remote places.

In Y S' days of dinosaurs, to enjoy a treat from this machine was like having a "Cornetto". The vendor held the grip which is just a piece of wood with spikes to hold the piece of ice with his right hand then he would cup his left hand under the blade to catch the grated ice.

Mind you, the grated ice is as fine as those produced by the modern grating machines these days. The fine grated ice is then pressed and shaped into a ball. It is then held over a jar of red syrup. Then, a ladle of the red syrup is scooped up and evenly spread over the ball of grated ice. This was when we kiddies screamed, " Anuty, more, more syrup lor!!!" The red syrup coated ice ball would then be quickly given to the buyer before it started to melt. It was 2 cents for the plain ones and 5 cents if dashed with, not evaporated milk but condensed milk.

Some vendors, going against all present day health standards would serve their ice ball on used newspapers. We, kids, we sucked the syrup off ice ball from the old newspapers and when the ice ball had melted, drink the iced syrup "laced with carbon" from the used newspapers. o la la delicious. Pssssssti, don't tell mothers about hygience those days !!!


So, there is so much talks and warnings of HINI and a host of infectious diseases, and that we have to sterilize and disinfect our hands. In Y S' days of dinosaurs, which vendors used tongs and gloves? Fancy, how Y S has lived to be 58 this year !!! By God's grace lor.

This is the second generation ice grater which has made ice grating easier and also toned less muscles on the users. Of course, the third generator of the proto-type comes with a motor which saves much labour. These days, the good old unhealthy but delicious syrup is replaced with an assortment of "coca-cola," " orange cursh," " Sarsi" and what nots? They are served in Styrofoam bowls and plastic spoons, and which further pollute the environment.

There used to be a vendor at the t-junction, opposite the old court house, in Alor Star selling ice balls and "ice kacang." When Y S' kids were younger, they had a fancy for his "ice kacang' and Y would delight his kids with it.

Once, there were rumours about the danger posed by the dye used for the syrup which made Y S asked the vendor not to syrup the "ice kacang" Y S bought. Y S thought of using F & N syrup from home. He took Y S' request insultingly and blurted out : "What ! You think Iam poisoning people with bad dye. My dye is approved dye. I specially bought from only one shop in Penang !!!!"

Those were the days.

....... itchy feet comes home

Who says that the English Language is an international language??? In Eastern Europe , Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) ordered his meals using the sign language and fragments of English as understood by the Polish, Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Austrians and Slovakians.

"This one." ( pointing to the menu ) " Kuak Kuak... chicken.. ok " (Meaning YS wants chicken. )
" Moooo...Mooo... beef.. beef.. ." Of course, almost every one understood "Beer."

Another sign board in German !

Eastern Europe is old and perhaps older than her western counterpart. Communism has kept this part of the world intact all those years from the prying eyes of tourists. After the fall of the Eastern Block, these places of beauty have been opened to all. Thanks to the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, our passport can gain entry to all the countries in Eastern Europe without any visa ! Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) only wishes to post peculiar sights and sightings because better photographs can be seen in travel web sites.

And this photo is only half of the statue of Marie Theresa, the matriarch of the Hofburg's family and empire and also the mother of Mary Antonnite who was guillotined during the French Revolution.

In Germany, do what the Germans do. Drink lots of beer and eat big, fat and oily sausages.


This is an intricate sculpture outside the German's parliament building..

This is Potsdam, the city of emperors. The residence of Prussian royalty over the centuries. Remarkable for its palaces and refined gardens.

The interior of the Hundertwasser's washroom in Vienna. It is 0.70 Euro per visit or roughly RM 2.80 per wee wee. And this ...... and this ......... is the strangest washroom in all of Eastern Europe.
This is how the Hundertwasser's washroom is advertised.

This is the village of Hundertwasser. It is back to nature. " The straight line is alien to mankind - F Hundertwasser only uses it where functionally dem,ands. Its closeness to nature - its shapes - its colour, these are the principal elements of Hundertwasser village - as unique as it is impressive - an invitation to think."


This is the chain bridge over the Blue Danube of Budapest in Hungary.

.... and who said that the Danube is blue??? It is muddy !!! The fore front is Buda and the further front is Pest, thus you get Budapest.

Again in Budapest, drink red wine like the Hungarians do. "Cheers" "Salute" to life.

This is the front of the residence of the late Pope John Paul II at Krakow, Poland.

This is one of the many Jewish concentration camps during Hitler's mad reign of Poland and the rest of Europe. This is also a grim reminder of racism and fascism can result in.

The sign board that greeted the holocaust victims as their train pulled into the concentration camp.
This is an example of an eclectic architecture of Prague. You see building of several ages and they are all awesomely beautiful.

A view down a quaint village at the Germany's national park - breathtakingly picturesque.

This is a " Pasar Malam" / flea market in Dresden, Germany.

The better half was captivated by the blooms.

This is the castle at Dresden.

What is left of the Berlin Wall. This is the once west side which many Easterners clamored to enter.
This is the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. Built in the form of blocks of all sizes and height and haphazardly placed on uneven floor helps to create the uncertainties, suffering and horror that the victims had experienced.

The firing range in the Auschwitz detention camp. It is only 60 to 70 years ago and the youngest of the victims are still living so they come to commemorate the deceased with flowers and candles. A horrific reminder of racism and fascism that Hitler is infamously responsible for. It is a grotesque crime against humanity. Y S' main reason for visiting Eastern Europe is to see this camp.

So, Viva life, one off Y S' bucket list.