... of dinosaur entertainments

In the sixties, Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) and his siblings' only home entertainment was the radio. We had a German Grundic which operated on a huge 12 v dry cell battery. Those days there were very few bands, and the family's favourite was a "Hokkien, Cantonese and Hakka" comedy, popularly known as " Four Friends" Of course, the volume was set to high since it was for the whole family to enjoy. In the outback of kelantann, there was no "Rediffussion" (Pay radio channel) to enjoy like in bigger towns of Penang or Ipoh. Very few people could afford a portable transistor set and to have one was a luxury like today's kids having an ipod or stuffs like that.

When Y S was in Form Five, he longed for a record player. A low range portable National record player cost about RM 50.00 those days and that was a lot of money. It took Y S all his years of accumulation of "anypows" money to get a record player (Red packet money gifts which you got once a year during the new Chinese lunar year. The biggest amount Y S used to get was miserable RM4.00 . So, you can imagine how many years of hard saving .)

With the record player, you had to buy gramophone records. The LP or Long Play cost about RM5.00 ( a pirated, of course) and contained about 10 songs while a SP (Short Play) cost RM2.00 and contain one miserable song on each side. Of course, they came with lots of statics and other noises. If they were roughly handled, they developed scratches which produced more noises.

In later years the tape recorder became popular. You could tape up songs and it was cheaper than buying gramophone records. Y S' brother bought one second-hand tape recorder and that was the attraction of the family. Of course, there was no CDs those days, not even the obsolete cassette but big rolls of plastic tape wound round a spool, and if you were not careful, or when it was a bit old and over stretched, the tape over mounted the spool and got entangled. Moreover when the tape was overused the sound quality deteriorated and you might hear " Oooo Carooool I aaam buut a foooooooool ......ooool.......... " To forward or backward the tape called for great patience and long suffering unlike the present CD or DVD. Technology has come a long, long way.

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

....driving in a convoy

The convoy assembled at the town square apposite the state mosque. 25 vehicles of assorted makes and model and 10 big bikes. All waited for the arrival of the royal patron. Then the flag down and Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) was escorted by police outriders on the right lane and through all the traffic lights to the border town of Black Wood Hill ( Bukit Kayu Hitam).

Through the green lane at the border check point of Danok, Y S and convoy were escorted by the Thai police car all the way through the towns of Sadao, Phatalon and Trang to Aonang Krabi.

It was a drive of a life time, doing between 100 to 140 Kpm, with head and tail lights on and hazard lights flashing all the way . Y S was vehicle # 5, one vehicle after the Tuanku's Land Rover.


This is a land bridge between two islands and accessible at low tide.

This is called " The Chicken Island" by the locals. Anyway, it does look like an ostrich to Y S .

On Y S' motorcycle roam at Aonang, Better Half and Y S stumbled across a Catholic Church hidden among the lush surrounding. We were in time for their Sunday mass. It has 30 parishioners and they usually have tourists worshiping with them. The music for the mass is from CD, no choir. And who says a church should look like a cathedral in Rome ?!

This is a Presbyterian Church we found while checking out Trang where we were marooned for two days while waiting for the flood water to recede to cross over to Phatalon.


Krabi-Aonang is the White Man's / "Orang Putih" playground. Scores of White Men and Women sun bathe all over the beach. You might step on them if you don't look out. LOL Some are reading while others hide their eyes behind thick, dark glasses in the blazing, blasting, grilling hot sun !
They seem to throw caution to the wind, adopt a comfortable position and spread out like the drying of salt fish, with only minimal shading of certain body parts, not from the sun but from prying eyes ! ( Not Y S' !!! Better Half always warns " Look away !! Look away !!! Y S always argues with her, what are eyes for? To appreciate beauty mah ! ) LOL

One unique cave to share with you. This cave has become a shrine for hopeless men and also women, Y S means, in a manner of speaking, men whose flag post cannot hoist their flags properly - maybe half-mast, or three quarter mast or "no mast" at all, would come here to pray for their flag post. Each would bring an offering in the shape of a well carved wooden flag post which is to be placed around the shrine. "Sonless" mothers also pray here to get male babies. By the look of the numbers of offerings, it is quite a popular shrine !

This is the RM 650 room at Aonang Beach Resort that went for a special rate for the Kedah Motor Sports Club - clean, spacious and plush. A hotel room which makes you want to return to.

Sharing a speed boat with 30 other holiday makers to the picturesque islands around.

A dip into the Andaman sea. The corals are a disappointment. They are dark and dead. The water isn't crystal clear as expected. Perhaps the area isn't sustainable anymore with so many tourists dipping in.

This is God's endowment to the Thais , picturesque islands. Together with their gentleness and hospitality, they are magnets to the tourists.
This is the tourist town of Aonang Krabi. It is hard to find Thai food but the whole place is full of restaurants cooking German, Italian, Irish, French etc etc etc food. These are managed by the Thai wives of foreign expatriates who start business after falling in love with the local women and place ! Y S and better Half had a German meal at one joint, and entertained by the German proprietor.


This is the first time Y S drove long distance in a foreign country. The club is planning one more convoy to Chiangmai, North Thailand. Y S hopes it comes soon before his SUV grows older.

A big one out of Y S' Bucket List.

..... of floods

Coming home from Krabi Convoy is not holiday this time. IT IS WORK, real HARD WORK. The house was under water a few hours after Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) drove into the porch. Y S and his Better Half only had the time and most of all ENERGY to salvage a few costly and important things. By then, age showed up. You see, we are not young anymore. Many hours of walking in the muddy water disrupts circulation and you get that tinkering sensation like being pricked
with a thousand needles all over your feet. So, Y S told the better Half that "enough is enough."

However, poor Better Half got her ring finger caught under the mammoth fridge ( Don't you people ever buy big, big appliances anymore !!!) when we tried to rest it above some bricks. When adrenaline is rushing in your system, you can do almost everything. You can bet that the fridge could never come down after the flood without help.

By the time water and electricity had been disconnected and the water rising, there was no point staying on. YS secured the house and escaped to Sungai Petani Inn. While resting on a dry and comfortable bed, it dawned on Y S that life is "TOUCH N GO." Anything can come in between. Anything can happen. Anything can rob you of whatever you have, even your life. At least Y S fled in a car, with dry clothes and Credit Cards ! Think of Gunung Merapi victims fleeing with almost nothing, not even knowing whether their children, siblings, relatives, friends and neighbours could make it or not. Y S did not enjoy the hotel buffet breakfast the following day !

Let's count our blessings TWICE !