Reading Lights

When we were in Bandung we went to this little second hand bookstore which really caught my fancy. It was called Reading Lights and was actually a small bungalow which had been turned into a bookshop cum cafe. The shop also sells handmade jewelry and other accessories.
There are not many books but they were really interesting.Some must have even gone out of print, they are that old.  I even found one book written by MM Kaye - Death in Berlin, printed in the early 60s.  There were mainly romance novels - at least three bookcases of them - but there were also a lot of travel books, old ones as well as new ones. Browsing through the shelves I found an old book of Dean Koontz that I  had not read before - The Eyes of Darkness. Like most of his books it is full of suspense and makes you want to continue reading and not stop! Actually it  has been some time since I read any of his books so finding this one came as a pleasant surprise and it was sold for only RM10 (about US 2.50). Repin too found some books on travel and even oone about India which he had been looking for. What a real treat.

Family Day 2010

Yesterday was our family day - the one day in a whole year we get together as one big family - my brothers and sisters, their children and mine, our spouses and our grandchildren. We've had this organised family outing every year since the year 2000 although at first it was mainly impromptu and hardly organised at all.  At that time we just got together as a family - those of us who could attend. We would have a picnic at one of the beaches in Malacca. This was after both our parents had passed away and we felt that we needed an  activity to get the family together, to be closer as brothers and sisters. But without an organised day, not many of my brothers and sisters took the time to join us and we wanted everybody to attend. So my sisters Sabariah and Jasmine took it upon themselves to organise a proper family day - complete with games, special t-shirts, banners, prizes and all!

Yesterday's event  is the  6th such event and this time almost everybody with the exception of Zaleha, attended. Leha could not attend because she lives in Singapore and her children are schooling. Sarah was back for the summer holidays as was Amir Ridzuan and they both joined in the activities. This year Rizal and Poh Lin my son and daughter-in-law also attended with their daughter Sophia. I think everybody had fun, as can be seen in the pictures here.

There were many competitions - jigsaw puzzles for kids below 12, a Treasure Hunt, for everybody, a  Waiter Race for the nimble, Stepping the balloon,building sand castles and the grandest one of all - the karaoke competition.








My brother  Zin, taking part in the karaoke competition!

Without our knowledge, a turtle - a hawksbill turtle - had landed on the beach in the middle of the night. Some of the kids were awake to watch it laying its eggs. The turtle hatchery and conservation center is just next to the resort where we had our Family Day. Some of us could see the men collecting the eggs to be hatched in the center. Quite an educational experience, though totally unplanned.

Jakarta/ Bandung

We were in Bandung and Jakarta last weekend - for a bit of shopping and R and R. I love Bandung - its narrow, tree-lined streets, its old Dutch houses, its cool climate. Well cooler than Jakarta anyway. As usual the first place we went to was Rumah Mode and Heritage/ Cascades. After a hectic time shopping we all went to the  second floor cafe with its Koi pond and had some delicious fried ice cream and banana fritters. The Koi there are some of the biggest I've ever seen! And over fed too I think.

On Saturday we drove back to Jakarta. This time around traffic was okay on the highway - and we made it in under 3 hours. After checking in at our hotel - the Millennium - and a quick wash, Sara wanted to look at their mall. We decided against the largest and newest, Plaza Indonesia and chose to go to Senayan City instead. Even this was quite big by our standards - it had as its anchor tenant the large chain from England - Debenhams. It also boasted a Mark and Spencer outlet, Selfridges, Esprit, Guess, Jimmy Choo, Charles & Keith and so many other well known brands. Sara is in her element though as responsible as she is, she'll only buy things she knows we can afford.

Time flies when you are having fun they say. But I believe Time just flies - whether you are having fun or not. Its now July 2010. Sara is back home for the holidays - my daughter who is studying Medicine in Russia and she'll be here for almost 2 months. Its now almost 2 weeks since she came home. I look back at the year she first went to Russia, in April 2004. Its almost 6 years already. I've missed a large part of her youth - 5 years and 3 months. Today she is a self possessed, confident young woman of 22. who knows exactly  what shew wants. When she left us she was only 17 and a half - almost a baby by my reckoning. I miss the easy unconscious love she has - she is the only one of my brood who will still come and lie down beside me in bed, hug me for no reason in the world and put her head on my shoulders, even in public. Next year when she comes back for good she'll be a doctor and probably will work somewhere far away in the boondocks of Malaysia. So I say how time flies. I wish I could catch hold of it and let it stay - Time you old gypsy man, will you not stay? Put up your caravan, just for one day?