Setapak - Visit Grandma's Friends Pt. Two

Yes, now for the primary aim of our visit to Setapak. First stop - grandma's long, and I do mean long time friend, from age four (I think). Erm, that would be something like 70 years ago! I did not snap any pics as Nic was occupied with the family dog - Rocky. Last time we came to visit was March 2008, the day I exercised my voting rights.

Next stop, a lady grandma used to work (doing laundry) for eons ago. She is a great grandmother (pic) and at age of 92 is a sprightly woman. She is able to spot calculation errors on grocery bills and follow her favorite tv dramas. I reckon grandma last saw her over 20 years ago although they do talk over the phone regularly.

Note: Nic was amused with the classic chair (pic) - I recall we used to have those too. We really had a good time today - spending time with family (grandma and us), good old friends and enjoying a nice meal - PRICELESS!

Down Memory Lane at Setapak

I had to do a favor for a friend at this condo in Ukay Heights. But as my route took me so near to my boyhood home in Setapak I decided to pass through the ol' place. I stopped for breakfast at the previous KSA sundry shop now turned into a Indian-Muslim (mamak) restaurant located at the corner of Jalan Sampadi and Malawali (pic). Boy, this store sure brought back memories like when in the 70s a few of us bought our first cigarette (yeah, just a stick of Benson & Hedges and yes I admit it was my idea as always and Benson was king then not Dunhill) and hid away to share puffs on it. It was fun until my neighbor, Hann Wai aka stuntman sucked or blew into it. Ugh, he left a load of spit in the filter. Other stuff we'd buy from the store were candies, sodas and stationery.

Next it was to the condo in the Ulu Kelang area. The condo complex was in bad shape and unfortunately for me the set of keys did not fit as the previous real estate agent changed the padlock. After a bit of bother in finding a locksmith to which there was none I found a electrical shop where the boss agreed to send a worker to cut the lock. It was a cinch with the heavy-duty cutter and the padlock was history.

Just when I thought my obstacle was over I found that the grille had another lock and after some brute force I managed to open it. And if I thought my troubles were over I was wrong as the darn main door lock had been switched. A quick call to my friend to get his permission to kick in the door and I was off doing my best copy of Eric Cantona's kung fu kick . As I did not put in a lot of force for fear of attracting the neighbor's attention I held back somewhat and took five kicks before I broke in.

Once in the place was a mess and my conclusion is it will be hard to sell the place for RM160,000 as there are no less than five auction lots going for RM95,000. What the heck, I'll give it a shot and see what happens.

Malaysia Votes 2008

Today I exercise my duty albeit as a second-class citizen to cast my vote. As I had not changed my voting address to Petaling Jaya, I had to return back to my childhood home of Gombak. But first I had to drive my mom to her polling station at the Puay Chai school in SS2.

We picked my mom at about 10.30am and promptly went over to grab our breakfast. There was a steady stream of people going in and out of the polling station. The cops were there to make sure everything was in order especially traffic. Good job Mr. Polis!

The four (my mom, Susan, our kid Nicole and me) of us then left for Gombak. It was kinda nostalgic for me as I spent 20 years in Gombak and to have my daughter with us there for the first time made it even sweeter.

The drive was smooth until we reached Sentul (St. Joseph church) where it was a crawl for about ten minutes due to idiots obstructing traffic flow and cops not present to prevent it. It was slow but moving up to the exit into Jalan Gombak and as the place had changed so much I had trouble locating my polling station at Nan Yik (Lee Rubber) Chinese school.

As traffic was slow I decided take my mom visit her old friend from way back in Setapak Garden. We spent over half an hour there and Nic had fun playing with the family dog, Rocky a Jack Russell.

At about 3.30pm I made it to the school which incidentally was attended by my brother George although it is now rebuilt into a decent school compared to back then.

The process went smoothly, first to the 'checking counter' where I was given a slip which showed for me to head on to Room # 10. Once there the clerk checked my NRIC and shouted out my name to his colleagues. Next I goit my 'ang pow' slip and marked it and squeezed it into the ballot box. That's it!

After that we went on a tour to see how much the old place had changed for my mom's benefit. On the way home, Susan commented that the main road (Jalan Gombak) was in terrible condition. Yeah, more like roads in a strife torn African nation we watch on telly.