Remembering ODEON and CAPITOL cinemas

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Continuing our theme of old cinemas of Kuching, here's a nice photo that Gerard found, which clearly shows the two grand old ladies of Padungan - ODEAN and CAPITOL cinemas. Sadly, both buildings no longer around ... victims to development and progress.

I distinctly remember watching "The Blind Swordsman" at the Odeon. This starred the Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune.

I reckon I spent far too many afternoons in Capitol (and Lido) watching all manner of Shaw swordfighting and kung fu flicks.

Share your memories ...

Remembering REX Cinema

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How many of you still remember Rex cinema, formerly located on Wayang Street? It doesn't exist any more, having been replaced by that colourful cineplex and carpark building.

As a kid and teenager growing up in Kuching, I remember watching some great movies in Rex. One that comes to mind is the musical "My Fair Lady" starring Audrey Hepburn. There were also gun-slinging westerns like "For a Few Dollars More" with a very youthful Clint Eastwood. Then there were a number of James Bond 007 movies, like "Goldfinger" and "Thunderbolt", starring Sean Connery.

For some of the more high-profile movies, there used to be extra picture boards with lighting put up above the frontage of the cinema, depicting images from the movie. I distinctly remember the board for "Thunderbolt" as well as the first "Airport" movie some years later.

The old Rex had no escalators and those who bought tickets to Circle seats had to walk up the stairs. I recall it was a rather narrow and winding staircase.

I'm looking for more photographs of Rex cinema (and for that matter of all other cinemas of old Kuching). The one you see below was kindly sent to me by Nick Chin and Philip Chin. It shows Rex in very early days, 1952 according to the caption.

Look at the style of dressing and also the models of cars. And notice the little cart on the left, probably a hawker selling sweets, seng boi and sotong.

Such interesting scenes from old Kuching....
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Streets of Kuching (Mystery Shots)

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Here are a couple more random shots that I took on my last visit to Kuching.

Let's see how many of you recognise where these places are ...

Photo (1)

Top of a distinctive building?

Photo (2)

Where is this dragon-protected palace?

Photo (3)

At least a couple of persons should recognise this place :-)

Photo (4)

Looks very familiar, doesn't it?

Photo (5)

Fancy some Bak Pau & Sio Bee?

Photo (6)

Where's this place for makanan & minuman?

Photo (7)

Game for some pot?

Photo (8)

Who and where is Mr D?

Anyone think they've got 8 correct out of 8 ?

Streets of Kuching

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There's an old song by Ralph McTell that I like called "Streets of London". Part of the lyrics goes something like "Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London, I'll show you something to make you change your mind ...". Well, today's posting focuses not on London, but rather our beloved home, Puss Town in this case.

It's been a while since I put in a collection of random shots of  Kuching. I've been told such postings are especially appreciated by those homesick chaps living far away from Sarawak, and also I'm sure the boys actually in Kuching would find some of the pictures of interest too. Some of the locations are quite obvious, others may require a bit closer examination.

Anyway let me know what if anything you see will "change your mind about anything", as the song goes ...

Photo (1)

Photo (2)

Photo (3)

Photo (4)

Photo (5)

Photo (6)

Anyone can tell where this lion is from?

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A Note from Bro Columba

Here's a brief email and photo from Bro Columba, sent via Georgie-boy ...

From: "columba gleeson"
To: "George Lo"
Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 9:51 PM
Subject: Fw: photo

Hi George,

Greetings again from Belfast. I revisited the '76-ers blog site again recently after a lapse of some time and was happy to see it is still very much alive! Some expressed a wish to get a pic of the Bros who served in SJS and are now retired in Ireland. I am forwarding to you the only one I have and hope it comes up all right for you. The full names of the Bros are Adrian Gaule, Columba Gleeson and Mark Blake. Mike Chew was in U6A in '73 and has been resident in Canada for many years. He was conducting a conference here last Sept. and I drove him to visit Adrian and Mark in Castletown. The pic was taken outside our Nursing Home where they are both resident.

Re. the suggested trips, if some do plan to visit Ireland it would be wise to get in touch well in advance, before finalising dates etc as I am often tied up with the running of Kilmore House, particularly at weekends and for some weeks in July and August. The house is used by a variety of groups as a venue for their own residential programmes and I need to be present at these times.

It is great to note that the Grand Reunion didn't end with the 23rd Dec bash but is being carried on in the form of continuing contacts and proposed programmes. Continue to enjoy it all.

Warm regards ,

Bro. Columba.

The Mother of All Reunions - Part 9 (Photos Galore)

It seems that the appetite for all things related to our "The BIG 50" Grand Reunion is insatiable. More have been asking me for photos, info and other details of the event. So today, let me just put out a spectrum of candid shots ramdomly taken on the night. Hope you can find yourself in one or more of them.

Photo 1

(What an artistic shot!)

Photo 2

(Mr Anthony Goh signing in, with Ben Wong looking on)

Photo 3

(Nick Lau signing in)

Photo 4

(If we had this kind of treatment when we were in school, who'd ever forget to wear their badges?)

Photo 5

(Hi, do you remember me?)

Photo 6

(Father Nicholas Ng saying grace)

Photo 7

(Feeding time ... teachers go first)

Photo 8

(Men in White?)

Photo 9

(Our lovely helpers from St Joe)

Photo 10

(Award winner Datuk Justin, being presented by Mr Clarence)

Photo 11

(Award winner Dato' Anthony, presented by Mr Clarence)

Photo 12

(Award winner, Mr Subra, being pinned down by Mr Clarence)

Photo 13

(Yes sir, all my homework assignments have been completed!)

Photo 14

(Buddies at the Party)

Photo 15

(More buddies at the Party)

Photo 16

(Sweet musical entertainment)

Photo 17

(Nick and Nick)

Photo 18

(Goyang goyang sedikit! Pick me a good one!)

Photo 19

(With two subscriptions, Ben's gonna be "Mr Current Affairs" in 2010)

Photo 20

(Nick Lau wins the Cisco Flip pocket camcorder)

Photo 21

(Look who's going to London?)

Photo 22

(Another happy London-bound winner)

Photo 23

(Bob sings his heart out)

Photo 24

(Our other crooner, Subra )

Photo 25

(Hmmm, a happy fan?)

Photo 26
(Our fantastic master of ceremonies, ELAS)

Most of these shots came from our very own "professional" photographer Chen Liang Fang. A million thanks LF ! Next week I'll be sending a CD to Ben for sharing among the boys in Kuching who might want a full copy. Ben if you should sell the CD at a profit, make sure the whole value chain (especially photographer and distributor) get a fair cut, ok? Ha ha ha ...

Have a good day all !

The Mother of All Reunions - Part 7 (Favourite Photos)

A great number of photos were taken at the Grand Reunion - both during the day when we made various visits, and of course at the dinner itself. I'm sure we all had our favourite shots, and I'd like to invite you to send me yours so that I can include it here, and share it with everyone.

My favourite shot was this one:

which shows the happy reunion of two old buddies, RLNH and HTTK, both from Form 5Sc (1976). Back in those days, these two chaps were electronics whizzes and did very well in Ah Chui's Physics classes. I understand it has been more than 20 years since the two last met. RLNH now lives in Singapore while HTTK is based in Canada.

Someone suggested this one showing a sporting Mr Anthony Goh after receiving his "rottan award" from Datuk Justin Jinggut ...

Someone else said I should put up this shot of the "organizing team"...

So what's YOUR favourite photo? Send it to me at jslyong@hotmail.com .

Best Caption Contest

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Here's a fascinating candid shot from a long time ago.

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What in the world was our friend doing?

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Apart from identifying the person, your challenge is to submit the most creative caption for this picture.

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I'll carry over the mystery prize from the "What & Where is this in Kuching?" contest, since there were obviously no winners for that challenge :-) Deadline 31st July.

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RANDOM PHOTO ALBUM #4

A couple more shots of familiar Kuching sites ...

Fig 1: Self-explanatory
(Whoever chose the colour of the wall paint ought to be shot!)

Fig 2 : Round Building near old Court Houses

(Now used as some Cultural centre)

Fig 3: Old Fire Lookout Tower at Open Air Market

(Bet you didn't know that there was a Fire Station at this location a long time ago)

Fig 4: Tua Pek Kong Temple (on a hazy day?)

Enjoy ...