"Hawaii 50" Birthday Gallery

Most of us will either have turned or will be turning 50 this year. What a milestone! Happy birthday to all!
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There was a great suggestion from some of you that we share a photo or short videoclip of this momentous "Hawaii 50" birthday celebration. Whether big or small, elaborate or simple, at home or outside, with family or friends (or both), it doesn't really matter. Just send me one or two shots or clips of how you celebrated the occasion and I'll include it in this posting.
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Have a great day. Be happy and live your life to the fullest. As the old saying goes: What's important is not the years in your life, but the life in your years.


The "Hawaii 50" Celebrations

Younger viewers may not understand the significance of the "Hawaii 50" reference. Suffice it to say that it was a very popular TV show in the 70s with an unforgettable theme music. Boys, for old times sake, I'll let you the music transport you back to your teenage years again.

RC : Kuching, 15 April 2009

RC's 50th Birthday at Mr Ho’s Fine Food, Crown Tower.
Seated (L to R): RC, Jynelle ( little grand niece), Mrs RC
Standing ( L to R): daughters Jacinta & Caroline.

PC : Kuching, 23 Aug 2009

You've all seen the other posting of this grand occasion at the Ipoh Kopi Tiam in Kuching, which was a three-in-one: a reunion, welcome home for JK and a celebration of Pip's half century.

JY : Singapore, 26 Sept 2009

Top pic: Mr & Mrs WJ

Bottom pic: Cake 50 (no wisecracks about the doggie, please ;-)

JK : Plymouth, 11 October 2009

Wow, look at all the presents !!!

KCK : Kuala Lumpur, 18 October 2009

KCK's birthday cake, designed by his wife and son, reflects what he likes doing most

(can you see the similarities?)

C'mon, still awaiting more contributions from all you guys ...
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More Photos from Ipoh Kopitiam Reunion

First the group photo & PC's birthday cake-cutting ...

hopefully this time with all the handsome young men in the picture ...



"Say cheeeeeeese, everybody!", the shutterbug lawyer exclaims. In the shot are GL's princess Sharlene, & JK.

Good friends meeting and chatting about old times.

"Ooooooh, goodness me!" (or words to that effect). Now who did birthday boy Pip just see ?

JY and wife VKL, attending the reunion virtually from Singapore.

... and CLK from Vancouver, Canada.

BW's spouse Mei Ling and son Calvin were also there for a while ...x

More photos later ...

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Old, Old Kuching - Part 3

Here's another offering in the ongoing series of old Kuching scenes. Most of the shots were probably from the 50s and 60s.
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The first photo shows Sylvia Cinema, one of the early Kuching cinemas. It was built in 1939 by the Third White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke, and named after his wife, Sylvia Brett. She came from a relatively well-to-do family and became something of a socialite. She loved to organise dances, parties and amateur dramas, largely for the European community in Sarawak. Sylvia Cinema was located in front of the Central Padang, at the site on which was later built the State Secretariat building (see second picture).
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The next picture shows the State Secretariat building, which later became the offices of Yayasan Sarawak. My only memory of the inside of this building was as a child watching the annual parade on the Padang from the office of an aunt who worked at the Secretariat many years ago. As the building directly faced the Padang, we had an excellent view of all the festivities on the field.

Do you remember the Council Negri fountain, which was constructed in 1967 to commemorate the centenial of the first Council Negri meeting, at a site near to the present Tun Razak building (opposite the Sarawak Museum)? I recall visiting it when I was very young. It had flickering, colour lights that made the water flows look quite pretty (well, at least it was great in the eyes of a little boy).

The next one is the little pavilion at the Museum grounds, which was well known for delicious desserts like Ang Tau Peng. I vagiuely remember that it was also the scene of a horrible burglary-cum-murder in the 60s. Real CSI stuff. Anyone recall the details?

Finally here's a shot of the Khoo Hun Yeang / Gartak Street area. You can clearly see the old "Corner Shops". This one's especially for you, John !

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All the photos in this selection came via Robert. Many thanks, my friend. Keep them coming.

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London Times (late 70s / early 80s)

A number of Josephians and Teresians from our cohort spent time in London in the late 70s and early 80s. Here's a sample of photos from those times. I'm not sure of the exact years or occasions, but some of you who were there might be able to help.
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I'm also trying to include photos that are .. ahem ... "non-incriminating" ... goodness knows what some of us might have been up to thirty years ago. Hey, we were all hardly twenty yet. Ha ha ha !

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Five "musketeers" at a rented flat in West London, where we stayed during a school vacation. I'm sure the neighbours were relieved when the vacation break was over.

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We missed local food, and there was this Malaysian restaurant named Rasa Sayang, near Leicester Square that we occasionally visited. Five guys, three ladies, infinite possibilities.
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Judging from the glasses on the table, this was probably a weekend night out at a pub or the West End or something. Or maybe it was Disco Night ... but why isn't CLK(m) in his John Travolta outfit? Does he have other things on his mind?

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The lads having a good time at someone's flat. Nice to see the Chung brothers. Hope they drop by this blog and say hi.
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Take note of future designer PT (leftmost) with the fashionable outfit and slingbag. Also note my equally fashionable goggles (as Pip calls them) ... which WILL COME BACK IN FASHION ... you mark my words.
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LKF (rightmost) tells me that the photo above was taken at Heathrow Airport, but neither of us remember who was sending who off, when or why ... But I say, weren't some of us dressed up like dandies back then ? LOLxxx

I invite any others who were in London during those days to send me old photos they might have for adding on to this post.

In the meantime, enjoy walking down Memory Lane, London town ...
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Old, Old Kuching - Part 1

Here are some old buildings in Kuching that you may or may not remember. Most of them are already gone while others have been renovated.

The first one is Lillian Theatre. I'm told that this was THE theatre in Kuching during its hey days, which was probably way before we were born. Ask your parents or older relatives about it.

The next picture is one some of you might remember. It is the old St Joseph's Cathedral, constructed in 1891 and demolished in 1969 after the new cathedral was built. The location of this classic old building is where the church bell tower now stands.

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If you are interested in viewing pictures of the new St Joseph's Cathedral, check out the blog of Daniel Liew, a fellow Kuchingite. This new cathedral was consecrated on 19 March 1969 (The feast day of St Joseph) by the late Bishop Charles Reiterer, Vicar Apostolic of Kuching. It underwent major renovation and extension works in 1994.

Next we have a shot of the original St Joseph's School building. I reckon that the current main administrative block is an basically an extension of this structure.

And the following photo is of the Sarawak Steamship Company building, along Main Bazaar. It was built in 1930, and previously served as the offices and warehouse of the Sarawak Steamship company. These days, I think the structure houses some eateries and a convenience store.

Well, that's it for now. If I come across any more old photos of Kuching buildings, I'll add them on. And in the meantime, if you guys and gals find any in your dusty archives, do scan them in and send to me.

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Snapshots around St Joe (Part 4)

Thought I'd share a few more shots from around the old alma mater.
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This one came from GL who spotted a St Joe school bus plying the streets of Kuching these days. Hmm, obvious progress in the transportation area at least! I wonder what's next - a St Joe boat? a St Joe plane?
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The next two shots were taken when I briefly visited the school on my last trip. The first one is in our old Form 5Sc classroom, and the other is at the upstairs corridor.
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Here are a few more shots, contributed by Leo a while ago ... first the walkway between the old classroom block and the science block. I think this was around even in our time, but obviously a bit spruced up.
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And this one is of a new Stadium building, named after the well-loved late teacher Datuk Polycarp Sim ...

and finally a shot of a very important building .. the toilet block .. hahaha!

Happy reminiscing ...

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"What & Where in Kuching is This?" Challenge

In the previous Random Photo Album posting, there seemed to be some interest in the exercise of identifying familiar places in Kuching, from photos taken from unusual angles. Well friends, if you thought that was easy, you're probably right ... because it was simply a teaser to THIS challenge.

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NOW, let's see how well you really know our old hometown. There are 10 spots, and the winner is the one who gets all 10 right first. Remember you need to say WHAT it is, and also WHERE it is. There will be a prize, but I'm not telling you what it is yet. (Emmmm, just a note to CLK(f) : it's not an MB box!!!). Anyway submit your final answer by email to your friendly Website Jaga at jslyong@hotmail.com.
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Nothing to stop you making suggestions or having discussions with others via the "Comments" function (in fact I hope you do, to make it interesting) ... but you also run the risk of someone "leveraging" on your right identifications. Then again, you can also drop "red herrings" to send people off on the wrong paths .. like some of my clues ... hehehe.

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(1) Purfect Curl

(2) Slopey Shade

(3) Room with a View?

(4) Peaceful Rant

(5) Electrically-powered Thirst Quencher

(6) Old Signage

(7) What's the Point?

(8) House of Many "Eyes"

(9) If you like Bunnies ...

(10) Glassy gallery

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Good luck. Deadline for submissions is midnight on 30th June 2009 (MY/SG time).
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RANDOM PHOTO ALBUM - PART #10

Here's another selection of random photos from ol' Kuching town.

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Today's pictures are of familiar places, but taken from slightly unusual angles. Let's see if you can recognise where each location is.

Fig 1: Enter the Dragon

Fig 2: Tower of Independence

Fig 3: Rooftop Rendezvous

Fig 4: Poster Show

Fig 5: A Face of the Monument

Fig 6: Upstairs, Downstairs

Identified them all yet? If you can't, then maybe it's time to schedule a trip home ...
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