Sakinah @ UUM

We've just got back from Sintok, up north in Kedah, to send Sakinah for registration at the Universiti Utara Malaysia.

That was one very tiring, back-breaking 1,000km plus journey that was. But seeing my eldest daughter progress further in her education, plus the opportunity of meeting up with old family friends, made the journey well worth it.

Sakinah aspires to be an accountant ever since she was in secondary school. With so many aunties and uncles as accountants, I guess it was only natural that at least one of my children eventually gets hooked.

Sakinah already has her diploma. This stint in Sintok will earn her a degree insyaAllah.

All the best my dear. Go for it!

In Sintok we put up for the night at Azam and Fishah's place. Azam and Fishah are very close friends from our Tsukuba days in Japan. Those days there were just the two of them - no kids yet. But thirteen years later, they have caught up with us and have four of their own.

After such a long time, it was nice to see them again and see how their family have grown.

Thank you for receiving us Azam and Fishah, and many thanks for all your help.

Manchester city transport

Manchester is the second (or is it the third) biggest city in the UK. But it was, of course, the birth place of the British Industrial Revolution in the 18th century.

To this day one could still find the many large buildings which used to house the cotton mills and warehouses back then scattered throughout the city.

Within the very centre of the city one would witness winding, narrow streets laid out close to each other suitable for, and reflecting perhaps, the typical transport requirements of the day back then which was most probably horse-drawn carriages.

During the 19th century Manchester used to have its own tram system. But later, like in most UK cities (bar Blackpool), the trams disappeared which only served to bolster the position of automobiles as the undisputed Kings of the Road.

Credit to the city's planners, the trams were brought back to the city centre in time for the Commonwealth Games 2002. They are now a permanent feature in the Manchester streetscape.

Before the trams made their comeback there was of course the buses.

I used to take the No. 81 Greater Manchester Transport bus from Cheetham Hill to the university. But after a few weeks of riding on the smoked-filled buses (there were no smoking restrictions back then in the 1980s) I gave up.

You see, the cigarette smoke would make me dizzy and sick every time I ride the bus. So I bought myself a cheap second-hand Ford Escort which would ferry me to school everyday as and when I pleased.

Note: pic shows a town bus at the Piccadilly Gardens bus station, Manchester.

Off to school

Today my youngest, Nadiah, the baby of the family, starts her secondary schooling.

All the best Nadiah, work smart and enjoy secondary shcool.


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Kampong Blackpool revisited

Blackpool is my kampong away from home. This is where I spent the last stages of my teenage years slogging in preparation for entry into a British university.

Recently, after 29 years (gosh, am I that old now?) I returned to "Kampong Blackpool".

Blackpool, as I have blogged here and here before, is a seaside resort town. From spring to autumn the place would be teeming with tourists from all over Britain. It's like the whole town was forever in a festive mood. The restaurants, bingo halls and shopping centres would be packed-full with tourists. The streets would be congested with cars, and the buses and trams would be always be full that you'd always have to join a long queue to get on board.

But with my recent visit being in December, the hustle and bustle was not there of course. I was especially looking forward to riding the trams. Alas, I had to miss that too as the service was put off for track maintenance and repair works.

That did not deter me from visiting all my favourite spots. There was always the bus (I took the No. 9 bus from Talbot Rd Station to Bispham). And the freezing winter weather meant that I could walk on for miles without ever breaking a sweat.

The North Pier. A theme park over waters

Entrance to the North Pier

Empty benches, only during winter

No. 4, Cheltenham Road, Blackpool. This is where I first stayed upon arriving in Blackpool. By the same token, this is also where I first cooked a meal (if you could call it that) ever in my whole life. It was a matter of survival: if don't cook, can't eat

No.4 Hodgson Road. This is where I used to stay during summers and holiday breaks. So there are lots of happy-hour memories here, including one incident when we incurred the wrath of English lodgers who stayed on the top-floor. This was when my flat-mate Khalid started grilling the belacan. Upon smelling the grilled belacan, an English bloke came rushing downstairs demanding to know whether we were cooking our socks?!

Norbreck Road. This is where I lived for the most part of my two-year stay in Blackpool

No. 22, Norbreck Road. I stayed with three other Malaysians here: Shaari, Amer and Hamidin. The land-lord (we just called him Alex) stayed on the ground floor with his family

The top most window on the right was my kitchen's window. Cooked some fine meals (and many horrible ones) here. Again, SURVIVAL

The high street shopping area on Norbreck Road. It's a British institution where you'd fine the local grocer, butcher, bakery, the post office and chippy (fish & chips shop). The locals would meet up here whilst going about their chores and chat and gossip. Everybody would know each other. Here, the lady shopkeepers would just call you 'lov, as in "thank you 'lov, see ya again". very friendly.

The local post office where I'd frequent many times to buy stamps to post my mails to Apak back home and the occasional film roles to be processed by mail service

Yes, the post box is still there

From my house on Norbreck Road I would foot it to college. This is the route that I would talk daily for two years

The last stretch of the walk to college would take me across a large field (and I mean really large field). It is used for soccer training by junior players. When it comes to soccer development, they do it so systematically the English. We've got  a lot to learn. 

Distant view of my college as I trekked across the big field

One of my favourite spots in Blackpool is the beach. Nothing much compared to our beaches back home. The water is not crystal-clear and it is always cold. But it stretches a mile out to sea and the sunset is ever so beautiful.  I used to spent many hours here watching the sun set over the Irish Sea and taking photos. Some friends remarked that I was wasting my time as I should be better off studying. But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, no?

David, the landlord's grandson. When I was renting at his flat in Norbreck he was just a baby. He's now a businessman and doing well  for himself. Despite the freezing temperature, he didn't seem to be bothered, whereas I was all wrapped up

The Blackpool Tower. Still regal and and standing proud. It can be seen from miles around as one approaches Blackpool whether by road or rail 

Tahniah Harimau Malaysia

Malaysia 4-2 Indonesia (agg).

Yes, we did it. After a long hiatus, Malaysian football looks like to be coming out of the woods, at last.

We used to be an Asian soccer powerhouse back in the 1960s and 1970s. But somehow, after that, we just faded away.

I think we know what happened there. But that's another story in itself.

Tonight, let's just savour our rise to the pinnacle of Asean football. And let's hope that this will shove in a new golden era for Malaysian football.

Note: photo shows Malaysian soccer fans braving the rain (many with vuvuzelas in hand), starting to fill into Dataran Putrajaya to watch the live Indonesia vs Malaysia match on the big screen.


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Images from UK visit

Kirkby Railway Station sign-post. This is actually Kirkby's new station. The old station used to be slightly away from this site

The railway line leading to Liverpool from Kirkby. Just behind those trees (in the background) on the embankment to the right  of the railway line is the southern border of the Malayan Teachers' Training College (MTTC)

My first view of the MTTC former campus ground. This is where my father, Ahmad Termizi Mat Nor , used to study as a young trainee teacher between 1956 to 1958. The green open space used to be almost right at the center of the former campus ground

The MTTC former campus now has been redeveloped into an up-market residential area. The row of houses in the background is where the dormitory blocks (closer to the main entrance of college) used to be

Frost on bollards in Poundbury, Dorset

Holly plant shrubs by the River Lea. 'Tis the season to be merry, no?

Birds on Blackpool beach during sunset

Books on the book rack in the Architecture & Planning Department Library, University of Manchester. This is where I used to spend hours slogging it out

House boats on the River Lea. No need to pay rates

Signage on the National Cycle Network which runs by the River Lea and just close by the Olympic Stadium 2012 currently being built

Goodbye Manchester

At 2.02pm my 10-wheeled National Express coach set off from the Manchester Coach Station on Chorlton St.

It has been a hectic and very tiring 4 days and 3 nights in the North West of England for me.

But for a sentimental slob (yeah, that's me) it was well worth it.

For I have managed to re-visit not only my old university in Manchester, but also my old college in Blackpool.

But to top it all up, I squeezed in a short visit to Apak's stomping ground all those years ago, which is Kirkby in Merseyside.

No easy feat all this running around. Especially when the weather is so unforgiving, and the daylight hours are so short (sunrise is round eight in the morning and it begins to get dark around half past three).

To be sure, my visit was helped by a great extent through the kindness of some bright Malaysians students in the city of Manchester.

I will write about my travails in the North West and my stay with my new-found friends in my next posting.

For now I'll let you "enjoy" a view of the British drab winter afternoon. Picture taken from my bus as we leave Manchester for London.