Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Balik Kampung - Episode 3

This final bit features the interiors of the house.

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The typical kampung cement kitchen. It's always so wet and messy looking. Gotta wear them heavy red wooden clogs. When grandpa was alive he used to be here most of the time cooking up a storm.

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The old, dark, dusty store room downstairs which used to scare me a lot as a child. This was where they'd always store the Coke and Shandy, so I had to frequent in and out of it. Whenever I went in, I always had to keep my back to the wall, or kept looking backwards... just in case there was a monster lurking in the corner of the room, waiting to bite my ass.

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The upstairs landing. Upstairs is where most of the bedrooms are. Six of them. The house is mostly made of wood. And cement. My cousins and I were always running up and down the wooden staircases making so much noise it drives our parents up the wall. But this is what CNY IS ALL ABOUT!

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The dressing table of my parent's old room. When we came back to visit we always slept in my parent's old bedroom, that is, if we ever slept. Blasted neighbour's freaking firecrackers at midnight always keeping us up at night. I'm aware that this is a horribly taken picture. But I didn't give a fuck anymore as I was losing my patience and so was the cameragirl.

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My grandparents' room. That bed is my late grandpa's. It's really very high. When I was wheeee tinier it was great fun climbing onto it. Apparently I didn't grow much, so it's still fun now.

Now that I'm older, balik kampung gets a little boring. There was simply nothing to do except eat goodies, do the visiting thing and watch old CNY special reruns. And that crazy CNY balik kampung heat is just crazy. But whenever we don't make a trip back... I kinda start missing the place. So many old, happy, childhood memories.

And I really miss my grandpa.

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Shit. Nobody told me that this stupid getting old thing involves getting soppy nostalgic all the freaking time. Bleargh.

THE END! SHOO!

26 comments:

  1. How come got no cicak on the wall one?

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  2. Put la pictures of the camera girl, I know she's cuter

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  3. hey u know what FA, those pictures looks so eerily similiar to game scenes from PS2 called FATAL FRAME the look and feel is so game like.

    FA: show?

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  4. and u look so much like thaht game character man KAWAII NE!

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  5. So you're not from Ipoh, eh? Haha. Enjoy your blog, keep on posting. Bookmarked your blogs as one of my favourites. Happy CNY and sorry for all the fucking cussing in my last post. Tension's alleviated somewhat now for me, though I do have some loose ends to tidy up in my assignment.

    Fuck. And they say there's nothing wrong with our education system. Fucking political hypocrites. Cocksuckers. Anyone who had gone through the Malaysian education system will know there are lots of problems in this so-called "education system" in Malaysia.

    But, I digress. Til when, this is me signing off and returning to my daily fucking grind, trying to finish my fucking assignment for the n-th time.

    Sorry for the cussing.

    Heh. :D

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  6. next year, can i drop by to pick up angpows?

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  7. http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2005-01,GGLD:en&q=fatal%20frame&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

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  8. Wah, authenthic, but not authentic enough. I demand a re-shoot but with kampung clothes on you and Hazeline Snow on your face. :)

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  9. notice the bottom of the cupboard has a bowl looking like thingy with water in it? :) Ol skool.

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  10. Nola. The chick in fatal frame looks better :P

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  11. '...used to scare me a lot as a child. This was where theyĆ¢€™d always store the Coke and Shandy...'

    Not enough alcohol. It's enough to scare the daylights out of any teeenager as well.

    By the way, this getting old thing, it involves getting soppy nostalgic all the freaking time.
    [There, you've been told].
    Why do you think I have such a soft spot for Malaysia?

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  12. Love your Balik Kampung posts. Reminds me of my own grandparent's wooden house. Kudos FA!

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  13. You like to have lots of space around you. You're always placed at the insignificant corner of the photo...very strong expression of melancholy.

    Good take!

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  14. just in case there was a monster lurking in the corner of the room, waiting to bite my ass.

    I just have the sudden urge to be da monster...

    Nice pix! Wish I have a kampung to go back to.. Hehhee

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  15. great pictures - feeling a bit nostalgic myself now that i am so far away from home.

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  16. awww ya made me miss the kampung house and that wooden cabinet is such a classic...

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  17. from KL to a relatively traditional house... i guess that's a very good 'balik kampung' feeling...

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  18. wow, i love the photo effects - must say u're really good in your photo posts, a worthy match to your hilarious and witty writing! ;)

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  19. wow.... looks remarkably similar to MY late grandad's house....

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  20. Ooh ya, there is an episode 3 indeed. Is this the last ? What's next ?

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  21. You definately know how to share the mood in a picture. Definately brought back memories of my own kampung and cement floors and leaky roofs.

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  22. In Pic 2, the three things hanging on the ceiling, IS IT ME ONLY OR DOES THE ITEM ON THE FAR RIGHT LOOKS LIKE A GIANT CONDOM? And my oh my, your eyes are starring at it looking amused.

    Can someone explain WTF is that?

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  23. hey i remember those cabinets with those fine nettings ...

    my late grandpa's old house used to have that too, thats like the fridge ... back then where got fridge rite, all the leftover dishes goes there, the condensed milk, kueh ...

    haha but my grandpa's house is the best man! his had 9 bedrooms ... each for his sons and daughters ...

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  24. woh thats very classic - could feel the heritage

    good job on the pictures effect

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  25. My grandparents (father side) has a big wooden house on a hill overlooking padi fields. Sadly its abandoned now. It has 6-8 rooms upstairs with a big family area right in the middle. The downstairs floor is earth floor(no cement) and they had like 20 dogs, and they all know not to bite anyone related to the family evne if they've never seen that person before. They cooked in huge woks with firewood and the meals takes especially nice. No gas stive can replicate that taste.

    My grandparents from my mother's side had a wooden shoplot from pre-war period with really steep, narrow dark scary stairs going upstairs. They had wooden 4-poster beds in the rooms, with mosquito netting draped all around it. They still used low wattage(like 25 watt) light bulbs in the rooms (although they use fluorescent lights for the rest of the shoplot), which gives the room an eerie glow. It burnt down sometime ago and they got new concrete shoplots rebuilt. Its not the same anymore.

    Never know either of my grandps. They both passed before I was born :(

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  26. Hey.. Great photographs and dictations... I was actually looking for kampung house kitchens and I saw your... It fits perfectly in my report... Thanks...

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