Finally from among the many old photo's given by my sister, I was able to find some that show a bit of the house I once stayed in the village.
A family photo taken in 1965 in front of the old house. Blogger is at right in back row.
A photo of the siblings taken in 1965.
The living room in the middle of the house was accessed via a 5-step timber staircase. The initial step was in fact the front bonnet of an abandoned old land rover - a genius idea indeed!
The opening at the right was the entrance to the dirt-floored kitchen. The board nailed together from pieces of timber planks and placed against the wall at the side of this opening was occasionally used to block off chicken, ducks and dogs from entering the kitchen.
Behind hidden from the family members in the photo, there was this little hand rail-free balcony of 4ft x 6ft size. That was probably one part of the house where I have many fond memories. That was where my mother told many of her old tales and stories. In the evening after dinner, we kids used to lie down face up to gaze at the cloud and watch the birds, eagles and bats flew passed by. At dawn of the first day of every CNY, we kids would wake up early, light up and throw the fire crackers onto the dirt compound. The mood of CNY was really felt when the compound turned red with exploded bits and pieces of the fire crackers!
The sewing machine was placed next to the window above this balcony. I used to stand on the balcony and watched my father through the window doing his tailoring work for many hours at week-ends. This has enabled me to know the machine and do some basic sewing up to this very day!
The sewing machine was placed next to the window above this balcony. I used to stand on the balcony and watched my father through the window doing his tailoring work for many hours at week-ends. This has enabled me to know the machine and do some basic sewing up to this very day!
This family photo taken probably in 1967 gives a glimpse of what it was liked in front of the house. The background is the foot of the hill where the Istana (Governor's House) now stands.
Though the house was of a simple design and built of inferior materials in today's standard, it was still a home where I had spent considerable time of my childhood and teenage years. I still have many fond memories whenever I think of this first home of mine.
1 comment:
So glad you found these old photos. Really puts so much context to all the childhood stories you told us
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