Monday 8 February 2010

..some of the things I missed

whilst younger now that I am older..
..mostly it has to do with teeth..for I hate wearing dentures..preferring to let my gums be..
..pic of a gobek..for crushing betel leaves and nuts....
  • ..I missed munching 'kacang putih' on the fly..it started with this Indian man who went around with a little table of nuts on his head and set it down just outside the schoolgate..5 cents would get you a fistful wrapped in a old newspaper cone..and you munched it on the way home...a habit I carried over into my later years until I lost almost all of my teeth on reaching 60..
  • ..opening coke bottles with my teeth..it does not come in cans then..and its macho snapping it off in front of giggling girls...
  • ..passionate kissing..there is not much passion when you got no teeth..and hers submerged in a solution...sheesh..
  • ..unrestrained laughter..cannot laugh unrestrained..lest others see my toothless gums..so I controlled my smile..and try not to laugh too much..which is good, actually..sort of keep you earthbound..
  • ..licking on ice-cream in cones whilst walking around in public....an old man with kopiah on head licking  ice cream??..but I remember sucking ais kepal balls at those mamak stalls near the round-about in Kuala Kangsar..at 5cents a ball..you just suck it as you walk around..until all the flavour is gone..
.other than those teeth related things, I also missed...
  • ..hittiing the road alone with my car every fortnight..sometimes once a week..for KL from Kota Bharu...irregardless the time of day or night..sometimes arriving in the wee hours of the morn..to the welcoming arms of younger wife..yes, I missed that...the long solo drive..air-con off and windows down..feeling the wind beating hair..and hair was kept fashionably long..and car was a 2liter engine shodded with 205/50 series wheels..racing against no one except yourself..and stopping for goreng pisang taken with brown sugar at that mamak stall just after Petronas on entering Raub via Sg. Koyan...
  • I missed the original lens in my right eye..a severe case of glaucoma and cataract caused it to be removed and replaced by an artificial one..my vision is restored, but it is not the same..nothing like the original..as in everything else.
..the salad days may be gone, but now in my  'gobek' days I still travel a little..fish a little..shoot a little...and sometimes even chat up that syt's a little..only they called me pakcik and I called them mek...no..they no longer have inclinations to call me 'abang'............






21 comments:

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Dear PakMat,
O-oh...we'll have to adjust the recipe for you now that we know your dental challenges....hahaha... purrr...meow!

Snakebite said...

hahaha. that last bit. on being called pakcik instead of abang, i am missing that too now that fewer and fewer people especially the softer gender call me abang.

Zubaidah Arshad said...

It used to be amazing driving long distance back in the 90's. Or 80's in your case. Windows all rolled down, trees were the line of green, and often you could see families pulled by and sprawl the straw mat, having lunch by the road side in the coolness of tree shades.

Those were the days. Driving nowadays are nothing but emotional burden. Furthermore, it is cheaper to fly these days than being behind the wheel.

Ozz said...

Dear Pakmat@Pakcik,
Old is GOLD. C'mon, you are not old. A scholar once said to me" there is always a 19 years old boy" in a man's mind and desire, no matter how old he is. Err....I found a nice antique Javanese gobek here in Jakarta yesterday. Interested? Have a nice day. Cheers!

pakkordi said...

The most popular question asked by any 7-eleven store cashier to me is now, "benson 20 ye pakcik?".

D said...

HaHa!! A truly enlightening post for a Monday morning! I'm glad that I managed to experience the 'kacang putih' era, fancying the sugar coated ones most.

Pakmat,
I think that accepting that others are calling us with a more 'respectful' title (ehem..) is a good indication that we are seen wiser and more experienced in life. Hence, the reminder that life is approaching its end - we are models to the younger generation; time to work harder for the hereafter!

Have a good week ahead.

Unknown said...

..no, not whiskas, my dear cat..but tuna in a tin will be alright..:)

..welcome to the club, snakbite..

ZuAr..agreed on that..it could be very expensive now with the toll and speed traps at every corner..cheaper by air anytime..but nothing beats that long drive..just you, your thoughts and the road ahead...and the Eagles..U2 and sometimes Santana...

Unknown said...

Dear Ozz..you r so right about that 19yr boy in a man's mind and desire..but it is more of a case of the mind willing but the body is not..:)..and from weekly to weakly..:D..but I dont mind the gobek..not seen much now in Bachok as the practice of serving betel leaves gives way to offering rokok...

NanaDJ said...

Well Pak Mat, you still have your sweet memories of years gone by. You must have led an eventful life, no harm in slowing down a little but you can still enjoy life to the fullest.
Yes I remember sitting in an open top red MG sports car at one period and then moved on to a blue Triumph Spitfire at another ...those were the days, different times, different scenes, but I love my life now.

Unknown said...

..salam pakkordi..which denotes respect with familiarity...and with scores of 16 over 88, gua pun respect..cheers..

salam D..ahh..you remembered the sugarcoated ones..a delight and just as damaging to the teeth..nowadays only steam kacang putih for pakmat..and life is indeed approaching its end..

YuinTing said...

Salam Pakmat,
I think one best thing about living in your era is that lovers can really spend quiet, private and quality moments together without being interrupted by sms messages or calls (especially from those sick bosses!)

Ozz said...

Dear Pakmat,
Something to share with you and others.
http://rainbowseven-ozz.blogspot.com/2010/02/old-age-and-youth.html

anneaziz said...

Salam Pakmat,

Driving along with windows down, wind in your hair, with time to kill..I remember that feeling

About your replacement parts...of course nothing beats what GOD gave us..but Science is wonderful eh? With God's grace, of course.

Have a wonderful time ...baru pakcik...belum tok lagi...kira ok lah tu!

Zendra-Maria said...

Hello Pakmat, i seem to have stumbled here from somewhere - yes am approaching that age where such details don't matter much already.

Takpelah Pakmat, as long as you still write they way you do, teeth do not matter much either. It's what further up that matters.

Am restraining myself from commenting on specific things you missed, but i just have to ROTFLOL!!!

PS I don't think you'd mind me putting your blog up on my roll, would you?

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Dear Abang Mat,
Hope you don't mind me calling you "Abang"... My Mama would kill me if she knows. Anyway, what I have in mind for you is better than canned tuna. It's something to do with your dreams.....purrr.....dream of me tonight....meow!

The cheeky one,
Angelina

Unknown said...

..hi YTC..husbands and wives who are lovers, yes..but cant imagine now without it..and the wife sure is restless if I were to leave home without it..:)but I envy today's gen..

salam again, Ozz..love the pic of your parents..:)

..with God's Grace, Anne..with His Grace..if not for science, I would now be one eyed..:)

hi Zen..about hers in a solution?..could only managed to slubber along..and no, I don't mind..flattered, in fact..:)but yrs in my roll, too..cheers..

Unknown said...

my dear Cat..no I don't mind..but your mama won't kill me..my wife will first..lets hope she will not read this..:) and I am already dreaming..and hey, at my age, I can only dream..:)

rizal hashim said...

eagles, santana, bono and U2...ah nostalgia...pakmat, pakmat...

i used to enjoy the trips down south...all five hours of them, from KL to Kluang every school holiday! no air-cond but a lot of fights with my siblings...arwah Ayah occasionally forced us to alight...

once i brought my cat Beng along for the trip, complete with a cage, newspapers and towels...oh how frantic it was for everyone just so that i could enjoy his company...

pakmat, take care...teeth or no haha

Fauziah Ismail said...

Salam Pak Mat,
Back then, I hated the drive from JB to KL, passing through jungle or rubber and oil palm plantations (there were no highways back then). The travelling time was spent sleeping and yet, when we woke up, there would still be some distance to go ... the only time we enjoyed the trip was through Malacca, where you get to see the nice Malay houses with the tangga batu.
I try these days to use the old road half-way, especially Malacca where the old houses (there are not many left) still fascinates me.
Dentures, Pak Mat? Growing up, I used to hear people calling them "gigi batu". Now, its gigi palsu!

Unknown said...

..salam nanaDJ..op0en top red MG sports and a blue Spitfire..you make this oldster drools through his gums..and the lady driving in a matching red cheongsam with slits that ends just above the knee..?..now my heart palpitates..you sure lead life in the fast lane, then..lady..but I loved my Fiat 124 Special T..ahh.

Unknown said...

hi, LC..you abah asked you to alight..that's exactly what I did to my children on the way back from Lumut via Parit..I left them among some durian trees..for making too much mayhem in the car..


salam FI..but I remember those roads..tangga batu of myriad colours..it was a quiet drive among verdant trees..and my gigi palsu should be made from batu..at the rate it broke...cheers..