Wednesday 26 May 2010

..Kota Bharu 1970..and a date..



..it was an incredible time..Kota Bharu in 1970...the streets were filled with Fiat 124 Specials and Datsun Triple S'es... food were cheap, RM1.00 would get you a sumptious breakfast, and the rent was low.. for a young man whose pay as a clerk was RM333.65 cents per month, it was careless times...living was for the day, 'for tomorrow we die' and 'what are friends for if not to die for?'..Hoover Hotel and Restaurant at Jalan Dato Pati was the place to linger and meet up with the gang..Restaurant Sun Too at the end of Jalan Temenggong for ice cream with your date after a movie..and movies were at Panggong Lido, perched on a rise by the river bank along Jalan Post Office Lama..

..where once stood Panggong Lido is now site for the new LKIM building..
remembering the words of Awang Goneng, pakmat was there 
one evening, to take this photograph..and to walk alongside it..
trying to catch those voices, laughters and tears of a time, 
forty years ago..I caught a glimpse of a young
 man peering through the ticket booth, a little bit
anxiously, but the voices are gone..they disappeared along with 
the dust and bricks as the 
building came tumbling down... 


.unbeknowned to most 1970 marked the beginning of the end of an era...those care free, swinging times were about to end..street protests and Mageran was around the corner. for Datuk Mohd Asri Muda, it was to be his last term as Chief Minister..but for a young man in love it was dating time..she took a chance on him and he took her to the movies...to Panggong Lido..we walked there from her home at Jalan Kampong Sireh, less than a kilometer away..I could not remember the movie, but I remembered the walk back..love gave wings to my feet..but she knew nothing about my thumping heart...we talked and we laughed...the night enveloped and conspired with a certain intimacy only couples knew..

..Sun Too as it is now...forlorn and forgotten..

14 comments:

Mamaboyz said...

salam pakmat...

getting deeper into the dangerous waters huh? look now i HAVE to follow you :P

Anonymous said...

Sun Too,sense of deja vu, my last visit ,1976 SIC librarian lunch. We have anak Sun Too teaching us in SIC

MFT

NanaDJ said...

Saudara Mat,
And then?...

June Malik said...

aaaaa... jangan lah camnie, ceritalah sampai habisss

Wan Sharif said...

Salam AbeMat,
Judging from the state of some of your blog readers(me included).. you did not only percolate your thought in your mind... you are killing us softly with your kind of suspense..
Enjoying it all the same

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Like u Pakmat, for the life of me, I too cannot remember the movie…hahaha, it could be a war epic like the Longest Day (3 hrs yoohoo, the longer the movie goes, the better) or it could be a Western like ‘MaCkenna’s Gold’ starring Gregory Peck, Omar Shariff & Kojak, and who can forget that theme song ‘Old Turkey Bastard’…hahaha

Mackenna’s Gold

PM, Take your time narrating, nothing feels better than to be kept in suspension, don’t worry I’m in no rush. Cuma jangan u bikin itu ‘anti climax’ type of ending harr, gua sudah kasi lu warning :)))No censoring ok?

Cheers,
Tommy

Cat-from-Sydney said...

We want more! We want more! We want more! purrr....meow!

Jay D said...

Pak Mat....suspence la pulak. I am a fan. More and faster pakmat.

Zendra-Maria said...

My guess - you scootered on to Pantai Cinta Berahi *winks*

Unknown said...

..salam doc, nice seeing you here again..hope things are good in Manchester..yeap..dangerous waters, doctor..:)

..sun too, anon, will always be a place of memories for our generation..

salam nanaDJ and June..pakmat does not have any plan, actually..just going with the flow..see how it goes..

salam saudara wan sharif..not my intention to keep you guys in suspense..it is Kota Bharu that I am reminiscing about..

Unknown said...

..hi, tommy..where were you when I was living it up in KL and Kota Bharu?..we could very well be the life of the party..:)and you r right, of course..can never remember the movie, or the dates..or birthdays..but will always remember the touch..the expression..an unspoken word...sometimes even the color of dress..you mind sometimes does tricks..hehe..anyway, its not going the way I want it to be..:(

Unknown said...

my dear cat, average joe and zendra..pity this ole man..he is having a hard time trying to recall those times of 40 years ago..but, yes, zen..we did once scootered somewhere..:)

mawar said...

Pak Mat,

Sun Too skrg bertukar jadi Sun Two...mula popular balik...1970 saya baru habis SPM..dan setelah 40tahun merantau kini saya balik menetap di KB..tinggal di Pelangi Mall Condo...kawasan tersebut mulai segar kembali dengan restoran baru, gerai makan di tepi sungai di buka sehingga larut malam.....

Unknown said...

..salam mawar..yes, the new skyline of kota bharu..and sun too becomes sun two..I think the night life is picking up again..but alas for pakmat..his nightstalking days are over..welcome back to KB, mawar..hmm looks like u r more than half a decade my junior..cheers and take care...