Seremban Flooded.

To say lately the weather in Malaysia has been freakish is an understatement. One moment you are dying under the hot sun, and then the next hour you have a freaking storm! Last Thursday on 2nd Feb 2012 it rained so hard in just one hours the whole Seremban town was flooded! Here are some photos taken by fellow Serembanians that was shared on Facebook.

Ariel view from KM Plaza overhead bridge.

I have never seen Seremban flooded like this.

Knee-high water in just an hour of rain.

I pity those car owners.

All the traffic waiting for the water to recede.

The KTM railway tracks were flooded as well.

Another view of the rail tracks.

The inside of the KTM station.

Manglish

Spotted is road sign offering International English Language course. Good grief! My country's English has dropped to an international low and even the tutor don't realize it!

Hello 2012!

Happy 2012 to all. It's a little late but what the heck...better late than never.



Am at a garage servicing my car and I thought this would be funny to start off a new year on this blog.



There are many who enjoyed my heritage trail blog post and thank you all for following me. Thank you as well who contributed on infos that I never knew before. I promise there will be more so stay tuned. Till then have a good year and a good CNY as well

Signboard Fail

Spotted this signboard near the Labu road. 

Welcome to Negeri Sembilan signboard - FAIL

Upon closer inspection one can see that the website url were haphazardly corrected.

The URL were haphazardly corrected.

What I don't understand is that this signboard is not that complicated and such error should not have occurred in the first place. Moreover, the correction done made it even worse! Saw the two periods in the url? 

I wonder how much taxpayers money were wasted to pay on such a signboard? One word: FAIL.

Seremban Oldest Cinema: Golden City Cinema

This is one of my on-going The Heritage Trail blog post series. Read my disclaimer here first :D. This is article No. 6.

I am not 100% sure, but I think this is the oldest cinema in Seremban where most of the original building structure are still intact.

Since the day I could count my toes, Golden City Cinema (I think that's the name!) is no longer operational. It was taken over and turned into a furniture shop called Vincent.

Seremban oldest cinema. Golden City.

The walkway.

Nothing much I could tell you about the history of this cinema as I was not born yet during it's era. But visit at this place and take a closer look. One could almost imagine how it looks like back in its glorious days with the pigeon-holed ticketing counter still intact.

The ticketing counter that are still visible today.

Take a peek inside the furniture shop and you can still see the remnants of the cinema still intact. To me, I could almost imagine the excitement back in those days of the first-time cinema goers.

The original structure that are still intact. The screen use to be at the back where the florescent lights are.

My parents used to run a food stall at one of the restaurant at the same row with this old cinema. So this street has been my playground for couple of years. I remember back then in the late 80's next to this old cinema is a beer brewing factory. I can't see what inside the factory then, but I sure remember the stench of the beer steams that escapes from the drains man-hole everyday.

There used to be a beer factory next to the cinema. The building was demolish and now its an empty lot.

The beer factory was dismantled somewhere in the 90's, I think it's due to a fire. Now it's just an empty land. 

The GPS coordinate for this place is 02° 43.647' E101° 56.242'

Tan Brother's Supermarket: Old But Thriving

This is one of my on-going The Heritage Trail blog post series. Read my disclaimer here first :D. This is article No. 5.

Among all the new shopping malls that sprang up in Seremban town, it's easy to forget this once a popular shopping outlet for the budget conscious. Even though it's old, Tan Brother's Supermarket is still thriving against its more popular competitors.

The older generation called it "Chew Jau Wui Koon". Again, the chinese name doesn't make any sense to me. Having attended only at a Malay medium school, it was only  years later I understood that "Chew Jau Wui Koon" means  The Association of the Chew Clan (yes, my chinese vocabulary is very bad). The supermarket is located just below the association, hence the local name.

Tan Brother's Supermarket Seremban.

Every year before the school reopens for the new year semester my parents would bring us here to shop for our school uniform. School bags, shoes, uniform, writing utensils all are available at the very affordable price. This supermarket turns into a carnival-like atmosphere with back-to-school slogans and discount signs everywhere.

I still remember back then the supermarket has no air-conditioning. Only fans on the ceiling and it's hot at day and humid at night. But we would spend hours in there and the excitement of getting a pair of new school shoes and uniform makes me and my siblings forget that we are practically sitting inside a large cooking oven. Even that I actually did all my school uniform shopping here till I graduate secondary school.

It's just located next to The Store Seremban (New Gold)

This supermarket is still operating till this day, serving a pool of its loyal customers. The last time I ventured into it was a couple years ago.  It's a tad cleaner and neater with some interior renovation but still with the ceiling fans. 

Perhaps one day I could still shop for school outfits for my child in the future at this place again.

The GPS coordinate of this place is 02° 43.542' E101° 56.228' and it's situated just beside the The Store Seremban (New).

Gold Supermarket Seremban: Now The Store Seremban

This is one of my on-going The Heritage Trail blog post series. Read my disclaimer here first :D. This is article No. 4.

In the 80's Seremban people like to associate buildings or places to gold. This is evident with the shopping malls like Punca Emas (Gold Source), Gama (I presumed the chinese name is Golden Horse) down to housing areas like Taman Mas (Golden Garden) or Taman Bukit Emas (Golden Hill Garden). The word "Gold" is virtually almost everywhere in Seremban. And this shopping mall I am talking about today is no different.

My earliest collection of this building was back somewhere around 1987. I remember this building was an empty building then. Then someone started a Haunted House themed-park with it and it attracted teenage students in droves with its entrance fee of just 50sen. I was green with envy of my two elder sisters able to visit the theme park and I just get to hear stories of how fun and scary the theme park was.

Old Gold Shopping Center

But it didn't stay that way for long. Soon the theme park closed down and the building is haunted again :D But somewhere around 1988 a new shopping center sprang up and it's called GOLD SHOPPING CENTER. I remember the building used to have a big yellow sign of the word GOLD on it's little tower.

It became a very popular very quickly as it is the first shopping mall that carries branded fashion apparels in Seremban. My family shopped often in this place and it's our favorite Chinese New Year shopping outlet every single year. (my family finances has miraculously bounced back then, but that's a story for another day)

Gold Shopping center expanded very quickly. In a short few years, it built another 4-story high shopping complex just at the other end of the street. It's popularity skyrocketed. It's was first shopping mall with fast food joint, even more fashion apparel choices and a row of food delicacy outlet made it the perfect shopping center our little Seremban town. Seremban began to give it a new nick name: Old Gold (Gau Wong Kam) for the first shopping center and New Gold (San Wong Kam) for the newer mall. 

Most of my CNY shopping in my teenage years are done in the newer mall. I remember I got my first 'expensive' watch at this place. It's a chrome silver Bonia watch with a white face. I got it when my mom got two pants for me for and got the watch at a special price of RM50. That watch last me a few years before it gave up it's ghost. I still had the watch with me till today somewhere safely tucked in the drawers. 

Here is where I had my first taste of herbal eggs. Herbal eggs are basically  hard boiled eggs in black herbal soup, cooked for many hours so that the aroma and the goodness of the herbs seeps into the eggs. I fell in love with those eggs ever since and it's a must have every single time we shop at this mall.

New Gold Shopping Center

I don't remember when but I think somewhere in 1994 Gold Shopping Center changed hands and it was renamed to The Store shopping center. Today, both malls are still operating but the nick name remains. Just ask any Seremban-nian chinese - "Where is San Wong Kam (New Gold) ? and they will point you to the right direction. Only Seremban newbies will call it The Store.

My wife & I still shop there once a while. Though it's little old, we find it still has something else to offer in the midst of other shopping malls. There are certain clothing or kitchenware available here and not anywhere else. And the best thing is their prices are still Seremban prices - cheap and good :D

Wisma Punca Emas : After It's Prime Days...

This is one of my on-going The Heritage Trail blog post series. Read my disclaimer here first :D. This is article No. 3.

Built around the same time as Peninsula Plaza in the early 80's, Wisma Punca Emas (direct translation: Gold Source Mall) was and still is a landmark in Seremban town.

Wisma Punca Emas means Source of Gold Mall. There used to be a car driveway to disembark passengers  at the main entrance before it renovated for more shops at the ground floor.

It was one of the most happening mall in the 80's for families. Then in the 90's it became a popular hangout place for teenagers as there are abundance of video arcade center begin to sprout in this mall. This place is considered a big 'no no' place for us as those seen hanging out at the mall would labeled as "naughty kids".

There are other shops too - hair saloons, beauty center, boutiques, tailors, and even food shops in this once a very popular mall.

I remember there is even a Christian bookstore here called Emmanuel. My dad got me my first bible there when I was 10 - a malay translation Bible. Back then, there is no issue with Bible in Malay language and politician don't label each other as clown.

Now almost all the shops are deserted.

But today, it's in a sad situation. The whole building except shops at the ground level are deserted. The mall begin to lose its customers to newer malls like Seremban Parade and Terminal One in the 90's. Just like Peninsula Mall, it is heading towards total closure.

It pretty creepy walking inside the building. Like a scene from I Am Legend.

Infomation counter. Abandoned ages ago.

Wisma Punca Emas. The happening place in the 80 & 90's

Do take a look at this mall before it's demolished or used for other purposes. It's GPS coordinate is N 02° 43.467' E 101° 56.405'

Seremban First SuperMarket: Gama Supermarket

This is one of my on-going The Heritage Trail blog post series. Read my disclaimer here first :D. This is article No. 2.

One of my earliest memory collection of a supermarket is GAMA Supermarket at Jalan Tunku Hassan. It was the first supermarket for Seremban town at that time (in the 70's). According to a Seremban old-timer, the supermarket was used to be called Sum Long, however not long after Peninsula Plaza opened it's doors, Sum Long closed down it business and taken over by GAMA Supermarket. This was somewhere back in 1980 -1981.

Today, the present building was occupied by Cosmopoint College.

GAMA Supermarket was an 3-stories air-conditioned shopping center. I remember that they have a toys department on the top floor and my parents often gave me free time to gawk at the toys (Transformers Robots were at rage back then!) while they does their shopping.

It was at this supermarket I had my first encounter with plain-clothes security guard. I was still Standard 1 then. My eldest sister brought me and my 2nd sister to shop for stationaries. As we about to leave, a malay man came and ushered us to the staircase at the back. He then went through my sister's purchase. After determining that three of us were not there to shoplift, he then let us go. I was to young to comprehend the situation back then. Looking back now, we does look like little thieves with our shabby looking clothes :D

This street is the nightspot hangout place for many back then.

There is a night market along the Tunku Hassan Street then. After our night shopping at Gama, my parents will take us for a stroll along the night market. I remember some of the stalls very well. There was a stall that always draws me with the smell of it's delicious apam balik, and another stall that sells superglue with a handwritten signboard that says Gam Gajah (Elephant Glue) that promises to bond anything under heaven.

Oh I always remember the stall that sells digital watches - Jam Budak for three ringgit a piece. I always wanted those watches but I never asked my parents to buy it- knowing that being a hawker family we are not that well to do. But being loving parents they bought me the watch for my 10th birthday. I was over the moon! I wore it day and night, in shower and in sleep. I checked the time every 5mins. My heart ache when it got it scratched accidentally while in school. Due to my 'excessive usage', the strap broke and not too long after that it started to fall apart in pieces. I think I lost the watch while keeping it in my pockets.

The night market was relocated to accommodate growing traffic the 90's. This place held a lot of memories for me. Feel free to share your memories in this place below.

The GPS coordinate is 02° 43.542' E101° 56.228'

Old and Forgotten

This is the first post of my Seremban Heritage Trail series. Read my disclaimer here first. Hehe.

I will start of with the oldest building in my memory when I was young. It was this abandoned plaza situated somewhere in Lobak area near OK Tuck foodcourt. I do not know what is the name of the plaza but usually we will refer this building as "Long Fong Lau', (english: Dragon Classic Delight Restaurant) the only surviving and active Chinese restaurant still operating there back then. We were regulars of the restaurant because many of our friends and relatives held their wedding dinner  there.

Used to be the most happening place in Seremban, but now abandoned to rot.

I have been told by my parents that this building used to be the most happening building in the late 70's and it's the first modern shopping mall at it's time. The 3-level mall was equipped with escalators, an invention that would wow Serembanians back then.

This is the restaurant used to operate there.

But the mall also located at the area we call 'black area', where chinese rival gangs and triads seeks to control the area back then. There were many gang fights over the 'authority' to collect protection money from the business owners of the shops, and with all these dangers many people began to shun this place.

The main entrance. Notice that a tree has made itself a home on the wall.

There used to be a family gym, some video game arcades, some salons...but begins to wind down it's business one by one. Some closed down for good and some just relocated. Once a while there are some tried to revive the mall with new business openings. I remembers one of those is a shop that sells kitchen utensils. I bought one of my first plastic bags from there because my mom asked me to buy some and I think it's cheap there. That outlet also doesn't survive more than 2 years I think.

Abandoned computer shop sign still visible today.

About 3 years ago, the only and longest surviving restaurant I mentioned earlier decided to relocate. Since then building has been abandoned completely.

An abandoned project next to the mall

Do you have your own memory of this building? If yes feel free to comment on this post. I would like to hear from you as well.

Update: This building is called Peninsula Plaza, built in the late 70's. The GPS coordinate of this place is N02° 44.371'  E101° 55.579'

The Heritage Trail

I had some silent readers who occasionally comment and email me how they enjoyed this blog about Seremban town. One particular reader named Ah Wah recently commented on a post of how he appreciates some of the heritage sites photos that I took randomly. His comment gave me an idea.

I shall take that suggestion and begin a series of what I call a Seremban Heritage Trail Series. It would be an ever-evolving concept and the post would be anything that I deemed historic enough. It would not be the usual 'tourist sites'. You can get those info from other travel websites easily. But instead it would be mainly consist of long forgotten buildings or streets that evoke childhood memories of mine (or yours as well). These will be tagged as 'heritage' post.

My new blog venture are in no way historically correct but its just how I remember it or being told to. You are free to correct my facts in the comment box. 

All the sites will have an GPS coordinates with it. Perhaps there would be some readers who would be interested enough to 'trail' these sites on their own.

Hopefully my posts would be able to show my readers how much Seremban town has changed, how I remember it when I was young, written down before I totally forgotten all of it at my old age....

Art and Culture Hall

Seremban has a new Art & Cultural Hall opened last year, and it available to be rented out to the public for art and culture purposes. I went over there to check out the place for an piano recital event on July 3rd 2011.

The new hall with a Minangkabau roof design. The colour combined with its pointy roof resembles
a Thai Buddhist Temple when viewed from far.

The hall has the capacity of 500 pax including a vip corner right at the center of the seating hall. The lights and the hall acoustic are pretty ok for dramas, dance and even a pop concert. The hall sounded rather dull for a classical event due to the rather short hall reverberation.

Seats are pretty comfortable and the walking path are pretty spacious. No more tumbling over other people's legs when you need to go to the washroom.

RCF speakers in Left Rght Center configuration.

The stage is spacious and big. Good enough for a rather elaborated drama production. The backstage however was too small and the ceiling is rather low for a tall props.

The main sound reinforcement systems are powered by RCF speakers in Left Right Center configuration with the dual subwoofers on the extreme left and right. I have not heard the system yet but looking at the subs placement I doubt it would be good. It would be tough to get a nice low end distributed evenly with the subs position.

Another view of the stage.

The lights are adequate. A few moving heads, a follow-spot light and lots of ParCans enough for a fantastic 500pax drama production. The lighting console is by Avolites.

Allen & Heath ML3000 desk

The position of the PA room is a nightmare to all audio engineers. You can't hear what's happening outside. You have to rely on a miserable small monitor placed on top of the A&H mixer.

Having said tough, its rather nice to have a hall that the public can rent and be creative. One note tough, being a government owned hall means that all government functions takes precedence in this place and your planned event can be cancelled should the former needs the hall for some meetings. 

International The Day Exhibition

Today I had such a fun day at the Negeri Sembilan State Muzeum located near the Seremban Tol highway. In conduction with the International Museum day, they organized an 3 days exhibition consisting of various museums around Malaysia to have an booth here. 

I say it was rather informative and a fun day for myself seeing new things and have an oppotunity to practice on my new DSLR toy. I would like to share some of the photographs here.

Entrance is free but unfortunately the exhibition ends today.

The entrance. 

They have activities and hamper giveaways for school children.
Pictured are the booth by the Telekom Museum.

They have a live band with traditional instruments.
I was rather surprised when they belted a popular English number with these instruments.

The bassist and the guitarist

I think this instrument is called Gambus.

Barbeque the military way. The Army has a booth here as well.

Various edible roots on display. Jungle survival tips.

Artistic shot at dried buah pinang or betel palm fruit.

Artistic shot of a kite that resembles a ship.

A man working on a wau kite design. A wau is a traditional malay kite.

Another man making kites. I used to make these kites too l when I was young.

Artistic shot with my DSLR of the traditional malay pike.

Another artsy shot of the traditional malay boat head.

A traditional malay ship replica.

A MIG-29 jet Cockpit! Yes! I sat in it!
My childhood dream of sitting in a jet came true!
Oh well, it's a training unit but I don't care!

MIG 29 jet controller. The pilot told me that it works just like a PlayStation controller. Hehe. 

With countless of buttons and meters, I think sometimes accident happens
because the pilot flicked the wrong switch!

Part of the cockpit seat ejection system.

To eject during mid air emergency, all the pilot needs to do is to pull the red rubber handle between your legs and you will be ejected out from the cockpit instantly in 1 second. ONE SECOND. That's quick.

The pilot explaining the functions to a visitor. He is popular with the school girls.
All the girls swoon around him asking for his email and number.

They have machine guns on display! Real ones. And you can touch it and feel it's mechanism.

This machine gun is no longer in service after the Japanese Occupation. Seen these before in war movies. It's pretty heavy. 9.6kgs with fully loaded bullets. Tried to carry it around and it's not easy. Your shoulders would get the cramps if you try to pose like Rambo with it.

Homemade guns

Machine guns with grenade launcher. It's a wild trip to childhood fantasy at this booth.

I used to have this telephone at my home back in the days. With this exact same colour.
Apparently they are made by ERRICSON. Yes, the Erricson before Sony took over.

Another ancient phone.

Another ancient 'futuristic' looking phone.

Since about 2 years ago, I noticed that our local museum has been pretty active in organizing event such as these to promote the awareness to the local people of our rich history. I applaud these efforts and I think the museum management is doing a good job. So do watch out for any other event organized by our local museum. I'm sure it would be worth your time and it would be educational for your children as well.