Tuesday 20 April 2010

Snippets Of A Sunday Morning Stroll

 I am on my morning stroll in the Kiara hills adjacent to the golf course on one side and the Taman Tun Park on the other.

It's called Taman Arboratum and shaped like a Q - the tail is a long uphill walk, a challenge in itself especially in the mornings when the muscles are still sleeping.


At the top, the road declines sharply ahead. It's a welcome respite after battling the tail but a hundred metres on it's mainly uphill all the way back.

I decide to turn left against the mainstream.

I'm still warming up, I argue. I'll go downhill this round, and turn back the other way the next.

The people walking up is like an exodus of refugees escaping tyranny. Most are panting hard - some of them very hard indeed, because they are jogging!

Hah! You do your thing, I'll do mine.

I stroll.

And I eavesdrop on what Malaysians are up to in their lives.


 "Ser-tee-ya Ah-lam Semee-dee, ngor low koong lorr"

This lady has a semi-detached house in Setia Alam, I surmise. Probably bought by her husband.

That's quite a distance from here, I doubt she came all that way. I've forgotten my cantonese to understand the conversation.

Yup, there are many people doing the Arboratum on Sunday mornings: fat ones, thin ones, toddlers, the elderly. There are  young cyclists as well, huffing and puffing up-slope and racing like the blazes down. The older walkers are like me, in our fifty's perhaps and a sizable few who look like young upcoming professionals.

"Aku suka bagi gripe-water".

"Gripe-water? Ada lagi ke?"

"Ada... "

Young mums. Isn't that the colic medicine for babies, it has some alcoholic content if I'm not mistaken. Thank God none of my babies were colicky.

I walk on. The road levels out.

"So what you do is... take the average and then..."

These two girls are walking too fast for me to catch the magic formula. Ah well, never mind.

The road slopes down and curves slightly. Two men in late-forty's brisk-walking uphill, and a thirty plus jogging a few metres behind.

"Cannot.... stroke-lah", one man says loudly to the young friend.

 "Problem is," says the young guy as he catches up, "the toilet is locked lah"


 Aiit, is there a toilet around here, I wonder. And what has a stroke got to do with the toilet?

Hahaha, the mind starts to imagine.

Coming up look like lecturer types. I may not be far wrong.

"Dia ada buat ceramah di Universiti Malaya. Dia kata kalau anak kita berlaku tak elok, jangan terus tuduh dia penzina...."

That startles me. Ya Allah, lindungilah anak-anak ku dari syaitan yang direjam.

I recite a quranic verse as I walk on.


"I'll ask my remisier" someone says.

Yeah do that, hope you profit much hehe. Is it bearish or bullish now, I wonder. Been a while since I had any interest in the market.


Young people yapping away about exams. Hmph, also not interesting.

Further on, I plod along not bothering to look at people anymore. There are some monkeys to avoid.

"You leave them alone then they'll leave you alone", says a Mum to her little kids.

Dad quips, "If not they AT-TACK you one". Kiddies walk closely to Mum and Dad while eyeing the monkeys with their own babies clinging to them.

I stay close to them too and eventually pass the danger.

I'm approaching the sharp incline.

"This place is not as interesting as Gasing, you think so or not?"

Maybe not, but it's very safe. I had heard of muggings up in the Gasing hills.

Halfway up a seven year old kid is squatting to rest while Mummy walks on ahead.

He then gets up and begins to run up to her, but loses one slipper.

"Mummy, mummy my croc!"

Mums should make kids wear proper shoes in these kind of places. But what the heck, what's a scraped knee or two once in a while?

I stretch at the top of the hill and then proceed down the "normal" way.

I'm lost in my own thoughts.

After three rounds, I walk down the tail.

A young lady with two male companions enjoys their attention.

"Kau rasa tak tadi macam mendaki bukit?"

"Tak lah, kalau dengan kau berdua orang gila, tak terasa langsung"

 "Tengok ni" one of them inspecting a bush plant, "yang ni jantan, yang ni betina"

"Mana kau tahu?"

"Yang ni busuk, yang ni wangi"

"Kepala hotak kau, hahaha"


My left hip seems jammed. I sit at the guardhouse and stretch,  especially my left glute.

The man  who was feeding the monkeys with bananas comes up to me asking, "Mau lipat tak Kak?"

"Lipat apa?"

"Ini ubat Cina punya"

"Massage kah?"

"Tak, ini lipat"

"Tak apa, saya stretching sudah cukup"

He spots a fifty-year old. "Hello Uncle..."

He's selling something. But I only lipat in private, sorry.

I eat a tub of  taufoo far and chat with the seller.

"Not many people today har?"

"Now it's ten o'clock, the peak is over. Six o' clock people start coming already"

"Today I didn't see that old man, the one who does the qi gong walk"

"You mean that eighty-year old down there in the park? He passed away last week lah"

"Wah, pass away already ah that man. But not that one, this one always qi gong walk same-side arm same-side leg, same speed uphill-downhill, quite funny. I saw him last week"

A lady customer explains "There are many kinds of qi gong walks, all using inner core strength. Ya lorr, that man not here today"

"Hope he's OK"

The taufoo far man says "Last week also a 53-year old man had a heart attack up the hill. He's the youngest so far. Usually seventy-year olds, sixty year olds get heart attack. I do business here eight years already, I know the goings-on lah"

"Waah, so young, 53 years old!"

"Yeah, he was on a challenge - ten rounds!"

"Wow, I one round also flat already"

I finish my delicious taufoo far and paid him.

"Thank you, bye, take care" he says.

And I'm off to an early lunch at Restoran Sambal Hijau in Sungai Penchala.
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Just wondering, where do the politicians exercise?

32 comments:

Kak Ezza@makcik Blogger said...

sekali pergi sana, seantero dunia punya cerita boleh kita dengar...bertuah jadi penjual taufu fah..semua orang dia kenal dan semua cerita dia tahu...ala ala surat kabar lama ....

Politician bersenam atas katil saja kot!!!

bella said...

Salam Kak, newbie here...
The politicians exercise in their car Kak, in between meetings...hahahaha..that's why they lose touch with the real world....

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Hehehe u r real funny lah Makcik, so typical kaypochi eavesdroppings.

Wah oso call tell/guess how old people are, if I was there, u’ll think I’m late 30’s up & coming leng chai executive in my lacoste trainers on my blackberry with my remisiers too, “alo2’ bull market, u bulls**t me lah tiuniaseng…kekeke.

Hey, I was brought up taking Woodward’s Gripe water too, it’s call ‘Fei Chai Sweeay’ or ‘Fat Boy Water’, probably because it comes in a blue bottle pack with a fat baby on the packaging label. Hahaha that explain why I’m still behaves like a drunkard after all these years macam ‘stone cold sober again’.

Haiyah, wasted exercise lah, cancelled out by that heavy early lunch. fyi, I LOVE Tau foo fah too without the sugar syrup lah thanks!

Choy keen tai kar cheh, Pssst where's that low koong of yours, no go power walking exercise sama u kah???

Tommy

P/S – That’s is so sexist, "Yang ni busuk, yang ni wangi"

YES, YES - "Kepala hotak kau, hahaha"

Naz in Norway said...

A very refreshing post, Zen. Indeed a walk in the park would reveal all sorts of info. We do it as often as we can in Msia. My husband can never keep a straight face when he sees all the different types of walk and sway, so I left him at home ;)
My walk here is different as I am often up in the mountain and I could walk/climb for hours without seeing a single soul. That is refreshing too.

Zendra-Maria said...

Ezza kalau kita jalan lawan arus, macam-macam boleh dengar tapi sikit-sikit jer lah. Yang heran cerita politik tak kedengaran - ok jugak kot, nanti stress tak tentu pasal pulak.

Agaknya politicians sekarang sedang berakit-rakit ke Hulu Selangor hehe

Zendra-Maria said...

Salam kembali Bella

Of course! That's where they are all the time. Poor things, what a life!

Thanks for dropping by.

Zendra-Maria said...

Wah Tommy, you're always saying you hoe leng chai one. Up to you lah, nobody else is agreeing hahaha. Wah, you started young on the booze horr, gripe-water was mum's best friend those days. I guess it's back in fashion.

Aiyah my low koong also jalan-jalan but didn't want to mention him because people get put-off when I cerita hubby-hubby kekeke.

Also nanti dia besar kapla :D

Zendra-Maria said...

Wow envy you Naz - you get to walk up in the mountains all alone! I bet you go "THE HILLLLS ARE ALIIIVE....." and wait for the echo hahaha

As for the Malaysian swagger, I'll keep a lookout for them on my next outing - that should keep the aches away but maybe not the belly aches :D

Say thanks to the viking for me for the tip!

Fadhil said...

Hmmm... now you make me wonder, if I was to pass by you on that trail, what would you make me out to be?

NanaDJ said...

Zen,

I agree with you, as I walk around the Park,(a less challenging route, am an amature not a pro like you plus the age factor of course), I too pick up snippets of interesting conversations and I do let my imaginations go wild. Until, a monkey cross my path and that is when I tread very very slowly lest I become his/her target.

Zendra-Maria said...

Oldstock, if I had passed you on that trail, I'm sure I would have done a double-take and appreciated your pedigree :)

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Zendra,
Nobody exercise with their pets over there? Here we see many people exercise with their dogs, running, frisbee-ing etc etc. purrr...meow!

Zendra-Maria said...

NanaDJ, hahaha great minds think alike! We do learn a thing or two at the playground.

PS: I am far from being a pro walker - a stroller more likely, because everyone passes me and some do it more than once. I overtake no one either :)

Zendra-Maria said...

Hey Cat, well there was a poodle on a leash who stopped in it's tracks and looked at me longingly as I waddled by as if to chat... but I don't speak poodle so I just gave it a smile :)

Now you go hunt some mice OK?

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Hey Zen, u curi2 hantam gua kaki botol kah?...hahaha. I was addicted to Breacol Cold syrup too & the colourful Combantrin pyramid lollies…kekeke.

So u & NanaDJ are strollers or old enuff to be The Strollers fan?

Truly 1Malaysia Group

Cheers,

Tommy

P/S – R U guys going for the mud wrestling match at HS this weekend or not? :))))

Zendra-Maria said...

Hey Tommy, this weekend the stroller will again Do What She Gotta Do :)

Pi Bani said...

Apa benda itu orang mau kasi you lipat?

Zendra-Maria said...

Pi, tak tau lah apa yang dia maksudkan tu - yang I tau lipat kertas buat kapal jer :)

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Hehehe Pi, Kak Zen ni buat tak tau aje, ‘act innocence only lah’. Kalau ikut fikiran Tommy bila oghang bilang, ‘gua lipat sama lu’ itu maksud cakap oghang putih ‘I wrap around u’…kekeke u faham kan, tanpa I kena elaborate lagi. Tapi, gua ingat itu Apek dalam cerita post ni, dia cuma nak jual itu ‘Koh Aiok’ (medicated patches, Salonpas?) to ease the pain & aches only mah or could be others macam wrist guards, thigh guards, ankle guard & head band.

Salam,
Tommy

P/S – Talking about head band, do u know why John McEnroe always wears one?
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Bcoz he needs to hide his circumcision scar mah…..muahaha, please excuse me, must be the gripe water kicking in :))

Zendra-Maria said...

Apek Tommy repot awal hari ni. Dah mandi ke belum Pek?

I very scared beli chinese koyok lah because we never know what they have dunked the bandage/plaster into, urine lah, dung lah who nows....eeewh.
Japanese one, OK.

As for lipat, as in wrap-around, I like Thai definitely :D

I shall ignore that infantile joke.

Tommy Yewfigure said...

I see u lacist too....kekeke so Japanese urine & dung better smelling than An Pek's ka?:))

LOL, nowadays it's very important how u word ur sentences, politically correctness blah3, nasib baik I know u well tapi now ada sikit doubt, relationship not the same anymore lah :)))

Zendra-Maria said...

Ceh! Betul lah Tommy, nowadays cakap sikit - lacist, cakap banyak - extlemist, tak cakap langsung - tellorlist...

so must cakap twist sajer - how lah?

Eh.. we got relationship kah? You never send me present one? And now it's not the same anymore? Kekekeke apek, apek...

Tommy Yewfigure said...

hahaha dulu bolih kira strong (macam Gripe water), sekarang lepas incident lacist ni dah jadi Cordial (macam F&N Orange)nanti jadi Cold (macam ice kacang) kalau tak berhati-hati...muahaha. But then again I luv ice-kacang, how lah...kekeke

Zendra-Maria said...

Testing2 123

Does this load faster than youtube?

Ice Kacang

:)

zafi said...

salamz
sorry for a long quiet momementoo! Huhuuh busy with research staff ! Gosh Nice entry! very the kpochee !! hehehhehehe :D

Lee said...

Hi Zendra, ha ha, I enjoyed your eves dropping.
Hmmmm, fortunately I was not there, or else you might be hearing, 'want to see 2 moons'? Ha ha ha.
Have fun Zendra, Lee.

DrSam said...

Ha...ha...very funny Kanda. You beat our own backyard intelligent agency in gathering 1Nation confidential and intimate information.

Lipat...jangan tak lipat :)

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Why so quiet?

Lacist song, Ah Soh Chiban oso got one…kekeke;

Japanese Song

Tomoshita

Zendra-Maria said...

Zafi, hahaha I'm so very the kaypochi kan? Lepas tu cerita kat orang pulak dah..... :)

Zendra-Maria said...

Hello there Lee, had I overheard you talking about two moons I would have turned around and followed closely behind you hahaha!

Zendra-Maria said...

Psst Dinda Sam, I recorded it all in my government-issued spy gadget ;) hehe

Zendra-Maria said...

Tomoshita-san, yu miso mi? hehe ;)