7 minutes walk in later, I'm settling into my room at my aunt's place. My aunt's house used to be similar to the one shown below; clapboard, tin-roofed house. Few years back, it was concretised and now has one less worry of termites.
What my aunt's place used to look like
Many houses in the village have also renovated over the years into concrete buildings. The most obvious one is adjacent to my aunt's house. It used to be built like a timber log, with chopped firewood lining the front and side of the house. I used to play hide and seek, firecrackers, flies hunting etc with my childhood friends there.
Now, it's another imposing, cold and unfriendly building. I'm not sure if my childhood friends' family still lived there, but I've lost touch with all of them when they started moving away to study and subsequently work in cities.
As a city child without friends to play with anymore, that place became boring. However, on this trip, I found I like the simple and calm life here. Waking up to the cranky rooster crowing, going to the bustling village market and slurping up my favourite ipoh chee cheong fun. Sedap!
This area near the basketball court behind my aunt's house is a watering hole for the elderly to trade gossip during the day. According to my aunt, these days at night, the village committee turned the area into a KTV 'lounge'. For RM1, you get to take turns with others who paid and sing till you lose your voice. Very happening eh.
Luckily it was raining both nights I was there. Otherwise, I would have gone there, paid my RM1 and attracted the entire village with my singing. Yes, Prince of Squeaks, Flat Notes and Out of Tune has grown up and came back to visit!
This is the security system probably left over from my grandpa's time. Cheap, long lasting and no maintenance. Who needs Cisco? Anyone who attempts to climb over the walk will risk getting shredded.