Amazing Grace by 7 year old Rhemma Marvane

Rhema Marvanne - 'Amazing Grace' from Black Olive Media.com on Vimeo.

This was forwarded to me by Ewin Wright. "Amazing Grace" is almost everybody's favourite hymn and this rendition by 7 year old Rhema ....all the while without her front teeth...is superb.

There is a very sad story behind this recording concerning her mother who passed on later from Cancer. Cute girl with amazing voice.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to Everyone

Here is a Christmas treat......ELVIS singing yous "Blue Christmas" and then through the wonders of today's Video and Audio technologies, he is joined by Martina McBride to bring more joy to us :-


Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone !

Lyrics tube

Check out this link


http://www.lyricstube.net/


There should be songs for every one, whatever your favourites.
Enjoy!

Soshiok.com - $500 aphrodisiac - elephant's durian dung

How much would you pay for Aphrodisiac when it comes in the form of DURIAN ? Aha ! I got your attention there ...although I'm not sure whether it's "Aphrodisiac" or "Durian". As far as I'm concerned I would not pay SGD500.00 for aphrodiasiac - Holy Cow, nobody should be convinced there is such a thing by now !

A friend came across the following article and obviously thought I was in the market after having been told by Dr. Phil that I had some problems with an over-imaginative mind. Anyway he sent the article to me and I am sharing it with yous. Soshiok.com, which is a Blogsite within ASIAONE, allows it to be shared through other blogs and social networks.

Soshiok.com - $500 aphrodisiac - elephant's durian dung

I am a very big fan of Durian but certainly not after it's been through the digestive system of an elephant ...aphrodisiac or not.

Beauty

Watch and listen to the TED presention :-

Interesting ? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I wonder how is this related to Beauty is only skin deep ?

Diamond Head and Pipeline

During the moments of pause in between Posts I think it's good to bring in some music to jingle those bells in our attics and churn up some memories of old times.

Where were you during the era of "SURF " music ? What were you doing ? Who were you with ?
Surf music began during the mid 60s and early 70s. The Bands most associated with this kind of sound were The Beach Boys, The Chantays, Jan and Dean and many others. One particular band which stood out from the crowd were The Ventures and here they are with their brand of "Diamond Head and Pipeline. " We only listened to them before over the radio and through records, Now with the Internet and YouTube we can at last SEE them in action.



Alas two of them who are featured here, co-founder Bob Bogle and the drummer Mel Taylor, have passed on to join the heavenly band in the sky. Bob was the original Lead Guitarist but he switched places with original Bass player, Nokie Edwards who is not present in this particular lineup.

Enjoy and I hope this brought back some sweet memories for yous.

Rose and 33 Thorns

Francis has been very efficient and sent the updated collage (14 Nov), below. There are name tags and more photos, but Francis is still MIA!

Joint my chant:
WE WANT TO SEE FRANCIS! 

Rose and 24 Thorns

There used to be Rose and Thorne Pub in downtown Vancouver. It has been renamed.

The wonderful collage below was created by Francis in September 2010, and should have a proud place on this blog.

Do you notice one big omission? There is no photo of Francis!

Join my chorus
"WE WANT TO SEE FRANCIS' PHOTO!"

This Happened Last Year

First inaugural event

(will be removed if needed)

Mini Reunion at ERAMA, Kuching - Ewin and Alice Wright's

BREAKING NEWS -----This just in from Alan Chan :-

Pete Kuek's Country Classic Fan Club Gathering

Pete Kuek, no stranger to Kuching's Nightlife and Music scene, is a BIG Country and Western Music fan. He used to own and managed the "Pink Panther Pub" where country music "lived" in Kuching. The late Skeeter Davies whom we all loved through her song "It's the end of the World" which was a very big hit, performed there. I had the pleasure of spending a couple of nights at "The Pink Panther" many many moons ago and I remember I had a blast ! It was a place where you could let your hair down, have fun without any inhibitions, howl at the moon or yodel to your heart's content all night long and no bouncer would throw you out for being outrageous. Yes, Pete was a swinger and he had a swinging pub!
And as it appears, he still is ! Members of The Country Classic Fan Club of Kuching got together last month at the "Regal Court" (I dont remember the name of the Building but I know it's opposite our favourite Laksa place on the other side of the road.) and from the photos Pete posted, you can tell they had a Ball. Pete went as Sheriff LOBO who undoubtedly was very popular with the Cowgals ! Anyway, I 'll shut up and let the photos do the talking.

Cowgals, Candles and Cake !!!!

Oh they had a C & W Band as well...(background)

The Magnificent 6 ? What happened to 7th ?

Sheriff Lobo and his Deputies.....more than he can handle !

Sheriff Lobo arm-wrestling or square dancing ?

Our Golden Reunion 11-11-11 is just around the corner. Will we also have a BLAST ?

Day Care Center

Modern day Mothers are so fortunate compared to mothers of yesteryears. Today mothers have "Day Care Centers" to take care and watch their brood whilst they perform their wifely duties.....and for the career women....carry on their business or day jobs. Day Care Centers take away the burden of having to look after the kids for the multi-tasking mother.

We are talking about the kids and that is when they are not in school. What about the Fathers when they are not at work...........or at the Golf Course ?

Someone who, in my books is a genius, has come up with a wonderful idea.....DAY CARE CENTER FOR HUSBANDS !



This photo was sent by a friend via e-mail so it must have been going around in cyber-space for all to see. So there should not be any copy rights attached to it. (I hope).

Wherever this is supposed to be, I would like to congratulate the owner of this Pub for such a brilliant idea.

He has created the perfect "Win/Win" situation : Wife happy because she knows where husband's at. Husband.....aiya sure happy lah...how can not happy when in a pub ! Got beer, got Coke, got Tapas and Peanuts, got friends to shoot the breeze with, got Dart Board and maybe a Pool Table, got Karaoke and most of all .....BILL SETTLED BY WIFE !

As We Look Back

Rewind to the late 50's when this classic was one of the most popular songs released, one that was heard all over town, not the least at the many kampung bangsawans and even the annual fun fairs at St Michael's club. Nonetheless, it should trigger your memories of your teenage years.

Noel definitely feels this song has a speshul place in his sentimental heart and will be very happy to share it with yous!

Sexy Stuff

One of the reasons for the lack of traffic to our blog is deemed to be "Not Sexy Enough". Of course "sexy" in this context is a little bit of a synonym so no......no PG rating is required. What the reader meant is : Topics are not exciting enough and I tend to agree.

Professional Copy writers have a way to attract readers by their headings, captions and headlines when they produce promotional ads. We must try to do that. Here's my attempt :-



I hope that's "Sexy" enough for you ! Anyway I hope you enjoy it and will drop in again soon.

It is awfully quiet here in our blog so I thought I'd better liven it up with a humourous clip which a friend (Incidentally his surname is Yong) found on YouTube. This is a spoof done obviously by a Sabahan. Guess who he might be referring to as the "Sabahan Ip Man".

I reckon you all understand the "Sin On" Hakka dialect...as opposed to the "Hoppo" Hakka of Kuching.

Enjoy :-

Form 3 A 1959 - Brother Xavier

I have appointed myself the "FILLER" of this blog and I shall assume the responsibility of posting "fillers" when I detect inactivity for 24 hours.

Here is a photo of Form 3 A of 1959 with Brother Xavier as the Class Master (I forget what you call them those days...the head teacher of the class).

I remember everyone but can only recognise :-

Gerald Lee, Gus Bong, Chan Kheng Lee, Pete Kuek, Noel Tan, Hong Siong, Ashari, Khun Jian, Sharkawi, Peter Nyaid, Simon Ngui, Gabriel Dan, Will Chang, Poh Lee Jin, James Lee, Yue Ching Hoi.



Sorry guys the photo is a bit faded so you'd have to put your Cut and Paste skills to work to see a larger and clearer picture. I copied and saved it as a .JPEG file to a speshul folder and then I used "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer" to see an enlarged photo.

Can yous name the others ?

Kenyalang Park

Over the last couple of weeks, maybe 2 moons ago, there were some discussions amongst us regarding the old Cinemas in Kuching. We spoke of Sylvia Cinema, Lillian Theatre and the rest. Steve Voon and Nashiko San provided some photos which churned up nostalgia ....for me, at least ! We did it through our normal chain e-mails. Now we have a Blog !

I "stole" the following from one of Ewin's e-mails and the photos from the blogsite of a much younger generation of Josephians.... .Form Fivers of '76 I think....KIDS ! Take a look.

Ewin wrote :-


"Went to my favourite see-ham kway-tiaw stall in Kenyalang Park for breakfast this morning and took the opportunity to check out the cinema there . I knew what the building's ground floor was like , having patronised the shopping arcade selling almost exclusively China-made products before. But what got my goat was the realisation - when I had to ask my way to the cinema proper - that I had never, in all the years of its existence , watched a movie there !

A short flight of steps cluttered with mannequins led me up to a decidedly empty foyer, ie. not counting the elderly fee-collecting Tamil lady sitting by the washroom door .The several shops which encompassed the floor , and which probably vended ice-cream , pop-corn and miscellaneous snacks once , stood starkly empty .

The Tamil lady turned out to be friendly , as she was quick to answer that obvious question from me with .. "Wooh , sini suda banyak tahun ta'da bikin wayang " Happy with my 'discovery' , I went back downstairs and bought myself MR10 worth of preserved plums .... no , not the salty sng boi ..the sweeter type ......and yes , China made !"


Anyone have a photo of the Kenyalang Park Cinema ? Please post it here. Remember Capitol and Odeon and Rex Cinemas/Theatre ?












Memories, light the corners of my mind,
Misty water colored memories,
Of the way we were....






Go here for the song "The way we were" by Barbra Streisand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNEcQS4tXgQ

Steve and Nash, please post the photos of Sylvia and Lillian, will you ?

The Kuching Laksa Outing Foursome

Did I Get This Right?

Hi Frank/Wayland, hope am in now. This is a trial posting. Please let me know if I got it right and soonest I know I'd post more comments............how now do I get to those pages with pix and your comments?

Richard Welch and Mental Photography

Are you a "voracious" reader ? Are you a passionate learner..by that I mean are you inclined towards wanting to learn "everything" in the shortest time possible ? Do you have Dyslexia ?

If your answer is "yes" to any of the above, watch the following YouTube clip.



Imagine reading a whole book in a couple of minutes ! If you own an iPad, think about your Internet bills !!!!

Relaxed at mini reunion at ERAMA 09-10-10

'Win, quick, pull my finger !!!!

Left to right : Gerald, Thiam Fatt, Erwin, David, Raphael.

Spanx ....aimed at men instead of Ladies.

Ya ya I know, it's me again !



At our age and after a zillion litres of beer, laksa, bak kut teh, kolomee, nasi lemak, sup kambing and satay ketupat it would be a wonder if we were able to fit into waistline size 30 in. Jeans anymore. Not to worry ! I saw the following advert in the online version of London's Daily Mail :-



















A Simon Cowell lookalike at the launch at Selfridges today for the men's undergarments designed to 'firm and flatten', keeping beer bellies in check

Read more at :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1324511/Spanx-reducing-underwear-body-conscious-man-hits-high-street.html?ref=nf#ixzz13iuEAZqx


So guys, if you want to look your best at our Golden Reunion on 11-11-11....I am not saying that you are not looking good right now....... you might want to give it go, no ?

Naaaaaah ! Ya, me too. I am just going to let it bulge out as testimony to my love for the bubblies ! Anyway there will not be any St. Theresians to impress.....will there ?

Hound Dog

Sorry people. It looks like I am hogging all the posts but I'd die if I didnt post this. It was 1956 and this was the first time "THEY" allowed Elvis to be shown from head to feet on TV at the inssistence of Ed Sullivan, the host.




The birth of Rock and Roll !!!

Are you lonesome tonight - senior moments version

I cannot get the youtube video embedded. Try the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfPgSzcu9RY

Kuching food

This video has been going around. You may have seen it, and even forwarded it to me. It should be bookmarked, especially for those overseas, salivating at the sight of the dishes. Somehow the famous "bestest" Kuching laksa is not featured. The video is in Hokkien, but the videos are self evident.





Muchos gracias to Wayland and Francis for guiding me to my first blog ever

Roy Orbison

Continuing our stroll down memory lane through songs here's one I simply couldnt resist posting. I am sure for every single one of us this song brings back a special memory.

Memories from Music

Last night I came across a song as I was browsing through YouTube. It had a profound effect and memories came flooding into my mind. Nostalgia hit me and I was 25 again. The song was "What is a Youth" from the film "Romeo and Juliet", a Cinematic adaption of Shakespear's play (As if you didnt know that.). I "time-travelled" back to 1968 as I replayed the YouTube clip over and over again. We all had crushes for Olivia Hussey.......and before her, Sandra Dee.

Olivia Hussey Sandra Dee



Go here to watch the clip :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK8Ek2v-lWk


From the first days of reconnection members of this group of St. Joe's Old Boys have been reminding each other of the wonderful days gone by through music and songs.

Ewin Wright had this to say :-


"Over the last couple of weeks or so , I have been wallowing - thanks to you - in musical delicacies of yesteryears , taking some time to reflect on " who were you with , what were you doing when this song was popular". Not only did I savour, yet again ,the songs I knew so well but saw them sung 'live' . Isn't youtube just great ..music and songs ad-infinitum ! Informative too .( Never knew that Elvis also recorded Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood , indeed by many others too ).




Make Thine Music , 40 Miles of Bad Road ,Rock Kuek , Johnny Tillotson , Duane Eddy , Tornados , Blue Rebels , Raunchy ...and today.. Harry Belafonte !!



How old were we then ..17, 18 ? Thanks to the music , these were some of the best years of my life , as I'm certain they were yours too . Even boy/girl pursuits took the back seat (I think) like Wayland's Seven Little Girls ! The late 50s and early 60s were heady days for us music lovers weren't they....and , would you know it, Rock & Roll 'single-handedly' did it .

Born in cottonfields of USA, the litany of names spreading it is long , but stand-outs include iconic ones like Chuck Berry , Little Richard , Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and the undisputed top-dog Elvis Presley . Soon after, the British would come up with their own version of that music genre , though generally a tad toned down . Recognisable names included Gerry and the Pacemakers, Dave Clark Five and the vastly popular - at least in our part of the world - Cliff Richard . There was also The Animals who favoured a raw and rough-edged R&R , and whose heavy use of the keyboard made them quite un-British . For some reason , I never really cottoned to The Rolling Stones ....but kudos to their longevity . The Beatles were , needless to say , in another stratosphere , all by themselves






And so it was in this era that we lived our puberty, with songs and music of the time taking up a good part of it. And where did we get our 'fix'? Yes , Radio Sarawak ( remember Anne Tan and her Saturday afternoon's Record Request? ) , or from tuning to Radio Australia with our little transistor radios late at night .


So thank you for the music Guys, as it has brought me nothing but pleasant memories."


What a wonderful write-up ! Thanks 'Win !

Early Years 2

Jimmy and The Tornadoes! This was the late fifties when young Ashari was lead guitarist for the then top band in Kuching. We used to tune in to "Make Thine Music" hosted by Mr. Rock Kuek to listen to Jimmy belting out Cliff Richard songs. Their theme was "40 Miles of Bad Road" which can easily be heard now on YouTube played by Duane Eddy. What memories does this bring you ? What were you doing then ? Who were you with ? Remember the greasy hairstyle kept in place with "Yardley Pomade" or "Himalayan Bouquet" . Tony Curtis curls and Elvis "Curry Puffs" and "Duck Tails" were in fashion. Girls wore Pony Tails and Can Can Skirts !



Well, talk about early....that's Frank and me and a friend posing with "Runaround Sue". It was 1962 and we were working in Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Brunei. The Bike was a 350c.c. Triumph Tiger and was named after Susie H. The crush hadnt rubbed off yet.
That's it for now. If any of yous want to have your stories posted dont hesitate to let us know. We will include you in the contributers list.
Cheers !

p.s. For more info on Runaround Sue watch this YouTube link :-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c49klxPex-k

Early Days

Just to jumpstart this very new Blog I shall be posting photos of our early days at St. Joe's to lure the rest of yous into visiting often. Frank and I know that there is a "treasury" of stories and memories locked up in the brains of the rest of yous and we wish you would share them. William (Dirty Goose) appears to have the sharpest ability for retrieval of data from his memory banks so we await his input. Ewin has a way with words. With him on board, this could become the best St. Joe's blog of them all.

Please take note that NOTHING personal will be published without the permission of the subject or subjects. Photos will be posted with discretion....Eg "The Laksa 3-Some" and "Young Mr. Babu". It would be most ideal if everyone contributed. The "Keyword" here is DISCRETION.

Here goes :-

Somebody sent this in an e-mail but I forget who. This must be a Six Form Class in 1962 as I seem to be missing. We need some assistance with identification here please fellas. I see Brother Edwin and Brother Hilary, Mr. Polycarp Sim, Mr. Poh.

There isnt any zooming feature at Blogspot but I shall try and magnify this for a later posting.

Signing off now but I shall be back.

Laksa Foursome

The title of this post suggests a foursome but only three handsome guys are in the picture. The fourth, yours truely, was the one behind the camera.

This establishment is somewhere along Palm Road, opposite to the Mirama Plaza.

As I said before the Laksa is the bestest in the

world. The Col. had a second helping of the gravy.

After Laksa we went to Pete's Pad to look at his

Banana.......which appeared to be his pride and joy. When we saw his garden we realised why he was so proud of it . He had three groups of the

Cavendish variety of Bananas which was growing

very well. When we left we had him promising to

cut a couple of young plants for us to cultivate in

our gardens as well.

(Left) A Photo of the Real McCoy !

Young Mr Babu

I'm here, so what's keeping yous ?

Hey Frank ! Thanks for allowing me to be a contributor to this Blog. It was ok for me because I have already got a gmail account which is b.t.w. david.aka.wayland. If any of you becomes fed up with teewrex you can also reach me at david.aka.wayland.

I am not going to add anything else at this juncture but I must say that the get together at Ewin's on 09-10-10 was really great. I got to see many more classmates whom I had not seen for over 40 years. There was Kueh Hong Siong, Lim Kim Hui, Gerald Lee, Raphael Nissom, Anthony Ramanair, Datuk Wong and of course Col. Hj. Sharkawi Hasbie, Khun Jian and Alan Chan.

Pete Kuek took us out to have the bestest Laksa in the Universe but I hear tell there are other joints which also boast of being the bestest in the Universe. Ok, most of yous know by now that I am inclined to exagerate so let's just say...bestest Laksa in the World.

As the other guys start joining in and become "FOLLOWERS" of this Blog please remember to follow "PRIVATELY". Otherwise, like in facebook, all your contacts and their profile will be viewed by other contacts who are not in this group...whether invited or not.

Hope to see more of yous soon !

At ERAMA October 9, 2010

Still very good looking ... 50 years later! Would be even better if Amoi was here.