The Playground...

Saturday morning and like clockwork my brain wakes up early morning than the rest of me.

As usual the house will be lively and running with the kids, a day care centre for the nieces and nephews. I can already hear some rants and screams as I woke up in bed this morning. They get up to their usual antics; the older ones sits infront of the computer screen playing the battle combat and the sort, if not playing with their latest psp or mobile phones while the smaller kids would be running in and out of the house giving a good workout for their amahs.

Kids nowadays are accessible to the things that is considered a rarity and expensive 10/15 years ago. I remember back then in the 1990's, mobile phones cost the bomb and to register a line u need to produce a bank's guarantee. I remember dragging my mum to DST just to get a line. On top of that the size and weight was that to a brick. A good size weapon you would use if ever you were attack by stray dogs.

Also back then, after school day would be spent at the house watching animal kingdom or Big Bird on Sesame's Street or the locally produced 'Kap-kap Udang' with si-Manis the bee, our version of Barney's. Remember that? I'm sure if I rummage through the store room, I can find the VHS tape of that programme. I wonder if they have it on You Tube?

Oh and at that time they were only two channels, one RTB and the other RTM.

They were non of these video games what-so-ever, back then I remember owning the zoo animal figurines set, the kind of Made-in-China ones which you can find at the economy shops now. Play time with the cousins were role play and imagination, playing house under the dinning table and combat using water pistols. Imagine the look of my mum when the house furniture and curtains was soaking wet.

No malls or anything like what we have now, back then I remember Klasse Jaya and Emporium in Bandar.

The best times was probably the time when we got our own bike, a means to cycle out of the house's compound and explore the jungle nearby. I also love going to my grandparent's farm and orchard, picking rambutans, durians, feeding chickens and goats. I always want to help herding back the goats in evening It was so much fun. My grandfather use to have a herd of water buffalos or as we called it locally as Sapi. I remember him said that if you wear a red shirt the sapi would run after you. I wonder if thats true?

That was back then, the good old days.....