26 Mar 2010 – Memories from 1973

The first time I set foot here was in 1973. Brother Lawrence & his wife Mabel were having combined bday party for their sons John & Larry. They had a pool with a slide and the children were having a blast sliding into the water. John HALD, my children’s father was one of the life guards. Was observing this sweet Japanese girl who was at the side of the pool carefully taking in all the excitement. She then timidly climbed up the stairs to the slide and looked apprehensive before sitting down on the slide, still have a picture which I took of her sliding down. The moment she landed in the water, I knew she could not swim. Thank goodness John, being over 6′ could stand on the deepest end of the pool, and he picked her up after my frantic yelling to him. Memories of this incident flashed back with a recent sad and tragic swimming pool accident.

Found KCH to be charming and delightful then and still do. Have been a couple of time since 1973 and will be returning. Was hoping to travel on to Sibu & Sarikei to do more research on the bank but seems like time is not on my side for this trip, so will stay around to catch up with family & friends who are important for me. The delicious KCH laksa is one of the must-try dish when in KCH. Coincidentally, all of Mabel’s siblings are here visiting and like us she also has 6 siblings and a chance for a Kodah moment should not be missed! The picture of me is with one of Mabel’s niece, Angelina ONG who will be moving to Belgium next week. Good Luck to her.

To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward – Margaret Fairless Barber