The Blackpool Reunion 2014 Slide Show

Our reunion night has come and gone.

For me, personally, that was one unique and fulfilling experience.

Never would I have imagined that, thirty-three years after leaving Blackpool, I would be joking around and bear-hugging with my old friends and seniors again.

Looking around the packed hall that night, I can safely guess that it was one very happy experience for all.

When I went to Blackpool all those years ago, I was just too happy to be on a long journey to the land of the Mat Sallehs. It was more like an adventure to the country which gave the world the Beatles, the nation whose king and queen I'd seen on the old Malayan coins when I was small.

I came back home a wee bit wiser and a tad more mature. But otherwise, I was just ready to work. Simply cari makan.

But during the reunion, it dawned upon me that I am part of a special group of people who share a common background; which is the opportunity of being shaped by the Blackpool experience.

Suddenly, I found my small self in the company of some illustrious and passionate professionals, academics and entrepreneurs with clear missions. And hey, I have found new friends, too. A new family. The Blackpool Clan.

So all those gallivanting about at the Pleasure Beach was not a waste after all.

As they say, there is a reason for everything. And Allah knows best.

Sorry, I digress.

The main reason for this posting is just to upload the powerpoint slide show from the reunion night so that everybody can view it at his/her own convenience, and in the comfort of one's home (or office?).

Salam ukhuwah and happy memories, brothers and sisters.

Jemputan Kenduri Kahwin Anak Dato' Dr Roslan

Sukacita dimaklumkan bahawa ahli Alumni Blackpool Tech, sahabat kita Y.Bhg. Dato’ Dr Roslan Taha, akan mengadakan kenduri kahwin anak lelaki beliau in 3 months time.

Sehubungan itu, beliau dengan hormatnya ingin mempersilakan semua tuan/puan warga Blackpool Tech Alumni suami/isteri sekeluarga ke majlis perkahwinan tersebut seperti berikut:

Tarikh    :               24 September 2011 (Sabtu)

Masa       :               8 malam

Tempat  :               Klana Resort, Seremban

Menurut Dato’ Dr Roslan, kad masih belum siap lagi (on the way). Tetapi beliau mohon supaya semua  kita untuk block our diaries. And please also confirm (tentatively) your attendance either through this blog or di Facebook X-Blackpool group.

Datang, jangan tak datang!!

Boleh kita sambung sembang about Blackpool days.

Sekian dimaklumkan.

Remember Fine Fare?

Saya masih ingat lagi semasa baru sampai di Blackpool dahulu para seniors telah memberi tunjuk ajar on how to survive di negara asing - more specifically, how to live in Blackpool.

Kami beruntung kerana mendapat seniors yang rata-rata sangat baik hati dan prihatin. Roslan, Roshid, Majid, etc. etc. thank you so much.

Kami ditunjuk bagaimana hendak menaiki bas ke College. Di mana untuk membeli pakaian panas, membuka akaun bank di Barclays Bispham, dan yang lebih penting lagi, di mana untuk membeli bekalan makanan.

Untuk membeli makanan, awal-awal lagi saya dan beberapa rakan telah dibawa ke Fine Fare di Talbot Rd. Kenapa Fine Fare? Ini adalah kerana hanya di Fine Fare sahajalah kita boleh membeli beras dalam kampit yang besar-besar untuk memenuhi selera perut Melayu kita.

Selain dari itu, Fine Fare juga menjual pelbagai barang keperluan under one roof dan harganya sangatlah berpatutan. The other reason is of course kerana ia terletak bersebalahan stesen bas di Talbot Road. Easy transportation.

Semasa melawat Blackpool baru-baru ni saya dapati supermarket kesayangan kita tu dah diganti dengan operator lain. Syarikat Fine Fare dengar cerita dah bungkus!

Tetapi satu lagi tempat tumpuan kita untuk membeli barang masak masih lagi berdiri teguh. Malah ianya sekarang lebih cantik dan bersih dari dulu - masih ingat lagi Abingdon St. Market?

The car park above Fine Fare

Fine Fare back then

Gambar terbaru bangunan ex-Fine Fare

Gambar terbaru Abingdon St. Market

Kampong Blackpool revisited

Salam semua.

Weekend ni saya agak sibuk sikit. Petang ni nak kena pergi keroje la pulak. Hai...ingatkan dah makin tuan ni bolehlah rileks sikit. Tapi nampaknya...

Jadi untuk habuan kawan-kawan semua, minggu ni saya ambil jalan mudah. Saya nak jemput (kalau sudi la) tuan/puan untuk tengok  suatu catatan lama di blog saya sahaja.

Ianya berkenaan pengalaman "balik kampong" saya ke Blackpool pada Disember lepas.

Sila klik di sini untuk membacanya. TQ.
.

The Blackpool beach

Beautiful sunset at Blackpool beach near the North Pier. Photo taken during recent visit to Blackpool last December

One of my favourite places in Blackpool is without a doubt the beach. Blackpool boasts a long beach and beautiful beach.

Nothing like our Semenanjung east coast beaches, of course. More like Port Dickson, I would say, air agak keruh. Cuma it is not as muddy as PD.

When the tide is out, you have over a kilometer of flat clean sandy beach to walk to the sea. You can see seagulls swirling above, whilst shells and starfish litter the beach after a storm.

The sunset is absolutely stunning. As a budding shutterbug masa tu, it was a frequent photographic subject of mine.

But come winter, the storms that thunder in from the Irish Sea could scare the hell out of you.

I wonder if anybody else finds the beach as interesting as me. May be some of us boys would find it especially a convenient place to hang out during the summer untuk “cuci mata”?

But the sisters? Dia orang semua takut air. I bet - during their whole two-year stay in Blackpool, none of them ever set foot on the beach and got their feet wet in the cold water.

Arrival in Blackpool

The Marlowe Hotel call card which I recieved from the B&B owner 32 years ago. This is where I first put up upon arriving in Blackpool

I arrived in Blackpool by coach from London on a chilly September afternoon in 1979. We took the coach from London and stopped over at Woking to drop some other students there first before proceeding north-west to Blackpool.

If memory serves me right, there were fifteen of us. Our first stop was the College at Ashfield Road to report to the Overseas Students Coordinator. From there some of us were taken to a hotel (bed& breakfast) called the Marlowe Hotel, at No. 12, Pleasant Street.

We stayed there for a couple of nights at before we could move into our own rented flats yang dicarikan oleh the College officers.

Saya tinggal di No. 4 CheltenhamRd.  bersama Safie, Hussein dan Farouk. College pilih rumah ini kerana dari sini mudah untuk ambil bas ke college. Apparently, as I discovered during the recent gathering, some of our super-seniors pun tinggal di Shafstbury Ave. juga.

Jalan kaki pergi sekolah

Yours truly, Khalid dan Majid on the way balik ke rumah di Nobreck dari Kolej

Masa di Blackpool saya tinggal di Norbreck bersama Ghani, Hamidin, dan Shaari. Sebelumtu some seniors were there: Rashid, Majid, dan ??

Bagi sesiapa yang tak tahu, tempat ini lebih atas lagi (ke utara) dari Bispham. To be exact, it is located in Thornton-Cleveleys.

Group yang tinggal di sini semuanya berfikiran praktikal dan berjimat cermat - some would say kedekut, tapi takpalah tu apa dia orang nak kata. Dengan tinggal di Norbreck ni, kami tak perlu naik bas untuk ke kolej. Cuma jalan kaki aje.

Dari rumah ke kolej hanya 15 minit by foot. Tapi time peak winter bila mana angin ribut dari Irish Sea membadai pantai Blackpool, it can take us 20 to 25 minutes! Masa tu barulah rasa menyesal pulak duduk di Nobreck ni. Perjalanan pergi-balik dari kolej ibarat macam trekking trip ke North Pole!

But all in all, it was a nice place to stay. Macam-macam jenis kedai ada berdekatan dengan rumah - fish & chips, Spar convenient stuore, grocer, post office.  Bila nak pergi town centre atau ziarah kawan-kawan di Hodgson Road atau Warbreck Hill, the tram station is just down the road.

The walking trip to and from college is also a pleasant walk (apart from winter time). So what more can you ask for?