Reunion Dinner in Kuching 3 April 2011

The 2 'Singaporeans' namely Edward Tan Teck Hoo and William Tay were coincidentally in town over the weekend for "cheng beng" and we took this opportunity to catch up over dinner at "The Venue" restaurant; where we chatted till well over the closing hours. It was a good thing that Pang Kia Siew (who again delivered on the choice of great food) knew the owners (it also happened that William's brother was also one of the owners!) and who also kept us all duly entertained!

Everyone talked about having a "big" get together dinner and yours truly for one is keen but I do need help from all of us to make this happen! See all the empty chairs waiting to be occupied! ;-)

See you all at the next reunion!

Chinese New Year Visiting in Kuching 2010

After visiting my house we proceeded to Anthony Bong Joon Khoi's house.

Pre Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner - Sunday 7 February 2010

When an old classmate - Lam Chui Peng (living in London now) is in town, it's as good a reason as any to get together for a good meal and yarn; and thanks to Pang Kia Siew (whale shark anyone?) who was able to deliver on both counts! ;-)

The good doctor Philip Bong won the 'fight' with our still heart-broken lawyer Lian Kee to pick up the tab and as good friends we naturally stay out of the scuffle!

It was also great to meet up with Kah Mee after more than 3 decades! With more notice we hope we can invite more of us to join in on our next dinner.

Reunion @ The Heritage Restaurant, Kuching 16 February 2009

Peng Jackman was in town and we got together for a chinese dinner at The Heritage Restaurant on the Monday night of the 16 February 2009. Lim Lian Kee (Peng's old "sweetheart!") and Lim Soh Kim arranged the dinner. Millionaire Lim Lian Kee also generously paid for the dinner despite our weak protests. (We did not want to deny him the opportunity to impress his old hearthrob.)

Also present that evening was Lau Bee Yian, Tan Suk Khim, Bong Siew Fah, Pang Kia Siew, Anthony Bong Joon Khoi, Dr Philip Bong and yours truly. We were all witnesses to the pledge with regards to the Royce Rolls! So think hard and think again Peng! ;)

Here are some of the snaps I took in between the dishes and let's see if you can put the faces to the names!

Breakfast Reunion on Thursday, 5.3.2009, 7 – 9 am

Attention: All Thomians of Sixth Form (1974-75)

RE: Breakfast Reunion on Thursday, 5.3.2009, 7 – 9 am

Venue:
C121 Food Station (new double corner shops, opposite Kuching Specialist Hospital/Goody Goody) at Lot 80 -1, Stutong, Jln Setia Raja, 93350 Kuching. 016 89 222 02

Occasion:
Visit of Angela Chan Gek Bee together with husband to Kuching from 4 – 10.3.2009.
Menu:
Choose and pick your own: Sarawak Laksa (RM3.50 to RM8), Kolo Mee (one of the best around), Dim Sum, Penang specialities, Teh Si Peng etc and plenty of smartly dressed waitresses!

Confirmed attending: Irene Lim, Francis Ho, Clarence Lei, ... Do Join Us!

You are most welcome to this casual meeting, especially if you want to meet up with Angela and family. So c ya at C121!

Thomian Reunion

27th May 2008

Dear fellow Thomian,

RE: Old Thomian Association Dinner: 160th Anniversary of St. Thomas' School on Saturday,19th July 2008, Crowne Plaza Riverside at 6.30 pm, RM80 per pax

Dr William Voon (who is organising the above dinner) sold me some tickets for the above. He requested me to disseminate this information to as many old Thomians as possible to make this a viable occasion. May be Francis Ho can also put it on the blog site. For further information and purchase of tickets, his contact is as follows:

Dr William Voon
Klinik Rakyat
No. 8, Jalan Petanak
93100 Kuching
Tel: 082-248416
e-mail: wehvoon@yahoo.com

He can arrange for the tickets to be delivered.

I look forward to seeing some of you at the dinner.

Yours sincerely



DR CLARENCE LEI CHANG MOH

Lai Mui Thin - But Not So Thin Now!

Remember "bell-bottoms"?

Lately there has been a number of emails flying around and here's the latest one. Unfortunately it's kinda hard to teach stubborn old monkeys new tricks. So I "tow hung liaow" *sigh* Blog Administrator.

Lai Mui Thin & Dr Clarence Lei smiling after a hearty laksa breakfast, 9th November 2007

Dear Old friends,

Thanks for the mails.
It is really good to meet up with good old Clarence after all these years.
At my(our) age,I have to apologise if I cannot remember all the names. If I
see the
faces, I would definitely be able to recognise all of you.
As I will be on business trip tp KL and Nanjing for the next two weeks, I
would not be able to respond to all your mail individually yet.
I will be back in the office beginning December.
If any of you are in this area, please give me a call.
Best Regards
MT Lai
Director, Manufacturing

Phone: +6072535001, Mobile: +60193381374, E-Mail: muithin.lai@basf.com
BASF (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Johor Malaysia, 81100

Softball team - who's the crazy one waving her arms to get more attention?

Hello Vera Lee!

Vera and friend

Vera Lee residing in the land of sarah-lee (Perth lah!) was in Kuching and brought along her friend for the dinner at "The Venue" restaurant for the reunion dinner with Eva Chin. The trouble with sit down dinner on separate tables is that you don't get a chance to speak to the other people who are on a different table! Perhaps it may be a better idea to get a private room and have a buffet style dinner to overcome this shortcoming.

The point of this post is that I didn't get to talk to Vera "properly" as a consequence and this is my small way of making up this slight "over-sight"! So here's a big warm hello welcome to Kuching from me and all the others who did not get a chance to speak with you! Here's wishing you a wonderful holiday in Kuching! Next time you come back, don't forget to bring back some Australian nacadamia nuts or nougats!

Vera taking photo of me taking her!

Reunion Dinner with Eva Chin in Kuching

Reunion Dinner in Kuching on Saturday,7th April 2007

Gemma and mum Eva

Getting down to the serious business of eating

Eva and daughter, Gemma is back in Kuching during the Easter holidays and Dr Clarence Lei was most kind to organise as well as host the reunion dinner. Thanks doc!

Must be health food as this is what the good doctor ordered!

More serious eating

Here are some of the photos I took between mouthful of food ... *burp* Recognise any of the beautiful and handsome faces?

Eva and Geok Lian Goes Kayaking

After some serious eating on saturday night at the "Venue" restaurant, some serious exercise is in order; in order to burn off the excess calories the next day. And what better way to do it than some kayaking with the "kayak king" in the beautiful Borneo Highlands area. And what a beautiful Sunday it turned out to be with glorious sunshine and beautiful deep blue skies.Accompanying Eva was her daughter who had been looking forward to the kayaking and Eva's younger brother Victor who was staying in the housing estate just across the road from mine. Geok Lian was a bit hesistant at first about joining in the kayaking but she was glad that she did. After all being in the same boat as the Captain is as safe and relaxing as it's going to get! Here are the photos and we wished you all were there too!

Chap Goh Mei with Jack Kho

Looking and feeling good!

Jack Kho Chin Seng and wife was back in Kuching from KL to celebrate Chap Goh Mei with his mother, brother and sister. We have not met in over thirty years.

The best belacan beehun in the world! Stop salivating now ...

We managed to catch up for belacan beehun at Song Kheng Hai Hawker Center on sunday afternoon and later adjoined for latte at bings!

Dr Phillip Bong, Francis Ho, Jack Kho

A Visit to the Doctor ...

On the second day of the Chinese New Year, some of us together with our families made a visit to the good country doctor's 'country' home! Can you guess who some of these good people are?

From boys to men! That was a very long long time ago since we all last met together ...
Bernard Loh Foh Min, Francis Ho Khee Ngee, Dr Phillip Bong Chong Soon, Ricky Ng Nyuk Min

CNY Reunion Dinner with Simon Lim

Our guest of honour from Sydney - Simon Lim with Francis and ever-smiling Edmund Song - we're all smiling actually!

Francis, Edmund Song, Dr Phillip Bong, Lim Lian Kee, Freddy Loh, Steven Tan Choon Guan, Simon Lim

CNY reunion dinner photo amongst old school mates at "Bla Bla Bla Restaurant" on the third day of Chinese New Year.

Surry Hills Gang!

Except for the absence of Dr. Phang Teck Min, all the original members of the gang who used to reside together in Surry Hills, Sydney back in the seventies were gathered at my house for a Chinese New Year visit and reunion on the second day of the Chinese New Year.

Simon Lim Poon Kiat now lives in Sydney, NSW, Australia while Ricky Ng Nyuk Min lives in Kuala Lumpur . Both are in Kuching to visit their families during this Chinese New Year. Dr. Phang promised to fly out from Bintulu to meet the rest of the gang but they were not exactly holding their breathe for this to eventuate as the love of the legal tender is more so to some of us! they guessed not as he would be going back to Miri for work tomorrow.

The members of the 'Surry Hills' Gang!

Though not part of this notorious gang - Edmund Song and Francis Ho who also studied in Sydney but were living in more respectable neighbourhoods (ahem!) were also there for the photo session!

Breakfast @ Tabuan Jaya Market

On Friday morning (12 January 2006) on the way to work I went to pick up Lim Tiong Kiat so that he could join Steven Tan Choon Guan and me for coffee at Tabuan Jaya Market which is just around the corner of Steven's house. Steven studied with us at St Thomas Secondary School until Form 5 and is now a well established contractor specialising in small to medium scale projects in Kuching. Steven's parents ran the St Thomas's Primary School Tuckshop for those of you who can still remember. We were joined by Steven's friends and Tiong Kiat has a first hand experience of what coffee-shop gossips were all about!

Steven Tan, Francis Ho & Lim Tiong Kiat 12 January 2007

Doreen, Geok Lian & Deb Meet-up in Kiasu Land

Doreen Chin met up with Geok Lian and Deborah Law (that's the order they appear in the photo above!) in Singapore on her way back to Alberta.

Here's the picture of the three pretty ladies sent to me by Deborah (who's begging asking for instruction(s) on how to post the picture to our blog ... 1. Go to NEW POST then click on the ADD IMAGE icon second from the right next to the ERASER RUBBER icon. 2. A new window will pop out with clear instructions - Add image from computer or from the web. 3. Choose IMAGE SIZE and LAYOUT and then click the orange box UPLOAD IMAGE. 4 After the LOADING is done; click on the DONE button! That's it!)

Meeting Tiong Kiat in Kuching

There was a last minute change of plans and I hurriedly informed everyone on the change of venue to Jambu Restaurant as I got out of the waters on saturday afternoon after taking the Jones from UK kayaking.

So at around 7pm on the 6th January 2007, I went to pick up Tiong Kiat from his brother's house in Tabuan Desa which is not too far from my place. I recognised him the instant I saw him as he looked exactly the same as he was thirty years ago! Well, maybe a little fatter (who isn't) but he looked good as he was really skinny before. He attributed this to the stress-free New Zealand environment ... I suspect he could be sleeping half the time at work hiding behind the supercomputers in the university where he is the system manager! He's still soft spoken, considerate and an easy air about him. An amicable and likeable person.

Our guests of honour : Tiong Kiat from Auckland and Ricky (I wanna-talk-2-u-about-insurance) Ng from Kuala Lumpur

The surprise guest was Tan Jin Chai whom Ricky contacted to join us for the dinner. Jin Chai is a tax consultant having earned his laurels at UK - Ulu Kapit, he says! Or rather from the best training school in the world - the school of hard knocks! With all that experience he is starting out on with another partner this month or so. And so we all wished him all the best. Jin Chai was with us in St Thomas until Form Five. And here he is in middle standing between Tongkat Ali and Mr Bean!

standing: Tiong Kiat, Tan Jin Chai, Lim Lian Kee
seating: Ricky Ng, Dr. Phillip Bong, Francis Ho

Except for yours truly, the rest of them had not been to Jambu before but they find the ambience to be great and the food (western and fusion) to be good but a tardy small in serving though they come in HUGE plates. We had a wonderful time chatting and relaxing and left quite late.

Edmund Song was only flying in on sunday - the day when Ricky is flying off; so we organise another meet up with Tiong Kiat on tuesday night as they had not met in over thirty long years ...

2 'ageless' guy - Tiong Kiat and Edmund Song

First we went to Kenyalang market for the fried taugeh mee and kuah tiaow (best in Kuching and some say Bau and Serian too!) afterwhich we adjourned to Tom's for drinks and cakes! *burp*

Tiong Kiat, Edmund Song & Francis Ho @ Tom's in Kuching, 9th January 2007

Reunion Dinner on Saturday, 6 January 2007 Kuching

REUNION DINNER

Guest of Honor: Tiong Kiat (Ali) hp 017-3517253 from Auckland, NZ

With special guest appearance by Ricky Ng of KL

Date: Saturday, 6^th January 2007

Time: 7.30 pm

Venue: Mian Ann Restaurant, Petanak, Kuching

* All former schoolmates & ex-girlfriends are welcomed to attend *

Pl confirm your attendance with Francis Ho hp 013-8119669

Confirmed Attendance so far:
Tiong Kiat, Ricky Ng, Francis Ho, Dr Phillip Bong, Lim Lian Kee (our femes Mr Bean himself) ...

One Fine Sunday Afternoon In Kuching

Doreen Chin, all the way from Alberta, Canada, was in town for the Marian (St Mary's School) Reunion Dinner on saturday night and Geok Lian flew in from Singapore as well for this dinner. I was not prepared to dorn a dress so I'd to forsake the dinner ... *sigh*

Anyway, Geok Lian organised a lunch get together for sunday and I being the 'kay-po' (and fussy about food - I wasn't prepared to give up my sunday kayaking for lousy food!) that I was; caused a change in venue for the meet. We met at the "Shanghai Restaurant" (top level of Loke Thian Restaurant) at noon.

standing: Tsui Pheng, Geok Lian, Francis Ho, Irene Lim, Lim Lian Kee
seated: Doreen Chin and Nancy Foo

It was a very nice dim-sum lunch and Lim Lian Kee generously picked up the bill. We suspected that he needed the receipt for his taxation purposes ... *ahem*

This is Mr. Bean , himself besides his 'funky' van-car that has space behind the back seats for prisoners or dogs! No kidding!After the very nice lunch, I invited everyone over to my house for coffee and to show them that I really do have a jetty and a river at my place! Here are the lovely ladies at the jetty.
Doreen Chin, Geok Lian, Nancy Foo, Irene Lim & Tsui Pheng.

We then went inside for coffee and freshly home-baked pastries by my wife. It's the durian season now in Kuching; and as a durian lover, I have fine 'yellow-flesh' durians (from Borneo Highlands) to offer as well which Doreen, Irene and Geok Lian said are the best they had tasted for a long time. Of course mah! Kuching durians are the bestest in the whole wide world! *burp*

Marian "Nite of the Golden Girls" -class of 73 reunion Akan Datang

Just a little 'advert" - not the longhouse brand.
The Marians class of 73 (including all class mates during the years of 63 to 73) are invited to the "Nite of the Golden Girls" on 16 December. No gate crushers eh!! but you're invited if you come in a dress.
Venue - Kingwood Inn, Kuching (of course!)
Time: 6.30 - 7pm
Dress code: Casual.

If you know of any of the golden girls who "qualify", please email to either Irene Lim or myself as we need to confirm numbers & food.

For those not able to come, do send some inspirational messages - I know em, Chui Peng, Mesa, Vera are not able to make it but planning for another one next year. So, do send something to us so that we can post it for the nite.

PS - I forgot how to do post & had to refer to the instructions by Blog Administrator in August. Thank you FH20.