A FAREWELL GATHERING FOR PEOPLE WHO WERE PROMOTED AND SENT AWAY TO OTHER SCHOOLS

26TH NOVEMBER 2021 ~ A gathering was organized by the male ex-colleagues of SMK Taman Universiti to bid farewell to a few people who were promoted and went away to other schools.

A few people who had retired or being transferred to other schools/places were also invited to the meeting. The chosen venue this time was Fatin Barakah Tomyam Seafood at Taman Selesa Jaya.

the early birds

Food was not only delicious but also in abundance. Plates of dishes were already streaming in even before the guests had arrived.

As usual, there were the speeches and prize-giving ceremony before the group photos were taken.

The three people who were the guests of honour were:

1) Mr. Saiful Azizi Mohd. Yassin, now the Principal of SMK Kompleks Abu Bakar.

2) Mr. Norali Abdullah, now the GKMP of SMK Mutiara Rini.

3) Mr. Masrizal Sayute, now the GKMP of SMK Gelang Patah.

I was glad to be still invited for this kind of event even though I have already left the school for more than 7 years. More and more people are moving away, but the remaining colleagues are still doing a great job keeping us together as a family.

I would definitely say "no" for the chance to meet up with old friends.

THE LAST MILESTONE OF MY SERVICE

Some teachers of Johor Bahru District were called to Johor Bahru District Education Office this morning to receive their promotion letters to higher grades - either to DG52 or DG54.

I was glad to be seated beside Pn. Hajah Zainab Mohamed, an ex-colleague of SMK Taman Universiti, Johor Bahru so I had a friend to talk to.

There was a short talk given by the Head of District Education Officer, for about an hour, before the letters were surrendered to their rightful owners.

There were a group of ex-colleagues of SMK Taman Universiti and we managed to gather for a group photo before leaving.

After the 28-year service, I have now reached the last milestone of my career and this should be the highest grade I am entitled to before retiring [soon].

THE PRE-BENCHMARKING ACTIVITY

21ST NOVEMBER 2021 ~ Before going for the bench marking visit to SMK Tanjung Adang, my colleagues [of SMK Dato' Jaafar] and I had other plan prior to the main activity.

 We decided to get our lunch first at Restoran Yeo Bersaudara. It was everybody's first time there [except me] and one thing for sure, they were impressed with the view surrounding the "floating" restaurant.

I guess everyone enjoyed the food, and some people might come back there some other time. A benchmarking trip could not be so bad after all, especially when the tummies were already filled with delicious food.

GETTING MY ORIGINAL TERENGGANU LAKSA FROM AN EX-COLLEAGUE

25TH NOVEMBER 2021 ~ Puan Rohani Shamsuddin, an ex-colleague of SMK Taman Universiti, was here in town, visiting her daughter. She was kind and thoughtful enough to cook Laksa Terengganu and invite me over for lunch. I marched off to this new housing estate called Pulai Mutiara right after school.

Her original plan was to invite more ex-colleagues of SMKTUN over. Unfortunately, most of them could not make it this time.

Puan Zainab Mohamed managed to turn up later in the evening as she is teaching in the afternoon session.

Thanks a lot Puan Rohani, who is more like a sister now, for her generosity. I am looking forward to meeting her later when she comes to Johor Bahru again in the future.

COFFEE SESSION AT KOPI POJOK 77 TO CONCLUDE THE ROADTRIP

19th NOVEMBER 2021 ~ The last pit stop of the road trip was this restaurant which bore the name of a coffee stall "KOPI POJOK 77". The eating place was located in Benut, Pontian and when we arrived there at 4:00 p.m., it was still not opened yet. Since we were already there, we decided to just wait [and hang out like teens at one spot somewhere else] until 5:00 p.m. and came back to that place.

There must be something special about this place as it went viral on the internet. That should be the factor that contribute to our patience and determination to wait for the restaurant to start operation.

Then there was someone whom I recognized sitting with his friends in the dining area. I guess I had not met my ex-student of SMK Taman Universiti, Mr. Huzaifah Abd. Rahim, for quite some time and here we met outside the city.

 The place must have opened before 5.00 as there were already people eating when we arrived.

The main attraction was definitely the coffee, I supposed. You could order food from the main kitchen or there was another stall nearby where you could get your soup. At the same time, if you are looking for something light, there were varieties of Malay kuih [sweet (mostly) cakes, usually eaten as dessert] available.

The signature dish would be the special  Char Kuey Tiaw which cost RM10. Correct me if I am wrong. 😊

I must say, I like the ambience of the place very much as diners were not confined behind the four walls. It looked spacious and airy - would be suitable for people coming in a large group.

The coffee session should wrap up our road trip JB - Yong Peng - Batu Pahat - Benut - Johor Bahru. Thanks to my friends of SMK Dato' Jaafar for organizing this outing session and hopefully we could do this again some other time - most probably next year.