Mark
Cummings
1971-1973
Gr 5X, 6a, Form 1A
Email: figjams@primus.com.au
Before
we left Amberley I can remember going in for all the needles and the ID photos
that we had to have before going overseas.
I remember flying into Malaysia
and stepping out of the plane into what was a wall of heat. I can even remember
the hostess spraying fly spray in the plane before we left.
When we first
arrived at our house at 33 Jalan Loh Poh Heng, the place was full of Dad's friends
and strangers bidding for business. In just a few hours we had chosen an Indian
Gardener and Malaysian Amah (Sally) and probably some other services. It was a
a culture shock having never been overseas before. Old friends of ours from Laverton
"the Bearmans" were there to help us settle in (hi Kerriane and Debbie).
Pretty soon we were part of the RAAF community and lifestyle over there.
Sport was a really big thing there, because mum wasn't allowed to work she was
always taking us to the Joeys club or the Hostel for fun and entertainment. The
popular food at the "hostie" was a plate of chips and sauce.
We once had an American exchange student stay with us there and mum made some
flapjacks to make him feel at home. He hadn't even heard of them which surprised
mum.
I once flew a kite from near Scout Rock and the string was that
long that it drooped down across about a dozen houses, a mere spec in the distance.
Of course it broke and was never found.
I hated the smell of Durians
(still do), and why Magnolia ever made Ice blocks out of them I'll never understand.
We weren't far from the school and the Kampongs at the bottom of our street. I
once caught a Bird Wing butterfly in my neighbours yard. It was one of those collectables
you always wanted to catch. Before we could give it the needle it got away.
Since returning from Penang, I lived in Adelaide to finish off high school.
After that I worked for Hungry Jacks for a year then a packaging company for 11
years through several name changes. After that I joined the RAAF as a Radio Technician.
Did my tech training in Laverton at RADS School of Radio for 18 months. Posted
to Tindal, NT for 4 years then Townsville where I currently reside.
My
main hobby is collecting and restoring Apple 2 and early Macintosh computers.
Finding this site has bought back so many memories and I hope to be able
to contact everyone that I knew so we can talk about how lucky we were to have
been in in Penang.