My home in Temerloh

I grew up in a small town named Temerloh in the state of Pahang. We lived in Taman Bahagia and our neighbours included a lovely old couple (whose grand daughter from KL used to come and stay and I remember speaking to her in Mandarin, though I can't speak it now!), a noodle seller (who also sold ice cream - the kind that you put some cordial in a long plastic bag, tie it up and freeze it), and a coffee seller (as I write this I can almost smell the aroma of local coffee being grounded).

Across the road was the home of my good friend Fiona and her family (parents, 4 brothers and her). Her neighbour had a cheeky young son who used to climb over our house wall to steal custard apples from our tree. My parents caught him once but his "they're so delicious, uncle, aunty" saw him go scot free. 

My mom taught at the secondary school, Sekolah Menengah Jalan Bahagia which was almost walking distance from our home but I think she used to drive anyway. The primary school, SRK Jalan Bahagia was also walking distance from our home but in the other direction. 

Home was a single story link house with a large airwell. There were 4 rooms; one for my parents, one I shared with my nanny, a music room and another storeroom at the back next to the kitchen. 

The airwell was my playground. On weekends Dad would blow up the inflatable pool and I'd play in it, sometimes with my backdoor neighbour's sons Kay-Sen and Kay-Vin. I used to like spinning too and would spin round and round until I got dizzy.

Taman Bahagia was a great place because all my friends lived within walking distance and we were constantly in each other's homes or walking to the local shops together to buy sweets or snacks.

We lived there till I was about 8 and we moved to Kaparga Garden which was like the other side of town. How sad I was to leave my friends, even though I would still see them in school. 

The house in Kaparga Gardens was larger, a semi-D bordering the jungle and swamp. And it had an upstairs! I remember running up and down a lot in the beginning as it was so exciting to have an upstairs. It had a large garden too and Dad grew orchids on the side and at the back we grew vegetables and herbs like lemongrass. We attempted to grow papaya trees once but the monkeys came and grabbed them all. We used to play badminton in the garden in the evenings when the weather had cooled down. 

How about you? Where did you live? Tell us about your home ...