Retired Nightingales "Kupi2" (coffee) Diary

Why do you think it's crucial for good friends who can "click" to meet up for coffee/tea regularly especially at an old age? Research has  proven that sincere friendships are known to extend a person's life, prevent loneliness and minimise high risk in mental and physical health. 

The day I retired, Sharifah was still working but we still hang out at my garden home during weekends when time permits. Initially in 2019,  it was just Sharifah and me.

Getting out of our house meeting good friends gave us the opportunity to look good by making an effort to dress up, as this may help improve our morale at our age. It lifts our mood and makes us happier.

Compared to staying at home and let the days go by, day by day without any changes thus taking life for granted. This could lead us to no motivation or purpose to live the rest of our life. Most of us, as grandma`s already have had their purpose planned on the day they retired and that is, to take care of grand kids full or part time.

Part time baby sitting.😅

 Some may start a hobby or learn new things that they like. Others may want to continue working as part time. I have known a dedicated midwife, Theresa J. whom I had worked with, in Singapore, in 2012. She continued working until she was 82 yrs old.

Theresa J.

 All the consultants and patients, including me, salute  and gave her our respect. One consultant told me she was the same midwife who helped his mother delivered him into this world and gave him his 1st bath after he was born 😂

Nurses and Midwives are a very important team in the health care organisation. The day we were sworn in as Nurses, after reading our pledge (like the army and police) to fulfil our duties to serve our people and country, we had made so many sacrifices. One of the common sacrifices was not able to celebrate with family on certain festive seasons such as New year, Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, or Christmas. We had to be on duty even on these days, unless we are lucky enough to be given off days to celebrate with family. I remember I had to work every Chinese New Year for 8 years and as junior nurses, we even sang Auld Lang Sye during a quiet night in the ward with patients who can't sleep when the clock strike at 12midnight. The hardest was when our family members were sick, we can't care for them but we had to care for the sick in the hospital. When we started having our own family, it takes a lot of understanding and patience in the family who is a member as a nurse. Despite all these hardships, we persevered  and felt it's worth the sacrifice because it was very rewarding with the sense of happiness to see each patient get well or thank us for taking care of them. That kind of wonderful feeling is not easy to describe but it is something money cannot buy. 

During our retirements, Sharifah and I will always find opportunities to meet up at most weekends for "Kupi 2".

When Sharifah retired, she was to be free only at most weekends because of grandkids' commitments. Same goes to Jennifer .

Initially it was only Sharifah and I in the "Kupi 2" gang.

Jennifer then became the 3rd of our gang of three, only reconnected with us early this year, 2024 when we met again during our visit to our previous Matron of our training days, at a nursing home. The 3 of us "clicked" so well and that's how we became the "3 Musketeers." 😂

The 3 Musketeers in disguise😎. 

We dont want the paparazzi chasing us.🤣🤣

 Jennifer was 5yrs my senior while Sharifah, was 3 yrs my junior during our nursing careers in the 70's.

The 1st time I met Jennifer was during my training days where she was already a trained staff nurse at the the Male Surgical ward and  Sharifah, during our night shift at the female medical ward. At that time, Sharifah was in her 1st year while I was in my 3rd. I never forget the story of how innocent Sharifah was, about the dream of a patient whom we both looked after. 😂 

We three had achieved our ambitions. Both of them had climbed the ladder of promotion while I went abroad to pursue my nursing career in various international countries. 

These 2 ex colleagues were very important friends to me, especially Sharifah. We have known each other for so many years and have a lot in common. We had worked together, studied together and been my room mate during our teaching course. Our bond deepened and we became Best Friend Forever.

Even when I had gone abroad, we always keep in touch and on every return, we always made an effort to meet. Good old friends can help us evolve in many ways.

Good old friends really matters to me because they already know our strength and weaknesses and vice versa. They love us for who we are, thus you don't have to pretend something who you are not. Whenever we meet for "kupi 2" we always have endless topics to talk or discuss. 

Our regular "kupi 2" place is usually the Fook Yuen Putatan branch. Most of the time, after "Kupi2", we will continue our happy activities to some where such as visits to various nursery to admire or buy flowers that catch our eyes.

Economy noodles with fried egg and brinjals in Banana leaves.

Breakfast a Fook Yuen. 
We brought our own "Deringin leaf" to create the old school style atmosphere. 

Even the waitress was amazed by their look and smiles for us.😍

Fried noodles with fried brinjal and egg served in a "Deringin leaf" , Old school style.

I can't remember when plastic came to use in Sabah but I still remember in school in 1970, a plain fried noodles wrapped in "Deringin" leaves for 5 cents was still available. Every morning I had 10 cents pocket money to buy a packet of plain fried noodle and a lolly ice during recess time at the school canteen .

I like these Deringin leaves so much because they bring memories of our younger days where plastic had not come to life yet. Knowing that I suddenly missed those "deringin leaves",  my BFF gave me one to plant as she has so many of them at her back yard that grows on it's own.

 Kupi2 by the riverside. 

While picnicking, we also collected some beautiful river stones to take home.

Reward of our river stones collection for my little garden😍

Celebrating our birthdays of the year.

 Each candle represented X No of years. Ha Ha..We are not telling "How many"😂

Breakfast at Kopi Ping Cafe in Papar.

Our Fulfilling breakfast

Our favourite spot for breakfast in Papar

After "Kupi2" we went to various nursery to browse and admire flowers and plants

Jennifer admiring the amusing bushy plants

To buy or not to buy that plant😄

Negotiating the prices of plants we planned to buy.

We, being locals in Sabah used the word "Kupi2"(coffee) which means meeting up friends for breakfast or teatime. It was a new slang used locally here around the year 2016. The word "Kupi2" came from KupiKupiFM, Sabah's first community - driven radio station. Since then that word "Kupi 2" became very popular.  You can hear this word everywhere in our community, especially among the youngsters.

In West Malaysia, "Yam Cha" is more commonly heard. While those who speak English use, as usual, tea or coffee time .

Our regular weekend breakfast together has created a wonderful happy memorable gathering because we three have so much to share, such as our happy funny stories of our nursing experiences, our cute metaphor of words and laughter, love for nature - green plants, flowers and many more. The point is, we easily with fun, share our moments together. That helps us to call ourselves and declare us to be the "Retired Healthy Nightingales".

 It's a blessing to have good friends like us, who are still able to get up and about, enjoy  breakfast, chat, and so on. I pray to God to bless us with many more "Kupi 2" sessions to come 🙏 "

Reference:

Kupi2 FM

Friendship : Rao, S (2024)

Old age friendship benefits : Aetna (2024)

Why old friends matter : J Geronto B. Psychol.Sci. Soc. Sci (2020)

A lovely lunch at "Secret Garden" !

When we were in High school, our classmates were like  brothers and sisters during our school days. 

The moment we all left High School in 1976 (48 years ago), each of us had our own plans of what we wanted to be. Some lucky ones continued to college or university, while others started working for a living. Each of us, so young had no real idea what the future held for us.

I thank God for letting me live to this age to be able to see my old classmates again. 

Some whom I don't even really mix with but after 48 yrs, it's refreshing to meet each other again and reconnect . We have all changed and are not as we were in 1976. We have matured, and became more understanding and respectful. Most of us become grandparents to our kids.

2023 - The Reunion of junior high school 1973

  Our school reunion is mainly to share our experiences and stories. During this sharing, we also learn from each other, things we were not aware of before and one of them was about the "Secret Garden" by David. 

A few of us were curious about this "Secret garden" so, on the 6th Nov 2024, I went with Christie, Richard and David for a visit to this Secret Garden Cafe, Penampang. True enough, I felt it was worth a visit. It has a beautiful garden with a fully airconditioned Non-Halal Cafe, run by a Taiwanese lady. 

This place also caters for functions like weddings, birthdays and other events

Opening hours is 12noon to 8pm but closed every Tuesday.

Food needs to be ordered and paid at the counter.
It's advisable to order your food before you settle down on a chair in comfort because the food will take a while to arrive and the Cafe only accepts cash or boost/transfer online. No credit cards accepted. 😅 

For teatime, they have delicious cranberry scones and cookies 

to go along with a cup coffee or tea.

Let's meet Earl Grey💓
He's the most attractive cat in the Cafe. 
The owner not only loves nature but obviously an animal lover especially of cats.

Look at him! He has found a chair to his liking right next to us all😂

Tips jar for the cats "9 Lives saving!"

At the back yard, there also a "cats and dogs" grooming service.
There is also a dog hotel so in case you wanna go on holiday, here you can leave your pets, at a cost.

Our most pleasant lunch gatherings at Eva Secret Garden Cafe:-

Ice  Lemon  Honey : Rm12 
Very suitable to quench our thirst for a hot humid afternoon.

Iced Lemon Passion fruits. 

The sweetness and tardiness of this fruit drink is very refreshing. 

Their signature dish
 Taiwan Braised Pork Rice : Rm15 
Christie and I ordered this.
Richard also ordered this but in noodle version.
Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of his particular order.😅

A scrumptious meal at lunch.

An irresistible all in one bowl dish that has braised pork belly, hard boiled eggs, with  2 slices of pickles. So Yummy😋😋
I once made this kind of dish which is so easy to make and very delicious by following one of the utube "Souped up" videos. But eating in this kind of conducive environment  and good company makes it even up to "5 stars"😂

Melted in your mouth Chinese  Braised Pork Belly.

David ordered Golden Crispy Chicken Rice : Rm18

All the dishes looked so delicious and I wished I could try them all but my eyes are bigger than my belly, so I can only make do with a bowl of braised pork in rice.😁

Taiwan Pork Dumpling : Rm 15 

After that, I ordered another plate of dumplings as snacks 😋
If you are used to eating Shantung Pork Dumpling then be prepared that this dumpling is completely different in taste and the skin texture, unlike the Shantung version.

Passion fruit yogurt as dessert  : Rm12 

Self service plates and cutlery

The garden is so well maintained with so many beautiful flowers. 

Abutilon Striatum (Red Vein Indian Mallow) also known as Chinese Lantern flower.
Of all the flowers, I was fascinated most by this flowers because of it's unique appearance. The first time I saw this flower was in 2019 when I visited the garden of a friend (Ms Wong). At that time, my phone camera was not as high tech so i did not have a high quality, crisp image as today.

According to google, Abutilon Striatum is native to South America. 

 An evergreen shrub and the flowers bloom for months. 

 It is a desirable plant ideal as wall shrub, and looks very pretty when planted in containers.

It is easy to care for and grows well in full or partial sunlight, on a well drained rich moist soil.

The plant can grow up to15 feet and about 4 feet wide but with regular pruning to maintain the ideal height of 4-5 feet. To make the plant bushier, pinch off the branch tips.

It has an orangy red colour, bell shaped, and the petals look like red veins. 

This photo was taken by David with his fancy high tech phone camera.

Beautiful shots by David.

 My first impression of this flower was, it looks like Cinderella's puffy dress😂

  

There are also a good varieties of hibiscus but I only took photos of the purple and yellow ones which I have not seen before.

Purple Hibiscus

Orangy yellow hibiscus

Orangy hibiscus at the car park

Costus Spiralis also known as ginger spiral.

White Bougainville

Beautiful Orchids.

Periwinkles

There are many more beautiful flowers and plants which I don't know their names such as this.

Another beautiful unique flower

 At the back yard, there are a few rooms as homestay for guest. I managed to contact Eva for the room rates. 

Standard room Rm120 per night (2pax)

Family room Rm 210 per night (4 pax) 

Check in : 2pm 

Check out : 12pm

A brief glimpse of the interior of the home stay . 
It is a very clean peaceful homestay. 

For more information, you may call the number of the owner shown in this card.

I have snapped a few of their items here to give you an idea what they have in that cafe. 

Snack menu 

Pasta Menu 

Smoothies 

Fancy Drinks 

Mocha Varieties

We ended up enjoying this homely lovely place for 3 hours with lunch, including a short tour around the garden, even though it was a hot day. It has a conducive environment that made us all very relaxed and comfortable.

Kudos to David. 👍 Because of him, we discovered this hidden gem in our own hometown. 

 I  can tell based on our conversation, laughter and sharing our stories, we all really enjoyed our lunch. It seems our chatter was so interesting that Richard commented about the "criss cross conversation" that makes us all laugh. What he meant by that, Well, we need Richard to tell you about it. 😂 It was indeed a beautiful memorable afternoon lunch gathering.

Thank you David, Richard and Christie for making our lunch time such a wonderful experience and a memorable one. 🙏