When I visited the village some 21 years ago, we stayed at this old house. We had arrived too soon to move into the new home not far away. The new house (mentioned in the earlier post) was at the final stages of construction. The old house above had no proper plumbing and thus no proper toilets or bathrooms. It was primitive.
The toilet was to the left of the house at the front; near where my Mum's helper was standing in the photo. It was basically a largish hut with a large hole in the ground. There was a plank going across for users to do their business by perching precariously on it. First time users were requested to not look down to avoid falling in. We were lucky that we visited in Winter and the smells weren't that bad.
Today the old primitive toilet has been filled in and the hut removed. No human lives in the old house anymore. My Aunt and my cousin moved over to the new house not long after my first visit. Only one of my cousin's 4 children still live there with him. My 'nephew', his wife and 2 kids live there part time. As for this old house, only the trusty water buffalo lives there now. When I was there to take photos, I didn't venture in to see it. I was not really keen to make animal friends in China. I just hope that he has had a relatively good life. At the new house, the family pet dog is kept on the roof to prevent him from getting dognapped for stew.
Behind the old house, half way up the hill is the final resting place of my Aunt. There are no cemeteries. People just look for the best spot to bury their love ones. Best spot according to Feng Shui. My Aunt passed away in early 2010. I only met her once. She looked quite like my maternal Grandma. She too could have been a Malaysian...
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