Lest I forget, 2

The house we rent was on the other side of Finsbury Park and the nearest tube station was Manor House. We still had to walk quite a long way to the house. We rented a small flatlet, that has a room with 2 beds and a small kitchen and a shared bathroom on the landing. If I am not mistaken, the flat above us was occupied by a couple of Chinese from Hong Kong. The girlfriend was a nurse and the guy was studying law. The landlady lived in the basement. The little kitchen had a table for two and a stove, with a skillet and a milk pan.

The room was heated by a heater that worked on the coin operating machine. The heater would turn off when the money was gone. So, we had to feed the coins ever so often to keep warm. The meter took a 25 cents coin if I am not mistaken, so we had to keep all our quarters handy.

One day my housemate decided to cook some vegetables with dried shrimps, and guess what happened? The landlady came screaming up the stairs and opened all the windows and doors. We decided that dried shrimps was a big no no.

On another occasion, we cooked chicken curry, and we opened all the windows and doors, but the good smelling chicken brought the landlady upstairs again to check. We offered her some, and she liked the curry and wanted my friend to teach her to cook.

After the first term, my friend decided to go and live with her brother and sister in law a little ways down the road, nearer to Wood Green. I moved to another flat nearer and within a walking distance to where my classes were at. The landlord was a little hard of hearing and lived in the basement. All the rooms in the house were rented out. The top flat was occupied by an Italian family and the rest of the rooms were occupied by students who studied around London. This house was near the Islington public Library which was just across from the Highbury tube station.

When I moved into this new place, I occupied the front room which had a bay window. It had a big bed, a big fireplace and a table and chair. It was enough for my need and I had to make do with the bare room. Later in the year, a friend from the same course joined me and rented the room above me. The kitchen and the bathroom are at the landing. We shared both the facilities with another student from Central London polytechnic.

Not much later, the family that lived in the attic flat moved out. My friend and I decided to share the flat which had 2 bedrooms and a kitchen. The room down stairs were taken by other students and one of them was a daughter of a prominent judge in Malaysia who recently got a big payout. This young lady did not stay long because the landlord did not like her social life. She brought home all kinds of people and all of them were men. I was not happy too when one morning I was going to the bathroom, a black guy popped out of the bathroom. I was glad she left. We didn't see her often because, she left the house later than us and came home late at night.

The rent was quite high for that time. We paid BP7.50 a week per head. Most Malaysian undergraduates at the time were getting about BP75 a month. Since My friend and I were getting more, we could afford to share a flat. This was no posh place, but mostly a rundown poor area in the London inner city. We had to live in the poor slum like area as our finance was limited. We lived cheaply, mostly preparing our own food or on occasion buy fish and chips. I think even now our students who are government sponsored still live in poor rundown areas outside the city. I lived in Highbury Corner for the rest of my student days in London.

Highbury Corner was near to everything for me. It was near to my classes and near to the tube station and near enough to walk to Holloway Road and Seven sisters road to shop. I usually took a bus from there to Marble Arch and walked the Oxford street when I felt bored. I think we mostly walked those time. I did not have the monthly student pass because I did not need it. I went to Malaysia Hall only a few times to eat, other than that I tried to keep away. Not very friendly people there. Most Melayu I met on Oxford street hardly had a friendly smile on their faces. Did not reply my greetings, so I just ignored them.