Hazia's Reflections

Breaking Routine

Last week, my uncle called me several times, at work too. He was trying to arrange social activities that would increase the opportunities for me to meet guys, even indirectly. A branch of his club has a gathering every Monday evenings, 7.30pm. Hmm... Mondays? Maghrib time too. I don't think I can do that, furthermore with my unpredictable work schedule.

Anyway, he was firm, nailed me to attend the next one. Attendance is by invitation only and he had spoken to a senior member of the branch. She was expecting me. Hence, yesterday evening I clocked out at 5.39pm. Since I started work 7 months ago, that was actually the first time I punched out before 5.45pm. LOL!

I arrived way too early, 6.10pm only to discover that all the F&B outlets were opened to members only. The sign said the gathering would start at 7pm, not 7.30pm. So, I walked out to an open-air food court nearby. Foreseeing a late dinner coming, I reckoned that I should get something to eat.

At 7pm, I walked back and entered the hall. A group of people were in the middle of a meeting, probably the board members. I quietly walked in to the back of the hall and sat facing the large glass windows, nice view. It was the time of the month, so I didn't have to go and look for a surau. But man, I was bored, damn bored. I wish I could just go home and chill.

Only 30 minutes later that my uncle called and asked where I was. He didn't give me the senior member's number and she saved my number incorrectly. So, she was concerned that I didn't reply her 5 sms. Nevertheless, we found each other and she introduced me to everybody. Quite a wide age range, they have outstation and overseas members visiting too. Most of the members are Indians, there were a few Chinese, I was the only Malay.

I got a jist of what they do, I think I like the CSR bit, something like what I did in the international students association that I joined while in varsity. The annual contribution for charity that they expect from each member is USD100, which is not bad actually.

She was very particular about 'my movements' too, that she should accompany me throughout. She even arranged for me to sit between a Chinese girl in her early 30s and herself at dinner. She was called to join the next table, but she made it clear to the girl that she was to take care of me. I could see why she assigned the girl, she was in Marketing and yeah, she took her assignment seriously. Topics of conversation around the table was okay, light, without anybody dominating.

Later on, the senior member insisted on sending me off herself to the cab downstairs. She asked if I could join their next meeting, even saying that I could talk to the 2 Muslim members on how they adjust their schedules during Ramadan. She even offered to take me to another branch meeting on a different day (may suits me better than Mondays). She kind of reminds me of my uncle, nail things to the butt.

An interesting question that she asked me - 'Why on earth did you move from an MNI to a government agency?' I'd be damn if I could answer that question nowadays. I just told her that 'I want to see things from a different perspective.' Well, it's just a sophisticated way of saying 'I'm crazy!' okay.

I woke up this morning feeling tired, it was almost 11pm when I got back last night. Anyway, I think the change was good.

Heaven-Sent

Wow! This is my third entry for the day, I haven't been this productive for quite some time already:)

Yesterday, God must have really pitied me because before the work-day ended, my 4pm appointment turned out to be 'heaven-sent'. Yeah, Mr Designer came to present 3 samples of the festive greeting cards that he created. Just the two of us this time, he was very attentive, a real gentleman. He politely offered to get me my drink, encouraged that I eat something, etc - everything further enhanced by his soft-spoken ways. His timidness was gone. I even texted my friend cum his boss -  'Hey, apahal si xxx ni charming terlebih pulak dah?' She replied immediately - 'Well, this is your chance, use him to make Abang I jealous'. LOL!

I could tell what a meticulous artist he is from his designs. He paid attention to details, from the paper texture and card shape to the subject and background. We got that out of the way quickly though.

Before I knew it, I started to complain about my frustration with my job (like I did on Wednesday) when I stopped myself short. "Why is it that everytime I see you, I started to complain?' He smiled, 'It's ok, maybe I can come up with a creative way to solve your problems.' Naah, I changed the topic and Voila, we embarked on a very long and entertaining conversation. He wanted to know everything about me.

I told him about my Cairo trip - my experience of going through the passageway of the Pyramid and dining by the River Nile, holidaying alone at a backpackers' hostel in Bangkok, how I would love to go back to Edinburg and Innsbruck - he likes it too, why I don't like Paris and the fact that I've never been to Bali. He was interested in my memorable past work experiences - brands & projects that I've worked on that I'm proud off until now, my enriching hotelier life, my colourful friends & ex-colleagues which inspired the characters of my stories and finally, my lunch-hour shopping... man, we even talked in-depth about fashion! Yeah, my least favourite topic.

He in turn told me about his previous job with a department store, his 90% he-she colleagues and insisting that he's not one of them and his he-she close friend who bought a pair of a pink bikini. Like me, he is the 2nd of 4 siblings - his older sister has a restaurant in Edinburg, his younger sister is a fashion designer with a well-known VIP fashion group in the city while his youngest brother is still studying in the UK. He himself graduated in Arts from a university in North Ireland.

My friend was telling me that the other day, the Designer save her day - they met her big client who happened to be a naif artist, Mr Designer understood and sincerely appreciated his work. He was very pleased. Similarly, when we met on Wednesday, Mr Designer took my book from my friend and started reading it there and then. I could tell that he was an avid reader. He was really impressed, it was flattering. He likes Sambal and Salsa:)

This guy is cultured but not in the glamorous way, he is more of a like a free spirit - you know, enjoying his company is like 'experiencing fine dining in the jungle'. He is what I would call a great conversationalist -  he's a good listener and he's genuinely interested in everything I have to say. Yeah, damn flattering, isn't it? It helped me release my tension and wind down for the upcoming weekend. I was already very relaxed when we parted ways at 6pm.

Looking back, I know I fall easily for art guys - right brainers, but I think I've learned my lesson. While we have a lot in common and we are passionate about things, that is where the similarities end. I still hold a real job and live in the real world. But then again, I won't be so quick to generalise. This guy is slightly different, mind you, he was married before and he has kids.

Reviving an Old Engine

Yesterday put me in a really bad mood, especially when my most reliable staff didn't inform me that she had to take another day of emergency leave (EL). She was already on MC for 2 days and EL for a day, her daughter was sick. I had given my 2 other staffs the day off as they had been working non-stop over 2 weekends already. To make matters worse, I was away for a launch event in the morning. It was already noon when our receptionist called to inform me that our service centre wasn't open yet, it was supposed to open at 8.30am. Yikes! Well, I rectified that and got help quickly, but I was damn lucky that none of the bosses realised prior to that. Otherwise, I could get fired.

Top that with Mr Coconut not picking up my calls. I was getting fed-up. My friend has warned me that I'd need to be really patient with her pet brother. She said it takes time for an old engine to warm up. Furthermore, he is busy tidying up the loose ends at his own factory as he is starting his new consulting job on Monday.

To cool off, I used the 2-hour Friday lunch break for shopping at Jln Tunku Abd Rahman. I needed Batik clothes as per the government servants' Thursday dress code. So, I got 3 pieces of batik materials for Baju Kurung / Baju Kedah, these would serve as Baju Raya as well if it's not too late for tailoring. I also got 2 pieces of floral Chiffon fabrics for long skirts. That entitled me to a complimentary 2-year membership card from Harrison's.

God must have really pitied me because before the work-day ended, my 4pm appointment turned out to be 'heaven-sent'...

(to be continued in next entry - Heaven-Sent)

Mixing Business with Pleasure

My advertising agent wanted to introduce her new designer to me. She asked if I have any new jobs for her company. She said the guy is cute, inteligent, a gentleman, ala-Eurasian and available.

Curious and tempted, I asked if I could just meet him, even if I couldn't guarantee a new job. She said yes, but not to tell her pet-bro, Mr Coconut, that she introduced another guy to me. Otherwise, she would really get it from him. LOL!

So, we met last Wednesday, late morning. Within 5 minutes, I could see why she didn't bother to matchmake me with him, like she did with her pet-bro. Don't get me wrong, he was all that she said, only that I felt that he is a bit soft, can be pushed around and looks young (though he is 3 years older than I am).

After our meeting, she had sneakily arranged a lunch business meeting with Mr Coconut and another man, a government top gun, at the same venue. So, the three of us didn't move. When Mr Coconut called, she mentioned that she had invited me to join them. She grimaced as he yelled at her over the phone, she cut him short by saying that her prepaid was running low. Obviously he didn't like the idea, he scolded her for mixing business with pleasure. I was about to take off when the top gun arrived. So, I was stuck. She thought of using her designer to woo me to make her pet brother jealous, but unfortunately, she didn't get a chance to brief the guy.

Mr Coconut came then. He shook hands with the 2 men but didn't with his pet sister and I. He sat at the head of the table position, we 2 women sat on one side while the other 2 men sat opposite us. We all talked. He seemed like a different person altogether, chatty on light and entertaining topics. That was a contrast to our date when he jumped from one heavy matter to another. When nobody was looking, he flashed me his wide smile, one I've seen several times. I reciprocated his smile. Okay, at least now I'm convinced that he likes me, it wasn't just his pet sister making it up:)

'Strangers' from Istanbul

After a meeting at Putrajaya on Tuesday evening, I took the KLIA transit train to the airport. I got to finally meet Blogger Simah from Turkey (http://refcobass1.blogspot.com/) for the first time. Yeah, she had been in the country for 2 months and yet I couldn't make it anytime before this. She was in my hometown Kedah for her sister's wedding. I couldn't even meet her after that in Singapore. Pre-departure was the last resort. Her flight was taking off at midnight.

I was worried that something might turn up and ruin my plan. Thank God I made it. While waiting for her to arrive, I walked around. There wasn't much to see but to my luck, Tie Rack has decorative tops on sale, free size - but it's Western's free size which is just nice for me. I grabbed 2 pieces. She called me when she arrived. I saw kids running around, I recognised her Hatice and Badin from her blog. Both of them are real lookers, Middle Eastern blood.

Then, I saw her in the queue, with a heavy trolley packed with 4 huge bags and a roll of tikar rotan. She said 1 is full of souvenirs only while another is filled with spices. (She said Halil, her Turkish husband, had already carried 1 bag filled with spices when he left 6 weeks ago). She was out of breath. She even had a knapsack filled with books - the children's summer homework. Her parents were seated while her brother stood nearby to handle the luggage. We chatted like old friends as she moved along the long queue.

We knew there would be excess baggage. She was even prepared to leave some stuff behind. I relayed my colleague's experience while departing for Cairo recently, they managed to get away with RM700 to RM900 of excess baggage. Luckily, the ground hostess took pity on her and charged only RM300 (instead of RM900). Her brother had to lift the additional luggage off the roller and put them back onto the trolley. The black one was really heavy, it took him several attempts. He wheeled the trolley away to where her parents were.

I accompanied her to pay the RM300 at another counter. They only released her ticket after that, the kids' ones were already issued earlier. Then, we met her brother and took the trolley to the excess baggage check-in counter located right at the end. My, I didn't know how complicated the whole process would be. I could imagine how tired Simah must had been, after the massive packing and all.

She said the kids were doing well, especially Hatice who was open to her environment and responded to the new experience. She could understand Malay already; give it another 2 months, she would have been able to speak the language. Badin was more reserved though. I think Hatice took after her mother. Simah herself seemed the adventurous and lively type. If not she wouldn't have dared to go and marry a stranger and live on a foreign land forever, would she?:)

She didn't want her parents to wait, so she went straight into the departure hall. It was a tough goodbye, her mother was in tears. We stood at the balcony and watched them walk in. Her mother asked how did we met. When I said through the internet, she laughed. Her parents must have gotten used to that already by now. We might not had met before, but Simah had supported me through the most difficult period of my life a year ago.

All and all, it was a nice experience. It was like having a scene from her blog coming to life:)

p/s: I forgot my camera, shall upload the pics at KLIA once I received them from Simah.

A Very Unfamiliar Territory

I just came back from a date with Mr Coconut. Yeah, finally. He was moving way too slowly.

He kept telling his pet sister who matchmade us that he knew what he was doing, that an old man would know better how & when to make the move. His timing , hmm... well, it's been a month since we were introduced and we were only onto our very first date. That alone took me 4 phone calls!

Yeah, after some 'very strong encouragement' from her, I'd agreed to push for it.  She kept insisting that though hard to get, he is worth the catch. Okay, so I told her I'd do it.

It started weird enough just now. I arrived earlier at KLCC and went to the surau for Zohor. Unfortunately, it was being renovated and I had to adjourn to the mosque nearby. It was warm and quite a distance, I was drenched in sweat. And I didn't bring a 'tudung', dahlah baju jarang, Ya ampun. The stairs to the ladies' area is only accessible via the men's praying area too. While praying, 2 children came running around and stepped in front of me - that gave me a 'masjidil haram flashback'. Luckily, they moved away just before I sujud.

Back to the date, we agreed to meet at Dome and then decide where to go. There I was waiting at a table outside near the fountain reading a book when he came towards me. Guess what, I didn't recognise him. LOL! Man, I didn't even notice that he was good looking when we were introduced, yeah really. I knew it was nightime and he was dead tired then, I was tired too, but how could I miss something like that!

I asked where he would like to go  but he was okay with where I was already seated - it was strategic to spot him from that table but it was not a good choice for dating. Under direct sunlight outside Dome - hmm, every line on your face is visible.

He was dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans, but he looked smart nevertheless, smelt good too. He immediately asked about my book, I gave him a signed copy. I can't believe that he actually read my instructor's forward message. He commented that my co-author is very young, err, he's only 2 years my junior. Mr Coconut himself is not that old, 47, but I did feel the age gap.

Topics of conversation - schools & universities we went to, our families & hometown, people we knew, work, his new contractual appointment on top of his business - effective from tomorrow, his 13 year-old daughter, education, politicians & politics, religion & economy. Several times though, the conversation was getting intectually too high for me, and I had to quickly stir, so as not to appear not-very-smart. Once, he even gently corrected me. Gosh, I never had that problem on a date before. His pet sister did say that he likes inteligent women, just that I had no idea how inteligent. Also, I find his take on religion a bit confusing.

His pet sister warned me against suggesting that he bring his daugter along for my book event which is in 2 weeks' times. She said the girl is really a spoil brat. However, he mentioned his daughter quite a bit through out and it was only natural that I did so. Interestingly, she attends an international religious school, hmm...

I noticed that though his pet sister (my friend) is very close to him - they'd known each other for 10 years - there are things that they just don't talk about. Like... 1) Whether his daughter ever sees her mother since the divorce 10 years ago - he said he forced her to go to her mother's place every Saturday though she was reluctant, 2) He is the youngest child out of 17 siblings, etc

He excused himself 2 hours later, his daughter had a fever since last night. I was surprised that he even turned up at all. Frankly, when he didn't reply my sms & pick up my calls last night ( he asked me to remind him), I had assumed that he would not show up. Ehm, after all that I've been through, can I be blamed if I don't think much of men? I finally smsed him this morning that if he didn't confirm asap, I won't show up. He replied - short - '3pm'.

Coming to parting gestures... okay, I've observed the guys who have come and gone. When a jerk says 'I'll call you' -  it means all you'll going to get are calls after calls after calls, no more than that. And a killer sign off - 'keep in touch!' - it means you'll never see or hear from the guy ever again.

How Mr Coconut did it? He was about to walk along with me when I told him I wanted to sit there for a while, he seemed puzzled, curious to know what I was up to. Anyway, he stood up, smiled widely, said 'Byeee!" and then, squeezed my hand and left. That was his sign off. No promise, no future plan, nothing. That's new:) Oh, BTW, he did say he'll drop by at my office soon to see my big boss, No 1, on business; they are related too.

What I think of him? I don't know, this is very unfamiliar territory for me - he's good looking, very inteligent, highly-principled and cynical - I don't know anybody with all of that. Hey, wait a minute! Come to think of it, that sounds exactly like my father. They share the same horoscope too. Oh no! LOL!

What he thinks of me? That I am dying to find out. Shall bug his pet sister first thing tomorrow morning. But then again, he doesn't share everything with her.

Jackpot

As I clocked out of the office at 6pm yesterday, I felt like I've hit the jackpot. Yeah, I rarely get a free weekend these days, or a worry-free one, and it has been a while since I got to leave the office before Maghrib.

I managed to catch up on my alumnus yahoo mailing. One of our friends' father had just had a stroke. He ate 5 ulas of Durian the night before. That triggered a chain of reactions from others who have had similar experience with their parents. They tried all sorts of treatments, Western and traditional, and a combination of both is deemed as best. Some were lucky that their parents survived, while others did not make it. With that came guilt, they wanted to call but didn't, or they didn't fulfil their parents last request, etc. Others were glad that they got a chance to take care of their parents while they were sick.

One touching incidence - a friend went back to his parents house and found that his father had been lying on the floor next to the bathroom for 2 days. He had stroke earlier and was not strong, therefore, he slipped in the bathroom and broke his arm. His parents didn't want to call an ambulance, they didn't want the whole neighbourhood to know. So, they asked him to come home and lift his father up. Naturally, he was furious.

I still admire my ex-roommate's strength though. Both of her parents are much older and have been sick for years. 8 years back, she took a year off to nurse her father who had stroke. She had a few older siblings who took turn, but being the youngest and only single, she thought it was best that she shouldered the most responsibility. Then, she realised that no one person could do it all, she fell into a depression. She said it is still best that the responsibilty is shared.

Her father had stroke a few more times after that and moves around in a wheelchair. Now, her mother is semi-concious after hemodialysis for kidney failure. On top of that, she just had a promotion and is on probation for 6 months. She could not take leave as her public housing project is due, and she has a few more crucial projects too.

Well, I was too young to digest when my late grandmother had stroke, and she didn't suffer for long too. And I have to admit that my exposure, or almost exposure, with stroke was limited to the 'fracas with Ad'. Come to think of it, I still don't have enough material for my book, on real life cases of stroke survivors in their late 30s.

Memori Manis Berduri

Travelling in convoy on 27 July, my batch arrived simultaneously for the actual reunion at the Pondok Upeh Science School. It is located right at the the end of the pearl island. We were very late though. LOL! We had to park our cars outside and walked all the way uphill. The opening ceremony was already halfway through, so we skipped it and toured the classrooms area instead. While we were yakking at the spot overlooking the merry-go-round (the rubbish-processing place), someone mentioned 'Durian feast.'

Somehow, we proceeded to a pavilion full of the King of Fruits, Rambutans and Mangosteen. The fruits came from nearby orchards. We attacked the lot. Some of us had not had breakfast. It was really hot, I didn't feel like eating but I took one piece anyway. Also present (at the wrong time) were our oldest seniors (3 years) and our juniors by 1 year - those were the original students - the ones who don't follow rules. According to the program, the feast was to take place only after the opening ceremony.LOL!

We all noticed one thing about our batch.  Physically, the girls have not changed much after 20 years, we maintained our appearance. The guys - well, let's just say that many of them don't look the same;)

More reunion stories and photos coming:)

Fearing Fear

It's been 4 'action-packed, emotionally-draining' days. Gosh, I don't even know where to start. I'm not even sure what category to update first - work, personal or writing. I've been tied up with an international exhibition for the last 3 days until 6pm, followed by dinner. I'm more than exhausted.

I returned immediately to an empty office, yeah on Sunday evening, and burst into tears. No, it was not a disaster. Everything did go well, too well perhaps. It was not tears of joy either. The on-going tension was way too much for me, and I had to let go.

I'd have to say that this event has taken my definition of 'FEAR' to a different height altogether. I was terrified, yeah, I could feel that something would go wrong or the bosses would pick on something. Or some jealous creep would 'cucuk' them. Some people are already actively trying to bring my department and me down. Only God knows the swing of my heart rate. My senior colleague even agreed to treat his department and my department's team members if we don't get screwed over this event. That's how low our goal has become - tak kena marah pun dah bagus. Pathetic.

When I arrived at the exhibition hall on Friday morning, the bosses didn't comment on our pavillion at all. In fact, they asked me to help attend to a subsidiary's booth instead. So, I concluded that it was perfect.

Our pavillion design was stunning and everybody took turns to pose in front of it. We even took photos with the 2 Tuns, No 1 posed alone after that. It outshined the ministry's and the organiser's booths. It was also strategically located facing the entrance. The counter design made people think that it is a reception counter and the traffic was high all the time. 3 staffs manning the booth simultaneously was not enough.

To add to it, I just found out on Thursday that we had to host a dinner for the international delegates on Saturday. Thank god it went smoothly. Buffet style with cultural dances, we even gave everybody a little batik gift. Oh, we confirmed 80 pax but 100 turned up. There was barely enough seats. My colleagues and I had to sit outside. The bosses didn't have any problem with that though, as long as there were no empty tables, they considered it a success. Well, it was a bit messy at first when I came back from solat Maghrib and found the international guests already eating. The local VIPs were yet to arrive. Some tables had even ordered liquor, I managed to limit it - someone told them that it was culturally insensitive in the presence of the ministry's reps. Phew!

This was so different from the dinings that I used to host when I was with the hotel. All I had to do was brief my F&B expat colleagues, seek their recommendations and decide. During the occasion itself, I could just relax and mingle, be the perfect host and not have to worry about a thing.

Back to the exhibition, I knew it was too good to be true. Just now, 1.5 hours before it ended, our subsidiary's chairman criticitised our buntings -  they did not include photos of our subsidiary's outlet, but rather 2 generic 'created' outlets. Emm..,. those are supposed to be corporate buntings - to inspire small, local entrepreneurs to think out of the box and aim high, not to directly promote our subsidiary's products. Anyway, I'm glad that he talked to me directly, and not through Popeye.

Dreadful Interval

Just slotting in a short interval, shall update more school reunion stories later...

Yesterday evening, my mother called. Apparently, my cousin became the victim of a snatch thief. The man cornered her as she was getting into her car. Somehow, she fell face down onto the road. She broke a tooth and her mouth and jaw were swollen. To make things worse, her mother jumping from the news, accidentally twisted her legs. Her bones were bend somehow and she may not walk properly again. That was shocking. My mother reminded me to get a 'hidden purse'. Yeah, I better work on it fast.

Yesterday was also my first day back at work after the reunion. I arrived early in a much calmer mood than before. My joy was shortlived. I got a letter announcing that my problematic staff who resigned was stopped from leaving by No 1 and was transfered to another department. Man, I'm dead! Not only she badmouthed me to the whole company, she must have done it to No 1 too during her exit interview. Whatever...I'm tired.

I spent the whole morning settling the booth manning issue for the month. As usual, Popeye (IS' new nickname) twisted everything he said and blamed me. Man, he didn't manage to settle the problem during his 6 years with the company and he dared condemn me for not being able to do it within 6 months.

I was feeling really de-motivated when my deputy dropped by for a short while in between 2 external meetings. That was enough to lift me up. Whatever people say - especially on why I appointed him to be my deputy instead of the one who resigned, both have 5 years work experience but she has MBA - I think it is justified. As least, I hired 1 right person, my right hand too.

I waited and waited but neither No 1 nor Popeye called me to grill me on the resigning issue, even until now. I had my pointers ready too. Perhaps they decided to let it be. Neither of them is perfect either.

Anyway, quitting is still not an option. I do intend to see this though and continue being the pain in Popeye's buts until I achieve what I set to achieve.

3 Girls, a Bunch of Guys and An Illegal Gathering

Above is a pic of our 'perhimpunan haram' in Penang last Friday that I'd managed to capture . LOL!

Frankly, I was more interested in the pre-reunion supper rather than the actual reunion dinner itself. Unstructured socialising works better for me.

When I saw the email on our alumnus mailing list on the guys planning a gathering without spouses and children – and the opposite sex alumnus were invited too - I took it as women were also encouraged to join. However, my ex-roommate later on said that she understood it as 'men only, hopefully no women would turn up.'

After a quick pirated DVD’s shopping at the pasar malam in Batu Ferringgi, we arrived at Restoran Bedah, Jalan Gurney at 11pm. 45 minutes later, it looked as if she was right. Only 3 women turned up, all of us were singles. One was a GM with TV station, one was a project manager with a housing government agency (my ex-roommate) and the last one was me. At first, we chatted a bit with a few guys. More arrived. The group just got bigger and bigger. They connected several tables - L-shape, perhaps thinking that we were back at our school’s dining hall. LOL!

Before we knew it, they moved around to talk to each other and... finally, they abandoned the 3 of us at a table in the centre. Whoa! We didn't come all the way, beyond our usual bedtime to chat to each other only, we could easily do that in KL. Or... we could adjourn to another enlightening spot on the island, females only.

One, two and three ex-classmates whom I greeted simply ignored me and moved on to talk to the other guys. 'That's it, I'm out of here' I thought. I came close to actually getting up and leaving. The 2 things stopping me was the TV girl had just ordered her second glass of Nescafe and my ex-roommate who earlier on insisted on leaving early had asked that we wait a little longer. Well, we started to relax and before we knew it, embarked on an engaging, juicy conversation on each other's hectic, high-flying lives. Who said singles are carefree, without problems and commitments? We did have a lot to catch up on and not to mention, many things in common. And suddenly, we forgot that the guys were there. LOL!

We chatted about others who weren't there too. We realised that there were quite a number of weirdoes in our batch, or perhaps 'eccentrics' is a more appropriate word. That explains our non-judgmental ways when it comes to our old friends. A guy, a talented artist, is schizophrenic and slashed his wrists a few times. Another, a top student with disciplinary cases, claimed that his wife has followed a cult; he ran around naked with a keris at a resort and was sadly locked up in a cage at the hospital.

We then decided to take off. When the 3 of us got up, the guys did too. It seemed that only then, they remembered our presence and wanted to catch up with us. So, we paused to chat in small groups while standing up near our tables. Then, we adjourned to the parking lot and… stopped to chat again. Wow, this could last all night. It was past 1.30am when we left. The evening was a good warming up session for our big reunion the next day.

Look out for more reunion stories:)

Re-visiting the Crime Scene

A quick introduction to my re-union weekend...

Above is a pic of the 'crime scene' for the most-praised short story in my first collection, 'The 50 Sen Queens'. I'd waited 20 years to sit on this staircase which connects to the boys' dormitory, Block A. During my school days, the boys would hang out on the steps and throw de-grading remarks to the girls who dared used the 'forbidden' corridor on their way to class or back. It was only last year that we (the girls) finally understood what the chanting was all about, yeah many years after leaving school.

So it goes, last Saturday, the overgrown boys invited us to actually sit down with them to get a first-hand experience. Man, the staircase was addictive. Once you're on it, it is hard to get up. Firstly, the view was amazing, you can see miles down the hill and lots of greens. Secondly, the breeze blowing towards us was cooling, and they claimed it carries 'the scent' of people walking along and all sorts of incidences around. We must have looked like a bunch of thugs because nobody dared walked in front of us while we were there. And we had our 'Sen appraising system' ready to shout out too. They all turned around and took alternative routes. LOL!

Our national President, the MP, dropped by for the Silver Jubilee. Even he paused at the staircase to chat with us for a while. Must had been the vibes... LOL!

We all remember the staircase able to accommodate more people back then though - the scale was different, hehe! Thank you guys for the invitation. Yeah, I got it!:)