High School Reunion 2019

We had a high school reunion last Saturday. A committee was set up towards the end of last year and they tirelessly worked to secure the venue, send out invitations, work with the hotel on accommodation and meals, plan activities for the programme, etc etc. I finally decided to go and paid for an overnight stay even though the venue is pretty close to home as I knew the event would last until past 23:00. My two closest mates were also going. There were updates on the event as the date drew closer and teasers on the activities. We were first told to wear our house colours and subsequently encouraged to add some bling to our outfit. We also had to come with a gift worth at least RM30 for gift exchange.

Finally, the day arrived. I left home and made my way to the hotel. As usual, the usual non-stop laughter that always erupts whenever we meet could be heard throughout that afternoon and well into the night. It was great to meet old friends who came from near and far (the furthest flew from Houston!) and at times, I had trouble reconciling them from those old school days to the present. Can’t quite believe we were dorm mates, classmates, house mates, etc. I must confess that I couldn’t recognise a few of them (they all joined when we were in Form 4) and although I tried hard, there were some people I didn’t manage to greet and shake hands with. I didn’t take any photos as usual as I always prefer taking photos using a camera. I was content to join in group photos and photobomb others though.

The hotel was upgrading its lifts so we had to wait a while to get into one. The hotel AC didn’t seem to work in the lobby and lifts so we had to suffer while waiting for and riding the lift. The venue was at level 5 and we had to register first. We also handed over our gifts at the registration, got assigned to our tables and those early enough to arrive were also handed the manicure vouchers. After registering, I went to my table (number 7) and deposited the door gift there to book my seat. I then walked over to the corner of the room for my manicure. More girls had started arriving by then.

The event finally began at about 15:20 and we first had some food. We also had some games during the high tea and I actually won the third place. The winners of the first game were not allowed to participate in the second game so I went to get some food. We then had photo taking sessions and this took a while so much so the Health Talk that was scheduled did not take place.

We broke for prayers, check-in and some rest at 18:00 and were told to return to the ballroom at 20:00. Our apartment was at level 35 (there are 39 levels in all) and we were lucky enough to be able to board a lift without waiting too long. We had a two-room apartment with a living room, dining area and kitchenette. The rooms were en-suite with a WC at the hallway (right after you enter the door) and a good thing too as the flush to the WC in the master bathroom didn’t work.

After resting, freshening up and prayers, we went back down to level 5 for dinner. We also had some fashion show followed by another photo session and then closed-door ‘flash mob’. I don’t know about the others but I left the room after 23:15 and there were still some people there.

I woke up after 03:00 early on Sunday and couldn’t sleep after that. I didn’t attend the morning tazkirah or Zumba that followed. I showered after they had gone for Zumba and went down for breakfast (at ground floor). We checked out at 11:40 and my mate dropped me off at Ampang Park. I was home barely an hour later. While I had a great time overall, I had tummy upset following the high tea and dinner on Saturday and a worse tummy upset on Sunday following breakfast that was borderline diarrhoea. I had informed the committee members of this and as I wasn’t alone in my suffering, hopefully the committee would escalate the matter to the hotel.

I penned the following to my friends yesterday:

To my beautiful lovely girlfriends

Thank you so much for the memorable weekend. My heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to the tireless committee who worked hard to make this reunion happen and boy, did it happen! Thank you all for making me feel and act like I’m still 17 (I still do get mistaken for a college student so maybe I still act that even when I'm on my own!). I do apologise if I didn’t get to meet everyone personally and for not taking individual photos with anyone. I’m one of those too lazy to fish out my phone out to take pictures but am always happy to join in photos and photobomb others (oops).

We’re all in a different phase of our lives: some are wives and mothers while some are still happily single (Axxx did suggest for the bacholerettes to take a picture together at the reunion but one or two were missing then). Whatever it is, most of us if not all are in the sandwich generation where we are responsible for both bringing up our own children and for the care of our ageing ailing parents (I do not have kids of my own but I do have my nieces and nephew that I especially care for and treat like they're my own). At the same time, we also face our own life challenges be it work, financial, relationship, health challenges. We have to deal with all the good and bad that life throws at us while at the same time getting to grips with wrinkles, grey hair, hair loss, extra kg, lower stamina, etc etc etc, and oh not to forget, menopause is also waiting at the horizon. Whatever it is, I hope and pray that we will all stay sane, strong, resilient and patient in dealing with all these. More importantly, let’s take very good care of ourselves (especially our health and well-being) because no one else is going to be responsible and do that for us. Let’s not let our bodies and health go, let’s treat ourselves with more appreciation and respect, let’s not neglect what Allah has given us.

We are survivors, we are mentally strong, and we shall survive (after all, we’ve managed to survive 47 years of life so far), we are warriors in our own right. Let us continue on our life journey with humility, grace, poise, dignity, pride and humility. I know I have good friends who have got my back, who will tell me bluntly what is good or bad for me, who will keep me on the straight and narrow, who can lift me up when I'm down, who will give me feedback and advice, in short, who will be there for me. True friends are everything and as the Irish proverb goes, may the hinge of our friendship never grow rusty.

I pray that our friendship will only strengthen after this. To those who bump into me and I don’t show sign of recognition, please forgive me. Sometimes I’m lost in my own world (and problems) and most times, just don't notice people (I can share a crowded lift with someone and not realise a colleague is in there). But if our paths cross wherever and I don't approach or notice you, please come and say hi. Don’t be a stranger, OK? I have been said to appear aloof and unapproachable (even snobbish) and if I have appeared that way to you at any time, please accept my sincere apologies. Also, I may not be able to join many activities due to my time constraint and responsibilities but will try to join when I can.

Let’s continue on our life journey together and grow old gracefully together. Not everyone gets that opportunity so let’s make the best of it.

Love you all. Can’t wait until the next reunion!

High School Reunion

The idea for the reunion was mooted a few months ago but as with many ideas, it soon fizzled out after early-January this year. That was until Hanim asked me if it was OK for her to take charge. I was only too happy to let someone be in control and agreed (little did I know she had other plans for me). So Hanim kick-started the whole process, reignited the idea, secured the booking of the reunion venue (a seven-room bungalow in Port Dickson) by advancing the deposit, and pursued and persuaded us to come. Zara was instrumental in scouting for the venue, shopping for the door-gift (after consulting Hanim and myself. I suggested a bath towel for everyone), negotiating with the caterers to ensure we would not starve during the weekend and organising the telematch on Saturday evening, while yours truly was tasked to be the treasurer (and believe me, I had my fair share of headaches trying to reconcile my accounts).

I initially wanted to leave after work on Friday but as the day drew nearer found I couldn’t extricate myself from work as early as I would have liked (gosh, how work is raining on me, it’s not even funny anymore). So I made arrangements to go with Lin but on Thursday evening, she called to say she would likely have to work throughout the weekend. So I quickly sent a text to Debbie asking if I could follow her instead and called Zara asking if she could collect the prizes for the games so that if in the worst case scenario I had to somehow go to Port Dickson on my own by bus, at least I wouldn’t be saddled down with the prizes. Thankfully Debbie replied to say that there’s a vacant spot in Misah’s car for me. Phew!

We met up Saturday morning at Bandar Tasik Selatan LRT station and made our way to PD. We were talking and laughing so much that we almost missed the turning to the highway (and everyone in the car screamed in unison). It was a good thing there was no vehicle behind us and light traffic all along the way to PD, well at least until we neared the road construction near our venue.

We did what we do best after meeting a group of us – chatting, laughing, screaming and munching (in no particular order!). After all, it was the time where we all broke away from our multiple roles as an employee, a boss, a daughter, a mother (well, except for MZ and Nani Y), a wife, a sister, an aunt and just be ourselves, even if it was only for a few hours, even if it was only for a day (for those who didn’t stay the night). Noor Z had to leave early as her parents were on their way from Perlis so I didn’t get to meet her. And N.Burn and Haida were running late so our group photo didn’t have them there.

After lunch, resting and performing prayers, we had some indoor games before hitting the beach for our telematch. I must say I was very happy with my lovely friends – they all participated in the games sportingly. I love you gals! I must mention that it was a very hot, humid weekend with hardly any breeze (even at the beach).

After evening prayers, we had BBQ dinner before a ‘Guessing Game’ and slideshow presentation. Then some of us turned off the lights and watched Mamma Mia (back in school, we had this weekly ‘Film Show’ on Saturday evenings, something I looked forward to every week, never mind that sometimes they screened pretty lousy movies). I managed to drag N.Burn to the stall next door to watch the FA semi-final between Arsenal and Chelshit. I’m not going to say much about it except I wonder why Wenger didn’t start Shava or Nasri. Diaby was awful, Fabianski made some mistakes and the team looked a bit nervous. I was just so gutted and sulked all the way back to the bungalow. Heck, it was one of our two chances at silverware this season and it’s not as if the Champions League is that easy to win.

It drizzled early Sunday morning so no walk along the beach. After clearing up the place (back at school, we had housecleaning chore every Sunday morning), we chatted, took more pictures and packed (again, in no particular order). We finally and reluctantly left but not before agreeing to visit our college grounds (I still call my school ‘college’).

We met Rezeq at college (she actually came to the venue but we had all left then). We walked around a bit – I visited my old dormitory block my old classroom before joining the others at the Hall. We left after an hour or so as it was threatening to rain (in fact it did and we were caught in the downpour on the highway).

Zara dropped me off at 2.45 pm or thereabout. I was just so knackered that I fell asleep on the couch through the Chinese Grand Prix (the plan was to rest while watching F1) and only woke up way after the race had ended.

There were already talks about the next reunion but for now, I still need to recover from this one! I am that knackered...

Reunion

Well, it was actually my alma mater Chancellor's Drinks Reception and Buffet at the Renaissance Hotel on Wednesday evening. I was actually thinking of not going but S and Lin managed to persuade me to change my mind. Sometimes I can really be unsociable. Heh.

In fact, I almost didn’t go, no thanks to the scare of possibly losing my passport [and potentially compromising my citizenship?! OK, me being the drama queen]. I had decided to take half-day on Wednesday for my The Hunt For Red Octo-, I mean, Passport mission should I not manage to locate it in my backpack [see previous posting].

The crowd was OK, the turn-up – especially of our batch - not too bad. Had a chance to catch up with friends who we have not met since ... can’t recall when actually! Thank God for such events held, organised and sponsored by the University. Had it been left to us, we’d probably meet in 10 years’ time. Well, we did talk about meeting up last year but things didn’t quite materialise. Well, that’s what happens when most are married with kids. Most would insist on dragging their spouses and children along. Really, I don’t see the point when most of the time, they’ll be too distracted with their families and having to attend to the kids. So in the end, S, Lin and I met up for a girls’ day out at KLCC. And had great fun.

Anyway, back to the reunion, I mean, reception. We went up to the ballroom and as we neared the ballroom, I turned to my mates and said, ‘It sure sounds suspiciously quiet around here. Are we the only ones to turn up?’ There were only waiters around the tables doing their last-minute check. Turned out there was a drinks reception at the ground floor which we had somehow missed due to the layout of the hotel and absence of notice boards/signs.

We mingled around, delighted to see some familiar places, and did a quick catching-up with each other. Most of us pretty much still look the same except that most of the guys were already paunchy and it took us a short while to recognise one guy [he has chubbier cheeks now!] and as for the three of us girls, well, almost everyone claimed that we hardly changed and still looked like we were students! After a while, we then went into an adjoining room for some speeches by the Chancellor, the British Commissioner and finally the VC who took us through some slides on the progress and changes at the university.

Then it was finally time for the buffet dinner. The food was sumptuous, the spread fantastic, and the company great. Thankfully there was a majority of our guy friends at our table and the other girl who joined the three of us girls was alright too. Hence there were no smug married people [it’s usually married women, not men, who are guilty of being SM] at our table. Before long, we were talking and chatting and giggling loudly [I was laughing out loud alright] – we were definitely more relaxed while sitting down for our meal than standing up during the drinks reception.

Talking about SM, I simply just loathe them. They can just go on and on talking about their supposedly perfect marriage, perfect well-mannered kids, perfect career, perfect house at the perfect address, perfect in-laws and on and on and on. And whip out pictures of their offspring and shove them under your nose for about a quarter of an hour, seemingly oblivious and obviously insensitive that the topic of conversation may not be appreciated by all. Most SM are females; my married male friends don’t talk about their kids or marriage. I have my own family too but I don’t talk about my parents or my siblings or their children. And I don’t talk about my trips at the table or at reunions because I am aware some people may not appreciate it, some may feel left out, some may have loved the chance to travel but lack the opportunity to do it. Sod it, not everyone cares to know about your family, your hobbies or your trips. Anyway, I digress.

We only left after 10. ‘Til the next reunion then.

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My mates and I were supposed to meet today, Friday the thirteenth, for lunch but we had to cancel it. Yes, again. It was a good thing we met yesterday and had an unexpected, unplanned lunch together so at least it was a consolation. Looks like the next possible date where everyone would be able to make it will be end of next month.

It sure isn’t easy to organise a reunion!