Nostalgia bites.

Study group today, this time at my house. :)

Heng Li came first at 1pm followed by Andy at about 3pm, which was by then we had successfully annihiliated Brandon’s presence in our room. Imagine trying to study while my youngest brother forced himself into my room, sang various nursery rhymes in a somewhat unintelligible manner, banged bottles, giggled to himself and various other things he find amusing. Apart from trying to wring his head and slap him silly, I contemplated dialing 1-800-SUPERMUM to get him out of the room. After waiting for almost an hour did he finally go out from the room after we (un)successfully ignored his various antics.

That was when Andy arrived, minutes later. Went out for a while as Heng wants to get a bit at the nasi lemak restaurant behind my house. And joy, the evil conniving boss Brandon was back at our room and refused to leave. After waiting for more minutes to pass while getting my housekeeper to shoo him downstairs, we went back to our room. Which wasn’t long before he returned yet again, which was when my dad came back and peeled him off from my room.

After two unsuccessful attempts dad suggested to study at his room, so we did. We were safe, finally, in this sanctuary of ours. We left my parents’ room when my mum came back from work and back into my room again we go.

Then at 7pm they tapau-ed food back to my house to eat.

Resting for a bit after studying.

At the Meisek Restaurant behind my house.

Feeling loaded.

Some of my food.

One of Brandon’s toys, the cheap brown box. Andy wished he was packed and sent somewhere else.

There I was, playing Maple casually after studying the entire afternoon, when my cellphone rang and the name I have not seen for a long time popped up – Khairi HP.

What do you call someone you haven’t meet for a long time who phoned you out of nowhere after several years of not seeing one another?

An old friend.

We talked animatedly for 9 minutes and 3 seconds; he phoned me after receiving a text message I sent him last few days wishing him good luck in his SPM as Soon Guan and I had talked about him for a bit. He talked about his exams, and even the way he talked change tremendously. No longer does he speak English, he speaks Malay rojak often while interweaving some English citing the sekolah asrama he’s studying at as the reason.

Yes, this good Malay friend of mine studied at Belgium during his early primary school years, and he went back to Malaysia studying for a year at Standard 6 which is when I met him. Come secondary school we got separated to different schools though I still see him regularly, until slowly we drifted apart and that rift was torn wider when he was forced to study at a boarding school.

Incidentally, another Malay friend of mine who studied at the same primary school, whom we the 4 of us (including another Malay friend, which forms the primary school clique I was in) were rather close at that time, was at the same boarding school as Khairi’s. He related to me how he wasn’t close anymore to that friend of ours, in fact, this friend suddenly mixed with the pondan clan and rumours were rife about him being gay (“persatuan gay ntah apa”). I can’t say I’m not stunned because I’ve known him for some time, and his character was just..not suitable to be one who mixes with pondans. The boarding school is a boys school, by the way.

What a dramatic change people go through. I’m sure I’ll be more or less surprised or shocked when I meet up with you people again in the next few years. What, Andy finally dyed his hair golden, pink and purple, drilled twenty holes into his earlobes and achieved the lala status? Shawn slimmed down thinner than an anorexic patient? Suet Li or Chee Hee begging at the streets? Jon or Kai Shen became the vilest mafias on the living earth? Heng Li achieved sainthood after decades of becoming a Pope?

Whatever it is, memories are here to stay, and whether you dye your hair striking pink in the future or not, will probably not matter.