Trip to Ulu Geroh, Gopeng

Well, this year, Christmas was celebrated very differently by my family and I. The Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) organised a trip to Ulu Geroh Village in Gopeng, where the Semai Tribe live. The organiser, John Chan, our beloved nature guide warned me that it was going to be VERY basic and totally back to nature. Basic - I can manage, I convinced myself. I sent an alert to my 3 girls as well. We left on Christmas day and were scheduled to meet at the Sg Buluh R&R at 2pm. I left Seremban at 12.30pm and was told to divert off the highway into the KLIA road. My not so patient husband who gave me directions not so patiently got me on a while goose chase all over the highway (made a wrong turn!) and the next thing I know, I was at the Arrival & Departure at KLIA airport. Not wanting to call him and being so close to tears, I asked some cops for directions. A hastened phone call to John with a stern warning of DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT ME got me back on the highway and for crying out loud, FINALLY - enroute to Sg Buluh R&R. I arrived there at 2.45pm and had to "ta pau" lunch.

We reached Gopeng at approximately 5pm, thanks to John's Schumacher Girlfriend. A cute, petite looking thing who reved and weaved in and out of traffic in her MyVi at 140km!! Ofcourse she vehemently denied this afterwards.

Our first stop was at the Gopeng museum. It was actually a shop lot, and the propriter had very cleverly displayed artifacts from the early 1900. If you want to know the history of Gopeng, a former tin rich district, visit Gopeng museum. Next we all adjourned to a cendol stall. Small town should whip up delicious cendols-or so I thought. It was the worst cendol I ever had! What a welcome!

Next we went on a adrenaline pumping -bumpy fear factor ala amazing race Asia 45 minute drive into the jungle. Thank god I did not bring my Mercedez (my husband said I needed a safe car and that my Naza wasn't safe enough). Imagine the scolding which would have awaited me if I had listened to hubby dear. At 43 I decide which car I want to drive. Viva, Mala!!

We reached Ulu Geroh Village about 6.30pm and proceeded to our check in "lobby"-dormitory. As my girls and I climbed up the wet, slightly muddy staircase, my heart fell when I saw the disappointment on their faces. As we reached the top of the stairs and peeked into the dorm, Tushaani (15) squealed and said,"Mom, why did you have to ruin our Christmas? How are we gong to sleep with all these people?" There were 25 ladies and 11 men. The men had their own dorm. We were each given a pillow and a thin mattress. We sat down in a row, spreaded out out the mattresses and looked at each other.

"Dont worry, Tush. When we leave this place, you will look back at this experience and say that you actually did have a good time. Trust me!" I said.

Next, it was time to check out the bathroom. It was at the foot of the staircase leading up to the dorm. There was a shower, a pipe with a hose and a toilet which was half broken! I refused to turn around and look at the horror on my gals' faces.

"Mom, I am definitely not pooping for 2 days! I am going to keep it all in till we get home!" said Tushaani.

I then went on a desperate attempt to try and locate a chalet with an attached bathroom for the gals and I but none was to be found in that area. I had to go all the way out. And all our activities were around the Ulu Geroh Village and so it was pointless to stay further away. Our fate was sealed for the next 2 days.

"If you gals want to go home, I can understand. Perhaps we leave in the morning. It is pointless for me to put you through all these if you are so uncomfortable."

"There isnt even a single signal here. We are cut off from the outside world, mom. How could you do this? But then again, I told all my friends that I am going to stay in the jungle and they all laughed at me. They said that I was not cut out for it. So, I have to stay to prove them and my self a point, mom. Its ok. You warned us it would be basic, so this is basic. I can live with it. Its only 2 nights. We will survive," said Tushaani.

Finally I heaved a sigh of relieve.

The Semais celebrate Christmas. They have bumiputra status but are Christians. So, you can imagine, the BN government have cooly marginalised them. I later found out that they don't want modernization and just loved to live the way they do.

Dinner was lemang (the best I have tasted in the 43 years of my life) served with chicken curry. We were told that the Semais are having open houses after the Church Mass, and we are all invited. Aha, there is a church sermon. I have never been to church on Christmas day or any other given day (am a Hindu). So we went. The hall was packed. The Semais are generally very young people and there were just so many young children everywhere. Guess, the parents have limited entertainment!!

We left the mass half way through the initiatian excersise and headed for our first open house. Semai people have no chairs or tables in their houses. They sit on the floor to do the cooking and eating. I was very surprised to see the array of cookies on the floor and more lemang, beef rendang and chicken curry. Apparently, they baked their cookies with the same oven my mom had, the black one used on the gas stove. We sat and chatted among ourselves and finally took leave. I was just too tired to go on an open house rampage and decided to head back to the dorm. None of us wanted to shower, because the water was ICY COLD!! We brushed our teeth, barely washed our faces and refused to change to our PJs. Perhaps we TRY to shower in the morning. About 12.30am, we finally went to bed..................end of DAY 1.

DAY 2

It was too cold to shower. I woke up at 6am to beat the others to the bathroom. We were scheduled to go on a 4 hour jungle trek in search of Rafflesia and then dip into the Damak Waterfall before heading back to the dorm for lunch.

Breakfast was mee goreng, kuey teow goreng and pulut inti. The best pulut inti I have tasted in my 43 years!! After stuffing myself, we proceeded to the jungle. We saw the Rajah Brooke butterflies and their habitat which is being destroyed by mankind. In the past they could be seen in the hundreds, but now only a handful are found. The trek up the jungle was fairly easy, what with my gals n I having scaled Bukit Kutu, Gunung Angsi and Gunung Bunga Buah. This trek was a piece of cake. We saw the rafflesia in half bloom and another in full bloom. There were many buds as well on trees. Rafflesias are parasites. They are known for their medicinal values and are sold to the medicine men and is believed to increase or improve the libido. Guess, I need to get some for hubby dear! The Semai people are being educated about conserving these precious flowers which are facing extinction. Even the Rajah Brooke butterflies were sold for 10 sen each. Awareness programmes organised by the MNS and other NGO's has to some extent curbed these malpractises and brought awareness to the local village people of the rich heritage they have to preserve.

It satrted to rain half way down through the jungle trek so we had to ditch the waterfall. We were soaking wet despite having a poncho on and a bath was inevitable. We decided to go in 2s. I could not stand under the shower for even 10 seconds, because the water was just ABSOLUELY COOOOLDDD!! I had to step in and out and had the shortest bath in the 43 years on my life.

At last, a quick shower. I later heard that Tushaani and Netusha only did "dry cleaning".

We were all famished. Lunch was rice with chicken curry, beef curry, vegetables and the orang asli cooking was finger licking good. The Semais plant their own vegetables and everything is obtained from around them. They even have their own herbal garden.

After stuffing ourselves, we were supposed to go to the waterfall but it was cancelled due to heavy rain. So, I took the opportunity to SLEEP. We slept a good hour and half and woke up about 5.30pm. A group had left to the waterfall minus us!! Anyway we went for a short walk and then adjourned to the hall downstairs and chatted with the others till dinner time.

Dinner was rice with beef rendang, sweet and sour tofu, potatoe leaves with pumpkin, durian flesh cooked with petai (simply awesome) and more chicken curry.

After dinner we were entertained by the same ladies who cooked all our meals for us. They performed the Sewang dance which is the Semai cultural dance. Apparently the Semai tribe were the champions of the Perak Cultural Dance Competition. Wow, weeeeeee!!! We all joined in the fun and danced with the ladies who were accompanied by music beats from bamboo stems. The show ended a good hour after. We then proceeded to the night walk. Clasping our torch lights we went into the pitch dark jungle accompanied by the Semai guides. Don't ask me what and how, but the guide could just easily sniff out frogs, lizards, phismids, stick insects, moths, mushrooms which glow in the dark all by a snap of the fingers. We walked for a good 2 hours. It was fun and a little frightening especially when he said that "ada harimau kumbang" and "seladang".After that we quickened our steps. We got bak to the dorm at 12.30am. Brushed our teeth n headed to bed. End of Day 2......

Day 3

This is the day we leave Ulu Geroh for home. But before we leave we still had an intenirary to fulfill. Breakfast was toast, nasi goreng and mee goreng. We packed all our stuff and said our goodbyes to the orang aslis. Some of us bought petai and durian. The durian here is not D24 but D Ulu Geroh. One of a kind. Its funny that everything here tastes good. We had a treat of durians everyday at every meal. The Semais are really generous people. I guess they cook with their hearts. That is why the food is good.

We drove to Gua Kandu for caving activities. Armed with our torch lights we embarked on our maiden voyage into the darkness of Gua Kandu. Let me tell you-I have never been into a cave in the 43 years of my life. Apparently the British used this cave to gather intelligence to counter strike the communist during world war II. As we entered the cave, we were welcomed by a small opening where you have to duck to enter. As we walked on we came to a very narrow path where u would have no choise but to butt slide. So off we slided on our butts for a good 10 minutes. As one by one started to slide, the others motivated them by clapping and urging them on. Next we came to a clearing where apparently the British used to gather for meetings. At this juncture the guide told us to switch off all lights and be silent for 2 minutes. It was pitch dark. I couldnt even see Tush's big fat nose even though she was just standing next to me!

Next we had to do a 45 deg rock climbing using a knotted rope. Upon reaching the top, we had to counter another 45deg ascend using ropes again. The 3rd challenge was a 90 deg descend. The caving was the most exhilirating experience and so much fun, fun, fun. After 2 hours we came to the opening. We wished there was more but all good things must come to an end. The trek down through the jungle took us another 30 minutes.

We got to our cars, changed to clean clothes and headed for the waterfall where the Semai people were waiting for us with a picnic lunch. We had petai sambal, mixed vege, fried fish, tempoyak (yummy) and cucumbers. Simply delectable. It was almost 2.30pm and it was time to go home. We said our goodbyes to one another and as I was driving back to Seremban, my gals went on and on throughout the journey as to how much fun they had. I reached home at almost 8 o'clock and missed my BBQ date with my hubby who had to go alone. As we entered Seremban airspace, all our stomachs started churning for investment call. As I entered my home, there lay on the table-pot roast, salad, mashed potatoes and garlic prawns with cheese prepared by my awesome hubby. Looks like the fun never stops, does it?

My other half and I were discussing about how Obama got his words "twisted" and immediately called for damage control and how our leaders are always blaming everything nand anything on someone else or better still NOT accepting the blame at all and NOT passing it to someone else-that would be more accurate!! At least if our leaders blamed someone else for all their idiosyncrasies, surely we have that someone else to catch and "balun habis-habis".

I am talking about the arrest of a black Harvard scholar, Gates, by a white policeman. Gates was arrested by the officer for using foul language when the officer refused Gates entry into his home even though Gates showed proof that it was his house that he was about to enter. What exactly transpired is good a guess as yours and mine but it culminated in the arrest of this decorated man. When Obama was interviewed by a reporter, he said that the cop behaved "stupidly". For using this word, the whole police dept staged a demo of protest and demanded an apology from Obama. Obama quickly called for a press conference and explained thoroughly what he meant and didn't mean-short of an apology. It was immediately accepted by the police contingent. Later, he invited the said cop and Gates for a round of beer at the White House. All that didn't go well, ended well.

Here in Bolehland, we moan and groan and rave and rant and scream and shout -only to be handcuffed and thrown into jail by our so called leaders. We are victims who are again and again victimised MACC interrogated Teoh in their building and Teoh is laying dead in their building and MACC was the last person with Teoh in their building-AND THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE! How can this be?? This brings to mind the Datuk who was acquitted of murdering a Chinese national some years back. A 16 year old boy is dead in his house, in his swimming pool, which is guarded by security guards and personal bodyguards and the main witness is deported for overstaying her welcome. It was his house, his pool, with tight security and there is a dead body in his house, in his pool and HE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE!! How can we accept this?

Some years back, a foreign tourist lost all her diving equipment in Cherating when her boat capsized and she was hobbling in the water when another boatman only agreed to take her if she paid him the amount of money that he demanded. She said all her personal stuff and money was lost and the boatman only saved her when she promised to pay him as soon as she got to her hotel. The next day, our then Tourism Minister, Kadir I believe, was launching "Visit Pahang Year" at the same hotel where this tourist was staying. She took the opportunity to vent her anger and frustrations on the catastrophe that befell her. Instead of apologizing to this woman, Kadir told her that the launch was not the place for her to display her emotions and that she should make a police report. The flabbergasted Swedish woman got so paranoid that she vowed to tell everyone back home what a lousy country Malaysia is. What should have Kadir done? Apologize to the woman, ask her if she is okay, get his PA to go to her, sit with her and make notes of time of accident, place etc. Accompany her to the police station etc.This would have been the right thing to do. But instead he says,"This is not the right place."

Then it dawned on me...How many of us actually accept responsibility for the things that we have done wrong? How many of us take the trouble to apologize and say, "Hey, this is my fault. I must do something about this." I am talking about simple things that we do in our homes. How many of us, as parents are guilty of having scolded/reprimanded/punished our child/children for something that they didn't do but was too egoistic to sit our child down and say,"Son, I was wrong to talk to u like that. I should not have said those words to u. It is not your fault". We don't do this but rather take our kids out for shopping or a movie or buy a PC/PS game and delude ourselves into thinking that we have apologized. But in actual fact we didn't. How are we to teach our children about taking responsibility for our actions if we don't DO IT OURSELVES? This is where I believe we have failed miserably. We have failed to teach our kids about assuming responsibility.

Many a times in the shopping complex, when a child wanders away from the mother, the mother retrieves the child n gives the child a good spanking in full view of all and sundry (because she is actually embarrassed for having let her child off her guard). Does she hug her child n say, "Sweetie, please don't wander, stay close to ma, ok?"When the child is spanked, she would think that it is her fault. It is not her fault because she is a kid and kids are suppose to wander. Did the mother teach the child here that she is responsible? No.

As an employer, when you have wrongfully reprimanded your employee, do you take the trouble to iron things out? Perhaps you don't have to say sorry, but there are many other ways of doing it.

In short, it is not our CULTURE to accept responsibility and apologize. We never learned to apologize because from our fore fathers to our parents - never taught us to say,"Hey, I was way out of line and I am sorry." How many husbands apologize to their wives for yelling at them for no reason at all because they were stressed out? SO, IT ALL STARTS FROM THE HOME!

Now, we know why the Westerners are different from us. They have better parenting skills than we do. We are learning from them. We are trying to change ourselves to be better parents. I m sure many of us in SABM are many times a better parent from our parents or are we vice versa?.We have access to books and multi media and we can educate ourselves better. But in order to do that, we must first identify our weaknesses, acknowledge it, accept it and then, embark on a strategy of rectifying our faults and misgivings. Only then we can relate better to our children, shape their minds and our children will be a more responsible, accountable and transparent leaders of tomorrow.

The million dollar question is : HOW MANY OF US ARE PREPARED TO DO THIS?

I have started and am on my way.............

Michael Jackson

You know something, I believe something is terribly wrong with me. I have never in my life mourned for any celebrity. Never. Worse comes to worse, I may have a lingering thought for them for a couple of seconds. And that's it.

But MJ's death, Oh my God! I am still mourning for him until today. Why??? I don't know. Perhaps it's because I grew up with MJ. I bought his every album on the first day it was out. I stuck all his posters in my bedroom wall. I watched each n every one of his videos.

I remember "Black Or White" was released simultaneously around the world. I remember waiting by the TV to watch it. And boy was I blown away!! It was worth it waiting to watch it. The same thing happened with the video "Bad".

I know all of MJ's songs, the lyrics by heart I tell u. I loved him when he was a cute Jackson 5.

I was driving in the morning of 26th June 2009 when I heard over the radio on Hitz FM that MJ has died. At that point in time, they still believed it was a rumour for no official announcement was made. By 7am, I was receiving smses continuously that MJ died. At 7.30am whilst I was on the golf course, Steve called me and I said,"It's MJ isn't it?"

I couldn't wait to get home to watch CNN. For two whole days I sat in front of the TV switching from CNN to BBC to E. All I wanted to see n hear was about MJ, MJ and MJ. By the 3rd day there was still much news coverage.

Why did he have to die? He was such a genius! There will never ever be another MJ. Among the hundreds of artistes that we have had gracing our land, there is no singer who can even come close to him. No one can sing like him, dance like him. His style is something only people can copy n not create. His songs are so magnetic that it tugs at your heart. Like, "U R Not Alone".

My fave is "One Day In Your Life". It makes me so sad when I hear this song. I want to cry.

On the day of his memorial, I went to bed at 10pm and woke up at 1am. I couldn't take it to see his coffin there. Only then it really hit me that MJ is indeed dead. I cried during the memorial. At least I was all alone n able to cry. I didn't like sob to death. I teared. I teared for a man whose songs made such an impact on the music scene. No single singer swept so many Grammies in one award nite. I used to wait for the grammy's because MJ would perform. The grammy's were grammy's because of MJ.Once MJ stopped gracing the Grammy's, it lost its glamour.

Steve n I went for MJ's concert in Stadium Merdeka in 1996. We each bought tickets worth RM400. And we saw him from so far, far away. Well, we still saw him. I bought his History T shirt at the concert. Together with the tickets and T shirt, I framed it up. I hung it in the wall near the telephone. I boasted and showed off to Everyone who came to my house that I went for MJ's concert!!

In 2002, I shifted to another house. MJ's poster laid in my store room for many years. I did not put any poster or picture up because Steve said he wants to decorate the walls with pictures from his travels-which never came. The travels did but the pictures didn't. So up till 2006, I was tired of waiting for travel pictures, i decide to decorate the wall with family pictures. So I took out the gifts I received for house warming n decided to hang them up. By this time, the allegations against MJ was so glaring and the fact that he totally had a makeover didn't go down too well with Steve n I. I must admit, i lost some interest in him but not totally. I wanted to hang the MJ picture in my bar area. Steve said, "No". This is history he said. So I just kept it in my store room. Last year as I was getting rid of clutter, I gave it away to my electrician together with many other pictures and electrical appliances, books, clothes etc. Little did I know that it would be the greatest regret of my life.

I am never the type to ask for things that I have given away but this time I asked the electrician if he still had the poster. He said he did.Then he said that the T shirt was worn by one of his children.

After a couple of days,I stomached the urge to tell him that I wanted it back. I asked him about the tickets and he said that his daughter was having it. I told him,that I will buy his daughter MJ's video DVD in exchange for the T shirt n tickets. He said he will talk to her. I waited so patiently. Nothing came. Then when I asked him again he said that the tickets are lost n the T shirt is in Abu Dhabi with a relative of his. I told him that he was lying to me. He said he will sms the guy to send it back. I told the electrician to go to HELL!!

For now I have accepted the fact that it is gone. Even if he brings the T shirt, I don't want it anymore. Tush just ordered one of his T shirts from Bravado for US 30. But it will never be the same.

Why, why did I give it away?? Why??? And MJ why did u have to go? RIP MJ.......

My Family Reunion Dinner

For the most part of my life (after marriage) I have stayed away from my family. I have always believed in family unity and values and put utmost importance in family but failed in the very establishment of it.

(Virosh, Vesha, Tush, Netz n Ashwini) (The gals with my evergreen sis in law,Phari)

The extended family is very important. I have my reasons for staying away which I do not want to dwell on because now I believe it is frivolous. I tried many a times to go back but my idealistic views in life became the very reason for my detachment from my family. How ironic and how silly! My girls are all grown up now and I realize that if I don't make it with my family members then it is a very good reason for my girls to fall out of love with each other. I got to walk the talk. How can I instill family values and importance of the family unit in my children if I myself am not being a role model?

(Step mom,dad n my gals)

I have been very close to my husband's side of the family. In fact, I am the ambassador. I attend every function and invite them to all the functions in my house. But I coolly left my own family members out. Yup, though my reasons for it seem to be practical and they never made it any easier for me, I just left it. But since I am growing older now, I crave for them.

(My sis n I)

So, after almost a decade, I initiated a reunion dinner with my immediate family members. My dad, 73 is still alive and so is my evil step mom (or used to be). My eldest brother is 48 and he has a girl,20 and a boy,17. My sister is 46 and she has 2 sons, 30 and 22. And I have 3 girls, 15,14 n 11.

My girls were really excited on the prospect of meeting their cousins and truly looked forward to the reunion. It was held in my sister's new house which is awesome and totally zen.I made my famous cheese cake, fried vegetarian meehoon and brinjal sambal.We decided to go vegetarian.

We all had dinner and then it was time for karaoke. We sang and danced until way pass midnight. It was a fabulous dinner. We all have grown older and wiser. It was soo good coming home again. While driving back, my girls exclaimed that we should do this more often. My eldest girl Tushaani said, "Mom, your family is really fun. We had a great time tonight."

Earth Hour 28th March 2009

28Th of March was gazetted as Earth Hour day. Considering the fact that it will be 60 years that Earth Hour has been observed beguiles me for I am hearing about it for the first time!! Perhaps this year there was much publicity in the mass media. The radio stations-Hitz Fm, Fly Fm, Light n Easy, Mix Fm and others had continuously telecast the need to observe the earth hour by every living mortal Malaysian being, in and out of the country.Phew! Even if I was too lazy to observe it (which is the case for the many not so bright people like us) my kids will definitely not let me off the hook. Earth Hour received much publicity in schools as well.

So we were set. We will switch off ALL our lights on that day from 8.30pm - 9.30pm.



The girls and I discussed at length what we were going to do. I told them, I didn't care what they were up to at that hour but be darn sure that I am going to switch off the main power supply at precisely 8.30pm. So we all decided that we will eat at 8pm and the place to gather was at the family hall. My girls got the candles ready and my youngest one made sure the torch light was working.I informed my mom in law (she is 85) way before hand that the main power supply will be shut down at 8.30pm and she was so excited as well. Since she is a tad bit too old I reminded her to be seated in the hall at the appropriate time. She did!



At 5 minutes to 8.30pm, everyone was in a frenzy (including my maid) that we had only 5 minutes left. Tushaani offered herself or rather insisted that she wanted to be the ONE to shut off the supply. Though I am a little apprehensive about children and electricity supply, I relented. My maid was still doing the dishes so I gave her some candles to be put in the kitchen. Time and again I reminded my girls that they can only light the candles after the main supply was shut down. Not before.



At 1 minute to 8.30pm, we started the countdown 59,58,57.........45,44......32,31...........28,27.......19,18.....10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1....



We all shouted in darkness,"HAPPY EARTH HOUR!!!"



"Man, this was really exciting! We started playing cards - donkey (haven't played it in donkey years), old maid, snap, happy family etc. We soon realized that we do not need any candles because the street lights were still on. We decided to put the candles out but still kept all the doors and windows shut and the curtains draped to cut off all light from the street.



I had smsed all the numbers in my contact to observe the Earth Hour and my phone kept beeping throughout the hour. Let me tell you, everyone that I smsed told me that they were observing the Earth Hour, except for some who said,"OK". That could mean anything. It could mean "Yes, ok, I'll do it" or "Ok, you go ahead and do it".



Anyway, I did my part in alerting the others.After we were done with the cards (in less then 20 mins), grandma decided to tell us a ghost story in Tamil. We all listened very intently but unfortunately my mom in law sucks at ghost stories so we had to cut her short.I know, so mean,huh?



Then we decided to play the alphabet game -where we name the category, eg. animals and then each of us will have to name animals which start with that alphabet. We then went on to singers, actors, actresses, movies etc. After that we just chatted whilst the mosquitoes had a field day tearing at our skin.



Before we knew it it was way past 9.30pm. Suddenly the girls were all so solemn.



"That was too quick," they said.



"You want to continue for another hour?"



"But the rest of the world wont be!"



Then Tushaani switched on the power supply. We congratulated each other for a job well down. Next we will have to wait for the news as to how much electricity was saved by mother earth.The girls and I are soo proud of being part of Earth Hour.We do not mind doing it again and again even for a longer period of time.



What did you do?

25th Convent Seremban Reunion

Sometime last December '08, I received a strange sms from someone whom I haven't met for a very, very long time. The sms definitely got me extremely excited because a reunion was in store for the batch of 1984 of Convent Seremban. And if you do the math, it will be our 25th year anniversary. Imagine all these years we have never had a reunion!! And now after 25 years we are having one. The date was fixed-4th of April'09. Hell, I wouldn't know what I will be doing 5 months from December, but what the heck,'I AM GOING!!"

And then began the roller coaster ride of hunting down the batch of '84. Catherine Wood, the brains behind this reunion started her long and arduous mission of calling, sms-ing, e mailing etc which garnered her almost 70 email and contacts of gals of '84. Now that was a HUGE achievement. Of course it was a chain reaction. One friend lead to another and wallah! the 70 names.

Catheirne wanted the venue to be in Seremban because here was where we went to school. Of course, Convent Seremban doesn't exist anymore, thanks to the then Menteri Besar who demolished the building to pave the way for Seremban's aka Mid Valley Mega Mall which has since become Mid Valley Mosquito Mall. I curse him each time I pass by my Alma mater.

Anyway, coming back to the reunion. As the day drew nearer and when it was time to pay up our RM80 each, the numbers steadily dwindled down. By closing date, only 10-15 had paid up. Let me remind you that yours truly was one of the first. I knew this would happen because we ladies are soooooooooooo lame!! When it comes to the men, they just pay up and that's it. But when it comes to us, we must put in the application form to the husband, seek a review and if is is rejected, we go for an appeal or sweet talk and "bagi" husband "puas-puas" before popping up the question that madame wants a night out with her friends. How can he refuse? Its our 25th anniversary. Quite frankly speaking, I am guilty of being like that!! But I stopped once I turned 40. I said, that's it. No more asking. I will just inform of my whereabouts. This is what I love about being 40. I know, I know, half the time we just give our husbands face! We just pretend to be a damsel in distress. Anyway, the end justifies the means, right?

Why am I side tracking? Yes, the reunion. Of course many of us were late in paying because some just couldn't decide if they could come because of work commitments. Most of the working gals were based in KL and they have to arrange to come down and since we are having dinner, it is going to be a late night and driving back in the night may not be conducive for some. But the excuse that won the first prize which left me totally bewildered and astonished was some smart ass who came to the conclusion that this was a reunion for the ARTS STREAM OF 84!! Hello, excuse me, do we live in the same planet? Have you ever heard of such gibberish? Just because Catherine Wood, the founder of our reunion was an Arts student, the Science Stream students backed out!! From 70 people who pledged to come, the number reduced to 40. I don't seem to understand. We were all together in the same Convent for 11 years - from primary to secondary. We were in the arts and sciences only for 2 years. Then how the heck can 2 years take precedent over 11 years? Those science stream girls actually aren't that smart, are they?

I believe when Isa decided to demolish the Convent, the brains of the Science Stream girls also went down together with the building. We were 17 back then, now we are 42 for heaven's sake. Surely we should be more matured and wiser now? Apparently some of the science stream girls' brains stopped growing after 17. What a pity!

By the way, I am a science stream student, ok. And I don't belong to that category. Probably I wasn't the cream of the science stream, I was almost at the bottom of the food chain. So I have been discarded and thrown to be eaten by the scavengers!! The scavengers here are the arts stream students. Perhaps this is their (the science stream) philosophy. Go to hell with them!!

Actually at the reunion, there were only 4 from the science stream. The rest were from the arts. But who the hell cared? Nothing could stop the 40 of us from bringing the house down. We had a whole room to ourselves in Sungei Ujong Club.

We waited for our Muslim friends to arrive and they all did, promptly by 8.30pm. The rest of us had gathered as early as 7pm. I was there at 7.30pm. Frankly speaking, I couldn't remember half of the gals' names but I definitely remembered their faces. I actually hugged each and everyone of them. It was sooooooooooo goddamn goooooooooood to seeeeeeeeeeeee all of them!!!

It was one of the happiest days of my life.

The food was really good and the spread was more than generous. A few of us had given Sharon Mauricio pictures from school days which she compiled into a CD and we had a slide show of the gud 'ol days. Most of us have retained our faces but after 25 years, all of us now are DROP DEAD GORGEOUS BOMBSHELLS!! Honest to God, each of us looked sooooooooooo good. Most of us have grown sideways, almost all of us, except for Kamala Devi-who grew upwards- she actually grew taller after Form Five. And there was Vasanti and Jeyanti. Jeyanti is dubbed the "Halle Berry" of Malaysia. Two real sexy things, these twins!! Renbir Kaur still looked 17. You can actually put a uniform on her and send her back to Form 5 and let me tell you, no one will ever know. The climax of the evening was of course Rovinna who beat us all flat with her revelation of 7 girls and 1 boy in her brood. This caused Karen Theseira to exclaim loudly, "Eh, engkau tak pakai panties ke bila tidur?"Of course all of us broke out into a roaring laughter. Each and everyone of us took to the mic and recapped our lives the past 25 years. There was much banter from the gals who poked jokes and made funny innuendos to the speakers. Sook Nee and Sook Na - the inseparable twins operate a real estate business. And yes, Susilawati had obtained her PHD to which we all gave her a round of applause. Shashinder Kaur who resides in Sydney is a real cool orator. And yes, Nirmala Devi is an attourney and she runs her own law firm. I am so proud of all my friends. Contrary to other horror reunion stories, there wasn't a shred of animosity or jealousy amongst us.

The other "well kept secret" which threw me off guard was the fact that many of my friends married their childhood sweethearts and are still married to them! Wow!! Back at that time when I was struggling with my Add Math and Physics, these bunch of girls were happily running around trees with their boyfriends. Lau Seck Yan is holding the Guinness Record for starting way back in Form 1. The others met their sweethearts in Form 2, 3, 4 and 5. Thus the idiom " To Kill Two Birds With One Stone" is definitely academic. Thing is, I never knew these"gatal habis" girls had boyfriends. Since I never had a boyfriend through out my schooling days, they never shared their secret with me. I am not an ally,ma! So I never knew about it. It's such a blessing to know that their relationships have lasted their lifetime and I wish all of them a happy, happy life always.

Some worked in the bank, some were home makers including me, I rather call myself "A lady Of Leisure" because time is in our hands. We don't have to rush to work but of course the children are our alarm clock!! Some married pretty late in life. Some have children, others don't. Some are still single- gorgeous and single because of failed relationships. It's the men's loss anyway. Who wouldn't want the awesome batch of '84,huh?

Anyway, whatever you are be it single or married, married with children, married without children, married and divorced, married and divorced with children, married and divorced without children, mistresses, lesbians etc-the most inportant thing is for you to be happy with the way you are. You don't have to please anyone, not at 42! You lead your life the way you see it fit. You make your bed, you lie on it. Your pain is yours. My pain is mine. And we all deal with our pains differently. Who am I to judge you? Am I soo perfect? Frankly speaking, I don't care. All I care about is you. And today, after 25 years, you tell me you are a doctor, engineer, lawyer, accountant, banker, homemaker, teacher, business woman, entrepreneur, sales girl, manager, supervisor, nurse,administrator, janitor, whatever, I care two hoots. You are batch of 84 and you matter to all of us. I believe I speak on behalf of the masses.

Catherine and Sharon had the honour of cutting the reunion cake. There was no way all 40 of us were gong to hold the knife and cut the cake. There won't be any cake left to eat! It would have been buchered to glory. After the cake cutting ceremony Sharon and Catherine gave each of us a mug with the inscription "Convent 25th Anniversary" and our names on it. I shall drink my early morning coffee with it from now on.

After dinner, we managed to get most of the gals onto the dance floor. We made a huge ring and got each gal to go into the centre and "bring it on sista"! Most of us just didn't have enough time to chat. At 12am, we had to vacate the place. About 12 of us, adjourned to a mamak restaurant in Kemayan Square for some "teh tarik" and we continued to talk until 2am. We could have gone on till the next morning, but I didn't want to push it with the husband dear now, would we? Then we may get grounded and can't make this an annual thing. I got home at approximately 2.45am.

My husband was slouched on the cushion in the TV room, apparently waiting for me. I brushed my teeth, flossed it and had a bath. All the bogeying on the dance floor made me perspire. I woke my husband up way pass 3am (he didn't know) and we went to bed. As I lay in bed, I couldn't sleep because I was still soo excited. I was actually on the verge of waking my hubby up to tell him about the reunion. I couldn't wait till morning. It took me quite a while to drift off to sleep. I had to get up at 6am because I promised to golf with my girlfriend at 7am.

It was a night to remember. It was simply awesome. I am going to organize the next gathering, one year from now. And this time around, I'll make sure our Science Stream friends come. I want them to come and feel our warmth. I want them to come because say what you want, WE ARE THE BATCH OF '84 CONVENT SEREMBAN and no one can take that away from us.

My 42nd Birthday

I turned 42 on the 19th of February, last month to be exact. I hate my birthdays. Why? Because I am always left disappointed! You see, when u assume the role of Finance Minister, Domestic and Consumer Affairs Minister, Home Minister, Health Minister etc,you have such a huge portfolio that everyone depends on you and you alone. Every member of the family bet their last dollar on you to TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING!! Including, planning your own birthday. Now that sucks!

I still remember the first birthday for the year was Tushaani's. She turned 15 on the 7th of January 2009. It was a school day and she had tuition from 6-8pm. Being the first week of school, there was no way that she was going to cut school. I prepared "chi-kut-teh" - the equivalent to "bak-kut-teh", only substitute the pork for chicken for lunch. "Bak" means pork in Chinese. She ate up her lunch ravenously. Early in the morning when she descended the stairs, I hugged and wished her "Happy Birthday."

I had prepared way in advance that despite a school day, she will still have a memorable birthday. When I dropped her off at tuition, Vesh, Netz n I went to Giant. We bought her favourite book, the sequel to "Twilight" - "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer. I had also secretly made arrangements with two of her best friends' mothers, Sharnia and Ann to have them join us all for dinner at night. I told the girls' parents that I would fetch them both when I fetched Tushaani from tuition and that I would very much appreciate it if their transport back could be arranged by one of them. Ann's mom willingly volunteered to fetch them back.Tushaani is not to know about this. It is a surprise!

I dropped Tushaani at tuition and quickly headed home. Dinner was roast chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, garlic bread and steamed broccoli. Yummy! I know she would love it. I fetched Ann first and then Tushaani. When Tush entered the car, she was so shocked to see Ann. And when I headed to Sharnia's tuition centre, she was ecstatic when Shania entered the car. The next thing I remember is chatting and laughter and screaming all the way till we reached home which even drowned the car radio.

I tried a new recipe of chocolate cake, which didn't quite turn out the way I wanted. But what the heck, it was delicious!! Since it was a little flat, we ate it with ice cream.

Tush went on and on as to how happy she was to see her friends on her birthday and share a meal with them. That's me, the Home Minister.

In May, it will be Netusha's 14th birthday. I have already planned what I want to do. We are going to have an all girls bikini party. I will put up the inflatable pool in the garden. Dress coat is swimsuit with pareo and every girl will have a garland and a mock tail made from pineapple. How about that? Haven't finalised the details though.

So, we come back to my birthday. Unconsciously, year in and year out, nobody does anything for me on my birthday. The usual question from my husband would be,"So, what are we doing for your birthday?" Man, must I plan my birthday as well! No way!

Towards the end of my birthdays, I get soo irritated and agitated that I would insist to go out for dinner! I hate it when my hubby says, we go out on another day,lah! Saturday lah! And I would say, "Today is my birthday, and not Saturday."

My biggest birthday boo-boo was on my 40th. Turning 40 was SOMETHING for me. 40 spells wisdom and to hell with what others think. 40 means you lead your life the way you seem fit. 40 means having not to please anyone but yourself. 40 means demanding sex from your husband when you are horny! No wonder they say life begins at 40. Yes, on my 40th birthday,my nieces and my in laws were in my house and it was Chinese New Year period. I was hoping since all of them were there, they would plan something for me. But instead they asked me what was I going to do! Hell!
I am the planner in the family circle as well. Birthdays, engagements, Deepavali, BBQ-all the public holidays where the family gathers is always organised by yours truly. But it was my birthday, surely it's no fun for me to plan something? And everyone asked me what shall they do on my birthday!! I wanted to cry!

I have gotten so used to it, that I couldn't care less about my birthday anymore. I have begun to accept the fact that there's more to my birthdays then making a big hue and cry about it. I remember, my sis used to bring me a cake when my children were little. She did it without fail for many years.

I reminded some of my friends to call me on my birthday, which they did. So,pathetic,huh? The first call I got on my birthday was from my niece in California (I didn't remind her though). I also received may emails from my friends who are all over the world (thanks to Facebook). My sis of course called me and so did my sis- in- law. The best gift I received was a video from my nieces. It was awesome and I love it!!

I can't complain too much actually. A week after my birthday last year, Steve bought me a designer watch, EBEL for RM 10 000! That's the discounted prize. The original value was RM 18 000.

3 years ago, he bought me a gold bangle worth RM 2000.

5 years ago, Steve bought me a whole set of diamonds from SELBERAN which cost him RM 10 000. I had a set of earrings, bangle, ring and necklace. I wear it all the time.

10 years ago, Steve bought me an emerald diamond set from Australia.

So okaylah, I don't have a birthday celebration, and I don receive gifts on my every birthday every year but I have got some really exquisite and expensive gifts over the years which many women would not have had in their life time.
When I got home in the evening after picking the kids up from piano lessons, there sat on the dining table a huge chocolate cake, a stock of rose and a card.

Moral of the story is DON'T COMPLAIN. APPRECIATE WHAT YOU HAVE.