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.