Mind Blowing

wow...what a weekend. a trip down memory lane. it was my school's annual Old Boys' Weekend. even though it's held every year, this is my first visit to the OBW as an ex-student. my batch once organised our own reunion back in '99 but that wasn't during the OBW. but i had an idea of what to expect lahh...coz growing up there for 5 years, we were no strangers to the OBW. my recollection of OBWs when i was a student was seeing this bunch of old, overweight men coming over for the weekend and creating somewhat of a carnival atmosphere. with their flashy new cars and trophy wives, u had a suspicion that there was a contest going on somehow. so now's my turn to be one of those guys minus the weight, flashy cars and of course, the trophy wife. hmmmm...sumthing's gotta be done bout that...hehhehehe....
i came down from KL with a friend of mine, the two of us on the road friday night. word to the wise: never travel with only 2 people if u want ur secret to remain the way it is. that's what i learned...biasalah...bila dah 2 orang sembang2 on the road for 2+ hours, sumthing's got to turn up. hehhehehe...tu yang best tu...i got to go on more road trips.arriving at the gates of STAR, without the title of a student, was somewhat bittersweet. mann.. and to think that 7 years had gone by since i left here as a 17 year-old, unsure of what the future holds for me. come to think of it...i'm still unsure of my future 7 years on. well, some things never change, huh? i got to give credit to the organisers, class of '84 for the splendid organization of the OBW. even though i've got some complaints here and there, overall..it was a memorable event. tradition states that the sole responsibilty in handling the OBW falls on the batch that have left school for 20 years, hence the class of '84 for this year's event. they sold some souvenirs for this year's event and one that caught my eye was a kid's t-shirt with the words 'My Dad's a Starian' emblazzed across it. really cute. siap the S in starian was the Superman 'S' logo.
the best part of OBW for me...one...is meeting back old friends and schoolmates at the place where u shared your memories. i kinda pity the kids now...ever since the High Council debacle a year ago, things have changed a lot at school. gone are the days of 'fly', the privilege of 'cross padang' and even the traditional cheer looks a bit scrappy. okay...even though things like beating the crap out of someone and treating juniors like pieces of shit are long gone and better off without, the small jahat-jahat stuff are for me...quite harmless. bayangkan laaa...now they got this kinda like undercover SWAT team taking over from the warden after 11.00 pm. and these guys are really good...brought in specially from the Ministry. fly?? takyah mimpi laaa..they'll catch u before u know it. nak makan maggi lepas kul 11 pun kena nyorok2. what the f***?? i can't imagine them 10 years from now.....
Mamat 1: weih Mamak..hang ingat tak time kita kantoi makan maggi tepi locker tu? nasib baik aku sempat lari....
Mamat 2: a'ah la Sudu. aku dah usha line time tu dah....si Rompong gak yang kena....hahahha
Cerita di atas adalah rekaan semata-mata. Tiada kaitan dengan hidup atau mati. Kalau ada pun...nasib laaa..
huh?? kantoi makan maggi? baik kena kantoi tidur tak pakai kelambu...lagi thrill.....and meeting old juniors and seniors who have now happily married or happily something (from the size of their waist, they must be happy about sumthing) was really great. the seniors who once reign fear in your heart by the mere mention of their name looks like a lame mortal nowadays. aku dulu dah la kecik, skang bole la berdiri sama tinggi ngan diorang...hahahaha (gelak bangga)
the old boys vs. student matches were really something too and becomes the main attraction there. my batch entered the 7-a-side footy tournament, and was shown the difference between the men and the boys when we were whipped by the Form 5 team. hahahahha...masing2 pancit, padan muka kena kitai ngan bebudak. ahhh well....their youthful energy and exuberance was too much for us old timers. baru 24 tu...lagi 10 tahun tak tau la camne. maybe a bit better, coz at least 'exercising' in a different form...hehehe. and in all competitions between the old boys and students, the students just edged us. what was really funny was the chess competition. it was acknowledged as a tie after 5 games, but the old boys were announced as the winners because, and i quote,"Pertandingan catur berakhir dengan keputusan seri, tetapi pihak Staroba menjadi juara disebabkan faktor usia yang lebih tua." huh? bukannya the older u get, the wiser u are ke? hahahahha...kata otak nak menang je....lagipun budak2 ni bukan terer sangat....heeeee...
the STAROBA dinner was also the highlight with that foxy host from Explorace handling the night's event. serius bahaya...with all those testosterone running high there, nasib baik nothing happened..hehehe. she really was da bomb..menyesal aku tak tengok Explorace. and she was put to good use too..handling the Charity Auction. aku rasa laaa..kalo mat-mat batch 84 tu yang handle auction..bertuah kalo dapat jual seringgit...eh silap..seragok. but when it's a sexy lady in white....laju je tangan naik nak bid.....well...boys will be boys, huh? even the kids were excited...time nak balik tu..macam superstar hollywood je kena rush dengan mob. no prizes for guessing where they get their ideas. kata boys school...at least time aku ada matrik girl....
and meeting up with the teachers, may Allah bless 'em. Pak Cheng, Mr. Mano, Ustad Mokhtar, Zul punk, Padani, Ringgo, Pn Noraini, Pak Yoong, Cikgu Harmain....yeah..they got cute nicknames..our way of showing affection for them. on our way back..singgah jap kat rumah Pn Noraini, my Form 5 class teacher. my...was i in for a suprise. it was my first visit to her house, and i was impressed. i knew that she was quite well-off, but not to this extent. i'm sure that she didn't have to work at all. she teaches becoz she wants to. it's her passion, and something she does so affectionately. she's aged over the years, but the smile remains the same. i remember time prep malam dulu, rajin dia bawak karipap and nasi lemak untuk kitorang yang macam tak makan 10 hari. we were lucky to have her as our class teacher. she literally transformed the class...mana ada dalam sejarah STAR (aku rasa laaa...) kelas F5 menang kelas tercantik. usually it's the juniors yang rajin hias2 kelas ni, nak harap F5 kemas...tunggu Kiamat laaaa...
and as i made the trip back home last nite....it just occurred to me that even though kekadang aku rasa menyesal skit on things i should have done in school, i thought...hey...memang la tak perfect those 5 years. there were ups and downs. but i guess the imperfectness made it the more perfect. and when u recall back those innocent years...u know that there was no regret. we'll always remember those stories and tell them until we're grandpas, like some of the old boys that came. anak dah 4-5, but during OBW...it's like being 17 again. telling their fantasies towards Canny Ong's mom (she happenned to be a teacher at STAR in the 70's) and how they struggled to go out at nite for just 2 damn ciggarettes. seronok aku tengok diorang main terup sambil tunggu nak makan kat dining hall. i know i shouldn't reveal this, but this one pakcik pakai underwear je pegi mandi. "Bukannya ada pompuan", was the excuse...hehehhe. rightly so. maybe 10-20 years from now...aku pun camtu ke? knowing the immatured guy that i am...i guess probably so.
yeahhh..we did some crazy things back then...but we still made it, right? i'm gonna skip a couple of OBWs before going to my next one. perhaps with the shiny new car and the trophy wife? perhaps....

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