Sunday, August 12, 2007

a reunion of sorts


how long does it take to get a few guys together to reminisce the old times?

1 year, i was told. i was just informed last month that our rag-tag bunch of previously-voted-to-be-misfits-in-society have been planning since last year to meet in KL. apparently my friend KK has been working tirelessly to get the guys from s'pore, vietnam, usa, australia, & africa together.

they finally met on friday. i only joined them on saturday because of work commitment & apparently missed out on a sumptious dinner & a karaoke session that was somewhat a revelation. the highlight of the meet, the ultimate in male bonding, was a game of football where a bunch of near-fifties relive their glory days. the venue was at....

...Royal Selangor Club, no less.

these guys can really eat. just before the game...

.....they had capati, chicken, curry & beer. this was at 3.30pm & they just had lunch at 1pm!!

we planned for 7-a-side on half the regular football pitch, over 5 periods of 10mins each. after some warm-up exercise.......

....to get the old muscles stretched & joints loosened, it's....

...GAME ON!!

in-between play, we resuscitated our weary battled bodies with life-giving....

(what else?) beer & 100 plus.

in the end, we toiled for a total of 70 mins, a feat we were all outwardly proud of. it didn't matter who won. i found it surprising that most of us, while clearly out of youthful stamina, still retained some of semblance of dribbling, tackling & shooting skills. even more remarkable was that despite the shoving, falling & tumbling, other than minor scratches & bruises, no serious injuries were sustained.

at the end, we could still managed a smile.

after dinner at bukit bintang, we decided to go for foot massage at one of the many shops that lined the street. it was my 1st time - & may well be my last because i found it an excruciatingly painful experience. how was i to know that the slim guy with slim arms could torture the feet? i want to scream &%$#@!* murder!! was he trying to tear my feet off at the ankles? i was later consoled by some who regularly do it, that feeling pain was beneficial to the circulaiton of blood. thanks for the valuable lesson - my feet did feel somewhat lighter after that.

the guys played poker till 5am, with stakes sometimes hitting RM500, i was reliably informed. i just watched aston villa vs liverpool on tv & had an early nite.

it was one last round of camaraderie at breakfast before it was time to go. we unanimously agreed that we will meet every world cup year (next in 2010), the same weekend as the final match. that way, no one would be excused for forgetting - only the venue needed to be decided.

Q : did i learn anything from this meeting?
A : yes - no one can predict the future.

how do i know? because RY, who fooled around the most in class, footed the bill for the dinner-cum-karaoke session & the 2-nite stay at the 5* hotel apartment for everyone. oh, did i mention that he is now deputy chairman of a public-listed company & has a flame-red ferrari and E brabus in his porch?

it's amazing what chocolates you can find in a box.

16 comments:

Las montaƱas said...

should meet more often. because you never know who would be next in the pages of the newspapers.

eve said...

Going for a meet later this month..sigh..It'll be nice meeting them again but why do I have the 'sigh' factor leh?..

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry but I can't remember anything else you wrote in your post after reading the words flame red ferrari. (it's SCARLET by the way)
Is RY by any chance still single or widowed or divorced? (for a Ferrari, I might just be willing to have an affair) jk, LOL.

Sounds like you had fun, now I can't wait for my 20years reunion. haha.

doc said...

las M,

with an "international" cast, it would be a feat to gather more often. anyway, 3 years from now would be about right. hopefully, more people would be able to make it next in 2010.

doc said...

eve,

you sigh because you have a fear of the unknown - like maybe not knowing who or what to expect?

go on, have a jolly good time! & don't forget to blog about it & post some pix.

doc said...

anastasia,

you would have read most of this post as i only mentioned the car (F430 btw) near the end. actually it's neither flame red nor scarlet - it's officially called Rosso Corsa (race red), while the F1 cars are painted Marlboro Red for obvious commercial reason.

RY is very much married. even if he weren't, the queue for him would stretch from one end of bukit bintang to the other. & why not, his wealth is 2nd only to his bubbly persona. drool on, baby! ha ha!

LX said...

Super WOWW to your friend RY. I agree.. the future is indeed unpredictable. Like how I found out my senior high school best friend just gave birth to a baby. Now I feel left out..

nyonyapenang said...

wah.....you and your motley gang sure had loads of fun over the weekend. you all were kids, once again.

and i like that pic of the group of BIG kids. nice...very nice..
errr...which one is doc?

Anonymous said...

Hey Doc,

I love your punch line.. Forrest was definitely right about his chocs. ;)

So what flavour are you? :p

doc said...

lynnx,

don't be too despondent about it. there's a time & place for everything under the sun.

also, many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.

God bless.

doc said...

nyonya,

you are right - we were kids all over again, & loving every minute of it!!

doc is the one that looked least like a doc. heh heh!

doc said...

jem,

yeah, i borrowed that phrase from the show.

i'm the one with coconut filling. what about you?

Alex Tang said...

hi doc,

These type of reunion is always interesting and nostalgic.

You are right. Life is unpredictable.

And as the years pass, you will find more 'missing friends' during such reunion. Cherish your friends while it is still day.

what type of chocolate is me. One I think that may contain nuts.

Jonzz said...

Wow, that's a very fun gathering you had. *Envy*

Absolutely agree with you. You never know how people turn out.

doc said...

hi alex,

i couldn't agree more. each of us, at one time or other, would reminisce the past & wonder how it would be like to go back in time.

that's why reunions will ALWAYS be relevant & NEVER go out of fashion.

doc said...

yeah jonzz,

every one who was there sent emails to our loop & agreed that it was one of the best things we ever did as a group.

a few indicated that 2010 is too far away & we should have the next one sooner.

we all hold our breath as we await the concensus.