A Celebration

A cold drink is best after a long walk under the scorching sun. A nice cup of tea on the balcony is soothing after a hard day at work. A cool shower is refreshing after a game of football on a wet pitch. And so is a nice, long sleep after a week of sleepless nights – it’s priceless.

Here I am swiveling in my big blue chair, listening to Malay hits by Misha Omar and Ning Baizura. Another morning after a very satisfying sleep into the night. A privilege I didn’t had the luxury to enjoy for the past week because of the MICPA Conversion Course final examination. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the 4 months tenure has been brought to a close. Signed-off with the tougher-than-I-expected exams. But I did my best so no regrets there. Unless, of course, I failed and I have everything to regret for. Apart from not getting enough sleep, burning the midnight oil and somehow managed to turn sleep, once again, into a state of mind.
It’s kind of amusing, you know, to find yourself so disoriented because of lack of sleep. I remember one day last week when I though to myself, “That Tru Calling show is really interesting. More so with that Eliza Dushku girl. I wonder if I can catch this week’s show. Now, when is it supposed to be on again? It was Tues…oh wait, Tuesday was just yesterday. That ‘last week’ show was actually on yesterday. The next show wouldn’t be until next week. Damn…,”. I could only end up giggling. For the whole of last week, it took me an average of 2 seconds to remember what date of that particular day. “It’s…..the 28th!”. Announcing it ecstatically as if it’s the answer to a pop quiz question.
So when finally last Saturday I get to put my head on a pillow and declaring to myself, “I am now going to sleep - guilt-free,” it never felt better. It was heavenly. But that’s only half of the story.

My Saturday began at 12 am. It could not get any earlier than that. Sure enough, I was busy familiarizing myself with the balance sheet of a limited company. For the next 11 hours I was a nervous wreck. The next hour I was one pissed-off bloke because I felt betrayed by a person that I left a lot of confide in, but that’s another story. Only after the clock hit 1 pm I could breathe a sigh of relief. I felt like a rally driver. I tried my best but whether my efforts were enough, well, only time would tell. In the meantime, I decided to chill at Cipoi’s and Jedeh’s at Ampang Park. Sale was slow, except for one EON Executive lady. I still have time before 3 so I decided to float around the complex while Cipoi entertained his client. I managed to get myself a drink and a few pastries just to kill off time. When it was to time to pack up I asked Cipoi what’s the quickest way to KL Tower but he refused to answer me as a sign of protest because I wouldn’t disclose the full information regarding my upcoming high-tea session with a few girls at the tower. “I wouldn’t be the only boy there,” a statement I made to console a bit of innocence to me. I only receive a waive of the hand and an, “Aah,” clearly still refusing to believe my claim. But fortunately enough I didn’t make a wrong turn to KL Tower but I did, however, made a grievous mistake of parking Valerie at the foot of the hill. My perspiring back was absolute proof of that when I reached at the top. I was to attend a farewell party for Eefei who is leaving for Sweden in a few weeks to pursue a Master’s Degree. And a high-tea atop the KL Tower at its revolving restaurant to commemorate the occasion is a rather splendid idea, I must say. Surely enough, I enjoyed myself. The food was not that good however but imagine eating lamb casserole in an air-conditioned restaurant with a view of the Klang Valley constantly revolving around and you must acknowledge, it’s not something that you do everyday. It was truly a sight to behold. A great way to unwind and to put away terms such as ‘current liabilities’ and ‘director’s remuneration’ for awhile. The girls were of course gossiping all the way but this time I willingly shut myself up. Resistance is futile, as they might say. What have we learned from going out with more than 4 girls at a time, huh? But since you’re not planning on becoming the center of attention then everything is fine. Just take a sip of your drink, have another slice of pie and listen on who is getting married in the next few months even though you don’t know any of them personally or any of them at all. But while the high high-tea was pleasant and relaxing, the karaoke session soon after was totally the opposite, but fun nevertheless.
What can you exactly say about karaoke sessions? Apart from we really had fun by making an ass out of ourselves by singing ridiculous songs that we wouldn’t even dare to hum in public. There’s never a dire moment when it comes to karaoke-ing with your friends. Fun, yes. But what happens in the room, stays in the room.
By the end, some decided to head home while I took the chance to stop by at Acai’s and, as if I can avoid it, was made to watch Akademi Fantasia. I still could not understand on how people could get so emotionally involved with the show. People cry every time a contestant gets voted out but not when they’re sending those SMSs that costs RM0.65 each. 10 SMSs equals RM6.50. 20 SMSs would double that. All for the sake of someone who doesn’t even know your name. Pathetic would be an understatement. But I do find that Amylea girl rather interesting. I told people there’s something about that girl since the early shows but no one would listen. She will win the competition, I tell you. Remember, you read it here first. Oh my, even I’m beginning to start talking about ‘it’. Crap. Now, where was I? Oh yes, Acai’s house. Well, we all went home after that. But one interesting thing happened before that. Since Sasa left for home after the karaoke session, I had Regina Hayati as my passenger and the first thing that she said the moment she stepped into my car was that the car smelt like rotten fish. Then she asked me when was the last time I went to pasar tani with the car. What am I suppose to answer? Because in all natural truth, I never went to the pasar with this car. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I went to a pasar tani, period. But I can’t answer ‘yes’ because that would be lying but if I said ‘no’ then it shows how much of bad person I am in keeping my car clean. Or on how it smells on that matter. So I ended up avoiding from answering the question and changed the topic. But it was a tall tell sign that something needs to be done with Valerie. To receive such comments is like a wake-up call. I must say I never thought that Valerie’s interior would smell like rotten fish but when you bring passengers into your car, the least you can do is to make them feel comfortable. And to have the inside of your car smell like rotten fish, that’s bad. So, mental note – make Valerie interior smell better, for the sake of potential passengers. And air-fresheners would no longer cut it I’m afraid.
Oh anyway, after Acai it was time to conclude the night and I had the most peaceful sleep in weeks. But the best part happened on Sunday.

Entrée Sunday. Sunday was, well, Sunday. The day when you kick back, relax and the first thing you do when you wake up was to check your phone for messages. I had none that morning. Well, I guess nobody missed me that much yesterday. Nor hate me, for that matter. I have a big plan that day. A Harith Iskandar show. My maiden performance with the man. He’s having his final show that afternoon and guess what? As of 10 am, I have no tickets. Naturally, if it was the opening for Revenge of the Sith then I would panic but for a matinee theatre performance somewhere in Sentul, I was convinced I could get tickets before the show at 3. So I went for a drive right before noon, lost my way a bit around Sentul but I managed to find KLPAC. And surely enough, I managed to get tickets. 2nd row seats even. If it’s TGV or GSC, it would be murder but in theater sense, they’re quite the opposite so yeah, I was more than happy. A few hours later I returned to the sloping green mounds which was unbelievably right in the middle of Sentul and I enjoyed myself immensely. That man Harith is just brilliant. And to be in the company of people who can laugh at jokes about the National car and a certain Rafidah made it all worth while. For a guy who is used to watching Hollywood movies whilst growing up, I find the theatre incredibly honest and self-fulfilling. I would definitely return for another outing. In a newspaper excerpt, it quoted Harith Iskandar saying, “When a person leaves after seeing my show, I just hope he would say, ‘That was worth it,’. Well, in my case that’s exactly what happened. Mission accomplished there. I wish I could describe some of his humorous stories on how Malaysians are prone to do pointless things and on how guys handle break-ups but I can’t because words alone would not be enough. One has to watch the show to appreciate it.

Having high-tea at almost 500 metres above sea level, singing a horrendous rendition of the song Paling Comel and a vintage performance by one of the true stand-up comedian of the Malaysian scene, I’d say that’s one awesome way to celebrate an occasion, wouldn’t you say so?

I’ve read that 1000+ words blogs are not that good because readers would lose interest along the way. It is best to keep it shorter so readers can stop, read and click on. So I’ll end it here for this time around. Since I have nothing else to do for the most of my days, I’ll probably polish up on my blogging skills. So, next up we’ll be talking about August and Maya Karin’s smile.