New Year 2006

Warm greetings to you, ladies and gentlemen, and guess what? It’s 2006! Aye!

On this lovely day of 1st January, the one question that everyone is most likely to ask you is, “How was your new year’s celebration?”. There’s only two types of answers to that question. One, you tell the story in length, right from the moment you put on that ‘special occasion’ cologne until you got home and forgot where you had left your house keys. Or, if you’re lucky, waking up in someone else’ bed and having trouble aiming during the morning piss. Or two, you just gave out a grumble, indicating that you had no intention to continue further with the discussion because last night was certainly forgettable. And you only have your pet cat to bear witness to all. Thank god to that. As the Sunday morning comic strip would point out, it’s whether you’re Garfield, or Jon Arbuckle.

Fortunately though, I have a delightful new year’s celebration. It was a barbeque night at Aritha’s and don’t we all just love barbeque. Her sister balik kampung, so the house was all for the taking. It was a nice, small, casual gathering, and it was good. I’ve long since left the brouhaha scene such as Bintang Walk and KLCC park. Teenage years, yes. But now, I’m just too old for that shit. These limbs are no longer how they used to be. So, there we were, a group of maybe 15 people. Chilling, having a few drinks (non-alcoholic, mind you) and a few laughs. Well, actually a lot of laughs. You know how it is with these Fab 5-esque people. They ARE the party everywhere they go. Even the constant yelping of the dog from next door couldn’t dampen the scene. But at around 10.30 I just realized I forgotten to do something. Fulfillment of a favor. Delivering dad’s ihram belt to my uncle at his house at Bukit Jelutong. He wants to borrow it because he misplaced his and he’s leaving, well, later tonight. So my failure to deliver would result in very dire consequences. 1 ½ hours till midnight. I could just make it for OU’s fireworks display if I leave now, so I thought to myself. So, as un-sportingly as it is to leave in the middle of a party, I had no choice. It’s Bukit Jelutong or bust. I arrived at around 11.30 and you may ask, why an hour? Two reasons. The traffic out of Damansara was agonizingly slow and I somehow took a wrong turn somewhere that almost lead me to Rawang. But I recalibrated my sense of direction and managed to arrive just in time to catch them lounging at the front porch. The whole family was there, talking, also waiting for the clock to strike twelve. The mother, the son and Farhan, the new son-in-law. Who? What? Oh yes, Farhan. You know, Farhan. The White SUV driving, basketball player for UTP Farhan. The one who promised eternal love to Ara. Just his version of eternal is ‘until I find a better one’. And now he’s married to my cousin, ‘the better one’. That may sound gloating but I assure you my intention is quite the opposite. Haven’t I told you this news already? Oh that’s right, I haven’t. Maybe because it’s a kind of news that I am not particularly proud of. Just think, I am now related to this guy. That’s probably the most disturbing revelation of 2005 for me. Previously, I was happy that he’s just a mere acquaintance that I needed only to nod to acknowledge his presence in a room. Now, I have to be ‘nice’ and ‘be friends’ (words from my mother) just because he’s about to shag my cousin for the rest of his life. Oh sod that! Anyway, enough of him and let’s get back to meeeee.

Right, dropped off the things and I have a half an hour to head back to Bandar Utama. To make matters worse, Valerie’s petrol tank is nearly empty and the engine was practically running on fumes. Not a good combination. But this time no more wrong turns, traffic was tolerable except for a bitchin’ silver Hyundai Accent and I was able to made it in time. I was running to the house after I parked Val and I was at the gate when the first ‘Boom’ erupted. I stopped dead in my tracks, turned around and the somber night sky was suddenly filled with color and splendour. I was elated. Not just because I have always welcomed fireworks displays but also because I just made it in time. Not in Valerie stuck in traffic somewhere.

There were two separate displays. One by One Utama and the other by Ikea. Ikea won the perseverance contest but apart from that, I was particularly happy because this is a first time, in a long time, that I was able to witness a fireworks display so closely. Usually it’s from the window of my room and watching KLCC and KL Tower illuminated in the distance. Last Merdeka, even though the view from Bukit Antarabangsa was fantastic but it was still a tad far away to hear the booming sound effects. Last night, the boy inside me was jumping and singing happily.

After the fireworks, I went inside and good lord was I shocked. Most of the people had gone home! I mean like, blimey, they didn’t even stay until midnight, which is the whole point of having a New Year’s Eve party. Yes, we are a bit too old to be counting, “… 3, 2, 1” aloud but still…chill around! What I left a festive commotion, I have returned to a party of five. It was disappointing at so many different levels and mainly because I didn’t have a chance to bid goodbye, especially to the girls. Oh, the girls. Sasa was unusually commendable of my appearance. She said I had a nice haircut (which I paid RM10 for at an Indian barbershop at Greenwood) and that I looked slimmer (which I think is probably being towards a case of malnutrition). And Jes. Oh dear me, Jes. She looked so hot I was sweating by merely looking at her. The fact she’s a woman is almost secondary. She just emanates heat. But all that was gone now, albeit the night was still young. Mind you, all that sleepless nights studying made me feel midnight like 9 pm. At around 1.30 am, I too had to call it a night. Everybody else was leaving and since Aritha didn’t want to be ‘tangkap basah’ with me, it was cue for me to start dragging my homemade barbeque set to Valerie.

Still feeling unsatisfied, I called up Gambino, hoping for some form of retribution. But to no avail, he too was just having a so-so night. He didn’t go to the Holiday Villa gig. ‘Tak ramai pun yang kite kenal ade kat situ’ was his reason. ‘Kalau semua bebudak kite orait gak’, I lamented. He agreed. So, instead he went to Subang to Mawar’s. And he’s been there since most of the night. I ended the call and with it, my adventures for the night. I bid my beautiful hostess, Aritha, farewell. And she looked absolutely vivacious in a white top. I was hoping for a new year’s kiss but she didn’t give me one. Haih, have to wait for 2007 then.

I got into Valerie, put her into reverse, drove out of Damansara and start the quiet journey towards home.

So, tell me, how was your New Year’s celebration?