REMINISCING MELAKA

i had a very good time in melaka... it was good company + good hotel + good weather ... my only grouch is the traffic jam on my way back to kl (apparently they are doing this road-widening thing along the melaka-kl stretch. as a result of that, i spent nearly 3 hours to get back to kl. penat..... thought of skipping work today but later i decided not to (in anticipation of receiving an important email about the dubai job).

anyway, before we left melaka, we made a pit stop at my former school. the last time i was there was AT LEAST 7 years ago (to get my spm results). i was really excited to see how the school look like now. i practically had to beg the pakcik security there to let me in (i was quite impressed with the level of security there.. especially considering it's the school holidays and there was no one around to kidnap). "bolehla pakcik... saya nak pusing2 je... nak tengok sekolah lama..saya tak turun kereta pun" he finally obliged but he insisted that one of the other guards follow my car (cheh...).

i felt particularly sentimental entering the school grounds after such a long time... the tree-lined, resort-style landscaped road suddenly became very familiar (the trees have grown bigger and made it more picturesque). the road looked nice and very welcoming. the buildings however, have definitely seen better days. they are in need of a new coat of paint (the school was opened in 1995 and has not been re-painted since i think). it was almost dilapidated… it looked almost lifeless. maybe the fact that there were no school kids around gave the lifeless effect.

as much as i want to say that i missed my school days there –there are definitely parts of it that won’t miss. i won’t miss the suffocating daily routine, i won’t miss having to force open my eyes to stay awake in class for the whole two years that i was there, i won’t miss the maddening level of competitiveness among the students (and i’m not just talking academically) and i definitely won’t miss being used as guinea pig by the management in their efforts of coming up with a ‘recipe for excellence’ (my batch was the first batch to graduate – hence the ‘guinea pig’ status)

but i do miss some parts of my years spent there. i miss the state-of-the-art facilities that i was allowed to enjoy when i was there, i miss having the kind of friendship that i had with some of my friends (when you see them almost every minute of your waking hour – you tend to be very close with them), i miss believing in the idealistic dreams that i had in my mind about how my future was going to be like and feeling that it was so easily achievable. i miss having the belief that the future for me, was full of exciting possibilities. and i miss having the belief that i would no longer be a plu once i’m 21 (yup, that’s what i call idealistic). basically, i miss my innocence and naivety. but would i give everything up just to be 17 again? definitely not – especially when it means that i have to take add. maths again (NOOOOOO!!!!)