Nineteen all over again

While in Penang, I met up with my old mates from Burnside High School.

I thought it was just going to be just the girls. But they got in touch with the boys too. And they came later, looking pretty much the same. But yeah, no more boys. Men now okay.



The boys and girls from Burnside High

Lay Hooi. We've been friends for so long. We were in the same class in kindergarten, then went on the same primary school, same secondary school and you would you believe it, same high school in NZ. From Alor Setar to Christchurch.That's 35 years of friendship. 35 years of knowing. I knew every guy she had a crush on.

Lay Hooi and I

See Wai. Bubbly, outgoing and happiest soul on earth. One of the first friends I made in Christchurch. I think she's probably friends with everyone there. You could always hear her laughter a mile away. Whilst the other three went to other universities, See Wai and I both stayed on in Christchurch and went to the University of Canterbury. But she hopped over to the dark side. Engineering! I didn't see her much then. Uggh. The engineering block stinked. Too alpha male.

See Wai and I

Cheng Woi. The brainiest of us all. I used to tease him a lot. Thank goodness he's still talking to me. He still looks the same, walks the same. We lost contact after high school. And now I know why. After high school, he was quickly offered a full scholarship to read law at Leeds. Then another full scholarship for his masters in Belgium. Jealous.

Cheng Woi and I



It was a blast. Over food and drinks at this quaint Nyonya restaurant in the Straits Quay, we giggled like school kids and gossiped about our teachers. Talk about an estrogen rush. Hah. We totally forgot that we're now middle-aged professionals.

Nope, in those giddy moments, we were nineteen all over again. We recalled every silly teenage thing we did. We giggled over our teen crushes, our teen problems and just general silliness. See, we were in this foreign land where the kiwis spoke funny and smelled funny. I mean, it took me about 3 months to decipher the accent. And most did smell of lamb, except not in a good way. (they probably thought we smelled of garlic)

We remembered  how we cycled everywhere. (In Christchurch, everyone knew how to ride the bicycle. By the end of the first year, I could manouveur my racing bike so well, I could do it hands-free!)  And we remembered how we were hopelessly addicted to fresh milk, full cream please. And giggly recall the teachers in high school and even the body measurements of a particular male economics teacher. Scandalous! As each memory resurfaced, we collapsed in hoots of laughter.

So much fun. Childhood friends are still the best friends we'll ever have. And I've always wondered why that's the case. But Lay Hooi said it right. We're friends because we clicked and for no other ulterior motive. This is life. Simple, no layers, no pretense. Cheers!