After years of not being together again, Zarin, Ida and I finally managed a meet up. Last time I saw Ida was at my wedding (that’s over 5 years ago!). And look, Ida’s about to have a baby! Apparently 3 different doctors independently of each other confirmed it will be a girl. The only person missing from this picture is Restu. The four of us Animalies have not been on the same continent together since, probably, 1998. Ah well! One day! 🙂
[[image:2010-sept-friends01.jpg:Me, Ida & Zarin:center:0]]
If you want to know what “animaly” means, well, you had to be there in 1993 *arf!*.
* Mouse over the pictures for more captions
After adjourning from the Nando’s at Alamanda, we then went to a donut place for dessert (I forgot the name lah.. Zarin remind me again?), and to kill time until Hisham and his family could take us to Eliza’s open house later that afternoon at Cyberjaya.
[[image:2010-sept-friends02.jpg:Mari makan donut!:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-friends03.jpg:Yaya did not care for a donut:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-friends05.jpg:Ida and her hubby Farid:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-friends04.jpg:Zarin chomping on the “Alien” donut:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-friends12.jpg:Finger-lickin’ good:center:0]]
It was a fun outing, and thanks for lunch, Zarin and for the dessert, Ida & Farid! It was Vin’s first Nando’s experience and he quite liked it. I hope it won’t be another five years before we all get together again. After walking around a little, we said goodbye to Ida and Farid. All the best on your growing family, guys!!! And we convinced Zarin to come with us to Eliza’s Open House (hey, if it’s an Open House, then it’s Open, right?). Irfan and Alya’s Opah and Atok had just arrived at the 10th Floor from Sitiawan and were tired so declined to come. So it was just us kids (and grandkids).
At Eliza’s, I got to see my good old friends Eliza and Irniza:
[[image:2010-sept-friends06.jpg:Me, Wisard & Oyern:center:0]]
Irfan disappeared and went off to play with Eliza’s three kids. I believe basketball (with a squealing Yaya running around) and later Monopoly? I didn’t get a picture of the kids playing together though. Yaya had her own ideas of what we had to do at an Open House, once the eating was done:
[[image:2010-sept-friends07.jpg:Yaya almost ends up in the drink:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-friends08.jpg:Yaya forces us all to wear frangipani flowers:center:0]]
So Wisard, if you were wondering why your fresh frangipani baskets in that room ended up being all wilted and in many cases, completely shredded, well, we have no idea what happened! *whistling innocently* No, no, why do you ask what Yaya did with them? 😉 Also, our old friend Ragu from Sitiawan was in attendance (but I didn’t get a picture of him, sorry). It really was a day to meet up with old friends! And what a small world it all is. Because here are the connections:
* Sila, Wisard & Oyern – friends from boarding school
* Sila, Zarin & Ida – friends from Bloomington
* Hisham, Sila & Ragu – next door neighbors from childhood in Sitiawan
* Sila, Zarin & Ritz (Wisard’s husband) – Ritz was a Bloomington Super Senior from our program who went to IU and looked out for us that year we were in Indiana
* Ragu & Wisard – worked together (and I believe now Ragu works with Ritz)
There’s probably more interconnections that I can’t even tell or perhaps don’t even know, but there you go, the six degrees of Kevin Bacon of our friendships. Thanks for having us over, Eliza. We had a lot of fun, the food was yummy, and I did get to hang out with Oyern and her hubby for a while. I hope next time we’re home we’ll get to hang out again, and with Melat as well this time.
So we drive back to Hisham’s that evening and chill out:
[[image:2010-sept-friends09.jpg:Aahhhhhhh:center:0]]
And Vin finally gets to try manggis (mangosteen).
[[image:2010-sept-friends10.jpg:Vin vs. the mangosteen:center:0]]
That’s a Malaysian fruit that everyone’s talked about but we hadn’t been able to procure. I had been searching high and low for them, and of all places, found it at the fruit selection at the KL Hilton breakfast buffet! Ha! It was a fun-filled day, and definitely helped me to stop thinking about the fact that we were leaving in 24 hours… Here’s one of my favorite pictures, taken that evening at Hisham’s house:
[[image:2010-sept-friends11.jpg:Yope, Yaya & Yong HUG:center:0]]
