(This is an ongoing online novel started as a fictionalised events of my life. Its based on true events not all experienced by me but there were some total fictions too)
I hate holidays. Especially holidays that require you to go back to your hometown and you have to pretend that you like people to come to your house for visits. Holidays such as Hari Rayas (either Aidilfitri or Aidiladha) or Christmas to other faith, where everyone was supposed to smile and pretended that they love each other. These holidays were holidays that I tried to make excuses for not participating.
I hate holidays. Especially holidays that require you to go back to your hometown and you have to pretend that you like people to come to your house for visits. Holidays such as Hari Rayas (either Aidilfitri or Aidiladha) or Christmas to other faith, where everyone was supposed to smile and pretended that they love each other. These holidays were holidays that I tried to make excuses for not participating.
When it comes to holidays, I was a bit of a scrooge. Holidays to me were where you get to sleep late (with or without company), wear smelly (and less) clothes, do laundry, read a book and a movie, either alone or with a date. There were some raya where I was left alone at my parent's house, when I still went back, on the second or third day of raya, and I took advantage of it by locking the gates and not letting any of those pesky kids doing their rounds for duit raya to come in. I was not the only scrooge it seems as I learned this lesson from my eldest brother who couldn't be bothered with raya celebration.
When I in boarding school, during holidays, even long ones, I would try to wiggle myself out from being ask to come back to my parent's house. Even if did went back, it will be a few days after the semester closed as I would be going to someone's elses house first just for the fun of it. Just ask most of my school friends who had the opportunity to introduce me to their family and had to explain why a kid from Seremban was tagging along for a few days before going back to his own home. Most of these friends were from KL and I had a fascination for KL after being brought up by my parents deep in the palm oil estates of Pahang as they were Felda officers. They did left me in Seremban to be brought up by my grandma for 2 years but when I was always No. 23 out of 26 students in my final exams, they need to ensure I was under constant supervision for my Penilaian Darjah Lima (the old UPSR). I remembered that I was warned that I would be going to school with 'orang asli' if I kept getting bad results. Sure enough, I did and was rewarded with 2 years of living in Pahang.
So, when I was in boarding school and when I was a university students, I kept going to various places for holidays with a lot of my friends. I was not concerned with having to sleep in strange bed or having to sleep in the company of strangers. I could adapt to any situations although I was fussy in eating. This experiences of sleeping at friend's houses were elevated to an art form when I had to work. I was globetrotting around the world but not always I was given good accomodations. It also helped when I was force to sleep in my office when I was just starting out in KL as a lawyer. I have also slept in kampung houses, bungalows, friends of friend's houses, girl's bachelor pad, youth hostel room, student dorms, student common rooms, budget hotels, karaoke lounge, brothels, five-star accomodations and a German homestay, just to name a few. I have slept on proper beds, beds with all the trimmings, four poster beds, cots, sofa-beds, on the floor, on mattresses as hard as wood, as soft as down and some sofas. My sleeping partners have been ministers, politicians, prostitutes, GROs, my best friends and a lot of stangers. Some were pure sleeping and some were... you get the drift.
Holiday was always travel for me although it may be just to the next town. It was always an adventure. My parents were so worried at my attitude towards holiday, they were always doing spot-checks on me when I was in school. There was this one time where they came to my school during a one week holiday because I insisted that I didn't want to come home. I was actually at a friend's house the day before they came for the spot-check. My mom was suddenly curious because she just watch the news about some kids wondering around somewhere without adult supervision. If she had caught my unplanned excursion, I may have been banned from further allowance of holidays without coming home. She might have stopped further slide of my moral. If...
How I wish to celebrate any holidays from this god-forsaken place. Just a minute of fresh air without the ugly and smelly bodies surrounding me. Without having to check whether any eye had a fancy on my backside. Without having to think on when will be my last meal before they pounce on me. Prison is a holiday to some but not for me...
When I in boarding school, during holidays, even long ones, I would try to wiggle myself out from being ask to come back to my parent's house. Even if did went back, it will be a few days after the semester closed as I would be going to someone's elses house first just for the fun of it. Just ask most of my school friends who had the opportunity to introduce me to their family and had to explain why a kid from Seremban was tagging along for a few days before going back to his own home. Most of these friends were from KL and I had a fascination for KL after being brought up by my parents deep in the palm oil estates of Pahang as they were Felda officers. They did left me in Seremban to be brought up by my grandma for 2 years but when I was always No. 23 out of 26 students in my final exams, they need to ensure I was under constant supervision for my Penilaian Darjah Lima (the old UPSR). I remembered that I was warned that I would be going to school with 'orang asli' if I kept getting bad results. Sure enough, I did and was rewarded with 2 years of living in Pahang.
So, when I was in boarding school and when I was a university students, I kept going to various places for holidays with a lot of my friends. I was not concerned with having to sleep in strange bed or having to sleep in the company of strangers. I could adapt to any situations although I was fussy in eating. This experiences of sleeping at friend's houses were elevated to an art form when I had to work. I was globetrotting around the world but not always I was given good accomodations. It also helped when I was force to sleep in my office when I was just starting out in KL as a lawyer. I have also slept in kampung houses, bungalows, friends of friend's houses, girl's bachelor pad, youth hostel room, student dorms, student common rooms, budget hotels, karaoke lounge, brothels, five-star accomodations and a German homestay, just to name a few. I have slept on proper beds, beds with all the trimmings, four poster beds, cots, sofa-beds, on the floor, on mattresses as hard as wood, as soft as down and some sofas. My sleeping partners have been ministers, politicians, prostitutes, GROs, my best friends and a lot of stangers. Some were pure sleeping and some were... you get the drift.
Holiday was always travel for me although it may be just to the next town. It was always an adventure. My parents were so worried at my attitude towards holiday, they were always doing spot-checks on me when I was in school. There was this one time where they came to my school during a one week holiday because I insisted that I didn't want to come home. I was actually at a friend's house the day before they came for the spot-check. My mom was suddenly curious because she just watch the news about some kids wondering around somewhere without adult supervision. If she had caught my unplanned excursion, I may have been banned from further allowance of holidays without coming home. She might have stopped further slide of my moral. If...
How I wish to celebrate any holidays from this god-forsaken place. Just a minute of fresh air without the ugly and smelly bodies surrounding me. Without having to check whether any eye had a fancy on my backside. Without having to think on when will be my last meal before they pounce on me. Prison is a holiday to some but not for me...
1 comment:
I was like... Apak... brothels... GROs... prostitutes.... yeah man, go toot your own horn.... until I came to the end of it - the joke's on me!
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