BNB Reunion

This is one month late.

We were going our separate ways too quickly that suddenly we thought it was a good idea to catch up and cherish how it used to be back when some of us were still in the UK.

Jita, being the one from the privileged family, never had the hassle of moving from one basement to another to cope with London’s exorbitant property market. Instead, he had a posh apartment in Earl’s Court where we all congregated each holiday season. Even worse, some people (moi included) made full use of the free lodging that we spent more time at the BNB (which the apartment was later fondly referred to) than in our classrooms. In fact, the BNB became the central meeting place for our batch – those who came to London would definitely stay there, and we held our reunion each year at the BNB. I also lost so much of my liquid at the BNB ha ha, but that’s a different story...

The reunion was intended to catch up on those lost days. Some of the regular lodgers (including Fadli, Fly, Bunchit, Madad, Che Tam etc.) could not make it, so we had to make do with whoever we had.

Fazurin suggested that we started with a karaoke session, because back then there were some who adored their own voices so much that we had to live with the constant cover versions every now and then. I had expected that Fazurin would take the centre stage since he was a pro – and not surprisingly, he sang ¾ of the songs that day.

Jita was late as usual, so we laughed our heads off when we came across the song “Janji Manismu” – sung in his tribute for always breaking promises. Some of the efforts were quite commendable (to which Chamat would promptly announced “am quite pleased with that effort”) but some were just horrible, outright sumbang.

So a few tips – first never sing the live version, second “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” is not to be tested in public, third you need a pro to start a song before you can sing along. Luckily we had Fazurin, whom also had been designated as a back up singer, over and over again usurped the lead singer’s role.

I actually videotaped some parts of the karaoke session, especially the awful awful “Return to Innocence” and Allen and Fazurin’s version of “Kuch Kuch Hota He” (with Allen taking the female part) – but considering Fazurin still has a recollection of some of the most embarassing speeches I had ever made during the AJK Batch meetings, I better keep the videotape, lest he makes fun of me with the speeches.

We were supposed to watch a midnight movie, but we were too tired. Fazurin was complaining of a back ache, I was having the usual chest pain and Allen and Jita were too ready to jump onto the first bed they met. So, Chamat decided not to join us since he had to catch up with something the next morning.

The night session was much duller, since we were too tired and after several games of declare, we thought be better go to bed. Fazurin actually brought a Spidey II DVD, but I mistaken a VHS player with a DVD player.

Back in London, they would have woken me up early in the morning to get me to the kitchen and cook breakfast. My stay had always been welcomed either at Jita’s or Fadli/Allen’s place – I was some sort of a house elf back then, cooking and cleaning was my specialty. However this time around, with so many gerais around, I’d be mad to cook breakfast for them.

Fazurin and Allen – obsessed with fitness and health, started the morning with gym and swimming, Jita tagged along just to cuci mata in case there was sexy lady in bikinis. He did not find any I thought, because he came back early.

We had a final round of declare, this time more cheerful than the night before. Fazurin had improved a lot compared to London when he was the permanently hired shuffler, always came last.

After Kinokuniya and lunch – we said goodbyes to the weekend.

It made us realise a few things – first it was quite pricy, so next time we are going to get a supplementary card from Fadli to charge anything like this to. Second, it feels like ages ago and as much as you like to detach yourself from your current concern and all, you can’t. I suppose it’s a sign of ageing. Third – camera does add 10 more pounds to you.

Lastly, keep your closest friends so close to you and most of the times you tend to take them for granted for they are always there for you unconditionally, but make sure you do not neglect them so much that when you really need them, they are no longer around.

I don’t make much sense.

You can see the photos here.