Dinner At Hooked

10th February....Cheryl Lim, my schoolmate from SMDU (Sekolah Menengah Damansara Utama), unexpectedly smsed me this afternoon about a dinner at Hooked, the Curve this evening. Was elated to know that Ainul Ezral, our quirky gas-selling classmate, now in Petronas and Zeti, now working for BNM would be joining. So, I took to the road after I got back from the officer and a quick nap. Man, the traffic was heavy. Then again, it's the week before Chinese New Year!

Well, Cheryl is a writer for and editor of 'The Property' Magazine , now claiming to be Malaysia's number one property magazine...a pretty cool job seeing that Cheryl doesn't need to HAVE an office, just a camera, a PC and a whole lot of creativity...as a matter of fact, Cheryl just interviewed Jit Murad recently... Cheryl was reading out loud on the 10 things we 'need' to know about Kolkata (formerly Culcutta). We also learned that Bangalore is now Bangaluru (Bang-a-la-roo), which sounds like an Australian slang for bestiality acts with a Kangaroo....:) Fact: On December 11, 2005, the Government of Karnataka announced that it had accepted the proposal by Jnanpith Award winner U. R. Ananthamurthy to rename Bangalore to its Kannada name, Bengaluru. Now that I'm on it and Mumbai was formerly Bombay and Chennai was formerly Madras.

Ah yes...there is Ezral. Besides a few pounds gained, nothing much of him has changed perceivably. As rambunctious as ever, it takes one cynical remark to get the whole group into a rambling session. Ezral is now stationed in Kuching, Sarawak and works for Petronas. He's back for a short while and will be jet-setted for east Malaysia this Tuesday. Miss the guy already. Now, I have a reason to go to the Cat City...to watch a guy sell gas...:)

Zeti, (who came later) was preceeded by her husband, Idhal and son, Imran. Cheryl and Ezral had their hands full making sure that Imran was well entertained and fed with. Zeti works for the Central Bank and that is where she met Idhal, who works for Bank Muamalat. Zeti a mother? A stark contrast from the 'rock chick' I knew back then.

Last but not least, Harry, our old friend from SMDU, now working for a film company and does regular shoots. And if you're wondering, the picture of the kechup or 'catsup' bottle was taken as a reminder that harmless recepticles may not be so harmless after all. This one had enough pressure to pop the cap on its own...scary...we all saw what it did and wondered what ingredients were put inside.

After picking up the tab, we all adjourned to Baskin Robbins, savouring the sinful delights and reminiscing on old movies and TV series...also, witnessed Imran go sugar-high...that boy was just hugging everyone which according to Zeti, is never seen before....