Needed: Magic chants to make you forget painful memories

Here's the story. A girl goes out with another girl - you know, just chillin' out. The other girl met up with her boyfriend. The boyfriend brought a friend.

They all had teh tarik and chatted. Then one of the guys said he wanted to change clothes at the hotel room he's staying in, and invited the whole bunch to lepak there while he change.

Doesn't seem anything's amiss right up to this point, right? But whaddaya know, it turned out that the boyfriend and the girlfriend was in a plot to supply a girl to a customer - the so called friend of the boyfriend.

And so the girl, who thought she's on an innocent, simple outing with another girl and her set of friends, was raped. Whacked until she passed out, and woke up with blood coming out of her you know what and cuts and bruises all over.

The girl got scared and overwhelmed with shame. Didn't dare to see the Doc, didn't wanna go to the police, couldn't bear to tell her parents, too paranoid to confide with friends.

So she went through it alone. Mended herself with meagre supply of medicine, pretended in front of the people she knew that everything was OK. At night or when alone in the bathroom, she cried. When she can't weep, she ate, and ate, and ate.

Later she realized that there were risks - internal injuries, pregnancy, and worst, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). So she went to see a doctor and had gotten herself checked regularly eversince.

Now two years had passed, she's got a good career going, shed off some of the weight she gained from stuffing herself during those times of depression. Seems like she'd pulled herself together and moved on, but not fully so.

More than a couple of guys vying for her attention and TLC. But she could not accept their offer of love and commitment. She said cause she's no longer a virgin, she's not good enough for anyone.

No hymen, no self-respect, no-self-esteem, no self-confidence, no love for oneself.

The evil creature who did this to her should be apprehended and punished. Cut his dick inch by inch, day by day, smother it with honey and leave him for ants to feed on. As for her mamasan friend and the boyfriend who served as accomplice, I think they deserved to be skinned alive... slowly.

This girl asked me which guy would want her now. She's convinced the guys who are trying to mengorat her will run away if she tells the truth.

But it wasn't her fault, I said. I wanted to say more, maybe some magical chant that would make her feel better. Painfulous memorious disappearious!

I wanted to tell her - surely there's a guy out there who'd accept her for who she is, despite her past - but I am not sure if this is true.

Tell me, what can I say to her?

Lord of the Rings Marathon Screening... Encore! Encore!

And finally the day came - it was December 19, 2003. Friday. The day. The day of the Lord of the Rings Marathon Screening. I had high expectations on this particular event and guess what - it went better!

And there's me. And Tini, and Jen, and Sue. Us. Us plus three cinema hall's worth of other people. People armed with the marathon screening tickets. Tickets and pajamas. Pajama-wearing people who queued and hung out right on the floor of Sunway Pyramid's TGV lobby from 7.45PM till the screening starts at 11PM.

We wanted the goodie bag badly. We thought we were the crazy ones for arriving at SP's TGV right before 8PM, but a threesome - a couple of guys and a gal already in their pajamas - beat us to it. They were crazier than us, but we were more prepared. We got pillows. And Tini brought her comforter, and Sue got her midnight kimono. Huh!

We decided to forgo the comfort of a restaurant seats and tables and tapaued our dinner instead. We made a pit stop at Giant to buy some more ammo (i.e. food). But I could not find caffein! I know I gotta have Nescafe if I were to survive the 11-hour gawk at the crisis in Middle Earth.

Thank God there was a gal promoting the new Nescafe variation - I downed two cups and hoped for the best. By the time we got back to TGV, there were already more than 10 people in the queue - many in their pajamas, some even brought board game to play while waiting - admirable, really.

We berthed near a bunch of Chinese boys and gals, who turned out to be very very sporting LOTRiens. No hunks so far.

Tini and Sue talked me into changing into Tet's green pajamas - both pieces, I mean. I thought I'd settle with just wearing the top. It's really hideous. But since the guy with the mic - the so-called MC - was blaring about showing up in your night attire crap again and again, I decided, what the heck - it is SP, so I don't think I'd meet anyone I know.

So there I was in the ugly borrowed pajama when Bob my rockstar friend tap me on the shoulder and asked, "Ergh, is there a pajama party going on here?"

I screamed! Quite loud. I could not believe someone I know caught me - me in my ugliest greeniest persona. But there he was and I was saved from further embarassment when the goodie bags were finally being given away.

I got mine, Sue got hers. Jen was late so we couldn't take it for her. But Tini - man oh man, they said her attire didn't fit their bill - so I gave her the nice big poster I got, and Sue gave her a bunch more from her lot. I would have given both Tini and Jen more had I not promised my sis I'd give her the whole bunch.

Minor setback, but we toss the incident away and charged into the hall. We were in Hall 2, and so was Bob. Jen's seat was right next to this 3R personality - at first I didn't recognize who this celebrity-person was (I mean I know she's a face from TV but didn't really know who).

So when this person was giving her token I'm-a-friendly-celebrity-you-know smile to all around her, I was wondering why was she so perasan one? Rilek aa akak..

But then we got talking. It turned out that she was quite nice, and she even gave us some tips about the Chevenning Scholarship Program (apparently she's been summoned for an interview, hence probably there goes our chance at it). Still, she became the girl next door when Tini asked about Nicholas Saputra, the Indonesian hunk whom this celebrity had had the chance to work with via a Siti Nurhaliza video clip.

While we talked I got myself ready:
pee: check!
food: check!
drink: alamak not enough, but then Sue offered some of her supplies. So check!
socks: check!
pillow: check!
the gang: check!
neck-craning skills: check! (yup, a tall guy had to sit right in front of me.)

Five minutes after 11PM, the first chapter commenced and the crowd inside flipped on their seats. Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended version) ran on for about 3 hours and 30 minutes, and I marked one particular scene (in the mines of Moria) which Gollum was exposed to the audience as well as Frodo which I consider should have been in the initial version. I managed to keep my eyes open and enjoyed the films plus the additions with only 5% attention deficit.

When it ended, the hall was filled with hoots and applause. Quite a sporting lot we were with. And have to say the rest of the additional scenes were definately instrumental. Cool!

Tini, Jen and I rushed to the Starbucks cafe downstairs to redeem some of the vouchers given by Starbucks. I tried to get as much caffeine as possible. Told Tini to nudge me if she sees me crumble in my seat. Just a couple of hunks spotted at the Starbucks cafe. Well, better than nothing.

The next installation commenced at about 3AM. Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers Extended Version was even longer than Fellowship of the Ring, running for about 3 hours and 44 minutes. I almost dozed off a couple of times, but managed to stay awake - and I didn't miss that cool stunt from Legolas - you know that trick with the horse en route to Helm's Deep as well as that slade ride down the stairs while killing the Uruk Hais during the battle at the end of the chapter.

Major cool, major long, yet I'm still hoping there's more. Probably because I only read the first and the third book which I bought at the second hand store, hence it was tougher to piece together.

During the second break I stole 40 winks - obviously not enough, duh.. but it was all I can afford. And my bladder wasn't in its best behaviour either.

The second break was a bit longer than the rest. Grapevine within Hall 2 said the TGV fella on duty fell asleep, hence we didn't get to see the final chapter till it was about 7.35AM.

During Lord of the Rings - Return of the King, I had to take a couple of pee breaks - shoot! Well, I am planning to watch the film again so I succumbed to my bladder's demand and missed the death scene of Gondor's Keeper's second man.

When the third film ended, many clapped their hands and celebrate for completing the marathon screening. I was dead tired, very sleepy but if TGV had scheduled for an encore, I'd stay rooted to my seat. But the TGV fellas were already handing out T-shirts and congratulatory certificates. And Bob was telling us to tell others who had not watched the movie that Frodo died in the end.

So we had to go. It was over. I could not believe it - though I was complaining about being very very sleepy and all, when it finally ended I just could not get enough of it.

The Lord of the Rings Marathon Screening is definately one of the most memorable cinema experience for me. And I wanna do it again!

When the singles got into a car...

... they sing to New Kids on the Block!

Can you believe it? Anim still keeps her New Kids on the Block cassettes. We also found the Vanilla Ice and some other stuff released in the 1990s - all kept in a clean shoe box, looking like they were just a couple of years old instead of more than ten!

Somehow the 1990s was quite vague for me, save for a few memorable occasions like when my Tingkatan 3 Bunga Raya class got crazy playing the game Murderer (1993) or that time right after SPM when that cute pan-asian kid who was a year younger than me thought I'm the coolest sales assistant to date (t'was end of 1995, right after my first paycheck and I invested it on my first ever pair of contact lenses - the transformation must have been quite ekhem, significant) and oh yeah, my eldest bro got married in the same year and we had a good experience handling the kenduri.

But I remember NKOTB. Danny, Donnie, Joey, Jordan, Jonathan. Hangin' Tough. Tonight. Be My Valentine Girl. Blow Your Mind (Didn't I).

And see the girls with the curls in their hair-ee-air. They simply went crazy over these guys. The media said they were the biggest thing since Beetles and Michael Jackson - guess the benchmark is if a girl faints or get trampled and squeeze during the concert, the artiste is definately big - and NKOTB had that.

I wasn't much of an NKOTB fan - but I did buy one of their albums - Step By Step - I had to part with a big chunk of my saved pocket money. It was my first time buying a cassette - yeah, twelve years old me finally started her own collection.

I bought it not only cause I too thought they were cool and cute and sing nice songs, it also so that I wouldn't look odd. I mean, all my friends have NKOTB stuff - their album, their poster, their VHS music video, their stickers, their badges (man, oh man, why was I born during the badge era) a little diary with their photos splattered across each page, file folder, pen, mug, frame, whatever.

Shallow me never thought that my friends didn't mind that I don't have these stuff, they'd still be my friend. Shallow me never thought that I could have saved the money I spent on that cassette, invest it in my ASB and enjoy the dividends which would have multiplied my total savings by now (alright, maybe not that much, but that's not the point - kan sikit-sikit, lama-lama jadi bukit?.

But seeing Anim's NKOTB cassette nicely kept in her shoe box along with the rest of the 1990s collection does makes me feel that perhaps it was worth it. After all, it was an icon we all could relate to. We (my mates and I), were the teens of the 90s in the first place and that cassette - my Step By Step or Anim's Best Hits - is a symbol that we were there during the 1990s, when NKOTB was big and we enjoyed it.

I had lots of fun during that trip (we were actually on our way to our collegemate Brader aka Dzulkaedah's wedding in Rembau). The NKOTB song definately set the mood - we became young, once again, and we were still hangin' tough.

P/S: When I say we were hangin tough, I meant it figuratively and literally - not that Anim's a bad driver but she was very, very fast. I thought I was simply phobic cause of that stupid incident right before Raya, but as when we got onto the Rambau roads which was all skewy and curvy Anim's high speed pace sent Jenny B to scramble around for her seat belts as well. But we all finished the ride to Rembau and back to KL safely, and Anim was nice enough to let us come Raya at her home in Kajang. Hidup Anim!

"This is my card.."

So how did your Raya go? Mine was OK, despite a couple of hiccups.

The first was having a stupid encounter with a student (whose attitude was of high anal proportions). She, in her new Kancil ran over a stop sign as if the road belongs to her policeman father (yep, she bragged over the fact that her Pa's a police). Having to deal with that bodoh sombong I'm-a-university-student girl was quite tiring, especially when her stupidity, plus of her mother's too, were simply beyond comprehension. Utterly stupid and rude they were, despite her being on the wrong side.

The second hiccup happened in quite a subtle manner - you know, the kind of thing that happens to you slowly, little by little, leaving you all spent and in horrific mood by the end of the day and you never knew what hit you.

It was the fourth day of Raya when my friend Azlina decided to call a reunion for the RPS (my alma m) gang. I arrived quite early with Ely - only Yati Maarof (Yati M), Umi and a few more had arrived before us.

Soon the house started to crowd - more RPSian came and hollars of "Oh gosh, you're so different now!" stung our ears. Different they say I am, well, I never looked good in school - big spectacles, nonexistent-haircut, school shoes I never properly scrub and all. So I take it that now I to them am pretty, polished and cool - things are looking up I say, or so I thought.

Not long after everyone's gotten their share of nasi himpit and meehoon goreng, Yati M started to clear her throat and said, "Hey y'all, I'm getting married on Dec 21st, so here's my card, you all better come ya!"

Then Yati B (B for Badri) began to clear her throat and said, "Well actually girls, I'm getting married soon too, and here's my card. Datang jangan tak datang, datang jangan tak datang.." What? This skinny gal is getting married too?

Just when everyone's still going "Goodness! our two Yatis are getting married!", Zura started that clear-my-throat-then announce-I'm-getting-married-soon routine too! Zura - what, this shy girl too!

Too much, I tell you! Too much! But just as I thought that three invitation cards in my hand is already heavy enough, a phone call came - it was Zarina, who could not make it, but told Azlina to invite girls to her wedding that is happening right before Yati M's.

She even insisted that it is OK to call her on that day itself to ask for directions to her house, since she may have missed a few names on her invitation list. "Atas pelamin pun aku akan jawab call korang OK!" she gushed out, sincerely apologetic for not being able to send a card to every single one of us.

Four invitations and a threat note from Yati M was simply too much to bear! (The threat note was whispered in our ears as she salam us before she went back, saying "Kalau kau tak datang majlis aku, sepuluh hari sepuluh malam aku mengumpat kau ye..." And so sweetly it was said, but after all cyanide is always laced in confectionary.)

I felt that I had to make an escape too! Thank God Ely was feeling the same, but before we got into her car, a bunch more RPSian arrived. As we salam more announced that they are (one of the stated below):
1) going to get engaged soon
2) engaged and getting married next year
3) orang dah hantar tanda, gonna get engaged next year
4) just a couple of days ago his mother came to merisik

Isn't that great? Sure it is! For them! For me it's worst than nightmare! Ely and I dashed away from the scene, chugging the invitation cards onto the back seat, puffing for air.

We both could not get over the fact that one small reunion like that could end so horrendously! And I haven't even told you guys about Emilia, Siti F and Noni who just gave birth, Iliyati and Sunarti who are both pregnant and some others who are already onto their second, third and fourth pregnancies!

That night Ely and I lepak for a bit and could not help but muse over the whole thing. When we got to the part about us still being single, boyfriendless and simply not interested just yet to get ourselves hooked, we bravely talked about holiday plans and new hobbies and investment opportunities and career directions and furthering studies.

The question is, after all that talk, how come we don't feel better?