--auld lang syne

The people who made school actually kind-of bearable:

Helen.
For listening to me constantly talk about Amelie, from her customized shoes to her hair and legs, to how much I miss her off-season. For covering for me when it came to Valsala and Whore Lai Lai. For texting me every day that I was away in Australia. For telling me whenever there’s a Natasha Kai soccer match on (although you’re right – she just doesn’t compare to Amelie.) For listening to what I deem “Good Music” as well. For the fun times that I’ll never, ever forget. All in all, for being the best bestie anyone could ever ask for. I don’t know what I did to deserve you – I must’ve been a nun or a missionary or something in my past life.

Carin.
For telling me whenever I’ve gone overboard verbally. For being my conscience, since we all know I don’t have one. For refusing to get irritated no matter what I said. For deciding that Amelie would win Wimbledon 2008 with your support (even though she didn’t.). For telling me about the good songs you’ve been listening to and liking Not Pretty Enough by Kasey Chambers. For agreeing to kill Amelie’s girlfriend with me. For seeing only the good in most people (yeah, we all hate Randy, that horny bastard!), especially me. You’re the most patient, sincere person I’ve ever met and I’m lucky enough to call you my friend. Hopefully, I can be half as good as you are, someday.

Amy.
For having the guts to tell me that I should just chill about my English marks and not be so “kiasu”. For “helping me out” during the exams *cough*. For the late-night phone calls where we laughed our butts off. For the endless funny comments in class. For showing me that girls who look like Lalas sometimes watch Heroes and Ugly Betty. For listening to me moan and groan and bitch about how much I hate our English teacher. For bravely attempting to teach me Accounts. For trying to get me to wear bright colors. One day, when you’re a famous fashion designer or tattooist, you can pick me up in your private jet and we’ll go shopping in Paris.

Vivien.
For the amazing cupcakes. For being patient enough to text me while my mother was killing herself, trying to find a skirt for me to wear during the prefect’s function – and you found one that made my ass look good. For listening to me go on and on about Amelie, Elizabeth Reaser and that hot girl on The Apprentice. For listening to me bitch about how much I want to kill everybody and how much I wish Ellen DeGeneres would swoop down and adopt me. For not complaining too much when I paired off a skirt with sneakers (yes, I know it must’ve bothered you, deep down). I’ll wait for you to finish school, then I’ll carry yours and Amy’s shopping bags through London, Paris and Milan.

Sarah.
For the endless patience when Helen and I talked about Amelie and Roger (oh, and you chipped in, too, with, “I love Nole!”). For the many lame jokes, especially the Goldilocks one. For making faces at me while Godma sleeps, which helps pass the time quicker. For not disagreeing with my gay-talk, even though I know you’re a complete and total Good Christian Girl (see, I capitalized that!). For letting me flick your ears and throw ice at you. For accepting the fact that I make fun of Tanu (or do you really? Hmmm…) – and it’s agreed unanimously that you’re much nicer without her. I’ll never forget your help during my Bible Knowledge exam and I’ll talk about that at your wedding.

Fida.
For making Amy and I hooked on “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. For eventually forgiving me for calling your dad gay – I swear I’ll never do that again, since it pisses you off so much. For making me laugh and improving my BM. For helping me out during the exams even though you weren’t talking to me. For taking the time to explain the whole damn storyline of Kekasihku Seru to Amy and I. For letting us copy your Economy work all year long just so we could all escape Hisham and go home. For letting me do the English Oral test with you. Even if you don’t read this, I had a fucking good year with you there and can’t wait for the next one!

Arif.
For the huge laughs throughout the day. For the hilarious comments about which girls you would and wouldn’t date. For being such a good sport when it came to “Truth or Dare”. For whacking everyone but me and Amy with your sweaty and disgusting PJK towel. For being able to talk tennis with me, every frigging day of the Grand Slams (and most other days as well). For supporting Rafa and Amelie and for thinking Serena Williams is a glorified fat hippopotamus in a very, very tight dress. For teaching me how to say “Puki nenek kau meletup dua kali!” And guess what, Ayip? Now everybody knows that you like Amy!

Fadhli.
For randomly coming up and talking to me one day. For hating the stupid English teacher, too. For being one of the most sincere people I met the whole year and telling me that, no, Aiden doesn’t love his Volkswagen as much as he loves me, even though it was obvious that he did. For talking crap with me after the exams so I wouldn’t be bored out of my skull. For hanging out with me even when I was hanging out with the faggot. For being able to make me laugh. For the sweet backhanded compliments that made me feel good about myself. For determining that after all, I wasn’t crazy, despite what many might think. I’m still gonna come to your wedding and steal lemang!

The bandmates:

Nick.
For being the best cousin I could ever ask for. For letting me cry into your shoulder when I was irritated beyond belief at the world. For holding me and knowing what to say and what I wanted to hear. For going through so much with me. For calling me at crazy hours, even though you could have been distracted from your SPM, just to tell me that you were there for me. For being the awesomest drummer since Travis Barker. For having the patience to put up with my tantrums, excusing them with “creative license”. For knowing when to tell me to stop drinking. For being the most cheerful drunk I know. I demand to be Godmother to Shane, Shay and Shaun when you marry Jay Manuel.

Naz.
For watching those nerve-wracking Amelie matches with me until the sun comes up. For backing me up during fights. For covering for me whenever I forget my lyrics on-stage. For letting me make my own mistakes and screw up, but always being there for me to bitch to. For listening to my complaints about Sadistfreak patiently. For driving me around and buying Bailey’s. For being able to talk me out of the many stupid things that I’d do if you weren’t there. For being the most patient tennis coach ever. For actually listening to me. Hope Solo would be bloody fucking stupid to not want to have babies with you – they’ll be incredibly gorgeous and smart.

The special two:

Carmen.
For wordlessly putting up with my shit practically every day – and loving me for it. For taking time off work to be with me when I needed it. For being a total hottie. For picking out the name Cayenne Assyria, which is beautiful. For yelling at me when I’m being stupid or getting distracted. For being an endless source of inspiration to a shallow bitch like me. For loving me for me, and not expecting any more than I could give you. For bringing out my potential. For refusing to let go, even when I was ready to. For not letting anyone hurt me when you knew that I couldn’t take it. For being a huge part of my strength. No matter what you choose, I’ll find a way to be there.

Mel.
For being my favorite redhead. For telling me that I need to take life as it comes, even though I didn’t believe you initially. For calling me every single morning when I was away in Australia, even though you would have had to get up at scary hours to do it. For showing me that crying isn’t necessarily a sign of weakness and sometimes, it can mean the exact opposite. For loving me loads, even when I got scary and lost my temper. For swearing that you would safely take me away if SPM year got to be too much for me. For not minding the fact that you weren’t the only one. I swear that I’ll always be around to hit those stupid, annoying bitches who make you cry.

The rest of the harem:

Clea.
For offering advice, anytime and anywhere, even if I didn’t ask for it. For accepting the fact that it wasn’t meant to be between us. For wanting to be friends in the first place. For always listening to me, even when I talked crazy. For giving me your love and support, even when I didn’t deserve it from you – which was pretty much most of the time. For helping me write songs when I couldn’t find words to rhyme. For constantly taking my side when I was 14, even if everyone knew you were unbelievably biased. For being at every single Dirtnote gig and running around like a headless chicken, trying to make it go smoothly. One day, you’re going to find someone truly worthy of you.

Darah.
For getting out of bed at crazy hours to give me stitches. For knowing when to just shut up and just give me the drugs. For being the best damn “doctor” I’ll probably ever have. For having those amazing blue eyes that are fully capable of distracting me when I’m in pain. For not minding when Naz and I crawl into your house at crazy hours for me to bleed and pretty much die on your floors. For worrying about me, even when I told you not to. For being the funniest bitch I have ever met in my life. For the countless times you’ve advised me to go to the clinic, but ended up taking care of me and fixing me up by yourself. There’s no arguing on the fact that you’re truly brilliant.

Eva.
For sharing your countless experiences selflessly. For agreeing to a truce that formed an amazing friendship between us. For always backing me up in a fight. For knowing where the good cruising spots are. For the never-ending laughs we’ve had. For telling me what to say when I needed to know really badly. For the tips on how to hit them hard. For laughing at my endless racist jokes. For losing your brains with me when we watched Twilight for the billionth time together. For being an amazing, true friend, when everything’s said and done. Someday, you’re going to want to settle down and your reputation will precede you so much that nobody’ll want to settle down with you…

Kim.
For keeping me updated on Mz Fontaine’s music. For getting over what we went through and accepting it. For finally finding yourself someone I approve of, who treats you like you deserve. For having an accent that, when you speak fast, I don’t understand at all. For sending me the whole first season of Little Britain. For calling me in the middle of the night to laugh about something that happened two years ago. For teaching me new words that never fail to amaze and captivate me – like bollocks. For totally gaying up everyone on TV – I’ll never forget how Oprah ran away with Ellen. We’ve gone through hell and back and we’re still friends – which speaks volumes, doesn’t it?

The Amelie-freaks:

Ashley.
For supporting Amelie as much as I do. For being there for me to IM when Amelie’s playing – whether she’s playing well or not. For knowing exactly how I feel when Amelie plays really well or really awful. For prompting wild partying in the streets whenever she does well. For being a great friend, even if you’re a million miles away. For making me see the funny side of everything, even if it doesn’t pull me out of my black hole. For introducing me to great music. For being a really cheerful, funny drunk. For agreeing with me on the fact that Amelie has won the title of Hottest Chick In The World. I can’t wait to come to LA and see you!

Ellen.
For all the honest advice you’ve given me since May this year. For always commenting on my Amelie videos. For being the only person who understands how hard it is to sacrifice your dignity most days just to be true to yourself. For being like another mother to me. For being able to honestly say that Amelie is an amazing person. For actually caring about what I do and where I’m going. For having the same music taste as I do. For being able to laugh along with me at Natasha Kai’s ridiculous pink sports bra antics during the Olympics. For being able to talk about everything Amelie and come up with hilarious points. The least I can do right now is thank you.

The sunny sides up:

Sophie.
For being able to tell me what to do when I’m about to freak out. For being calm when I’m not. For knowing the real me. For taking me to all those cool underground art shows and stuff. For letting me know that I’m not alone. For actually being able to understand the screwed-up mind of a teenager. For siding with me on most things. For being able to talk my mother out of yelling at me. For letting me crash whenever I needed to. For giving me the most beautiful goddaughter in the whole damn universe. For knowing when to let me do my own thing, but also when to tell me not to do whatever I was about to do, and being there even if I did it, anyway. You’re truly amazing.

Marcus.
For being my favorite baby boy in the whole world. For understanding me, even when I didn’t understand myself. For loving me unconditionally. For making me laugh and laugh and laugh some more when I needed it and even when I didn’t. For trusting me. For having the special gift of being able to uncomplicate things that I thought were complicated. For laughing at my jokes, even if they weren’t funny. For being unafraid to be yourself – which is a huge inspiration to me. For teaching me how to let loose and make fun of people in your way. For letting me into your world, when you wanted to be alone. I’m forever honored to be your Shane.

Carissa.
For understanding me. For actually wanting to spend time with me. For all the constructive criticism. For playing PlayStation games with me until the sun came up. For all the fun times making brownies. For knowing how much I miss grandpa and actually caring about it. For knowing what to say to make me laugh. For the killer punchlines. For being smart and helping me win at Taboo. For not staying mad at me when I laughed about the “Dumb and Dumber” thing on youtube. For coming to my violin recitals. For agreeing with me about dresses, skirts, heels, make-up and other shit like that. After my SPM, we’ll get together again and make brownies.

Morgan.
For letting me drool over your car. For being able to talk my mother out of grounding me for all eternity. For coming to pick me up when I was either drunk or stoned and all I could remember was your number. For not being a controlling adult, even if you are an adult. For being able to explain almost everything under the sun to me – from Frida Kahlo’s artwork to books like The IHOP Papers to songs by Robert Miles. For being able to make me watch weird arty movies. For getting me hooked on independent films. For being able to play games like “I Never” and “Go Fish” for hours on end. I can honestly say that I’ll never forget everything you’ve done for me.

Jaeda.
For being able to hug my sadness, anger, and everything else negative away. For loving me unconditionally. For showing me that watching semi-violent cartoons and playing with Play-Doh is a great way to relieve stress and tension. For starting to listen to good music at such a young age. For being so adorably fixated with Happy Tree Friends and The Simpsons. For being so adorable, full stop. For happily stuffing your weird chewy cookies into my mouth, cause even though I’d never eat them, it made me laugh. For giving me the opportunity to let down my guard with you. You’re always going to be my baby, even when you’re 16 and a handful of pure hell – just like me!

The people who make church/BK/Sunday School bearable:

Sulekha.
For always dating the people I don’t approve of. For getting mad at me all the time – now, it’s like a common occurrence. For approving of Amelie, even if you were forced to. For the weird mentality that it’s weird for me to have more than one girlfriend. For humoring my thoughts of a harem. For letting me talk almost non-stop about Amelie. For worrying about me and getting upset whenever I mentioned getting stoned or smoking or doing any sort of drugs. For being OCD 98% of the time. For being so easy to annoy, which is an endless source of entertainment for me. For the advice, which I never listen to. I’m so going to give an embarrassing speech at your wedding.

Ian.
For the answers during the test. For the breakfasts together filled equally with comfortable silences and conversations. For being such a gentleman. For the backhanded compliments. For the laughter and random sentences. For the casual, easy way you made Bible Knowledge fun – especially how Dr. Indra would look at you like you’d lost your mind. For speaking in that voice, which sounds like Eeyore with a sore throat. For always covering for me whenever I forgot where we were at the gospel of Luke. For the absolutely brilliant, amazing, awesome MP3 in class idea, which I’ve found immensely useful even at boring dinners. You’re pretty much the sweetest straight guy I know.

The WYD Peeps:

Alex.
For the amazingly fun ber-bitching moments at WYD. For the countless moments of laughter about the most common things. For the random comments (especially when you were like, “If Amanda wore Adeline’s poncho, she’d look like Ugly Betty.”) actions – like waving at random people from the bus stop outside St. Bridget’s Cathedral. For planning the hilarious, awesome meet-ups after WYD. For agreeing that Leona Lewis is just plain boring and that Sara Bareilles totally owns her. For the really, really fun flight back to Bangkok where we annoyed the hell out of Amanda and walked around the Thai airport looking at elephants. Don’t forget Spain in 2011!

Carmen.
For being our favorite WYD Guardian and Teacher and Mother (at times) and answering to incessant, “Teacher/Mommy Carmennnn?” from Alex and I. For hanging out with Alex and I and happily and wholeheartedly joining in our ber-bitching moments. For not being one of those boring grown-ups who looked at the 16-year-olds as if they were nuts or annoying whenever they sang “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” or did something else along the lines of that. For being pretty much the only one with any sense of responsibility between Alex, you and I – I think we depended on that quite a bit. You were the one who said we’d go to Spain, so you’d better be there!

Katrina, Grace and Serena.
Katrina, for teaching us how to sing “The Bear Went Over the Mountain”, which turned out to be absolute hell for everyone who wasn’t 16, except for a few cool people and for the shared Jacob Black obsession. Grace, for the introduction to Matt Maher and Catholic rock music. Serena, for being the best housemate ever (except maybe for Eppie, haha) and lending me your mom so I could go for WYD in the first place. For the highly contagious laughter, which was another thing that annoyed the people who weren’t 16. For all the fun times shivering in the freezing cold. You guys are the awesomest people I could’ve ever asked to share the WYD experience with.

And the people who I have too much to write about or don’t know as well as the others, but still are a part of my world:

Momma, Ben and Annie and Big, Karen, Mandy, Jazz, Joelle, Shook Cheeng and Yuen Loong, Spence, Cham, Cath, Eusoff and Aisyah, and everyone else. You guys know I love you!