Days of Delirium

Never had I thought my short stint in the FSTEP training a year ago would result in wonderful friendship with some of the fellow participants there - six of them, to be exact.  Day in day out, they became my go-to places for lamenting, cracking up jokes or simply as lunch companions. After a solid one year, we can proudly say that we had always been there for each other through thick and thin, and the bond that we shared could neither be defined nor replaced. Thus, it would only be natural for us to be there when one of us 'put the ring on it'. Aside from Min who couldn't make it when her car broke down on the night before, the remaining four of us were there in Kampung Pengantin, Jalan Genting Klang to celebrate the wonderful union of Ezzaty and Heqme sometime in late February. Decked in pale yellow ensemble, the pair looked regal and exquisite as they walked down the aisle to the dais. At that point of time, I still couldn't believe that our sweet, ro...

After what seemed like 20,000 light years, I finally graduated, officially.  Frankly speaking, it felt mighty good to wear that indigo robe with silver lapel and being surrounded by my loved ones. It would be even better had my 'bontots' joined me in Dewan Tunku Canselor, UM that day (good God, I miss you guys).  I even received a huge casablanca bouquet from Ayi and Mie. They certainly knew my favorite flower (thanks guys). I won't detail on what went down that day - it was the same old routine every graduates had to undergo for convocation. But I would tell how important that day was to me. It marked a milestone in my life - all the way from there to here, with all challenges, sadness, difficulties, downsides and painful times which I had never fully disclosed nor confided to anyone.  Each step I took toward that scroll reminded me my journey since 4-5 years ago - for that one scroll. God knows how painful it was but I guess up to this point, I'd ...

Congratulations to my close and awesome friends, Zafirah and Imran on their marriage. Having being friends for six years, it was a real pleasure for me to see them taking their courtship from Asasi UM to the dais last week. They are the epitome of unconditional, real love - through thick and thin.  So here's to Firah and Imran, may you both have a pleasant wedded life from this moment on. I can't wait to be Uncle Kye to your future kids. Like Beyonce said, if you like it then you should put a ring on it. Guess Imran really liked Firah then, winks.  Congratulations again, my friends. juicyword@gmail.com Twitter: @kyeberry

Six months passed by so quickly and we had ended our training course under FSTEP on 26th August 2011, before having our one-week break and dispersing to our respective sponsoring financial institutions.  Although it was really dreadful in the beginning, the rest of the journey was an enjoyable one as we became one big family of 110 individuals. Needless to say, some of them - six, to be accurate - have become a large part of my life and I'm proud to call them as my close friends. So, a big thank you to all of you and particularly Zetty, Ekin, Didi, Min, Kila and Iqa. You guys made my days in FSTEP beyond pleasant and many thanks for all of your help and support. Happy to say, I've made a mark in FSTEP before I left the building - in fact, two marks. One with the article I wrote for FSTEP newsletter and another, err, the scar which I still have when I ate the floor in the auditorium. Both are here to stay with me as mementos of my being there. Here's hoping we...

Initially I was dreadful of the thought that I needed to sacrifice my Saturday morning to entertain a bunch of sick children. Although I have a huge heart about the whole corporate social responsibility/giving-back-to-society thing, I was still not ready to give up one-half of my precious weekend for this occasion ( I have a new appreciation for weekends eversince I started working, mind you ). However, once I reached the Pediatric Ward of Hospital Kuala Lumpur that morning, I was overcame with a strange cocktail of feelings - I was happy and felt really privileged to be there with these children, as well as with huge compassion for them. That Saturday was all about the children. For some few minutes, on and off, I forgot about my ugly orange FSTEP t-shirt which I had to wear that day. There was nothing much we could do to entertain this children except by holding a puppet show for them and organizing coloring and card-making activities. We even invited a clown t...

It was quite amazing how weddings could bring out the emotional side of you and moved even the most unbelieving person (exhibit one: myself). Certainly, having known and being close to the person did some justice to the wedding tears shed that evening. Sakina and I both studied in the Center for Foundation Studies in Science, Universiti Malaya, where we first got to know each other and later became friends. A year later, we both changed our degree courses and studied economics together in the same batch, of course alongside our best pals Ami, Fifi and Faris. Time moved so fast and now, another one has left the nest. We celebrated the new phase of Sakina and Yusuf's life in Holiday Villa, Subang where their wedding reception was held. The Indian-themed wedding brought back familiar faces from UM and yeah, it was a night we wouldn't ever forget. Our baby girl Sakina, always the darling in the group, got hitched to her prince. As per requested by the bride herse...

Can you believe it's already May? It seemed just like yesterday (or the day before) we celebrated Ayi and Fifi's birthday on the 34th floor of Menara Pan Global. Just like that, a year has passed by and my hommie Ayi is now a year older. I didn't really know what to get him for his big day so I chipped in some cash and asked him to do the honor of buying anything he wanted. So, he chose to get a new pair of sneakers. After doing some laps around Pavilion KL and Starhill Gallery, he finally decided that these navy blue suede high-top sneakers from Yves Saint Laurent were the best choice. Trust me, I had no influence on his decision * roll eyes *. Malibu High-top Sneakers in Navy I reaffirmed my approval on these sneakers for its super sexy cut, color, the dark blue patent leather trimming, the gigantic tongue with YSL logo emblazoned, the pony hair at the back, padded insole and comfortable rubber sole - what's not to like about this footwear? Ironically I had set my eye...

Erine, Shikin, Melvin and Zetty: The kookies As part of our training course in the Financial Sector Talent Enrichment Programme (FSTEP) under the Institute of Banks in Malaysia or IBBM, we had to undergo a one-month intensive English course with the British Council. Some people beamed with delight upon hearing that and told me how lucky I was to get a chance participating in such programme by the British Council. Yeah, maybe. But all I could think of was how dreadfully boring it would be - learning grammar, vocabulary etc all over again. Anyway, we were divided into five groups according to our level of proficiency - lower intermediate, intermediate, upper intermediate and two classes of advanced students. I won't tell you which class I belonged to *winks*. True, we had to learn the basic things in English - pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, tenses etc. Besides that, there were also writing skills session, presentations (individual & group), group discussions, communication a...

Dear buddy, It was a real pleasure to meet you earlier tonight - as always. It remind me of how blessed I am to have such a great person like you as a close friend. After we have split the bills and bid adieu, I still thought about you and what we had discussed in the cafe (in between our silly jokes). Naturally, I will say that I totally understand what you are going through right now while comforting you. But, I know no matter how much you share with me or how long we talk, I would never fully grasp your predicament. However, as a concern friend, I can only offer some advice and comforting words based on my own experience. I have had the ' privilege ' (if you may) of going through so many ups and downs thus far in my life. Hence, what I am about to say doesn't come from a self-help book but directly from my own self. Who's better to give you some suggestions from the one who had been there and back? Honestly, I have the utmost respect for your brilliance although I ra...

Ready or not, I've grown a year older. 24 years old to be exact. For this year around (and hopefully the coming years), instead of talking about me and my resolutions, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the people who have made this twenty-four years journey an enjoyable ride. Thanks to Mama and Abah for bringing me into this world - this curly-haired, big eyes, big nose, big ears, big mouth boy. I could never repay every single deed you have done to me especially in teaching, schooling and loving me as well as for being patient with me for the past 24 years. Thanks to my brother and sister as well as my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law for accepting me for who I am, never questioned every decision I made and supporting me all the way. To all of my friends, you meant the world to me. You made each passing day very delightful and meaningful. Thanks for being my brothers and sisters, my private tutors (whenever I was slow in picking up things), my body double (whenever...

I would be lying if I say I didn't take some pride in organizing this small celebration secretly from the birthday girl's knowing. Just a way to return the favor she did for my birthday earlier this year. Blondie and DD Ayi & Ben Ayi 2.0 & Fifi So all six of us - including birthday girl's new fierce hairdo - gathered in Decanter, PJ on one Saturday evening. Boy, how 1Malaysia we were yet had so much fun catching up with each other after not meeting for SO long. It was our first time there, except for Ann Jie, and surprisingly the food was really good with affordable price. Ayie had this thing (I completely forgot the name) which all of us agreed unanimously, it was really tasty. Then we headed to Jaya One and had drinks in Starbucks where Miss McChicken (her new nickname) Ami finally took time off her busy schedule to join us. To my bestie Ann Jie, happy 24th birthday to you and I certainly look forward for more awesome schmosome years ahead with you. Hope she likes...

There comes a time in your life when you really paused, realized everything has changed and how grown up you have become. Three years passed by so swiftly and my friends have graduated successfully (and stylishly) last August 4 in Dewan Tunku Canselor, Universiti Malaya. As what I've learned last year during my bestie, Ann Jie's graduation, convocation only means one word: HOT. Not hot as in fabulous. I really mean 'hot'! Lots of walking, phone-calls under the scorching sun and wandering around looking for your friends amongst thousands of people and crawling traffic. I didn't feel fun at all especially with sweat running down my 500 bucks Fred Perry Laurel. But all the un-fun parts was squashed away the moment I saw my friends. Oh, how it was so 2007 all the sudden again. Frankly, there's something about convocation that makes me emotional. Seeing my friends all with their robes, beret (is it called beret?), six-inch heels (Sakina) and bouquets made me so proud...

God knows how desperate I was for a beach retreat. Give me a descent hotel with clean, sandy private beach any day and I wouldn't mind at all. So you can only imagine how ecstatic I was when a fellow UM pal invited me to accompany him to Port Dickson for some work. I leaped into the invitation immediately, nevertheless. We stayed at the one-year old Thistle Resort (previously known as Guoman Resort) and I couldn't be happier. It's sleek modern interior greeted us from the lobby up to the room, overlooking the pool and beach. When you have less than 24 hours to kill, you better make the most of it - and so I did. I have nothing bad to say about this four-star hotel. The staff were friendly, the beach was clean, the food was nice and the room was exquisite. Although I prefer Cherating beaches than all other beaches I had ever been here in Malaysia (Langkawi, Pangkor, Lumut, Batu Ferrighi), Thistle's private beach wasn't that bad after all. I really hope to return here...

..for this Topman top. It was a present given by my fellow intern in Tourism Malaysia on my final day of internship (I told you I got truck-load of presents) and finally I had the chance to wear it. Thanks for the top and most importantly thanks for being a great friend. And yeah, I do love video games :)

Miss Yante and I on the luscious sofa of PWTC Though I was counting days for this industrial training to end, it was surprisingly hard to say goodbye when the final day of my placement in Tourism Malaysia comes. I had called the International Marketing Division (Americas/Europe/Oceania) a.k.a AERO as my second home for the past 8 weeks and had bonded so well with fellow colleagues there. We shared inside jokes and other silly stories; not to mention, new ties are formed with other industrial training students such as Asif, Yati, Yante, Hizani and few others with each in different divisions. I must say, I was blessed to be placed in the creme-de-la-creme, most-sought-after division in Tourism Malaysia, under fantastic helm of its director, Datin Normasila Musa. The working environment was awesome, very co-operative and very accommodating colleagues. Working and learning in AERO were total bliss with no air whatsoever. On my last day there, they held a farewell party for me and frankly, ...

May 6 was our last examination paper. So we were more than thrilled to end it fast and end it quick, for what was planned later in the evening. After exiting the examination hall, I rode on Fifi's passenger's seat to Bangsar where I accompanied her for some quick accessories shopping along the streets of Telawi. After the sun had set, the real fun began! Ayi, Faris and I headed to Luna Bar, located on the 34th floor of Menara Pan Global, approximately 15 minutes after 8 where Fifi and her friends had been waiting for about half an hour. Although the birthday boy and girl had arrived, the partayyy didn't start just as yet. One by one, familiar faces came in through the door in the form of Didi, Sakina, Eza, Ami, Dini and others. I've heard a lot about the bar but this was my first time and true enough the place really lived up to what had been said. You could see almost the entire area of KL's Golden Triangle with KL Tower standing just right next door, shimmering in...