Starling Gardens

Huh, I can see how grown up my Johorian friends are... They're so cool. It only makes me wonder how my life and self would've turned out if I had stayed in Johor when I was 12. I would've become one of them. A part of a group of real teenagers. I would've hung out at the mall, and skate in parks, and walked to high school with them. I'll bet high school life there must have been much, much better than... here.

When I was in Standard 6, I was young and clueless, but I was myself, nevertheless. I made good friends with my classmates. We mixed and mingled, and weren't separated by 'groups', 'tribes', or whatever. We were one. I was accepted by everyone, even the teachers and popular kids. Gosh, I missed that kind of feeling...

I wonder what became of the house we rented while we stayed there. It was a lovely semi-D house, perfectly situated in front of the local playground. My brother and I used to play with Pokemon figurines in cardboard buildings that I made myself. I used to love watching him play fishing games on the PSOne. I also loved to watch Lion King DVDs and HITZ.TV after school hours. Oh, and I was obsessed with Harry Potter at the time too! I read all the books and watched the movies. I even went out in the afternoons, looking for suitable sticks and branches to make several wands for me, my brother, my childhood friend Sufi and his sister, Khairani, as well as a miniature flying broomstick and a real-sized one. All four of us rode the broomstick and ran around.

There used to be some stray dogs around our neighbourhood. The family next door told us of one white female dog, dubbed Champlo. She had always been so terrified of thunder and lightning, and would jump through the hole in our gate and cower in front of our door. Sometimes, in the mornings, we would find her sleeping on our doorstep. She once walked my brother to school. There was a bigger light brown male dog, with an obvious name, Brownie. He was a gentle guy, despite his size, since he also once walked beside me to school. He watched after me as I crossed the road and entered through the school gate, and would then leave after seeing me safe. Another dog I befriended was a newcomer that came out of nowhere, a very skinny black dog. I named him Snuffles, because he looked like Sirius Black's Animagus form. We took pity on him and frequently fed him chicken drumsticks. Gradually, he slipped into a happy and healthy form and started to walk beside us too. Too bad the trio had been caught by dog-catchers while we had moved back to Bukit Sentosa. I miss Champlo, Brownie and Snuffles.

Ahh, and on weekends... My family were always usually out. We'd either go to Jusco, or Danga Bay, or the M Suites Hotel. We could go shopping at Jusco and eat out, so it was a real treat. We watched events, performances and played on rides at Danga Bay, or just sit and feel the sea breeze. On the other hand, at the M Suites Hotel, we would always relax in the lounge room, have a bit of supper while listening to the local jazz band playing. Such times were fun and so carefree...

Every Friday, there will be a man selling 'otak-otak' outside the school's back gate. (No, in case you don't know, 'otak-otak' are just skewered fish flesh that are grilled over a small fire, not fish brains.) Since I use the back gate all the time, and since my family seem to love the 'otak-otak' sold there, I would always buy some and have it along with lunch. Oh, I also remember that I used to eat bread with only mayonnaise and mustard as a 'snack'. It is a rather peculiar combination, I know, but it tasted so good.

I remember now. He... A certain someone once asked me, "If you could go back to the past, what would you change?"

I remember my answer now. I said, "Back to when I was 12, I would've convinced my father to stay in Johor."