^{Entrance to the school}
January 2nd 1995, Monday - the day I first time jejakkan kaki ke Pondok Upeh’s MRSM Balik Pulau. Not that it was my first time ever sebab I’ve been to that school like banyak kali la jugak sbb I used to have my second brother yang studied situ also way back in 1988 and 1989. My cousin pun ade seorang jugak yang studied sitiew in 1992 and 1993. So kirenye, I’ve jejakkan kaki kat situ banyak kali lah jugak; but as a student, that was my first time.


^{Inilah dia MRSM Balik Pulau, 11000 Pondok Upeh, Penang}
Lepas PMR I got the offer to join in MRSM Balik Pulau, Penang. I applied for Taiping and Jasin as for my 1st and 2nd choice, respectively. And MRSM Balik Pulau was my 3rd choice. I guess, it was like destinied – kaum kerabat, ahli keluarga muargakiew semua kena gi MRSM Balik Pulau. Ehehe. So I was like the third wakil from my keluargamuarga yang gi MRSMBP.

So anyways, the first day kat MRSM Balik Pulau was like – hmmm, indescribable. The school yang pernah menjadi sekolah my abang and also my cousin, now, *then*, dah jadik my school also. Ramai sangat orang on the first day. Tak cukup ramai dengan students, parents, family, ade jugak yang nak hantar student, datang ala ala satu rombongan gittu. Hehehehe. Among those ramai2 students form 4 yang mendaftar masuk, ade jugak yang from my previous school, yang dapat MRSMBP also and ade jugak from my kampong, so ade lah kawan jugak, so I guess I wasn’t alone afterall. Seniors pun ade dah mek noticed seorang dua yang mek dah ala ala kenal rupe but dinch kenal personally.


^{On that very first day of school/registering, area nih penuh dengan students, family, friends, not to mention - cars and vans too! On normal days, this is how the main area depan office/ hall looks like}
I remembered clearly lepas amik ujian English kat dewan, utk determined which class you akan dimasukkan *late me found out me dalam class A eheh top class ok!*, mek went back to the asrama. Waktu tu my mom dengan my dad dah dok sebok2 clearkan my room. My stuffs jgn tanye la. Macam nak pindah rumah I say. Everything I rase nak bawak, perlu ke idak, mek hentam jer labu. Bawak jugak. So as me and my parents tgh sebok clearing my room, unloading my stuffs and what not, muncul lah seorang student, kecik molek orangnye, masuk lenggang longgok kangkong Mak Limah, ke bilik yang boleh muatkan dua orang student itiew.

Dia kenalkan diri dia as Aizul and dari sitiew, dialah roomiekiew, dia lah sahabat baikkiew, dia lah budak sekampungkiew, dia lah segala2nya dan yer, dia lah jugak antara adik2 (jambu2) yang vast kat MRSM waktu tu dengan mek! Ehehehe… kire, seangkatan lah. Mula mula just the two of us, then as time passed us by, nah ade lagik 3 yang seangkatan. Sorang from Terengganu, sorang from Selangor and sorang lagik from Penang, Bukit Mertajam to be exact. Ehehe – jadik lah us one group. I guess it was kindda like amazing jugak duduk MRSM nih sebab kat MRSM nih banyak students from many other states, from different backgrounds, and what not – semue under one roof, MRSM BALIK PULAU.

Berbalik kepada cerits mek di MRSM. Selepas seminggu lebih duduk asrama penuh, NAH! Mek dah teresak2 menangis kat public phone ok, crying my heart, or should I say, crying my lungs out kat my mom, memujuk merayu, sampai to one extend memaksa my mom to ask my dad to take me out from the school. Tak tahan sundel! I was like, urgh! I couldn’t stand the food kat dewan selera; almost one week tu, me only went to the schools cafeteria jer – sanggup bayar ok! Pastu, I couldn’t sleep well at night- panas ok no air cond! Then kena buli – imagine, just ONE bloody week at that bloody school and the seniors were like torchering me, us, juniors, especially yang lembut2 jambu2 nih, upside-down-inside-out! Kena buli ape? Haiyoh! Basuh baju seniors berbaldi2 lah, kena kiwi kasuts la, iron baju la, itu la ini la – mana mek tahan!!! Orientation 3 hari jer, the remaing 4 days of the first week tu, torcher ok!!! Tensi teramatz lah sangat.

Tapi lepas my mom told me my dad said “FINISH OFF WHAT YOU STARTED- you’re not coming back home until you finish your SPM next year”- and lepas mek kena brainwash dengan Aizul – I slowly but surely and steadily telah mengadaptkan diri dengan keadaan sekeliling yang ala ala very, so tak classy utk mek! I hated the toilet! I hated the fact that I had to get up every stinking morning at 5.30 stinking morning for Subuh, and I hated the fact that I had to do a lot of stuffs dalam the first month tu. Yer lah, mana lagi bab bab study subject2 baru. Mana lagi I have get myself used to mandi ramai2 dalam toilet azab with no hot water! Mana lagi I nak kena do this, do that, register this and that, haiyoh! TENSI!!! Tapi thank GOD after the 3rd week, I was slightly ok… I survived!!!

Enough about introduction – shall not dwell much about that. And I will also NOT dwell about my study life; why? BORING lah. Nanti bohsan pulak mek citer pasal mek top scorer paper nih la, mek on Deans list la, mek nye cgpa nih la itu la… kang korang cakap boring lah, mek nih run run run around the bush before me sampai ke tahap orgasm lah… kan? Betul dak Leez? Kan u ols cakap mek suka pusing2 kona2 dari citer objective sebenar entry mek, kan? So I nak ikut nasihat u ols lah. Straight to the point, ye ke dak Kak Leezie? Miss G aka Miss World also sama u ols! – Dia cakap “Nyeh, tulisan bernas2 tak semestinya panjang2 lebar2. Write short stuffs also kalau points meletop, meletop lah citer kau tu”, kan G, Miss World cum Ex Miss Universe cum Ex Miss Intelligent Universe? Ehehehehe. G dan Leez, jgn marah mek nah. Saje nak buat advert. Leez tak nampak mek buat link kat nama u ols? See – promosi ok!

So two years mek kat MRSM Balik Pulau – it tought me a lot. Seriously. I never knew how to makan UDANG. Seriously, kat MRSM lah mek start belajar makan udang. MRSM lah jugak the place yang telah mengajar me to basuh baju, jemur kain dan iron my uniforms. Dulu at home, either mommy buatkan or my maid yang buatkan semua. Even made my own bed also I learned kat MRSM ok. Basically my point is that MRSM tought me a lot in being independent, gittu.

I was pretty much Miss “Jambu Of The Year” in my school – Yes yes, muntah lah u ols kalau u ols nak, but it’s a fact! Waktu tu dragonrina lite2 sugi ok. How? Malam2 weekend, me and my fellow jambu adik2 friends would amik selimut and lilit2kan kat badan and pretended that it was a lavish evening gown, and we started playing beauty pageants. Yes, my interests dalam dunia peragaan dan jugak beauty pageants lahir way back in schools also, bak kata Che Detz, kan??? And yes, mek always either pemenang or 1st runner-up. Siap ade q/a lagi nih. Mek and Amirul, one of my fellow groupmate, dia also memang minat Miss Miss nih. Every year never missed nak record. 1996 kan Malaysia dak tak show those beauty pageants kat dalam tv. Sanggup call auntie dia in Singapore suruh record the show. Heheeh … Mirul… Mirul…

Ok, here’s the story about my group in MRSM. Back then, me ade this group of jambu adik2 friends, yang seniors labeled as “THE MAGNIFICENT FIVE”- There were 5 of us including me in the group, namely Aizul, Amirul, Sufian, Rizal, and me. Mana2 pergi, the five of us memang akan bersama. Dah la satu dorm semuanye, except Amirul, he was is another dorm but still in the same block. Mandi sesama, berkemban semuanye nih. Ehehehe – Gi makan sesame, jalan gi class/ prep also sama2, petang2 turun bersukan sesama, Aikido class sama2 semua. Yes, back then kitaorang bak kata orang dinch bols dipisahkan dah u ols. And jangan terkejut, Rizal, Sufian, and me, three of us were in the school’s volleyball team ok! Played for district and also states. Active ok. Very bising kami main volleyball... "SEDIA YA? HAAAIIYYAAHH!!! PIRING BERPUTARRRR!!!!!" Very the ala ala citer Jepun dulu tu, Mario Attack? Tah… betul ke idak spelling nye but I’m sure you guys tau what am talking about kan?

Mek on the other hand, also very active in debates and dramas, English Language Society secretary 2 years in a row ok! (yes yes that also explained my drama queen behavior) and that took me to a lot of places around Malaysia yang mek sendiri never been to. Just imagine, at 16, mek baru first time rase gi PERLIS and also PAHANG, how? Very cacatted, kan? Eheheeh. I was in the schools’ debating team since 1st semester, sampai mek completed my 4th semester (dah senior dah waktu itiew, form 5 dah). Our debating team was the nationals 1st runner-up for two straight years ok. (hmm meaning to say ‘badi’ 1st runner-up mek nih also dari school ek? Patutlah terbawak2 sampai waktu bertanding ratu bile dah besar, selalu sangat 1st runner-up! Eheheh)

I remember we staged Puteri Gunung Ledang punye drama, but the puteri was Amirul, how? Dah terserlah keadik2kan, kan? Eheheh. Mek ala ala assistant director aje. Ehehe.

Coming to ‘social’ life in MRSM pulak. MEMANG seronoks you ols. Imagine waktu form 4 lah paling best sbb we had seniors, so terasa lah diri itiew very babyish sikit. Boleh mengada ngada manja over2, seek public attentions also was very easy when we were juniors Bile naik form 5, my group just couldn’t be bothered about our juniors pulak, biarpun yang cando2. Malas ok. Rase macam tua pulak. So waktu form 4 lah, very der you ols,… Meriah ok! We were like the talk of the school. Yer lah, sah sah the 5 of us jer very adik2 pecah lobang ok. We had loads of abang angkats and kakak angkats, I enjoyed the attention also. Weekends the seniors would sell stuffs like chocolates or burgers to collect some money utk either dorm diaorang ke, society ke. Meriah lah jadiknye perkampungan students MRSM itiew. Kiteorang (me and my group, MOST of the time AIZUL jadik mangsa ikut mek) would catwalk from the dorm, semata2 turun gi beli burger kat abang2 seniors can do2 yang sold em itiew. Walhal, tak makan pun. Saje je getek nak membeli. Ade yang kami buat dedications – by 2nd semester, waktu mek semester terakhir as a junior, mek selalu dapat a lot of burgers. Selalunye my rommie yang akan habiskan those burgers. Aizul, Aizul… eheheh.

Speaking of my roomie, now dah jadik cikgu terlatih dah di Sarawak (funny bile dengar cerite minah ketot tu jadik cikgu kepada students2 yang jauh lebih muda tapi tinggi dari dia. Heehhee)… he was the best roommie one could possibly asks for. Memang best you ols berroommate dengan dia. Dia memang hardworking, kuat sentap, and above all, kuat study itiew. I masih ingat lagi. Malam2 lepas prep, or during weekend nights, kalau we decided to study for any exams ke ape ke, ade satu teori u ols leh nampak berlaku dalam our room yang telah menang BEST ROOM OF THE SEMESTER for 4 semesters berturut2! – The theory was; Dia study, mek tidur. Dia tidur, mek also tidur u ols! Ehehehe.

MRSM jugak mengajar mek erti BJ dan anal. Ehehehe – yes yes, try reading THIS ARCHIVE!!! You’ll find out how me lost my a**-virginity at the tender and sweet innocent age of 16! Ehehehe. Happy readings u ols!

Peeps! Tadik, just before me nak tulis what am about to tulis nih, mek dah nearly siapkan satu perenggan about “HANTIAN” – HANTU kes about MRSM BALIK PULAU and the things yang mek went through with these hantian cases. Apa dah jadik? TIBE2 MY PC KAPUT OK! Hilang habis semue dah mek dah agak. But luckily mek typed this entry kat my Microsoft Words so ade auto recovery. Tapi u ols, why suddenly the pc kaput waktu mek nak citer pasal kes hantian Juita yang kacau mek dulu itiew? Funny kan? So anyways, bukak my auto-recovered file, nah! SEMUE STILL INTACT EXCEPT citer perenggan bab hantian Juita. DUA KALI happened ok! So nampak sangat it’s telling me NOT TO WRITE about it. SO I get the point. So mek terpaksa skip kes scarry marry kat MRSM BALIK PULAU – GOD! That scared me a lil – meremang bulu roma mek tetibe. Tsk tsk tsk. Ok NEXT PLEASE?

So mek nak kena bukak citer lain. Hmmm – oh, MRSM jugaklah telah menyebabkan mek habis beratus-ratusan ringgit tau! No, bukan kes duit hilang or kena curi. No no. Mek dulu RATU WALKMAN – everywhere I go, walkman here walkman there. Cannot live without it ok. Actually, to be more precise, I cannot WALK / CATWALK without my music kat my lubang telinga.

Ade sekali itu, mek tengah duduk2 lepak2 kat padang tgk rugby *one of my favorite activity ptg2 waktu dah bergelar senior, since mek tak ade apa apa plan, mek akan listen to my walkman and tgk rugby, sometimes with Aizul, sometimes alone* And that padang, outsiders kadang2 masuk also u ols. Sentap tak one day, this mak cik was sitting there with another 2 makcik. They tgk me one kind, mek tetap pose Future Miss Malaysia pose, smiled and then buat bodoh jer. Waktu diaorang mengumpat mek, I tgh rewind my cassette itiew. NYEH! MAK CIK TU CAKAP “Tsk tsk tsk – kesian kan? Bebudak zaman sekarang. Muda2 dah PEKAK! Dah kena pakai itu alat pembantu pendengaran…” KEZI TAK!?! SO anyways that’s not the point of this paragraph. Alkisahnye, since Jan 1st 1995 sampai mek grad 23rd Dec 1996, I lost a total of 18 SONY WALKMANS yang mahal2 ok! SENTAP TAK!? Selalu je kena curi walkman mek sebab I always took the liberty to get whats best in the market – nah! Amik! Selalu hilang ok! Sedeh sangat!

Bukan walkman jer, now, new paragraph, new item. YES – mek dulu also ratu POSE with CAMERA – mek ALWAYS lah I say always, ALMOST EVERYDAY mek akan snap pics. Tiap2 minggu, ade jer mek akan gi cuci Kodak roll itiew. So talking about camera, sepanjang mek duduk there in MRSM, I lost 3, tapi by end of 2nd semester, the 2nd one yang hilang itiew, telah dipulangkan balik oleh senior yang telah mencurinye dengan alasan NAK PINJAM. Ehehe – sentap tak? Tapi masuk 3rd sem, hilang also that camera – bawak lah 3rd camera gi MRSM – PON HILANG! Masuk 4th semester, mek bawak camera cekai punye gi – Nah! Tak der pulak orang nak curik!? Ehehehe

Apa lagi ek? Study wise nak citer ke? Tak yah la ek. Biase je. Same jer kalau nak citer bab bab study mudy nih. Any other dramas? Erm – mek selalu jadik postman senior boys yang nak tekel bebudak girls juniors. Maklumlah, mek very the close the bebudak girls, be it junior or senior girls. So mek lah ala ala jadik messenger gittiew. Tapi it was worth doin’ also. Mek dapat attention most of the time sbb jadik “most wanted” jambu yang baik hati suke menolong – walhal, I was used tapi at that time, too stupid to realize it. Eheheh.

Dah la kot – mek also tak tau nak citer apa apa dah pasal life mek kat MRSM sbb terlalu interesting sangat. What I do know is that, MRSM Balik Pulau – the best two years of my life there, mek dinch akan forget, sampai bile2!!! Its’s been 9 years since I left that school. But ade some memories still fresh! Banyak bende yang dah berlaku within that 9 years, dan ade jugak antara bende2 tu mek belajar dari MRSM. Me still keep in touch dengan my classmates – we do group emails now and then, just to tannak putuskan tali persahabatan. 3 or 4 of my classmates dah kawin, siap ade yang dah beranak pinak dah nih. Haiyoh… Yes, Krol, one of the 50 Most Eligible Bachelor of the Year fo Clea Mag, was one of my classmates. Memang cando orangnye, dan baik. Click kat nama dia itiew to read up more about him.

Anyways, MRSM telah banyak mengajar mek stuffs and made me who I am now. *that’s something serious, bukan joking punye tone ek* and next year, genaplah 10 tahun mek grad dari MRSM BP and dengar khabar ade big gathering thingie? Entah lah – mek tak update sangat. I only update pasal classmates I jer. Yes, especially Krol. Ehehe Krol, I hope you’re reading this boy. Ehehehehe.

Seriously, I will NEVER ever forget, the place yang telah mengajar mek erti berdikari, a place yang buatkan mek kenal ramai kawan and most of all, the place where I discovered, the real me and most of, the place where I earned what we call it, SPM! Ehehe… MRSM PONDOK UPEH, BALIK PULAU, PENANG – The memories will always stay fresh in my mind… :)


^{PS - Nak tgk pics2 kat MRSM dulu2 itiew? Tunggu nah - mek nak scan pic2 lelama mek while in MRSM- just got to find where the hell are those pics. Mek rase ade kat KL lah! Hanj hanj sekals!!! Hmmmmmm - cam mana ek? I'll work it out nanti - tgk lah! Tunggu updates on PHOTOS- pasal facts dah tertulis sudah, now nak complete those whole thingie-walk-down-the-memory-lane, kite perlukan those pics. So tunggu jer lah ek?}