A Few Days Ago It Was My 19th Birthday

"Give us this day our daily dose of faux affliction," I Constantly Thank God For Esteban by Panic! at the Disco.

And something quite interesting happened.

That Sunday night (26th of July 2009), Amir of Cohort 1 took Bagan, Syazwan, Chris of Cohort 1 and me out for dinner at someplace called "Hammer Bay". Quite near Queensbay, that. I guess it was to kinda rasmi his car that he brought all the way from Perlis. It's just a rusty old Nissan, but it runs, and that's good enough in any un-rich student's book. A 25-year-old version of the "Initial D" car, being in the hands of a student who doesn't even know what a carburettor is, anything is possible, yeah? (Okay, so I didn't ask him if he knew what it was, but he seems clueless about motorcycles..)

We arrived to quite a crowd. There were only a few tables available when we arrived. Quite impressive, I thought to myself. We also ran into Afiq and Jijol of Cohort 1 and Pian and Ridz of Cohort 2 having their dinners too. After treating the boys to RM15 sotong goreng tepung, watching "Jom Heboh" being projected on a big screen and a few other things (Chris, I don't want to mention it here), we headed back. The time was a little over half-past 10 when we arrived. I was content with my modest birthday night dinner.

We were hanging-out in Ulwi of Cohort 1's room when Bagan got a call from Amirul at about 11.15pm, saying that he and Afifi were in front of the library, in a bit of pain. They fell off Bagan's motorcycle while taking the bend which road was sandy. So, like any good-hearted friend, I followed Bagan down to help them out. We spotted them exactly where they told us they would be, half-sitting, half-lying down on the ground, being in a little more than a bit of pain. Seriously, these guys were moaning like they were about to pass-out of sheer pain in a few more minutes.

I tried to help Amirul up, but he said not to touch him, as he was really hurting. I looked over to Afifi. He was moaning and on the brink of crying even, so I decided that trying to help him up would be a futile effort. Amirul said that his stomach lunged into the handle of the motorcycle, so I thought "now that must have been painful". I asked them if they were bleeding in any parts of the body (totally logical question to ask), and was given no answer. All this time Bagan was attending to his motorcycle, checking to see if there were any broken parts or scratches anywhere. I was peeved by this and said "Dude, your friends lagi important, kot.." I mean, seriously, your friends are in an extreme amount of pain, and all you can think about is your friggin' motorcyle?

Then I noticed that the motorcycle was upright. Hm? "Siapa angkat moto?" I asked who took the effort to make the motorcycle stand. Amirul, in between his painful moans, said that it was him that fought the pain and took the liberty of doing it.

"Wow, strong ah Amirul ni.." I thought to myself.

By now I was worried sick. Amirul had been clutching his leg as to signal that he was experiencing pain somewhere in that region of his body, and Afifi was pressing his stomach like there was no tomorrow. What if we had to take them to the hospital? We would have to wake our warden and ask for his good grace to take them. And they would most probably not go to class for a few days, at the very least. What if their injuries were so serious that they would have to postpone their education? They wouldn't have the chance to go off to Australia. There would only be 6 guys left in our cohort, then. That would definitely suck. And the news would go round, and everyone will look at the TESL group even more loathesome-ly, 'coz now they'd have a reason.

All that and more was running through my head, and owing to not wanting to think of even more negative thoughts, I took a look at the sand on the road, which has been there since God knows when. I noticed that there weren't any skidmarks. Hm? I took out my phone and used its light to inspect Bagan's motorcylcle more closely, to see if there were any scratches. Remarkably, there were no signs of trauma on the motorcycle whatsoever. I moved my light to the basket of the bike, and noticed eggs in it. Foolishly, I asked "Eh, why are these eggs stll in good condition?" (Eh, awat teloq ni tak pecah?)

The moment those words came out of my mouth, the truth came to me. Both in my mind and towards my body. "This is why!" (Ni la psepa!)

Eggs and flour flying everywhere, most aimed at me, the birthday boy. The stupid, stupid birthday boy who didn't see it coming. I was so mad with myself in being fooled by the guys that I lashed out and kicked a "Slow down" signboard and kept screaming "Awat teloq ni tak pecah?!?!" for all to hear.

But at the same time, I was so happy! It's not that I like the smell of raw eggs in the middle of the night or anything, but I was so touched by this gesture of the guys. They remembered! And they certainly gave me something to remember 'till my death-bed. They actually took the effort to come up with an elaborate prank to "get" me on my birthday (It ended before the strike of midnight, so it still counted). This is the first time anybody has ever done anything like this for me, and I must congratulate them for a job well done. I was left dumbfounded, and that's the whole point of a prank, am I right boys and girls?

After the storm of flour and eggs passed, we went under a nearby lamp-post to document that night's exploits. Thanks to Ulwi for coming down to record this video [Warning - heavy Northern Malay accent used in this video by me.] [I'm the one in the light blue shirt covered in flour] --->

Again, many thanks to the boys of Cohort 2 present in the video, the guys of Cohort 1 who were involved that night, all the people that gave me the first birthday presents in my short life, all the people who wished me a "Happy Birthday" (it was indeed a happy one), and all the others who feel like I owe them a debt of gratitude.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! May all of you lead an eventful and prosperous life!!!