- r e u b e n ' s -

Ok, peepz! Here’s a swift recap on what’s been going on. PLEASE NOTE: The line was cut, hence the lack of blogging! =/

Let us proceed!

*** 9^th, 10^th & 11^th of March 2007 – Friday, Saturday and Sunday
I could be easily located at Nikko Hotel, KL [Level 2, if you must know]. Working. It was Jing’s (me elder sister) company convention for year 2007. We practically had the whole family over to work – LOL … Ling (my other twin), Shannon (me baby girl), Young (Jing’s boyfriend) and of course, my Aunt Monica, being Jing’s superior, she definitely had to be there.

Accommodation and food were in the package. It had to be, it is essential. And of course, not failing to remember ... WAGES - in order to pinch my weekends out my to-do list, the management would need to pay me extra =D Sunday was my final day working with the company. Therefore, made sure I took my time properly over everything during my time at Nikko Hotel.

The hotel room was fully outfitted and spotless – the only disadvantage was, the king-sized bed had to hold 4 on 1. The ‘Orchid Hall’ which was prepared for secretariat’s usage was fully equipped with necessities for last minute assigned tasks. The Company Management aKa Councilors were very well prepared for unpredictable utmost disasters mainly caused by crazy, aggressive, impatient, destructive ‘creatures’ – they call it ‘the participants’, I call it ‘the unbearable’! The Hotel Management did a good job, especially on the services and DEFINITELY the food what else could have been better than that? =D

AND am proud to announce, US who worked our asses through the nights and early mornings, did a ‘THUMBS UP’ job!!! I know, I know. Thank You, Thank You! =D

*** 11^th of March 2007 (Sunday NIGHT)
Dear Beloved Goofy, I am sorry for not being able to be there during your death. It is my mistake for not checking in with Dad to ask if you guys were doing fine at home. The mistake will not repeat itself again. With buckets of Love and sincere Apologies -RIP-

… I wish to not emphasize more on the night’s events than to only express my apologies to Goofy (the whip snake). Sorry man ...

*** 12^th of March 2007 (Monday)
I woken up on Monday, heart pounding, and leaped to my feet, my mind racing with everything I had to do. It was an important day – SPM Results! Nervous yet excited … everyone was free! =D All the 6.

I and Shannon went to school; the standard procedures were performed and we bid our last goodbye to SMKss17. As I was walking out the school, contemplating the fact that high school is over; I started to feel a weird feeling inside. Light and giddy like a helium balloon. I’m free. A smile of exhilaration spreads across my face as I met Shannon’s eyes.

SPM. I love being in mid-school – that’s when you don’t have to worry about having to lose contact with acquaintances because you know where to find them … here, in school. I love the thrill of getting involved in mid-school curricular, especially basket ball. I love the adrenaline rush of sitting through examinations and wondering how I’d scored. I supposed, just occasionally, I felt as though someone’s piling heavy weights on me. Like big concrete blocks, one on top of the other, and I have to keep holding them up, no matter how exhausted I am … nevertheless … I’m free now.

The rest of the day progressed perfectly well. We visited Taman Megah – the pet shop; One Utama – to watch the movie ‘300’ and din-din at Ming Tien (Taman Megah, again). Exhausting day it was but I had a splendid day =D Bed sweet bed. Goodnight world …

*** 13th of March 2007 (Tuesday)
I found him lying motionless. Not another … Why? What can possibly be far worst than this? Two down … poor Bunjee, all alone now. It’s Cooper … he passed away =(

It’s a blip! But anyways, we’ll leave this shitty morning out … nothing eventful happened anyway.

Twelve o clock. Lunch time. I was walking to ss15 when my mobile rang. Dude … that’s early. We were supposed to meet later but my guess would be … my sister couldn’t leave me single-handedly after receiving the appalling news. But the truth was, she wasn’t with me. She sent Young instead.

You see … the thing with these 2 beautiful people is … although busy with work + social life + spending quality time as one; they never fail to neglect the ones who are close to them. Hence, the paragraph above =) They are the coolest, ever! =D

Truthfully, the mood was going downhill at a snail’s pace. But Young’s presence didn’t allow it to go beyond. I was sure he arrived early for a reason. Just as I was equally sure that Jing would be having similar thoughts to his. To cheer me up. Soon enough, we were on our way to Ikano Power Centre, to the Pet Shop =D Habitually, as soon as we reached, we headed straight to the reptiles’ district. We were looking into the whips’ corner. Beautiful delicate creatures.

‘Which one do you like?’ Young asked and gestured to me to choose - the way he would, when he wants to get something for someone, especially Jing. You have got to be pulling my leg! The question was hard to resist but … ‘None’, I lied. Frankly, ever since I started to have the fondness for snakes, none of any snake I would say NO to. This Q & A session went on and on and on …

Until finally, I remembered Jing’s declaration ‘I dislike it when Young sincerely ask someone something or willingly invite someone to a dinner, they tarik harga and worst of all, it makes the whole scene look as though he’s pleading on his knees when he’s actually paying for it, unreservedly. It irritates the s*** out of me man! You get the drift dude?!!!’

Yup, I feel you sis! ‘The brighter lime-green one’, I replied as the memory shuts off. Hastily, before I could utter another word, Young requested the person in command, to bring it out and place it into a box. And that wasn’t about it. Prior to Goofy and Cooper’s death, he measured that it would be better for me to spark up their home a little. He’s a swift one! I felt bad and embarrassed. However again, Young didn’t allow me to feel that way. Pleasant guy eh? My sister is a lucky babe!

With the morning’s incident, everything felt as though it had been destroyed. And I still felt the sting. But at the same time … I felt more alive with possibility than I have ever done. And of course, a new family member! =D Smiling happily, my ribcage expands widely as I breathe in the air and ‘eewWw!’ I stopped … the stench of pee and shit combination. I was nearby the exit where the Hamsters’ are displayed … yuck! = What a turn off! Don’t they ever clean the bloody place!

I and Young cleaned, ornamented and arranged the snakes’ home as soon as we reached my place. It took us quite awhile but hey, it is all spick and span now! =)

The Whip’s name is REX – named after Young’s other baby, W R X. Welcome to the family dude!

***
Dear Beloved Cooper, I am sorry for what have happened to you. If only I could hear you speak. If only I know what went wrong and do something about it. Unfortunately and disappointedly, I couldn’t figure it out. I’m sorry buddy. With buckets of Love and sincere Apologies -RIP-

*** 14^th OR 15^th of March 2007 (Wednesday or Thursday)
Wednesday and Thursday. It was ‘same shit, different day’. Nothing special cropped up. There was this one thing though (can’t remember which day). It was ‘feeding time and day’ for both Bunjee and Rex, which very well summed up to ‘gecko hunting’. Amazingly, Young and Jing were determined to join us (Justin n me). Relieved …

I was supposed to meet Stuart to accomplish the hunt with but after making a few calls which failed with no response, I thought it was a tedious waste of time waiting + it was getting late. Fortunately, Young and Jing voluntarily wanted in. It didn’t take us long. In fact, it was rather a quick one. We caught six. It was enough to split between the both. Better yet, we had extra time to have an additional drink session before calling it a night =D

*** 16^th of March 2007 (Friday EVENING towards NIGHT)

I and Shannon were in the midst of going out to attend a friend’s BBQ party when suddenly, my mobile rang. ‘Where are you?’ Jing’s voice pierces my ear with no preamble. ‘Home but going out soon’ I replied. ‘Wait at home. I have something important to tell you. At the same time, I need to talk to you. Please wait at home’. Toot ……. the phone went dead. Then, decisively, I started to ‘shuffle’ while waiting for both herself and Young. At the same time, of course, I was thinking what it could be. Inquisitiveness took over.

I glanced at my mobile time. Few minutes passed eight thirty and she wasn’t back yet. I received a text message and it read ‘Dude, I got you Oreo and some other cookies. Hang on ya. I’ll see you in a bit!’ Hmm … weird. Curiosity amplified. Soon enough, came a roaring sound - Young’s. They’re back … finally.

As anticipated, a whip BUT what I didn’t expect was … TWO OF IT!!! =D So much for Oreo and some other cookie. But anyways, thanks Young, for the babies. And Sis, thanks for the shavings!

The two were named accordingly to their colors … Oreo and Cookie – LOL. Welcome to the family buddies! =D Three Whips, a Bronzeback and not failing to remember, the Darling of all Darlings … the Python. A whole happy family now … and still counting.

Oreo

& Cookie.

*** 17^th of March 2007 (Saturday)
After lunch, I, Young and Jing headed off to Taman Megah to see if there was anything new. The main intention was to rummage around for fans, for the monkeys. It came in different sizes, with, of course, different prices. Expensive. Young was studying the way it was assembled. It isn’t that complex actually … effortlessly by visiting any IT shop. It is only the fan you need, really. Anyways, we didn’t take long at the pet shop.

We went back to Young’s home and nothing eventful happened later in the evening. It was just another ordinary day, scheduled with a lot of drinks session and food of course. Nevertheless, I couldn’t wait a second longer for the next day. Missed Shannon loads! And erm … you’ll see … =D

*** 18^th of March 2007 (Sunday)
Sunday! Always a fine day …

It was the usual brunch with Young and Jing, with Shannon as well. We were scheduled for KLCC after that, an appointment with my cousin, Wei Nee. Our initial plan was to take the LRT there but Young decided to drive at a very last minute, which made everything trouble-free.

We were soon at Adidas in KLCC. I and Shannon are getting a good pair of shoes today! Wei Nee had it booked in advance. Oh by the way, did I tell you? She’s a merchandiser for Adidas Company. Luckily for me and Shannon (or anyone for that matter, provided if you know her), we got a discount off 30%. The best part is, it doesn’t matter if it is an obsolete product or a new arrival, the discount works the same, regardless! Cool shit eh?! =D And finally … Adi Racer (mine) and Adi Eau Rouge (Shannon’s) … both GOODYEARs! And I must say, a good combination.

Adi Racer

Adi Eau Rouge

CoffeeBean was next in the list (Dome at first). The ventilation sucks! I don’t think it is a good concept. We had drinks and chatted anyways, but we were out shortly. We made a few short visits - Kinokurniya (the one in Isetan); LaSenza (the girls) and TopShop. Five thirty and we were as good as on our way home!

Family dinner, short drinks in ss15 and then back home to sleep =)

Stuart called. He got the soon-to-be-mine snakes! - an Oriental Whip Snake and a Painted Bronzeback. I was supposed to collect it the day before yesterday but he was occupied with personal things. "Damn!" I thought and I knew I had to get it soon, tmr and not a day later, which was yesterday.

Next day. We made a last minute appointment at USJ4. It was during that time I was in the midst of having dinner at Asia Cafe. I felt the adrenaline rush while waiting patiently for the rest to hastily finish up their meals. I, of course was more then ready to buzz off the eatery. Soon enough... all done and we were as good as ready to make a move.

2 cars as usual - Young n Justin. As we got closer to the appointed destination I got even more excited upon arrival, Young had difficulties in looking for an empty space. Thank God there was 1 right in front of the cc – Yes; I wanted to see the snake badly! A day delayed was bad enough. Anyways, as soon as the car was in the appropriate lot, I scurried off to look for Stuart in the cc.

And there they were... Me Snakes! It didn’t take long, only a minimal of conversations held. And home I went. My plan is to keep them with Cooper. The only questionable part is, would Cooper be a threat to them or likewise? I wouldn’t know but yet to find out. As of today –touch wood- It is all in good hands.

So now…what to name them? Photos are as below...