No Rest, No Regrets: FRSIS

Back in January, I was chosen to attend FRSIS (Fully Residential School's International Symposium). Quite a mouthful, right? Anyway, I was given the freedom to choose my team members, that's what I call them. I chose Safuan (Sapu) in a heartbeat and after dealing with a ton of fiascoes, I managed to drag Syazwan (Wan) along. You couldn't imagine how much work it took to get these two on board. And then, there was a Form 4 guy that's not important in this story.

Safuan 'SapuDOR' Sabri

Syazwan 'Hotstuff' Bahri

After two months of fooling around, doing work and 9Gagging, we were ready, kinda. The last few days before FRSIS had me thinking if I was even up to par to attend such a prestigious event. Since I've been enveloping my life with video games and fantasies galore, I think I lost the skill to talk to girls. So, butterflies in my stomach, bla bla bla.

Waking up that morning, I was in a bedlam of emotions, nervous, excited, scared, you name it. Whatever it is, we boarded the Koleq Bus and were on our way. But, problems arose right after we left KK. they always find a way to get you, especially at the eleventh hour. That dialogue in the bus is still ringing in my head.

Me: *in a nervous voice* Tak lawak doh.

Sapu & Wan: Apa yang tak lawak?

Me: Tak lawak DOH.

Sapu & Wan: Jangan main-main. Apa yang tak lawaknya?!

Me: Aku terlupa seluar aku.

Sapu & Wan: Bhahahaha!

Sure, they laughed at my problems. Thinking about it, it was quite humorous, given the fact that I'm super-meticulous at these kinds of things (I checked the list more than thrice, in a row). After another little fiasco and a Mission Impossible-esque rendezvous kinda thing, I got a pair of white pants. Relief settled in, whew. Thanks, Wan and Wan's mom!

We arrived at MOZAC (Muzaffar Syah Science Secondary School) in the afternoon. So, registration, photography session, Ice Breaking, the norm for these events. Nothing to arouse the interest that day.

From left to right: Wan, Sapu, Ms. Azlina, Megat (Me), Umar 

Skipping ahead to the second day, I had to moderate a Presentation Session and Sapu had to present but in a different classroom. Aside from the countless presentations and a fountain of information, there was too important for the story. Oh, somewhere along the line, I got to know Hanif. He's from STAR. Chill, Koleq guys, he's a good guy.

Hanif Omar on the left

That afternoon, the gold medallists (basically, those who are going to present at the international stage, only 15 schools) were announced. Sapu was on top of the list, second only to the host. Congrats! After that, Wan was being the hotstuff that he is and talked, more like preached to girls from STF and TKC. I was still shy at the moment, so things didn't go smooth sailing all the way. But, that's where I met Dhamira, my neighbour (Whoa! Seriously), Alyaa and Ira, sister to a friend back at Koleq, also very tall.

Third from left: Dhamira 'Dhammy' Batrisyia, Alyaa Hazira, Ira Zalis, or green, green, red

The others in the picture, I never really got to know them. I was still struggling to talk at the time. That night, the international delegates arrived, comprising of  students from Netherlands, Czech Republic, Italy, Australia, Laos and many more. So, another Ice Breaking session and off to bed.

The next day, there was a Keynote Address or a talk with former prime minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, one of my idols in the morning. And in the afternoon, a presentation by an invited guest speaker, Dato' Zuraidah Atan (TKC Alumni if I'm not mistaken). And, after that, we had dinner at the Chief of Minister Melaka's residence. Pretty cool. That's when I regained my skill. When I taught Ira about essays (Can you believe it? Me, teaching somebody). Then, we went back to our dorms and told about a guy who thought Lao delegates were chinese and that they spoke Thai. There was no end to his ignorance.

Skip ahead to the next day, Sapu and Ira presented on the international stage (Ooo, what an honour). They did excellent. After the lengthy presentations until noon, we had a workshop session the afternoon. It was all about discussing about the Keynote Address the day before. I was being passive for the moment.

Le Workshop

After that, sightseeing at Melaka, yay! I conquered my childhood fears as I ventured forth into Dinos Alive exhibit at Dataran Pahlawan (I cried when I went there a number of years ago) The best part was after that, we chilled at the MOZAC's hill, dubbed the 'Death Cliff', talking about Bieber and talking in accents. I had neighbour talk with Dhammy (turns out we're just as bad as the other at being good neighbours).

Neighbour talk

It was like a party!

                                                                                                          
Waking up the next morning, I felt confident (Of what? I'm not so sure myself). Whatever it is, I had to do rapporteur work for one whole session of presentation. Great fun, yeah right, but work's still work. We had another workshop in the afternoon about sharing our cultures. This one was more vivacious, everyone was more active. I talked about KK's famous Labu Sayong. I also found out that our facilitator's wife's nephew looked like me. No wonder he was always observing me. Anyway, he's still cool.

This workshop was a bit crazier

Then, we chilled at the Death Cliff again. It was a staple chilling spot like the bar in the sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother'. Ira took my wallet and revealed my 12-year-old face from my IC. God, it was embarrassing.  But there was more, we decided to go down MOZAC's hill through the 300-plus winding steps. We snapped photos, joked around and played around. The journey back up was even more exciting. I decided to jog, yes, JOG. And the others followed suit. I started to yell "No rest, no regrets!" and Hanif and Wan were supporting like mad. One hell of an exercise!

Jogging back up!

Tired already?

Back up, we met up with Sapu (Sorry, bro) and took a brief respite at the canteen. That last night, a Closing Ceremony was held. After that, what was there to do other than spending the rest of the time with friends? Friends that I've just met a few days ago, developing friendship in so little time with little in common. Friends that I never actually knew how to talk to. That last night was crazy. Autographing tags, giving out contact numbers, facebooks, screaming "I Don't Care!!" to things we didn't actually care about. All we cared about was indulging in the friendship that we've developed, putting aside our differences, rivalry, schools and having the time of our life. And then, there was Adlina, MOZAC's awesome TKP (figure it out yourself).

What a night!

Adlina "Add" Rahim

I've met her before during the workshop, just never really got to know her. Not sure if she's part of the gang, but if she is, she would be the latest 'add'ition to the gang. *see what I did there?* Oh, and I also found out that I look 'professional', thanks to guys from INTERSABER and SESTA.

One last photo for the night. From left to right: Ira, Dhammy, Add, Sapu (at the back there), Megat (Me), Syazwan, Hanif

I didn't sleep at all that day, at least until 3am. That's why I was yelling "No rest, no regrets" for the whole day.

The next day, we had a breakfast with the Old Boys (What? Why?). I didn't get the chance to say a proper goodbye to the lot of amazing people there. I can't blame the Old Boys, they may not understand how attached we are to our friends. On the bus back to Koleq, I cried... twice (Yes, I'm man enough to say that). We also played Bus Surfing and I emerged as the winner, woot!

Hilarious Bus Surfing is hilarious!

You see, the best part of FRSIS isn't in the schedule, It's the more quiet moments, personal moments with friends, be it at the Death Cliff or running around like a bunch of madmen. Will we be back for another round of wacky shenanigans? We'll find out sooner or later.