Anniversary Week: The First Date

5th December 2002

It was the last day of Ramadhan. I was a freshman. He was a sophomore.

"Ajan dah bukak puasa?"
"Dah buka dekat Commons tadi."
"Jom teman Amal buka puasa. "
"Boleh gak. Ajan tunggu kat bawah."

I called myself Ajan. He called himself Amal.

It was winter, it was cold. I was wearing my favorite Applemint black tank with my favorite grey cardigan. He was wearing his dark blue long sleeve with yellow stripes. Not one of my favorites. It was still too early to have favorites, anyways.

He came to pick me up. I saw his Putra from my room window. Cary 304.

I met him downstairs, near the dump bin belakang Cary Hall

I grabbed the only handbag I had, a denim Marie Claire handbag. I rushed down the stairs. He said hi. I smiled and said hi back. He opened the car door for me. I thought he was charming.

We arrived at Shalimar 15 minutes later. I ordered chicken vindaloo with naan, he ordered chicken tikka masala with plain rice.

We sat by the window, under the neon Shalimar sign

We chatted and chatted. He's the eldest of six, I'm the fourth of five. He's a straight A's student, I scored C for Teknologi Kejuruteraan. I was the chatty one of course. I still am.

After he sent me back that night, I smiled and said to myself, "Ada chan ni."

And that, my friend, was the start point of our roller coaster ride for many, many years to come.