Jonathan
Well, I thought I would just do the job in this early beautiful Sunday, a day after Valentine, to share with all members on the event held in Bern 's place last night - the evening of Valentine.

Around 7pm - Arrival of guests
Around 7.40pm - Sharing starts, with announcements.
8.10pm - Dinner
9pm - Movie watching - Get Real
Around 11pm - Gift exchange, Introduction & Sharing

Now, if my memory never fails me - there were Bern and his Brandon, Darrel, James 1 and James 2, Zaidi, Lek, Kelvin, Wong, Ivan, Eugene, Jeff, Kenneth (from KL LPG), Kenny, Rahim and me (err.. Jonathan).

I could not comment much on the group mixing, coz it happened mostly in the end of the evening, but before that, one could see even new friends could mix well. There were smaller groups forming before and during dinner. There were small groups formed as the guys munched the well-prepared food by Bern , or untangling the string, or other preparation.

Food was good, admired by the guests. I kept hearing the comments wherever I was sitting. Even the brought-in chicken wings were too. So, thanks Bern , and the chicken wings supplier, whoever you are - Kelvin or Zaidi?

Movie watching was fun, and I could see Get Real was the right movie for quite a number. A beautiful movie about a high school boy confronting his sexual orientation, and somehow discovering that he was not the only one in his school. In that small town, a love blossomed and both learnt more about each other, and as well as love. The supporting casts were great - either they were adorable and funny supportive friends, or those who disliked.

And what I saw in the movie as well was this - the strength of a real man comes not from the size or the form of his physical build, but from his heart.

I love this movie. Last night, it was my third time, watching it. One of the most beautiful moments was the dancing where eyes played the contact, and nothing more.

After the movie, the sharing we had, allowed us to know each other more, and I was quite surprised with the varieties in the group. Nope, there is no definite celebrity/superstar, but then again, aren's we all superstars in our own ways? Take from the song 'I Am The Starlight' -

"I am the Starlight.
Have the power within you/I can achieve
Just believe in yourself/anything
The sea will part before you
Stop the rain and turn the tide/
All the things I didn't believe."

Among all, we have the faraway Malaysian Kenny from Saudi Arabia (who is with us for one night only), multi lingual and dialect Rahim, multi-talented Bern and Lek, positive Darrel and landscape designer James.

What I could notice was that one has to have the courage to mix around, and try his best to converse together. There is no such thing as a single dominator. Joke if you must, cut in if you wish,
bring in a new topic, ask if you want to and more. When Rahim arrived, I was impressed how easily he blended in. Yes, I do have the worry for some new friends, because I would like everyone
to feel at home. And I need not worry much about him. And the same applied to Kenny. Kenneth was alright by the time we reached the sharing.

What I want to say here is that be daring. Be spontaneous. Be out. be proud. There are people who would listen to you talking. Worse come to worse, there would be me listening. At least someone would. The same applies to me, if there are different groups chatting, I would chat with someone, anyone for a while, before coming back to a bigger group for sharing. Don't alienate oneself.

Christopher - the success rate of the group depends on everyone's contribution, and whether if you know how to party, may it be a chatting group level or a dancing group. I enjoyed myself. And I
knew there were others who shared my thoughts.

Maybe the common ones are Kelvin, Zaidi, James, Bern , me (trying to) and Darrel (hopefully - tight schedule.) And Lek too. Others are new faces, and there would be new faces again the next round. There would be those who came back from KL for a while, and maybe some who are extremely busy, but free that day.

When we have a gathering, why not you invite your circle of friends to join us? The same goes to jsbrain. And others who are reading this. Again, the success of the night is rated individually too.
Make it happen, for yourself.

The youngest last night was 23, and of course there were us who are 30 plus, but seemed to be one of those who make the group more lively and chatty. Judge us not. We still have a trick or two, that you have yet to learn.

Agendas? We are flexible. If you have something in mind, just suggest. We would love to hear it, and perhaps use it.

As said by whulf, you must remember the intention of joinning this group. We should have a support group. For some individuals, due to some incidents, love comes and goes. There are heartbreaks, and heartaches. Now, we are here to offer the friendship. Question is - are you not accepting it?

Well, this has been a long mail. Sorry if I have been long-winded.

Keny
Wow what cool email to start a beautiful Sunday ....I guess Jon more or less summarise what happened last night ...

well last night is one of the memorable nights ...during my 1 month vacation ....well for me nothing beats a group of good buddies ..chatting, sharing ups and down , laughing at each other and going out for activities ..indoor or outdoor ....u know what ..your lovers come and go ( touch wood ) but frens are foreva ....

Well I must give two thumbs up for Bern 's cooking and Kelvin's chicken ...they taste better than those served by the posh cafe in Gurney Plaza etc etc ....hmm..maybe we can open a warung also next time huh ? well you never know ...thank the rest for chipping in in one way or teh other ...and most importantly Bern 's housemate for their understanding and support ..God Bless all of you !

As for the movie , it lets us see how a young gay is going thru his life ..loneliness ( thats why you need frens lah ! ) , discrimination, acceptance by his parents and those around him ...and finally announcing his identity on the stage of his school hall , its so nice to see how supportive his parents and frens can be except one or two jackass...but I guess its a little harder for us Asians here ....well again never try never know ...me too one day hope that my family and frens can accept who I am ..and love me for who I am !

But its rather sad that Steven liked John because of his look and physique , but isnt that what happens to young puppy love ... yes they have a hell of a great time ...but loving someone is easier but maintaining that flame needs sometime more than that  ....guess we will have Get Real 2 where he will experience more mature kind of love ...

Though I wont be around for at least a couple of months ...you guys can still hear me in the group ...keep in touch and god bless all of you !

They say ...
"..with a fren at your side no road seems too long "... how true ! and " may friendship like wine , improve as time advances . and may we always have old wine, old frens and young cares ..."

well the saddest thing to me is not being able to get to know all of you more ....

Darrel
Especially to Bern , Kelvin, Zaidi, Jonathan, James 1, James 2, Brandon , Rahim, Lek, Eugene , Keny, Kenneth, Ivan, Wong, and Jeff.

Well...I am finally back home. What a relief. (But tomorrow's another long day.) Forgive me if I don't make much sense as I am quite the opposite of sober now. THANKS for the wonderful Valentines' Day my dear friends. I had such a goood time. And Bern really deserves all the compliments. He has been busy with the planning and preparation all these while and single handedly made it a memorable night for all of us. I remember seeing in drenched in sweat while I first arrived at his place. He was alone in the kitchen, with vegetables, fruits and all piling high up on the table waiting for him to cut. He obviously took great pains to prepare the wonderful dinner.
Luckily Jon and James 1 came a short while later to help with the preparation as well. And Kelvin completed the sumptuous meal with his delicious chicken wings! It was nice meeting old friends and new friends. Now I know apparently Khassa is actually Keny. Having mental images of people
whom before this is merely names, sure makes writing this email much more interesting.
The movie was very nice. I enjoyed it tremendously and I am sure all the others were too. It was a pity Lek and James 2 had to leave early. We planned to have a discussion about the movie but I guess because when the movie ended it was already quite late. So all of us had given it a pass. Nonetheless, we can still do it here. The boys in the movie were charming. And Steven had the most sexy voice. :-) It is one of his feature that made me weak in the knees. Haha!

And now I am getting more and more delirious as I write. So I guess I'll just stop here. Will try to write more when I come online again on Wednesday.

In the mean time, here's wishing everyone, old friends and new all the best in the coming week. Take care. Hope to see more new friends in the next gathering...that I am able to attend.

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