The Mother of All Reunions - Part 3 (Special Messages)

We had a video message from Rev Bro Columba, which was screened at the Grand Reunion night, to the surprise of most of the attendees. You can view it here. Simply click on the "play" button on the figure below. Do remember to turn up the volume of your PC speakers before you play it.

The audience were held at rapt attention as they listened to their former principal.

We also had messages from about a dozen former classmates.

It was a heart-warming occasion, which brought together classmates, teachers and friends (both near and far), many of whom had not met each other for many years.

Merry Christmas 2009

Here's wishing all of you
a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays !

And may the new year be an even better one ...

                               James Yong (aka Website Jaga) & family

The Mother of All Reunions - Part 2 (St Mike's)

Next it was off to St Michael's Cafe .... Ahhhh, how so many of us loved meeting up at St Mike's back in our boyhood days in the 70s. There we would have long chats, while enjoying delicious food and desserts. Most have made calls from the pink coin phone. Many have inserted ten cent coins into the juke box in order to play their favourite tunes. Indeed St Mike was more than a cafe - it was a part of our teenage tradition.

So it was only natural that our next stop on this Grand Reunion day was the new location of St Michael Cafe at 3rd Mile, near the Timberland medical centre. We got there just after 11am.

Enjoy the pictures ...

Here's John, cheerful as always ...

Some familiar desserts are still available ...

John welcomes Tony, Dato' Anthony, Edmund and Richard ...

Some enjoying Ang Tau Peng, some Kolo Mee, some Chicken Rice ...

When Johnny met Georgie ...

Mmmmm ....Ang Tau Peng as I remembered it ....

Smile for Uncle Bob, everybody !

One of our classmate musicians for tonight, Felix ...

"Hey Fook, glad you could make it ..."

Ronald and Mark

About 25 turned up altogether (some not in this picture)

Special Branch on the case of the missing Jukebox ?

Wilson also joined the group later ...

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable morning with good friends ... what a meaningful prelude to the Grand Reunion Dinner !!!!

The Mother of All Reunions - Part 1 (School Visit)

On the morning of 23 Dec 2009, a group of boys mostly from the Class of 76 paid a visit to our alma mater, St Joseph's. At 10am, we met at the main building, and from there made our way to various areas of interest within the school. Not even the light drizzle could dampen our spirits.

Here were the early birds ...

"Isn't the sign above somewhat appropriate?"

Sinos and Ben joined soon after ...

"What happened to your foot, Mr Cambodia?"

In front of the Form 4 & 5 block

We even re-lived our classroom days ...

"Koon Teck, no talking! Please pay attention!"

"Ngee Hong, don't tilt your desk!"

To be honest, we were a bit taken aback at the condition of some of the classrooms. But rather than simply whine about how much better the classrooms looked during our time, we actually want to do something tangible to help the situation. More on this in a later posting ...

Memories of the School Hall (Datuk William Tan Auditorium)

On a future post, I'll show the various lists of names engraved on the boards.

Remember where we had many school assemblies ?

Of course, we had to take a group shot in front of "The LOVE Bridge"

Checking out the School Canteen

(No mee goreng or laksa today unfortunately)

Checking out the school fields

(and some recalling their athletic prowess in their yesteryears)

What visit to St Joe is complete without stopping at the Toilet Block?

You guys abroad must be dying to see what the toilet looks like now .... believe it or not, it looks pretty clean and doesn't even smell ... of course, being holiday time may have something to do with that!

Moving on to the Basketball Courts

(This looks like the showdown before a fight ... ;-)

     A couple of final group shots before we left the school compound ...

Next stop, the new St Mike's Canteen !