Fish Avenue

When the sitcom Friends was still a hit on the TV....... When I just stepped into the ever-so-strange college...... When I first explored the everything-is-possible world of internet...... When the Yahoo! Chat was such an IN thing to do...... When Yahoo! Messenger was nothing but the hippest to have...... When others were crazy about ICQ, Hotmail and mIRC, I was hooked on Yahoo! Chat.

Yahoo! used to have plenty of chat-rooms that ran on Java. I was addicted to it, especially with this particular group of people in Friends chat-room! They are all from different countries, different ethnic groups, backgrounds and ages. But we all had one common interest - Friends - the hottest TV sitcom back then.

How long was I hooked on it? I would say during my 4 years of college, I spent pretty much of my free time chatting with them. Everyone knew everyone back then. We never ran out of things to talk. Anything under the sun could be our topic of the day. The time difference was never an issue to us. The group grew and grew, to a point that we became the old regulars of that particular chat-room.

We never met each other in real life. Some of them yes, but not me. I remember there was a girl from Penang, but seeing that I was restricted by the "resources" I had back then, 2 of us didn't have the chance to meet too. What's more where most of them are overseas.

Thanks to those virtual friends, I had the chance to polish my English. I learned their slangs, the way they wrote and typed. Now, I guess I have forgotten most of them. LOL!

When I finished college, the chat-room was kind of dying. It was empty most of the time, the old regs weren't there anymore. Everyone had just moved on with their life. A new group of people took over. We hardly get in touch after that, only a handful of them that I still spoke to. And the next moment before I knew it, Yahoo! Chat is gone.

Now, now...... Some old reg has made some effort, created a group in Facebook, inviting all the old regs!!! Good grief, most of them are back! I was so excited to see all of them! All those familiar humorous user ID...... Geez...... They bring back so much memories. We are now all on Facebook! Time really flies. Some I haven't even talked to for more than a decade! Gosh......

I guess you must be wondering why on earth I go all gaga over a bunch of virtual people who I have never met. Hmm...... I have no idea. Perhaps, they are proof that I was once silly and young and I did have a great time at some point of my life. Most importantly, they are part of my SWEET memories that I would definitely like to keep.

It's a blessing to be able to keep in touch with them once again. You can never say you have too many friends. Be it virtual or real. :)

I love you, Perkapalooza! (Okay, don't ask me what that means, I don't know either! LOL! Someone came up with it few years back and now it became the name of the group in Facebook. :P )