My chaboh (girl in hokkien dialect)

At TSB Bangsar, on our "10th Anniversary", 8 Jan 2006.

IACT, 1996
I first met LY on the first day of college.
She was probably the friendliest, prettiest looking girl in class with her dimpled smile and curly wurly hair.

I remember lunch on that first day at the corner coffeeshop. LY ate with a shy, quiet girl from class, while I was with another classmate I knew from my high school. I remember LY had char koay teow and the pig in me thought, damn, I should've ordered that cos it looked better than my pork noodles.

Before long, LY and I became best of friends. And we'd been inseparable since. Her house became my second home and every Saturday morning, we had a tosai and 'teh tarik' ritual at our favourite breakfast place, Sri Gangka, near her house. Sometimes it was just the both of us, sometimes with her family. Even her extended family got to know me and included me in their gatherings. How cool's that?

The 3 years in college were great times. I'd hang out at her place after classes if we were not out with the gang. And we'd play the piano and sing, no, wail at the top of our voices. Once, even into a microphone as we recorded ourselves. Hahaha.

Every year, our college gang would go for little trips to the islands and we'd all get drunk on the beach. One time LY and another friend bruised each other up playing football on the sand while intoxicated. It was rather funny.

When LY started dating DM, she'd take me along on some of their 'dates' in his big grey van. DM was also our classmate and we hung out in the same group anyway, so it didn't occur to me that I was a big shiny lamp post. And we had good CLEAN fun, mind you.

DM and LY had a beautiful relationship and they were together for about 5 years. They were good friends who turned into lovers. Even though they parted ways only 3 years ago and are now friends again, I still think he's the 'best fit' for her. Sigh.

CSU, Bathurst, Australia, 1999
We went to CSU with over 20 people from IACT. And for the first time in their relationship, LY and DM could spend alot of quality time together (LY's folks didn't approve of her dating so young back home, you see). I also started seeing someone then, so LY and I only saw each other at lectures and dinner time (we took turns to cook, and DM was our official chicken-butcher man). Or when we went partying. Even when we didn't spend that much time together, we knew we'd always have each other.

It was an amazing year for all of us. And before we left Australia, we had a wonderful holiday at Port Stephens, near Newcastle, 2 hours north of Sydney. Beautiful beaches that stretched out to the horizon. Sand dunes. Boating. Small islands. And that carefree feeling we didn't know we would never feel again.

LY and I still talk about it. It was probably the best time of our lives.

Unfortunately, we graduated.
So we had to join the real world.
Got a job. You know, like other adults.

We resumed our Saturday morning tosai and 'teh tarik' ritual at Sri Gangka. Sometimes, it was dinner or supper. No matter how busy we were, we made it a point to get together every now and then.

I got to know some of her colleagues who also became my friends. They sometimes referred to me as her other half. While we found it funny at first, we soon realised that dammit, we were so spoiling our market! But of course, our guy friends would always say it's okay as long as they get to watch. Bastards. Heh.

We WERE being watched.
One funny story was when she became my 'sponsor' at RCIA, a course I was taking to become Catholic. LY's a born-Catholic, so she volunteered to be my 'guide' throughout the course (a year-long one at that).

Our group's facilitator was a funny old man. You see, I would scratch her back for her when it got itchy in class (she's got very bad eczema). And sometimes we'd lean against each other when our backs were too lazy to support ourselves.

One night, towards the end of the course, he said to us, "I've been observing both of you for a long time. It's okay you know. As long as you come to church, lead a good and holy life, it's quite acceptable to me, maybe not the church, but I'm okay."

We laughed so hard we nearly died on the spot. We told him in between guffaws that it's not what it looked like. He probably didn't believe us, cos since then, he still gave us knowing looks.

Holidays! Holidays!
We went for our first girly holiday to Pangkor Island a few years ago and decided to make it an annual affair. It was always Pangkor or Langkawi Island (when we were earning pittance). Then in 2004, we had our first overseas holiday together in Bali for a week. I must say that was the best holiday ever. Two single girls. Lots of sun, sand and sea. Adventure (we hopped on 2 motorbikes to watch a festival in a remote village). Shopping. Spas. And er, moonlight dinners on the beach. Under the moonlit sky with sand between our toes, we looked at each other...

"YOU AGAIN AH!", and shook our heads in mock misery.

This year, we plan to go to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat and maybe visit abit of Thailand along the way. Can't wait!

And oh, it's her birthday!
LY turns 28 tomorrow.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHABOH! LARP YA! :D