The Boys

Sometimes over here I forget how nice it is to suddenly see people I’m normally with only at home in Singapore. Luke and Walter flew over here from the US during their Thanksgiving holiday, and this evening I finally managed to meet up with them as well as various other ACS types, all of whom I’ve somehow met over the years. Dinner was good – I finally got to try the famous Four Seasons roast duck rice at Bayswater which every Singaporean studying here apparently swears by. It was pretty good, but what was more important to me was that there was proper spicy chilli. That alone can make even bad food taste good. It’s unbelievable how I can miss something so simple so very much – so much so that I’m willing pay something like ten times the price it would be in Singapore just to eat it here at the few Chinese restaurants that serve it.

But beyond the food, I also really enjoyed the company. In the summer of ’99, before we all started our first year in university, my mother once remarked that for every one time I went out with “the girls”, I went out five times with “the guys”. She was right, more or less. While I count a number of girls among my closest friends, I tend to get along better with guys, or at least, they bore/irritate me far less. These guys in particular. There’s something about those ACSians, I gotta say, maybe something about their particular class, maybe something about the fact that they’re all from the GEP. I can’t put my finger on it, but whatever it is, it makes them great company. Out of the people I met tonight, only Luke, Walter and Vikram were among the people I meet up with a lot at home, but Donovan and Kaifeng ably stepped into Jeff’s shoes and conducted the “Slam Mich” campaign on his behalf. I’m not sure if other girls would define great company as being continually insulted by people you’ve only known for a few hours, but it entertains me immensely. Especially when I get my own back, which has been known to happen.

I’ve been trying to do some work for the past hour, but I haven’t been able to concentrate. I keep remembering. And smiling.