Connection

The past few days have been enjoyable.

Thursday 19th of April 2012, I was able to catch up with a few of my school friends (and a new member of which I had met that evening). Matt, Haein, Jedwix, Kathera and Sarah! They are clearly a great bunch of people, and when you spend a whole adventure-packed night with them, you know that it's one to never forget. Luckily, I finished my exam at 7pm before Haein's opening exhibition at this, well -at first glance- sort of dodgy building that was prepared at the joint of an ally way. Honestly, I was petrified in the thought that I had to walk there alone at night, but with the company of Jedwix who fetched me at the lights -you know- it wasn't that bad. In fact, you really can never judge a building by it's appearance because as I entered, I saw something that I'd never encountered before. A new sense of ambiance; it had this laidback atmostphere, complemented by the welcoming interior of the place. Random artworks were carefully situated in the corners and abstractly around the room - it was comforting. The lovely chairs were of random designs, which seemed to have been bought from several secondhand stores, but nonetheless fitting for the occasion; however, the exhibition itself, showcasing the various filmed animations upon the walls and group masterpieces grabbing the centre of attention, now that was astonishing. You walked in and BAM, each piece told of its own beautiful story derivative of their master. I liked the experience, quite truthfully. After little chit chats around the room (and may I say, I felt so high-cultured doing so, you know? Socialising and such with these noble artists), we reached the conclusing to end the night with a movie. The train ride on the way, of course, was just as exciting! I love train conversations. We spoke a lot about trivial things in our lives that, funnily enough, happened to ..connect us all. It's amazing the amount of things you cover in 1 hour or so. Unfortunately, Sarah and Jedwix had to part ways as they had their reasons and priorities. So Matt, Haein and I were left to watch the long-awaited Hunger Games. I LOVED IT! It was gory and incorporated key literature concepts, and I really admire that! I've learned to look beyond the overrated "ooo katniss-peeta" phase and understand the ideas of self-exploration, courage and justice underlying the story. We finished the movie at close to 12am but I couldn't care less at that time. I was just glad to have spent the evening with these lovely people.


Saturday 20th of April 2012, my family and I were invited to spend a 50th birthday with our family friend. Generally, when you think of family parties, you would think, 'Oh, great. Here comes all the greetings and conversations with uncles, aunties and their children that you've barely ever talked to in your life here on earth'. But, you know what? I decided beforehand to not let that perception fool the wonderful time I hoped to gain from it. Upon arrival, I made sure to greet the great man himself who reached another milestone, along with the other uncles and aunties invited. Then instead of sitting straight to the table where my sister and I were allocated, I grabbed her hand and hurried to the daughters of the celebrant. Mind you, I would NEVER do that. I usually expect them to talk to me first.. Yes, quite rude of me. However, some faint pump of adrenaline forced reason to do so. Best move, ever. We spoke to them -awkward at first- but eventually broke the ice and started laughing about Hunger Games, the skin of Asian people, what we've been up to and other interesting things needn't to be mentioned here. My confidence grew thereafter so I began connecting with the other teens that I barely socialise with. I met this guy named Clark, who turned out that he attends my sister's Youth (so, you know, they sort of caught on a cracking conversation). Afterwards, I engaged a lovely chat with Ruffie and Jocielle, two girls of whom I haven't seen since the 7 summers ago! My, they have grown. We kind of 'knew' each other from appearance, but never had the chance to talk to each other due to shyness. But, we got along at that instance. We never passed by the opportunity to talk about Harry Potter, Hunger Games and Twilight, it was hilarious. You know, they've seen a few famous athletes around their area? It's in Newcastle, so it says a lot. Anyway, I enjoyed accelerating the 7 years worth of conversations we've missed in a matter of an hour. To spice up the occasion, we each got a photo with each other from the Photobooth lovingly set up by the hired photographers. Props were also prepared and it was just all exciting! The photos will be great, I'm sure of it. At the end of the night, I could not let the chance of a cheeky dance slip by me. All I can admit to is that the music was great, er.. not so much my dance moves.


Sunday 22nd April 2012, a night that I will never, ever, let myself forget. Ever. It was planned to be a 'catch up' session with my two close friends as we always do ritually every month or so. Our conversations - my, oh my - they were BEYOND what I had expected to talk about. Initally, we had the usual 'uni/school/work/family/love/friends life' during the first hour or so. But then we ventured into deep philosophical meaning to our lives, critically analysing situations (real and hypothetical) and why this happens so. We shared our deep problems regarding aspects that we find hard to confide with anyone else, and we tried to gather solutions for each one of them. It was beautiful! They are beautiful. These are the friends I can call close enough to be my sisters. A dominant topic that very much circulated our conversations was our perspective on real love. No, I'm not referring to this pish-posh-wishy-wash, "He totally looked at me. He so likes me". I'm talking about pure love and its personal existence within our lives. We had our own theories to share, argue and debate about - and I love them for that. We are willing to go argue against each other's views on the intangibles and much of this world's mysteries, thereby educating and feeding our thoughts with another. Intellectual conversations are ones I love best. Nearing the end,we felt so connected in each other's presence that the overwhelming love we harbored released an impulsive idea: to travel the world together someday. This is real. Albeit out of impulse, I knew we had to make it reality one day. It seemed  something we all wanted to do. We were thinking of countries to visit, but considering  financial restrictions, we lowered it to 3 countries. Paula's choice was Monte Carlo, given that my Facebook residence said Monte Carlo, prompting her to make us all watch the movie Monte Carlo, and now reminscing upon that had her to choose Monte Carlo. Jewlz decided on Prague in Czech Republic; I don't have an idea why she said that, but I'm guessing she has always wanted to go there. As for me, I selected the Vatican City. Many would've expected me to choose Spain, France or England, but seeing as I've always been fascinated by my religious roots - or, well, had some conflicting views on it -, it was only fitting to visit there myself and see the magnificent Church and the faith of the people I know it to be. So, there it was: 3 countries to be sought after in the next 3~ years of our lives. Embarrassing as it sounds to do this in a restaurant, we each held hands so Jewlz could say a few words to formally establish our promise. She gave us each a polaroid photograph from her adventures in New York to remind us of this evening and as a keepsake for our wallets. Truly, words cannot express nor deny the love I have for the both of them. We will make this dream into reality and I will strive to reach my part of the promise. Besides, how fast can 3 years fly?