August 16, 2010

do you meet some people and you just hit it off right away?  well, i suppose that’s what happened when i met these guys.  we were assigned the same flat at the halls of residence when i was studying in manchester.

i didn’t know anyone in manchester, so it was a big adventure going to a new country to study music.   after 2 weeks of staying in an empty flat, i was quite ready for some company!  instead of one new flatmate, i got two!  they turned out to be twins!  their parents are malaysian, and we had a lot of things in common.  Jee, Sian and I  decided to share the groceries and take turns cooking and washing. i must have been insane to agree to share cooking and washing with two 19-year olds, but then again, i was only 21.   (we had wok troubles, but otherwise we did turn out some good meals!)

soon, a third cellist joined us.  (yeah, i don’t know how i managed to survive being in close proximity to three cellists for a year, haha.)  he stayed on the same floor and decided that our food was just too good and came and joined the bandwagon.  Jakob is from sweden.  I’m very happy for my three friends because they have worked very  hard and that, combined with their tremendous talent have brought them a lot of places since.  they each have won major competitions and are doing very well indeed in the classical world.

i guess we became such good friends because we were almost like a family unit, staying in the same flat, cooking, arguing about the dishes, and whose turn it was to cook, sharing our ups and downs, arguing about doing the dishes..  oh did i say that already?

well, fast forward 6 years, and we’re still in touch (mainly around our birthdays, haha).  jakob and i have a plan to meet up before we turn 30.  the scary thing is that i don’t have much time left now!  the twins have family here so we got to meet more often, i guess on average once a year.

recently, Sian came to visit KL so here are some pictures from his birthday celebration!  Jee, i hope you had a great birthday too in Manchester!  however, i’m pretty certain your food wasn’t as happening as ours!

Sian, his cousins, one non-cousin, and I

the most amazing freshwater prawn noodles

ultra-sinful, wobbly melt-in-your-mouth pork

if you think that looked like an amazing dinner… well, it was!  we also had bitter gourd with salted egg, and soup.

we went for some drinks after that.  couldn’t get a table initially because the place was packed!  in the end we got a foldable table brought out for us that looked a lot like office furniture.

here a photo with everyone in it! and we got a better table, as you can see.

to end this post, here’s a toast to great friends and great friendships!

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