Best friends...

Funny how you go through life having many "best" friends... I mean, it does not make sense! You can have a best friend but how can you have best FRIENDS? Well... because I could, and I did!

Now, I must clarify that I did not have more than one best friend at a time but over my 31 short years (yes, yes... I'm THAT old!) on this planet, I did have a best friend, someone who spends most of their time with you and loves you for being you, from time to time.

Here is a selection of some of them. For those of you who think that you were my best friend but I left you out, I'm really sorry ok? :)

My first best friend was Kin Keong. Met him in kindergarten but really bonded when we were in primary school, where we were in the same class for awhile. He left for England for a couple of years but when he returned, we picked up where we left off. Both of us dig the same things (one traits of best friends huh?) like comics and storybooks (he was the one who introduced me to Biggles and LOTR! Yes, he bought me the book and asked me to read it... bless him!). Both of us were also day-dreamers at heart and thus we clicked. We kept in touch over the years (his family moved to Manila for a few years in secondary school) but we never were in the same class again. Lost touch with him lately... :(

Another best friend of mine would be Wann Kiat. This guy could not be more different from me. I'm big, tall, loud and speaks without thinking most times. He is not-that-tall (*grin*), slim build (last time lah), soft spoken and is one who thinks before speaking. Again we liked the same thing, football (Arsenal) and cars, and we were even partners, playing as centrebacks in defence, for our church's youth football team once. We could talk and talk for ages, meaningful and thought provoking conversations. Then he left for UK to further his studies, found his love in Edinburgh and now is staying there but I've lost touch with him recently also.

Bari was my housemate from Hong Kong when I was in Melbourne. Funny how we met. He and his girlfriend was supposed to be my housemates but his gf decided to break up with him even before he came back from his holidays from HK (he was studying in Melb for 3 or 4 years already). Bummer... and I was caught in the middle. Well, the ex decided to move out and he was devastated. Somehow I really felt for him cos I knew how he felt, being in his shoes twice then! I also really don't know how but we clicked. I offered my feeble words of comfort and even more feeble cooked meals. Found out he's a very nice guy to talk to, doing media studies and loves football (Arsenal again! Why is this Man Utd fan so drawn to fans of that team eh???) too. I taught him how to cook spaghetti, and like the chinese saying, "green comes from blue. becomes better than blue, yeah", his spaghetti was even better than mine! Says alot about my so-called cooking skills. One of our favourite pastimes is to go to the nearby 24-hour Coles supermarket late at night to do our shopping (our record: 3am in the morning! The shelf stackers were at full swing at the time!). I cried when he finally left for HK permanently... :( Again, (why is not surprising?) I've lost touch with him... he has not been replying my mails lately... its me right???

Anson is the cousin of my new housemate, Elvin, who moved in after Bari left. This guy is one cool character. He sleeps early, keeps my apartment sparkling clean (he comes over to my place for dinner and just to lepak), only eats certain kind of food (but loves chocolate bars) and just loves his Gameboy! But he also have a very very big heart, unassuming, genuine and easy going. I really love him as a friend and we were really, really close... he was certain MY best friend. We love talking about manga and anime (for once this is one who is so-so about football!). Again, I was a sounding board to him, for a relationship that did not work out. However, he is a big hearted person and got over relatively fast and now is in a loving relationship with a wonderful girl. Don't worry... I am still in touch with him. :) (Whew! What a relief! I still have a heart!)

Finally... my current best friend. Who is my current best friend? Well... it can only be one person... my soulmate and my love, Su Yin, God's wonderful gift to me. How else can I describe the one that I really share everything with? My heart and my thoughts, my struggles and my triumphs, my joys and my pains and God-willing, my life and my all. It is an honor and a privilege to love her and to be loved by her. We share the same likes, such as Japanese food and shopping, but we also have had our fair share of disagreements but both of us has managed to walk out of it together. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her and I can only thank my Father for chosen both of us to be each other's partners in this journey called life.

Somehow God puts me among my best friends to be a blessing and to be blessed. Shared Christ with Kin when we were in Std 5 but he was non-commital. Then when he was in Uni, he received Christ and even became active in OCF! Wann Kiat was really a blessing to me and I really learned how to be more careful in my actions and think about the consequences before doing anything. I managed to share Christ with Bari but he was kinda philosophical about it, still the seed is planted. Anson was also very open about his faith and was willing to listen to me talk about my faith. Again seed is planted. Su Yin? I cannot describe how she has blessed me... how I have grown as a person and in my faith in God since I met her and started this journey with her. I cannot thank God enough for her.

God sends best friends as companions for us at different phases of our life... someone whom you can share your heart with for that moment in your life. To show you that someone really cares for you and enjoy your presence, and you theirs. Treasure them cos some of your best friends will only be with you for a short time only. They are God's precious gifts in this sometimes difficult journey call life.