How time flies.... 7 year itch

I miss Hannah

Hannah is one of my oldest school friends from the UK. We were at boarding school together and being super BFFs we shared a room for our entire Lower 6th year (not the norm as you normally change dormitory / room mates every term/simester)No doubt we got up to lots of mischief together both in and out of school - countless 'exeat' (weekend leave) and half term shenanigans and adventures. We've holidayed together and Hannah even came out and stayed with me in KL for 6 weeks during the summer of our GCSE results... *eeeek* that was forever-ago.

I dug out a couple of pix of us taken 7 years ago during a holiday together at her Dad's home in France (on a truffle farm no less!). Hannah had just met Rob, 6 weeks earlier and was going on holiday with a bunch of her nearest and dearest to celebrate her birthday. Needless to say we all had plans to put Rob through a 'friends of Hannah initiation' process. Its amazing he survived it.

What occurred over the next 3 nights cannot be put in print let alone I publish the pictures. I did manage to find 2 that I am able to share....

*Group Hug*
Hannah sandwiched between me and Rob

Couldn't be b*ggered to photoshop the obvious indulgences on the table
*oh well*

Hannah has seen me through some of my toughest times - work stress, redundancy, heartache and heart break. Suffice to say that I have missed dearly in the 7 years that I have been back here in Malaysia

7 years on and Hannah and Rob have 2 beautiful sons - Harry and Laurie and a baby girl on the way.

7 years on and I think of and miss my old buddy more than ever before - I guess this is my 7 year itch ;)

I can't wait to see them all.... very soon.

This one's for you Hans

*cue sound of smirnoff ice bottles clinking*

xxx

A Thoughtful Gift & Generous Heart

A friend (hehe) recently went to the launch of the SS2011 Thomas Sabo Collection... she even blogged about it here. Despite having purchased many pieces for myself and as gifts, I wasn't invited to the event *sniff*sniff* (sadd0)

But seriously it really didn't matter that much to me that the customer appreciation lacked somewhat cos said friend, in being reminded of me everytime she spots a Thomas Sabo piece, generously gave the gift that she received to me *love* (before I even got to complain to her about my lack of invitation #divamoments)


Another reminder why I should be thankful for her friendship x

Pride & Prejudice

Time and time again we live the phrase "The truth hurts" whether we are the purveyor or recipient of said truth.

No matter how it is presented, the bitter truth will always initially cause pain and demand a defensive response which more often than not results in prejudice - the key is to step back, absorb what is being said and consider the bigger picture, the message.

" Truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable "

Real friendships survive the "truth tests" that life gives.

" It is more important to have friends than fans. Fans tell you what you want to hear. Friends tell you the truth "

" Falsehood is cowardice, the truth courage "

Personally, I have lost many a friend by allowing my defensive mechanism, called pride to cloud my ability to see the bigger picture. So I feel particularly blessed with long-lasting friendships and great friends who have been able to see the love in the truths I have shared with them.

" It is better to lose your pride with someone you love rather than lose that someone you love with your useless pride "

Such challenges have inspired two of my own phrases :

" There is no such tragedy as when pride obstructs us from the embrace of a friend's love "

" Pride is like tunnel vision as it prevents us from seeing the bigger picture "

Lifelong Friendships

My 'sister from another mother and father', who is currently in London packing up the rest of her life to bring back to KL has been trawling through years and years of old photographs... and reconfirmed that we have known each other 17 years *ouch*

Whilst strolling down memory lane she found a picture of us celebrating a landmark birthday of her's (I don't wanna give too much away) and when i saw myself, age 23, i felt a *pang* of :

"oh gawd, how did time fly by??"

(that's me on the far right)

But even more heartfelt was a picture of Mia she sent me. It was taken the day Mia came home... and she was only 7 weeks old

1... 2... 3... *Aaaaaaw*

Two great pictures of 2 personalities who are life long friends :). Just wanted to share x

The remnants of Bali....

Well the last time I wrote in here we were still being poured upon in Bali....

The rain finally gave in to the sun's strong rays and thankfully for the rest of our trip we had nothing less than GOLDEN SUNSHINE... of course that lifted all our moods :)

All in all the rain came as a blessing in disguise for me as it forced some good ole R&R which was WELL OVERDUE.... In the days that it rained & rained & rained & rained & rained... I read... caught up with this blog.... watched loads of cable TV which I miss so much (particularly the following channels : National Geographic, Discovery, Travel & Living...) and of course I caught up on months and months of sleep.

One word describes that - BLISS

The rest of my Bali trip was perfect - quality time spent with family and close friends....

Abang's Bday :)

Dinner @ WARISAN with 2 wonderful friends

Sunset @ KuDeTa
Sunset with my favourite NastyGurl
Friendship...
The Beauty in Children...

The night before the morning after... ;)