Saturday, June 18, 2005
Friends
After spending a monotonous and unfruitful afternoon alternating between watching television programs and surfing the Internet, I thought my afternoon was going to remain in the doldrums until it's time for my scheduled running regime in the evening. It then suddenly struck my mind that I should drop a ring to a good friend of mine, whom I've not spoken to for almost a week (A week seems eternal especially when you have lots of free idling time to spare).
Of course as usual, we immediately launched into our typical conversational jargon, unbeknownst to those not within our clique. Sprinkled with a little nostalgic anecdotes from our secondary school days, together with a dash of poignant lessons of life learnt through the later years in different institutions of higher learning and maybe a short discourse into the horrid Army days, raises laughter on both sides of the line. I wouldn't want to write down the details of our conversation - for apparent reasons - but I would say that at the end of the heart-to-heart talk, it was extremely gratifying.
That, is the power of friends. Well, friends who are really good at chatting for that matter.
There're many people I've met in my 21 years of existence on this increasingly polluted Earth. Most are friends, some remain as acquaintances while others, fade into eventual oblivion when there is no more contact between us for an extended period of time. Sometimes I can feel rueful for not knowing those acquaintances better, therein lies the current not so impressive size of my social circle. Anyway, I'm just as glad and satisfied to be surrounded by many steadfast and close friends I've made. They bring meaning and joy to my life. At least the loneliness is not there, for sure.
Different cliques bring with them different quirks and "culture". I'm always rather pleasantly amused by these people whom I spend most of my time with. The JC bunch is uncontrollably rambunctious and convivial, albeit spendthrift. Meanwhile, the secondary school clique is more toned down but can be great chatterboxes when they hit the right note. Then there's the macho army guys. Great companions in camp when the days seemed interminable and we were so loaded with chores dealt out by higher authorities. Damn. Even after National Service, occasional gatherings bring me down memory lane.
All in all, I am fortunate to be blessed with these people whom I've shared my time with. It's been great knowing all. Life's many snags and obstacles wouldn't have been overcomed if I were alone.
As such, I'll end this entry abruptly here, because it's time for my run.
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A wrap up to today's entry. All rights of photos are not reserved.
Sec schoolers Jd & Edwin
Sec schoolers Jd, j@hn & Gilbert
Beloved O1S6 (Well, most are here)
KL X'mas '04 - KW, j@hn, Kx, Ag, YL
Jun Hao & Gibert
Leng & Vincent
Paul, j@hn, JJ & Kum Fai
Sec schoolers Jd & Edwin
Sec schoolers Jd, j@hn & Gilbert
Beloved O1S6 (Well, most are here)
KL X'mas '04 - KW, j@hn, Kx, Ag, YL
Jun Hao & Gibert
Leng & Vincent
Paul, j@hn, JJ & Kum Fai
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