The wind was a-blowing!

My stay at Japan would never had happened had it not for Chen. It could, but I could not imagine it going so smoothly, nor as fun or meaningful without her.

We met when we were in Primary 6, and we did not like each other very much, calling each other the B-word (although I am quite certain we did not know the full extent of such a word until way after). We grew on each other, mostly because we were so weird – we talked weirder than the rest, and suffice to say, our thinking were also non-normal compared to others.

It’s been 14 years now, and it amazes me to see how grown up we are. She in Japan, and me doing the things we’ve talked about when we were young. In a way, we are living the life we envisioned when we were 15 – for better or for worse.

I won’t forget how she prepared everything for me: the pickup from the airport, the maps, and the bike and the lamps. She lugged heavy baggages for me without ever saying a mean word, or that she helped me communicate along the way, or the nights when she helped me with the map and bus routes so I wouldn’t get lost even though she was dead tired.

She cooked for me, and her full meals were very satisfying, even the instant noodles! We both finished a bottle of Chianti AND limoncello – and I do not drink easy. We watched The Anchorman, and talked into the night while huddled in our warm blankets.

Chen — happiest among cats…

It was heartbreaking to see her go so far away, but it’s funny how often we communicate now that we are so far. And when I went over to Japan, it felt as if time skipped a beat and we were transformed to when we were in Serdang – the town where we studied and lived all our lives.

I never realised how much I will miss her until the time came to say goodbye. I couldn’t let go, and it was that time when I had to send her off at the airport again, only now, her mother wasn’t there, and I didn’t have to keep up with appearances.

And here we are separated again, and sometimes it bites to know how close we were when I was there—talking to her and laughing out loud at random things, and now there’s a big void where it’s supposed to be filled with moments of craziness that you can only experience with your wacky buddy.

I miss you most.