It's a "Dao" Day today: Happy Birthday!

This year I'm celebrating friendships and today is one of those special days for it is the Birthday of my lovely friend Dao.  Yes, we love her and we've known each other since the days when flourescent Body Shop T-shirts were in fashion together with the the L.A. Gear shoes.  Those were "must haves."  Those were the days of high bangs and oversized tees.  Now all that seems long gone, but our friendship remains and has evolved together with us. Our interests change, but still some things never change.

I remember hanging out together at our school by the Church in the white and teal uniforms.  Eating lunch at the canteen and playing around with the drinks, hiding from the "Kapi" behind our textbooks and walking around Central Chidlom after school.   You were always happy and ready with a comment with everything from the heart.

Then there was the time we went to your house.  I remember it like yesterday.  We had a great time playing around in room and singing.  (I remember that was what we were doing with your music player..am I correct?)  Looking out the balcony and then you snapped this picture of me with you hat.  Awhile later I parted to live elsewhere and our paths diverged.

But faith would have us meet again.  We went to college and as it turned out we were only twenty minutes away from each other.  This allowed to see each other more often.  Holidays and weekends were spent together.  Dim sum lunches, walking on campus or going about town shopping for clothes and shoes.  I wished we had gone around a bit more, but we were young then.  Nevertheless, it was wonderful time spent together.

A few years after graduation we unexpectedly met. Yes, it was serendipity.  A happy coincidence.  Walking along in Paragon, we ran into each other.  I hadn't known before that you had just returned from the US permanently and so it gave us the opportunity to exchange numbers and contact information.   A happy moment it was.  After years of absence, we were finally able to meet up and reunite again with a good friend.

Since then, we've been having our regular "lunches" and it has always been great fun.  Good food, good company, that's all you really need.  Everyone has grown to love your earring shop, but not as much as we are happy to have you as a friend.  We have our very own original angry bird, who looks angry but isn't really.  An angry bird with a good heart.

Happy Birthday Dao!!