JW

Ah, the oldest gang in my life. Just me and JW. We were the best of friends during our primary years. We were in the same class from year 1 to year 4 before he trasferred to another school. He was the smarter one in class, always ranked a few places in front of me. The memories are very vague, but I know we had lots of fun. I remember my parents always dropping me at his house at Kenny Hills to play. I loved going there because his house is super big man, 3 floors, so nice to run around and so many places to hide...haha. Hey, we were kids, what else you expect us to do? Talk about work? JW also had lots of toys, board games and computer games to play with. The best of the lot was the huge bicycle track he had in the backyard. We would cycle along the track over and over again until we were tired ans sweaty. Visiting him at his house was always like heaven to me, and I'm always reluctant to leave when it's time. We also hung out at the club during weekends, swimming and having Tae Kwan Do lessons. He's a really good swimmer, his name is always on winners list. We always laugh and joke a lot, probably also talk lots of crap. Haha...those were the days when we were young and care free, where everything you do looks like fun.

I don't know what happened but we kinda lost touch over the years. None of us really made the effort to contact each other after he transferred to another school. Guess both of us were too busy concentrating on studies, coz I know we were pretty high-achieving and determined kids. Like how the adults would say, 'Aiya! Sorry didn't contact you for so long, been very busy with work la!' Later in high school, found out he had moved to Perth to study.

I guess when such a close bond has been formed with someone, there's always a chance of meeting again when you least expect it. And that's exactly what happened, when I bumped into him again at the Melbourne University Sports Centre in 2001. The feeling was really cool, to see someone you used to be so close with turn up right in front of you after MIA for 5 years, a happy feeling. He has changed so much, no longer the smaller size kid in primary school, but as tall as me now. And standing beside him was his girlfriend, a really nice person (and she can really give good neck massages). He was only going to be Melbourne for half a year before he goes off to the UK to study medicine. So we tried to hang out together as much as possible. It had been a long time, so I guess the closeness wasn't as it used to be but the fun was still there la. We would go over to each other place to have dinner or lunch sometimes, or head down the city once in awhile.

Before he left, JW, his gf and I planned a 2 day trip to Philip Island together. We only manage to watch the penguins on the 1st day as we arrived pretty late. We stayed in a caravan park and for $20 per person, we got a whole caravan to ourselves. I had a hard time choosing which of the 6 beds to sleep on. The next day we borrowed bikes and we literally cycled around the whole island. Went to the Koala sanctuary and the small science museum, climbed lots of hills, and saw lots of nice scenery. It was so fun but damn tiring. Our butts were hurting like mad when we got back. Was very impressed with JW's gf, I think she did a pretty good job keeping up with us.

The next time I saw him was to wish him farewell. It was good to see him again. No more losing touch from now on doc!