Friends in need

Friendships are like flowers,

It comes with the seasons,

There are many blooms,

But we will stoop to pick just a few;



Flowers do not last forever,

Neither can friends stay by your side forever,

Friendships are like a two way road,

Friends are made when we are most in need;



With the passing of times

Our friends seldom remain the same,

Nostalgia and memories are all that’s left,

The same bond may remain unmatched.



I went to Singapore all alone, and expecting to have a lonely 3 days there. Imagine going through 3 days of conference with nobody to talk to. I didn’t think it would be easy to click with all the professors and experts in their respective fields.



However, God wanted to bless me so much, that on the first day of the conference itself, I met two wonderful ladies. It was during tea break, and everybody went out in their gangs and had much to talk about.



I first saw Dr Hardeep, who’s from Jammu, India, and decided to talk to her. She was really nice and friendly, and spoke with a very heavy Indian accent, although still understandable. Along came Dr Ong, a Filipino Chinese. We got chatting, and before I knew it, we were ‘The Gang’ for the next 3 days, spending all of our eating, sleeping and lepaking time together. It happened that all three of us came alone, didn’t know anybody there, and were just needing some companionship.



I had mentioned earlier that I was staying at Hangouthotel way over there in Little India. It was on top of the hill so walking up there was pretty tiring. To get to NUS, the traveling time was about an hour. In fact, the first day that I tried to get the NUS, I was late, as the bus took forever to arrive. I was so impatient that I jumped into a cab, which I had to wait in long line to get to.



So, as nice as the hotel was, the travelling sure wasn’t fun. So, I was thrilled when I met Dr Ong and she asked me to move to her hotel, as she had a vacant bed. It also happened that she was staying in Orchard Hotel, where a bus would pick up the participants to the conference daily. It would have been soooo convenient. So, without waiting, I went back and packed up, got my refund back and moved to Orchard Hotel. I didn’t have as much freedom to hang out in front of the computer, but at least i won’t die of boredom.



I spent most of my time with Dr Ong, even going shopping together. It so happened that she has daughter my age, so there were some people thinking that I am her daughter.



I felt really blessed that God had provided companions for me at a time that I needed a friend most. I might never see these two women again, but we do intend to keep in touch…and maybe visit each other’s countries one day.