New friends, Old friends

I had the first of what will seem like a series of housewarmings yesterday. It wasn't the first time friends have visited my place, but it was the first time I actually sent out proper invites and prepared proper food. Anyway, Mom actually did all the cooking for my Poh Piah Pie Tee Party (PPPTP) and when all the food was laid out on my dining table, it really looked quite good.



I kinda planned my apartment to be party-friendly and I think everything did turn out quite well, so I'm quite pleased. There were some teething problems though, like the aircon not working properly, so I gotta get that fixed. My next party is on Christmas Eve, co-hosted by my friends L and Mess (who's camping out at my place for now). There are about 25 people on the invite, more than twice the number for the PPPTP, so that will surely be a challenge. Hope it goes well.

Anyway, in the evening, I met up with my old scout friends for dinner and drinks. I've known these friends for 20 years or more and for a while in secondary school, we truly were the best of friends. We went through a lot together - a lot of tekaning, a lot of mischief, a lot of blood sweat and tears, a lot of camps, hikes, pioneering sessions, footdrill, a lot of fun. And although we drifted apart as we grew older, 20 years on, meeting some of them for the first time in many years, most married, some with kids, it felt as if we all hadn't changed much even though we clearly have.

So much of who we are now as persons were shaped by each other and our lives as scouts. Like how L, Washington Patrol leader and multiple-time finisher of the Ironman, commented on how he was first introduced to bikes by D, the Livingstone Patrol leader. And how D started out fiddling with PA systems during school assemblies is now tech guru and ubergeek (I mean this as a compliment). And how, at the end of the day, when my car battery went flat, K, the Mitchell Patrol leader, now Army logistics officer and ever the scout, was prepared with jump cables. And D, my best friend in school and still helpful as ever, drove all the way back from Thomson to assist.

Friends like them are hard to beat. I don't think any of us back then could have imagined us gathering again after 20 years. We certainly could not know how diverse our paths would take us. But in all of us yesterday, I sensed how similar we all in fact are in the unwavering principles we live by - the law and promise we made to each other and to ourselves as scouts. And I'm glad to have known them.

Till we meet again...