Auckland calling

Wei-Yuen was on a flying visit to Singapore for a few days and she stayed at mine for one night.  I was absolutely delighted for the chance to catch up with her, not just over chats but long walks, late night tea and giggles and some shenanigans that may have involved dropping and shattering a full bottle of red wine in an upmarket grocery store.

I love hanging out with her because I feel like we're a pair of friends who can be honest with each other.  When I was first in the midst of heartbreak, she gave me a card with a cute cartoon on it.  There was a stick figure bird who had fallen apart and some distance away, a whole bird which was watching, shouted, "Oh for God's sake!  Pull yourself together!"

I was startled by the candid message, but it also made me laugh and WY later told me that she had given it to me because she knew she could get truthful and give me "tough love".  We've been the same way with each other ever since, and I really appreciate the trust that is both given and received.

Luckily for me, Wei-Yuen likes taking photos (I don't think I've had a post with so many pictures of me in it!) and we were simultaneously lost behind the camera and keeping up good conversation.
We spent the morning hanging out at Blackbird with our friend Nina (amazeballs granola-coated french toast, if you like cinnamon), the afternoon having coffee and wending our way through Chinatown taking tonnes of photos, and the evening chatting and laughing at Cocotte with the equally down-to-earth Shirin. 

At night, we talked with my mother and told each other silly, made up stories till we fell asleep in our pajamas.  It was a once-in-a-blue-moon event, almost fading into a dream now, and I wonder at the fact that it even happened at all.

Thank heavens for pictures.