Good colleagues are underrated. I never thought of it before I joined the work force but good colleagues easily trump bad bosses, hard labour and even, for awhile, an unsatisfactory or unfulfilling career. There is nothing like having like-minded people to talk/ share a little whine and a moan/ laugh with, and the days improve exponentially.
In that department, I have been supremely lucky. When I was on my first official internship, my way was cushioned by the lovely peers and mentors that I met. My colleagues at my previous job were some of the best people I have ever had the pleasure to meet and we're still good friends today. Where I work now, I wake up raring to meet both my students and fellow teachers. I wouldn't have made it through San Francisco without Edie and Shirin, for example, and all of us have so much fun together that we often hang out outside working hours.
Marianna was a good colleague but she'll remain a good friend.
The week that she left, Rebecca organised a farewell party for her and it was moving to see how everyone jumped at the chance to show love and what a warm, generous occasion it was.
Of course, we took a ton of pictures.
My partner-in-crime.
Marianna was so stunned that she started tearing in the corridor and refused to come in. Eventually, she got over the surprise and we had a really nice time.
Even ex-colleagues stopped by.
Amanda is responsible for the last two pictures. Because of her ridiculous instructions ("Keep that face, baby, keep that face! Show me the love!"), no one can keep a straight face.
There was pizza and dimsum and lots of photobombing. At one point, in all the running around and taking of photos, Rebecca left her plate on the window sill and someone stole and ate her (highly coveted) egg tart. She prostrated herself violently on the couch in despair and while I'll spare her the indignity of that photo, I will show the aftermath.
Don't be fooled by the genial smile. This is the face of someone in mourning and out for blood.
In the meantime, the balloons were a huge hit.
I love how the colours came out in the photos! (Amanda will want me to tell you that those last two poses were Wai Kit's idea. Doesn't change the fact that she's happily capitulating.)
There were laughs. And brownies. And at some point, Amanda and I launched into our default America's Next Top Model mode. Whenever the cameras come out, there's bound to be some horseplay and this time, we decided to use the office couch as the backdrop for a lifestyle magazine shoot. Everything was business as usual except that this time there were people around and everyone decided to get in on the act, whether directing, shooting or posing. It was good fun.
The original pose. Then we got Wai Kit into the picture and asked them to pose like an affluent married couple.
Well. Maybe a couple with a contemptuous husband and a clueless wife.
We tried directing another shot.
"BFFs reading" turned out to be a peaceful alternative.
The biggest surprise of the day, though, was Xiang Wei, who dug deep and showed us the model within. I styled this pose in the vein of "metrosexual man-about-town checking on his cufflinks and thinking" and we all agreed that he pulled it off really well. Oh, for a proper coffee cup!
Finally, Daphnie impressed us all with her photo printer. The tiny Canon Selphy doesn't look like it can do much, but the photos turned out amazing.
For instance, here is my original photo of Marianna and Swee Heng.
The printer prints each picture in four stages: yellow, magenta, cyan and then black for contrast. We all stood there in awe watching the photos sliding back and forth before finally shooting out in full living colour. It was like magic, watching the layers of colour grow opaque and then suddenly warm into life.
This is the final product. Seriously. Look at that! I'm not planning to get any more camera bits and pieces like lenses or flashes, but this could be a nice finishing touch to my current setup. Imagine what it could do for journalling if I tucked little photo pouches into the backs of my notebooks or binders!
HMMM.
