I've found new kindred spirits over the last weekend...and had an absolute blast.

After much prodding (Dong) and whining (me), I finally met up with the ladies that Dong has been paddling (as in Dragon boating...) with. The ladies were a really fun bunch who came from all around the world to paddle on the...Canadian team. A team, that apparenly consists of about only three real Canadians...eh, maybe they can re-name it the Cha-pa-lang team!

Anyways, after a long dinner, we decided that we needed to liqour up and of course, try the stupid G-Max in Clarke Quay...So brave. Fortified by a round of Slippery Nipples, Mel, Rina and me, got strapped up and prepared to launch. For the uninitiated...everything looks fine and dandy. Until, they strap you in...you can't breathe, your boobs are squashed, you've got a death grip on the safety belt, then they tip you back...you look at the inky night sky....and YYYYYYYAAAAAAIIIIIiIIIEEEEEEE!!!

Shot dunno how many bloody feet up into the sky, arms, legs, lungs, stomach all jumble...the people on the other side of the bloody Quay can hear me and God, probably almost went deaf. But maaaannnn....what a rush! After that first, intro to the night, everything went swimmingly...we even lured Belle away from her exciting Friday night (sleeping in...for shame!). Went to countless bars, pubs, danced until our feet ached, hellooo-ed a lot of boys...MMMmmmm. Alchohol tally at the end of the night: 3 glasses of red wine, 1/2 bottle of beer, approx 8 shots of every bloody shooter you can imagine. Hello tally: 4...Went home a happy camper :o)

Saturday, we had one of the funniest times wakeboarding ever...with the Bonger. We call her the Rainmaker and boy, did she earn her stripes! Picture this (stop singing the @#%$$% song! Yeah, you know who you are): so, it was sunny and hot, all the way from Clementi, to Woodlands to Punggol...Jean & I didn't get lost. We bitched about the weather and then, and then, we got there...Bong put a foot on the pier...first there were splotches, then can a shower...then came the lightning, followed by thunder...Oy. Jean finally got wet on the boat! Makeup nowhere in sight...we fortified ourselves with more alchohol, which seems to be a running theme for the weekend. We capped of one of our better weekend rides with a wink and a jibe...hehe. Mels tally for the weekend - 3. Melanie, Melissa and Melvin...(one of these ones isn not like the other...one of these ones is not the same...)

Later that night, we hung out at Cafe Cosmo, thanks to Matt, who was spinning some tunes...who knew that there was an obsure little indie cafe in starchy Singapore? For me it was bliss...good music, great atmosphere, friends...a really great chillout place. For Matt, it was like work, only better cos he got to play the bands he liked - still service ah! For Li...well, she looked like she was gonna fall asleep on the floor - where's frigging James Blunt when you need him?! The girl needs a jolt! Oh and a hug - James, come to Singapore! Please!!!

Looking over the events of the weekend, it struck me that while you do have a main group of friends that you hang out with almost all the time, hanging out with different people allows you to explore different facets of yourself and others. Don't get me wrong, I love the girls to death and will never trade them for anything, even if we all can be a pain in the ass sometimes...I found it refreshing to hang out with people who have a different set of interests and ideals. Not that I would go out and Dragon Boat or anything but those girls really know how to work, party and paddle like mad...the amount of anergy they have is amazing! I like to get wet and all, but, I'll stick to dancing for now, thank you very much.

Funnily enough, I've also observed that your friends are like an extension of your personality...they are the people that you can never be or the people that you want to be deep inside. Meaning, like any group, you have your core personalities...the geek, the sweetheart, the ballbuster, the dudes etc and if you look closely, you'd see that some of your friends posses traits that you'd like to have...for example, I am not enough of a people-person like Dong or a stern-mama like Belle. I don't possess Jean's kookiness or Lizzy's frankness and honestly, if I can make it rain like Bong, I'd piss meself...but that's is what makes us work.

Can you imagine having people who are exactly like you in a group? That's fucking weird and you'd probably fight all the time. Everyone'll be strung out and stressed...I like having many different people around and talking to them just makes me see myself in a different aspect.

Personalities that make up a whole bunch... that's what it's all about...if you know what I mean ;o)