Of Sailors and Pirates

I know I’m growing up cos my close friends are all getting married or having babies! And I’m so happy for them for reaching another milestone in their lives.

I became a 姐妹 for the first time last Saturday for my good friend, Tannia. I woke up at 5:30am (!!) and dressed up as a sailor (no kidding) as the theme for the morning was sailors vs. pirates. I’m not sure if it’s a Singapore thing but on the morning of the wedding, the groom and his entourage of male friends aka ‘brothers’ have to reach the bride’s house and fulfill numerous forfeits set by the 姐妹s aka ‘sisters’ before he gets to ‘win over his bride’.

Only for a good friend!

Arrr the pirates have arrrrrived!

In addition to the series of forfeits the guys have to do, they are also subjected to eating some really really icky stuff. These food come in four flavours - 酸甜苦辣, which translates to “sour, sweet, bitter, spicy” and are symbolic of the groom’s promise to go through the good and bad with his wife.

The list of food they had to eat:

Sour – lemon peel and lemon juice ice cubes
Sweet – bandung ice cubes
Bitter – coffee powder and water
Spicy – chilli padi and wasabi in ice cubes

Icky huh! After the groom gets the bride, it’s off to photo taking and throwing of the bouquet (rather similar to most cultures). And guess who caught the bouquet lolol

It fell right into my arms! *blush*

The wedding dinner was held at the Regent and damnit!!! I didn’t take any photos of the sword bearer walk in. As a little girl, I always thought it was soooo cool to have the groom in his military outfit, taking your hand down the aisle. Guess I was too engrossed that night, haha!

Taken with my bff at the photo booth – my longest and most complicated relationship ever. Lol!

My outfit for the night :)

And my most amazing date for the evening xx

To many more happy occasions! CHEERS!

Just some pictures

I miss blogging.

I miss having the time to pen down my thoughts and compile a list of memories – both visually and in copy.

For now, here’s my week in pictures xx

Fell sick

Got well and made a new friend

Packed my necklaces

Spun around in our test drive.. Poor Zoee, mad as hell with me

And survived mother Monday

How was your week? :)

Good things must share

Uber.

I’m sold.

Request to get picked up from anywhere in a swanky ride and travel in style and class! What’s more, hassle free payment.

To try out uber, simply download the app. Use my promo code for $30 off your ride.

Shiok! ;)

Chillin in Cebu

I’m in Cebu, sitting on a deck chair by the pool and the wind is amazing.

Thinking of going back to work sucks. But I guess for now, I’ll just make the best of this break.

Rush Rush

It’s been awhile since my family’s been on a holiday together.

They went to Europe late last year but I wasn’t able to make it due to work commitments. Well, we’ll all be in Cebu in just a couple of hours! And as tired as I may be, I’m pretty damn excited.

Family is forever xx

(First entry from WordPress’ updated app)

Vroom Vroom Zoee

We all have different milestones that make our lives memorable and uniquely ours.

Our first word, our first test, our first love, our first heartbreak and our first big purchase.

So here’s the most expensive thingy (musical instruments don’t count) I now own – Smelly French Panties Zoee Loh Chao Bin (5 Jan 2013). The literal translation for Chao Bin (a Hokkien word) is black face – think grumpy and angsty teenager haha.

She’s affectionately known as Zoee cos her car plate’s 2033. And because I live in the Internet age, 2033 = Zoee ;)

first day with zoee – say hi! x

Indoor Skydiving World Championships at iFly Singapore

I remember that moment rather clearly…

When my then-client, iFly Singapore, shared with me that they wanted to host and organise APAC’s first ever indoor skydiving world championships. Ambitious I thought. Doable. But really ambitious considering that I knew of this right right after they officially opened on 18 May 2011.

Cut the long story short, after countless meetings, tons of back and forths with the various skydive teams around the world, the world championships took place last weekend, between 13-16 Dec. 50 over teams flew in from UK, Australia, USA etc. to strut their moves in the world’s largest indoor skydiving wind tunnel.

Arizona Arsenal – 4-way Vertical Formation Skydiving (VFS)

And as if having so many teams down for this event wasn’t grand enough, iFly Singapore sought clearance from the Ministry of Defence, CAAS, the Singapore police etc. to bring in Sentosa’s first ever tandem skydives! When I saw the first jump, I wanted to cry.. Tears of pride, happiness and everything mixed into one ;’)

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT

Another highlight during the world championships took place on Sunday when the teams attempted to break 3 world records

Most number of flyers in a wind tunnel - 18 pax (must hold position for 10s)

Most number of flyers in a wind tunnel – 18 pax (position must be held for 10s)

Most number of kids in a wind tunnel – 13!

Longest freefall in a wind tunnel

The record stood at 3h 1m and 46s and guess what! All four guys trashed it! The last man came out at 4h 2m and 12 s! You might think it’s just all fun and laughter floating around in the wind tunnel but NO! You are wrong. Most first-time flyers that fly in the wind tunnel do so for 45s (the same time it takes from the moment one jumps out of the plane and before the parachute opens), and normally, they’ll ache a little the next day.

Flying in the wind tunnel requires tons of core strength. Plus, it’s mentally draining! I remember when I was involved in a photoshoot in the wind tunnel, I felt like passing out after staying in the tunnel and posing for 7-8mins. Salute to the guys!

Enjoy the rest of the images I took over the weekend!

Suave

Have you ever seen a chopper on Sentosa?

Ben and I before his flight

Ashley showing Ben just how it’s done!

On his way down, wheee!

“Best flight of my life ever”, Ben

Team Firefly really feelin it!

Bullet and Lightwing with the girls

With Lawrence, boss and friend

Always on the phone lol!

My Boo

I’m so damn proud of iFly Singapore and how far it has come. It hasn’t been a smooth journey but the rewards have always been sweet. And through working with them, I have made so many great friends. Wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Now, whoever said work had to be boring? ;)

Two Little People (part II)

I have three siblings. The younger two of them are 10 and 12 years younger than me. That’s a pretty huge age gap if you ask me.. I was basically mini mom to them.

I have no idea why, but I always remember carrying my baby brother on my lap.. Perched on my knee in his room at our old place, getting sooo amused by his little baby sounds. I was looking at the side profile of his chubby cheeks, wondering how babies were made so cute!

They’ve since grown (a whole lot) and the transformation from babies to youths has been amazing. I’ve also seen them perform at little gigs to full blown ones like ChildAid. ChildAid, held over the weekend, is an annual charity concert organised by The Straits Times and The Business Times. Proceeds raised go to needy schoolchildren and helps to also nurture artistic talents of underprivileged children. This year, ChildAid raised over S$2 million (source)!

Couldn’t be more proud of my siblings!

Opening act

Date for the night

If you want to watch my siblings in action, click on this (opening act with others) and this (this is da bomb!!)

Family is forever

To pamper them the day after their performances and after days of rehearsals, I brought them to iFly Singapore! They had sooooo much fun and really, this place never fails to make me happy :)

In action

Post-flight happiness

My family keeps me happy. How about you?

(An old post by me: Two Little People - only FB friends will be able to see this)

Another Year Older

I am so thankful for family and friends.

Over my birthday weekend, I felt nothing but love and more love. I have been really blessed. No doubt I’ve had downs along the way but all in all, God has really taken good care of me.

To all the well wishes I received via text, whatsapp, Facebook etc., THANK YOU. Whether or not it was because of FB notifications (haha!), I am still grateful that you took the time to wish me well on my special day :)

Thanks to my family for having lunch with me. To mummy for ordering my favourite cheesecake, daddy for entertaining us with his lame jokes, Jaz for the super sweet birthday card that made me cry in a crowded restaurant, James for taking time out of his O level preparations, Aunty Mei for the angpow and Gong Gong and Popo for the bird’s nest and chocolates! I might not always show it in the right ways but family is extremely important to me <3

Thanks to all my friends who made my birthday surprise… a surprise! All of you are very sneaky and really good at keeping secrets – I am really impressed (and a little worried)!! It was so nice to have everyone together. I was telling a couple of friends that since I moved to Australia and finally moved back to Singapore, I’ve been finding it hard to find stability in my friendships. But it’s almost 3 years since I’ve been back and I can safely say that I’ve found my footing.

I’ve been very blessed to have friends that have stuck through thick and thin with me. Shout out to all who came for dinner on Saturday:

Lena, thanks for being my BFF. Just knowing that I can call you in the middle of the night is extremely comforting ;) Cheers to many many more years of friendship – I LOVE YOU! Nada, you are in good hands!
Mel and CJ, both of you are too sweet and too cute. Thanks for preparing everything!! Thanks for forsaking gym Mel!! Lol. The restaurant was made more festive because of the both of you! And how can I forget the impressive birthday card ;) xx
Tannia and Eric, I am so happy for the both of you! Husband and wife – I must get used to saying that hehe. Thanks for coming and for the present and for being such great talk-cock-sing-song kakis!
POEPS! To be honest, I never expected our friendship to last this long. And I am sooooo happy! I love how we have no qualms about discussing fart, periods and all things yucky. I also love how we have no sense of shame (Ali, let’s do our legendary Titanic KTV again?). Thanks for the bling clutch – you guys know me too well!
My church friends – we’ve seen each other grow up and man, we’ve grown up well!! LOL! Thanks for all the whatsapp chats, mid-week meetups and for the weekly lunch outings after church. Huat ah!
Lup. I was very surprised to see you! Lol!! Thanks for capturing all the happy moments and for making everyone laugh at all your silly antics. Super funny la!!
Last but not the least, Kenny :) Thanks for being soo super sweet. Did our honeymoon ever end?! <3

Text-heavy post but I’ve just been too busy to blog! Hopefully the photos will come.. Someday… :)

GFFs, Johnnie Walker Circuit Lounge Passes, BeautyJoint.com

Met my GFFs for dinner at Somerset 313 two nights back. GFFs stand for “gymanista”, “fashionista” and “foodienista”. No points for guessing which one I am. Lol! It’s been awhile since I had a girly night out. We ate, went diamond ring hunting (!!) and of course sweeped Forver 21. We also talked about boys, gossiped and giggled ;)

Yingtian, Mel and I – blur picture that the staff at Honeymoon Dessert took for us

YT and Mel’s dessert – Mango sago and pomelo with mini mochis and icecream (yum?!)

Remember how I said we went to look at diamond rings? While I don’t know much about diamonds (there’s no need to cos I have no money), I do know pretty from ugly and diamonds are gorgeous!! We were at the store and the guy was really patient with us, explaining the various cuts and stuff to us. When we were leaving, the friendly sales guy insisted we take a brochure with us.

Look, even if I took the brochure, I wouldn’t be able to afford a ring.. Plus someone else would be better off with it (being environmentally-friendly here) so I kept refusing. But he was persistent so fine! I’ll take it! And I’ll rip it apart!

Beautiful bling

“Wow! This is huge!”

“How is this one?”

This size is just right! Think I’ll be single forever lol!

Beautiful Ying Tian, don’t let her cool-as-a-cucumber demeanour fool you! She’s one hell of a shopper!

YT so fair, slim and tall. Any mother would approve ;)

Mel in her sexy peekaboo dress. If only I were taller, I would totally stare down on her bxxbies hur hur

Got home and I had two parcels waiting for me! That’s the thing about online shopping. You can purchase stuff and act totally surprised when they arrive at your doorstep. Christmas! It’s Christmas!

Well, it really did feel like Christmas :) The kind folks at Johnnie Walker sent me 10 (yes, 5 for each night! Was only expecting a pair) passes to this year’s Circuit Lounge party. They have the absolute best F1 parties and I can’t wait to attend it! Even more so because it’s at the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay. How quaint! It’ll also be my first time in the dome ;)

Such exquisite and well thought out invites!

Each invite is a lanyard in a solid black box

It’s really exclusive! You have to register your unique ID number (on the lanyard) before the party

My second parcel was from BeautyJoint.com. They’re really cheap – think drugstore cheap – and AWESOME!

(L-R): NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil (Sparkle Nude), NYX Tinted Lip Spa (Spirit), e.l.f. Essential Duo Eye Shadow Cream (Berry Mix), NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream (Addis Ababa)

I love everything!! Everything! Gonna get more stuff soon :)

Horrible photo of Joey and I (and Daniel Henney).. But this is the only shot (for now) of me in my hot pink matte lip cream. LOVE IT!

Till the next post, TGIF bitches!

My drawing of Little My from Moomin. It was a really “exciting” meeting! :s

Happy 60th Dad!

It’s Dad’s 60th birthday today and we threw him a surprise party last Saturday. It didn’t occur to me that planning a surprise party would be this taxing. In addition to my daily work, I had to plan the guest list, consolidate rsvps (friends from Singapore and relatives from KL!), arrange table seatings etc. The worst definitely had to be deciding who sat where (I’ve decided that at my wedding, all my guests will sit on the floor), mum and I nearly fought cos of it! ;’( But of course, anything is worth it for family! ♥

We had three tables in a private room overlooking the golf course and the weather was perfect! Over 30 of us arrived earlier to surprise Dad and it was a huge success! Family ties and friendship’s an amazing thing. God’s amazing – how he puts certain people in and out of your life so that you learn to cherish the ones that truly matter.

Surprise!!

Jana’s in Sydney and we definitely wanted her to be part of this special day so we got her to video herself.. Clearly worked cos Dad got all teary which was really hard for me to watch so I just stood at a corner. The 3 Js also did a performance for Dad. A medley of some of his favourite songs – Hey Jude, I Started a Joke and Have you ever Seen the Rain.

“Aloha!”

Triple Js

Another teary moment was definitely during James’ speech. I still remember him as a baby, all botak and gangly, full of rash from his eczema. He has since grown into a fine young man – taller than me if I may add.

“I’ve definitely outgrown my dad in terms of strength and size but definitely nowhere to his wealth, wisdom, knowledge and experience in life… I aspire to be a man like him, willing to help people who are less fortunate. I aspire to be a hard-working and successful person like my dad who provides well for his family. Last but not least, I aspire to be a loving father like my dad.”

I wonder what goes through Dad’s mind as he turns 60. I’m sure there a lot of worries about the future but I hope he sits back and realises how blessed we’ve been. I for one have been blessed to have him in my life. Though we quarrel at times and may not always see eye to eye on certain things, there’s no doubt that he’s played a vital role in my growing up years.

I’ve never seen my Dad cry so the day he left me in the airport in Australia and seeing him in tears is something I will always remember. Perhaps fathers will always be fathers. You know, there are certain characteristics to dads. Being the man of the house, they have to be serious and sturdy and many times we forget that our old man has feelings too.

Dad supported me throughout my uni years. He understood me when I was at my lowest and missing home. He made my life so simple and yet made it a point to never lavish me with money and gifts.

Bachelors

Masters

It’s funny how you tend to be more expressive the further away you are from someone. Dad may not tell me how much he loves me, just like how I rarely say it to him, but I know that he only wants the best for me. Just like I would for him.

I am also grateful that he has taken care of mum because she’s very important to me!

Isn’t this photo so precious!

So on this day, I say a special prayer to the big man above, for taking care of the man I love the most. He has blessed my family abundantly and I cannot ask for more.

♥

Why am I broke?

I’m broke. There. I said it.

Always believed that if I can’t confess to something, I’m definitely in denial.

Bank account-wise, I’m in a terrible state. I’m not living on credit (hell, I won’t let that happen), but I’m broke. Considering how I’ve been working for almost 3 years, I’m PATHETIC.

So I sat down and thought to myself, “WHAT AM I SPENDING MY MONEY ON?”. You’ll be pleased to know that I’ve come up with a list of items. Perhaps, you’ll be similar to me and you’ll think, “hell, I better do something about it before I end up like Joy”.

1. FOOD

I spend SO MUCH on food it’s not even funny. I love eating. And to make matters worse, I love eating a variety of food. I can’t just order a burger at dinner. I have to order fries, wings, nuggets etc. on the side. I can’t just order a plate of fried rice. I have to order meat, vegetable, appetizers etc. I can easily order for four when it’s just the two of us. I’m a glutton and I won’t rebut that.

Food also includes morning coffee, after-dinner tea, snacks for work and of course alcohol. All these don’t seem like a lot when you buy them separately but when you put them together, geez, they add up to quite a bit. And then I spend yet another lump on the gym because I can’t just eat and not feel horrible about myself. WHAT A SILLY VICIOUS CYCLE! This brings me to my second point.

2. Gym

I pay about $150 for my Fitness First membership. Why? Because my company isn’t affiliated to Fitness First so I pay the full monthly fee. I could have signed up with other gyms that are much cheaper. But! There’s a Fitness First right down the road from where I work at, there’s also one that’s an MRT stop away from where I stay and they also have a nice big and quiet branch at Fusionopolis. They also have good classes and convenience is really important to me. I sometimes run during lunch (because evenings are meant for relaxing and pigging out) and it helps to make me feel less guilty so I guess this is the only item that I won’t be able to do much about.

3. Holidays

It’s a known fact that I love travelling. I want to travel the world. I REALLY want to travel the world. The Earth is amazing, why coop up at home when there’s so much to explore! I do my best to sneak in a holiday (any holiday!) whenever I can.

Now, this is where the problem comes in. Most of the time, I only have time for a short getaway so I choose places like Bangkok, Krabi, Bali etc. It’s easy to think that you save more by going to neighbouring countries because there are budget airlines that get you there, the Singapore dollar’s strong blah blah. But no!! If you think about it, a “quick” vacation can easily cost you $1,000!

Let’s take a 4D3N trip to Bali for example. Give and take, this is how the breakdown will be like:

Flight tickets – $320
Accommodation (3-4 stars) – S$150 x 3 = $450
Food and drinks and shopping – $400

Wow that’s already $1,170. Of course, you can share a room with your friend but my point is, these trips aren’t cheap! Save up and go on a really big holiday (if you can) :D

4. Online shopping

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been stressed/frustrated at work and then I type asos into my google search bar. Free shipping, constant sale items. HOW NOT TO BUY! It would be foolish not to buy! Plus, there are now also lots of other local blog shops that have made payments so much easier. No more bank transfer or meetup blah blah. Just use paypal! Or your credit card. A dress costs about $30. That seems decent! BUY 3 DRESSES! $90! Bye bye money..

Moral of the story? Tahan. Or practice better self-control. Have a buddy. Someone that can help keep you in check. Confess everytime you make an online purchase. Remember, if you’re hiding your buys, you’re doing it all wrong. You’re in trouble! Save it and splurge on a nice bag (ok, I did not just say that *slaps mouth).

And oh yes! Bellabox! Glamabox! All these beautiful boxes priced at super reasonable prices, giving you the illusion that you get more bang for your buck. The concept is marvellous. But it costs money (not lots but still)! I’m not sure about the rest, but I now have a lot of sample bottles at home. Untouched. I have since cancelled my subscription. I’m fuss-free. Good ol’ Garnier works fine for me.

5. Movies, Plays, Concerts

What is there to do in Singapore? Eat. Shop. Watch movies! We’re lucky that we’re a country that’s bursting with local talent. Singers, plays and shows also love to come by Singapore because we’re an awesome country! Bad, bad, bad for me. I love going to live concerts, plays etc. So how? Spend money again. Le sigh.

♦♦♦

There, I’ve told the world where I spend most of my money on. I can’t stop what I enjoy doing but I can sure as hell strive to be a better saver!

That is all.

Thank you for reading and I hope you save tons of money too!

HUAT AH!

Picture of my cute doggie, Seven, to end this post

My Weekend: Nook, Muay Thai and Mum’s Birthday

What a weekend! It felt like I had no break and when I did last night, I couldn’t sleep, boo :( Perhaps, it was because I had just finished reading Fifty Shades of Grey and I was feeling rather lost with a gaping hole of sadness in me (so drama).

As usual, I went to church on Saturday, did worship and then chiong-ed from church to National Dental Centre. Why? Because I forgot to tell my parents that I needed the car so dear dad took it with him to his conference. Such a waste of time and money.. But more about the state of my poverty next time.

Went for the soft launch of Nook, a DIY pancake and all-day breakfast café at Lorong Kilat. It’s a love project by Dawn, Shawn and their partner so naturally I felt really happy for them. I’ve always wanted to open my own café but my realistic mind tells me that it’s way easier than it sounds, so kudos to them for taking the plunge!

Don’t miss the sign!

House of Pancakes

Canapés

Little eggs walking around the wall

The cashier

Our friends took awhile to arrive so I had tons of canapés and decided to keep myself occupied with… *giggle*

Christian Grey!

Btw, am I the only nutcase to think that he’s really hot? Like I read the book and can’t help but feel that E L James is one heck of a writer. She’s like the written/book version of Shonda Rhimes. Maybe I’m reading too much into the book, but to me, it depicts the inner desires of every girl, her insecurities blah blah.

Ok, digress much. I will blog about Fifty Shades once I’m done with the other two books. Mr Postman, fasterly pls! Oh ya, I think Tom Hardy makes a good Christian Grey. Lol! *FOCUS JOY FOCUS*

After Nook, I headed to my BFF&E&E&E&E&E&&E&E’s Muay Thai fight at SMU. Her fight was the main fight of the evening and I’ve seen Lena train since our Brisbane days when we were in Uni and seeing how far she’s come, I can’t help but feel so immensely proud of her! I still remember when she got back from Gladstone and she lifted up her singlet.. Holy macaroni! A friggin huge ostrich egg-like bruise!!

Muay Thai’s really tiring, I don’t know how Lena has the time to work and train at the same time. Five rounds of full-on cardio, WHILE getting punched left right centre. I couldn’t do it. I’d just take out my pistol and shoot my opponent. Lol.

Loving girlfriend giving her a massage pre-fight

This is called shadow boxing right?

Y U so skinny?

Amateur fight before Lena’s match

Amateur and padded but still soo scary!

By this point, I remember repeatedly telling myself that “my son will never take this as a sport! I will never allow it”

Men’s pro fight right before Lena’s

The guy from Lena’s gym (BXG) won!! Whee!!!

BFF having a moment

Ok, at this point, please note the difference in our behaviours. Of course, I have a super serious side to me, but isn’t this just hilarious!!!

Hoot hor yi si! It’s a fight, were you expecting anything less?

I cannot remember the last time I screamed so much. I was wearing such an elegant dress but all that shouting made me feel like an awful drag queen. Ah, who cares, for the BFF! If I can carry such a loud banner, I can scream all I want.

Lena and her Thai coach, also a Joy ;)

Into the ring, champ!

Doing the Wai Khru pre-fight

Saying a prayer

Kick, kick, kick!

Break

Well, I really expected a draw but no, Lena’s opponent won. Not important, forever a champion in my eyes. She sucker-punched and thunder-kicked her opponent till she (the opponent) fell 2-3x so the results were a bit disappointing and unexpected..

Please make way, my champion’s in the house! xoxo, her publicist and BFF

Celebrated mum’s birthday at Canton-i last night. Her birthday’s on Tuesday but we wanted something that family could all gather together for so we did it earlier. Plus, she can have some romantic time with dad tomorrow!

My beautiful parents

J+J all grown up!

MUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!! ♥

Family minus Nana in Sydney

Mum’s born in the year of the Pig and she adores them so imagine her reaction to these cute little piggy red bean buns

We were singing her birthday song super loudly and all she did was take photos of the pigs

Still singing, still snapping. See my popo’s face, lol!

Mind you, we are still singing at the top of our lungs when dad steps in to.. take photos too!! Whut!?

Finally she calms down and makes a wish. Clearly still very tickled by the pigs

Present time! Dad had already got her a Rolex earlier.. But of course I couldn’t afford a Prada on my own. So I shared this gift with Dad. Thank goodness for fathers.

So pretty!

Chanel from the boy

Happy with her cosmetics!

Really awkward photo haha but we bumped into Priscelia after dinner. Do you like her smile? It’s an Aloha smile ;)

Priscelia and Jaz

What a ton of photos! I hope you enjoyed this entry xx

Random

Been really busy with stuff.. Haven’t had time to blog. Or rather, haven’t had any inspiration.

To fill the void, here are some really random photos…

Top – Bangkok
Pants – Bangkok
Faux snake skin heels – G2000
Bag – Marc by Marc Jacobs

Floral dress – F21
Nude fish scale heels – Charles and Keith
Brown leather bag – Prada

Magenta dress – somewhere in Aus
Denim jacket – somewhere in Aus
Black ceramic ring – Bvlgari
Brown leather bag – Prada
Heels – Gripz (I fell in them before!)

Side profile. Please excuse the really lame slippers.

Really cheap and yummy durian that Jake bought

It has arrived

Saltimbanco by Cirque du Soleil

Alla fine

Janelle’s Wedding

Last Sunday, a dear ex-colleague and neighbour of mine got married at Rasa Sentosa. Though I’ll miss having her around the neighbourhood, I’m so happy for her! It was a really nice catch-up with old friends too :)