Weekday drinks

espresso martinis

Girlfriend U and I have the worst luck trying to fix up dates sometimes. Fortunately or unfortunately, we are in the same line of work, which means that one's work day can quickly evolve from easy buzz to frantic busy in a matter of minutes. The only silver lining is that we are therefore able to empathise when either had to cancel at the last minute. :p

After a number of times where we took turns raincheck-ing catch-ups, we finally made it for a lovely evening of drinks, just in time to catch the sunset, no less! That in itself was worth having a drink or two over. Heh.

We were early enough to grab a table at Spago, with a clear view of the infinity pool, AND the sun setting over the CBD. Murphy was in a generous mood that day, I say. This place was bustling even on a normal weekday evening, with the crowd comprising a mix of tourists, hotel guests and the office workers from around the vicinity.

It was one of those evenings where drinks, snacks and conversation flowed quickly and smoothly, and three hours flew by before we noticed that it was time to adjourn.

This friendship with U sprung up in the most serendipitous manner: we met at a trade event, while she was on secondment here from her office based in Europe, and somehow we got to talking and hit it off. That random conversation eventuated in lunch the following week, and drinks the week after. We kept up with each other on texts and emails, had a couple more catch ups before her secondment ended after a couple of months. And then some three months later, a position opened up in Singapore, and just like that, she's now based here.

I am hardly one who makes new friends easily - I take forever to warm up to people most of the time, and couple that with this introvert personality and the security of my existing close-knit friendships, I never really saw the need to add more people into my life. Hence, I had surprised myself in how I was open to meeting up with her and developing this connection. I guess with the right people, the right vibes and chemistry, I can be bothered after all to make friends. Heeheehee. The main thing about her and a couple of other new friends I have now added to my life over the past years, was that you can sense a genuine interest to get to know me as a person, and not just the usual superficial schmoozing at play. These are the ones who say they want to catch up, and actually then make the effort to do so. While we all already have our closest and dearest circle of chums, we think of each other, and make the time to check in via texts or emails every now and then.

Such unexpected gems, that I am glad I kept an open mind to gain. :)

Splendid evening