We were at a birthday party last night. Our friend Bryan turned twenty nine and he invited a bunch of people from the chat to his place. We met Ash and Steve at the Serangoon MRT station and bought soda and chips. A taxi took us to Bryan's home. It was a four story building and the stairs were scary slippery. I asked why they had no elevator. I could have used it, but no accident happened so it was all good.
We gathered on the roof. It was already dark and a full moon was slowly creeping up behind some trees. It was beautiful! A grill was burning, cooking food for anyone to eat. There was chicken, beef, salmon, varieties of vegetables and fruit, garlic bread and other things I probably missed. It was a casual party. The girls gathered up in a group and sat by themselves out of the way from the food supply. I was part of that group (since I am a girl) and for the first time since moving to Singapore I felt like I belonged. I have not had a group of girlfriends in four years. It felt familiar, like we all spoke a secret language and we all understood each other without having to fake who we truly are. Maybe it was just me, maybe I just felt this way because of my history, but if that is the case then I am grateful for these warm and kind women. We are all very different but I feel like I can be myself around them.
At one point during the evening one friend came up with a burning birthday cake. We all burst out singing happy birthday and the candles were blown out. Cake was served to everyone who wanted some. It was really good. Chocolate cake with cherry inside. Ash wrote happy birthday and all our names on a card in the last minute and handed it over. I think it was appreciated. He laughed about it being written while he cut up the cake.
Around eleven the birthday-boy and some others headed down to his room. Upstairs it started to rain. I was starting to feel tired and asked if it was time to leave. We thought we would share a cab with Ash and Steve back to the station, but after half an hour of consideration they wanted to stay longer than John and I. So the two of us thanked for the invite and said good bye to everyone. We called an UberPool and had company from a deadly quiet girl in the car. The driver sighed and honked the horn at so many cars. It took a surprising twenty or so minutes to get home and yet it felt like we were at the far of end of Singapore. No matter how far away we travel from our home it almost always takes around twenty to thirty minutes to get back. Singapore is not a big country. It feels smaller than it looks on Maps. I am surprised, but I like it here.
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