not my usual afterhours

For the past week, afterhours have been very fun for me. Every day after work I met my friends for a simple chat over dinner or coffee. Call them catch-up sessions, because mostly they are my long-lost friend. However, for privacy reasons, I am gonna keep their names anonymous.

On Monday night, I met the long haired girl. I call her so because I adore her long, jet black hair. Her hair is always on its place, silky and nice. She’s originally the high-school best friend of my uni best friend, but we got close since we organized our best friend’s hen night a couple months back. We are both single, in our mid-20s, so our topic for that night was about finding Mr.Right. She’s done with Mr.Right now, while I’m recovering from a misfortunate event with Mr.Wrong, so we are both looking for Mr.Right. The big question for that night was “is there a Mr.Right, or Mr.Almost Right will do?” will we find someone who perfectly fits us, complement each other like bread and butter, or will we have to settle with the almost perfect, with a lot of compromise. You see, my previous relationships were about compromise. we were opposites attract. But somehow, I’m longing to be with my perfect match. Someone who will enjoy my spontaneous actions and trips, my kind of music, and my eagerness to explore the world as much as I do. Someone who share the same dream and passion… ah will it be nice to be with your perfect match? But again, the big question… is there such thing as your perfect match, or it is only Mr. almost right, with a lot of compromise? Time will tell, I guess :)

The next night, I met the runner. She is my ex-colleague from my first office. We both left that office and working in a new one, but we still hang out occasionally just to catch up. She is always full of energy and positivity, and I believe those are the things that brought her to where she is now. She is now working for the Indonesian representative of a global brand (it’s either her brand or Coca-Cola which has the highest brand equity number, so I’ve read somewhere…), and that’s why I call her the runner, because her brand deals with sports, especially running. She is very passionate about running, and it has been in her dream to work for this brand. After several years of hard work, she made it! She got to work for that brand! Apart from that, she is also a part of a very cool web-zine for the youngsters. That web zine, if im not mistaken, were published only 2 years ago, yet it has been reviewed in several media, including a nation-wide newspaper. How cool is that?! I’m still amazed at how she has grown since the last time we were working in the same office. Her secret, I guess, is her energy, positivity, and passion. She told me to find my passion and work based on it. That’s what she is doing now, she’s passionate about running and marketing, so her job now involves both. As for me, I know that marketing is my passion but I’m still in process to decide what my other passion is.. will it be music, or traveling? Thank you, dear the runner for reminding me to pursue my true passion :)

On Wednesday, I met the junior high-school best friend. It has been a long time since I last saw her, and just days ago I heard that she is getting married, so we arranged a catch up meeting. Her news was quite surprising for me, because the last time we met, she told me that she just broke up with her boyfriend, let’s just call him the engineer simply because he is one, and now she told me that she is getting married with him! Life brings you surprise, eh? I still remember how she felt when she broke up, how she almost gave up in love, the drama she had to deal with. But later on, the engineer suddenly contacted her again, explained everything and ask her to come back with him. Long story short, they had her engagement party two weeks ago and planning to get married by the end of this year! You see, no one can interrupt God’s plans, can they? Ahh.. so happy for her!

The following night, Thursday, I met the long-haired girl again, plus another friend of ours, let’s call her the artist, because she’s always into art. She can draw very nicely, can write as well, and now working as an architect/designer. She used to work in Bali for several months, and now back in town. We chatted about her life there, and it made me wonder… it would be nice to work outside Jakarta, for a couple of months, just for a change. I think I need it at the moment, just to get myself back on track. But anyway, be careful what you wish for! Some say that as much as we hate this firkin big Durian, we always miss it when we’re away.

Then on Friday, I went to Plaza Senayan to meet an old high school friend. Let’s call her the debater, because she was very active in our debate society back in high school, even in Uni (We happen to got into the same uni). Last time I saw her was back in 2009 when we went to Singapore to watch Coldplay along with some other friends. You see we were never that close but whenever we meet we can still catch up and share stories. So… we met, she asked me stories about my postgrad life in UK because she is planning to get a masters as well. Then I told her my story, and we chatted, chatted and chatted, until it turns out that we both experienced similar misfortunate event just recently! Anyway, we chatted about a lot of things, including work, and she gave me insight about how I might be able to change the world (read: my country) in terms of its tourism. Wooohoooo!!! maybe some of you already know that I have quite a passion in destination branding, thus I have some plans to work in that sector. (still plans tho.. as I’ve mentioned before I am still deciding on things..) thanks, the debater! I had a fun chat with you and we should do it again soon, yes?

Well .. well.. quite a long post is it? It’s just I never expected that my simple catch ups with my old friends would give me soooo much to learn and to think about! (in a good way, of course) I guess I’m lucky enough to have such brilliant and inspiring friends.. thank YOU!