I met all of them at a pivotal moment in my life. I'd just moved to Singapore and only knew of Henryl, because we'd worked on some projects while I was with Yahoo in Manila, and Carey, because she'd attended one of the CMS trainings I'd led.
One afternoon, Henryl asked if I could host dinner at my apartment, and the next thing I knew, we were doing dinners almost every week.
Carey always looked after all of us. Lowell and I bonded over music, while Jason and I talked about Marriott points and upgrades. TK and I would tease each other over the water quality in my neighborhood (it's safe!). Henryl inspired me to invest early, and I always listened to Paul when it came to navigating life and reorgs at Yahoo.
When I first moved to Hong Kong, it was bittersweet to build a new weekend routine without them, until it was time to move back to Singapore and resume our weekend lunches and dinners.
I think we can all agree the pandemic lockdowns were hard, but especially when, like me, you lived on your own. I'm glad I had their friendship and that we managed to stay close, even virtually. When restrictions started to ease, there were weekends we had to split up because of the limit on the number of people in a gathering. It was a challenge, but better than missing their company.
We've seen each other through career and apartment moves, celebrated a lot of birthdays and milestones as some of them turned 40, and sent some of them off when it was time to bid Singapore goodbye. I'll always appreciate how they've accepted my quirks, and I know that if I ever need a friend, there's no doubt at least one of them will be there.
Over the years, and I guess as I get older, I realize what they mean when they say, "there are friends, there's family, and then there are friends that become family." And I can't wait for all seven of us to be in the same city again, even if it's just one weekend.