Long Road Out Of Eden

I never believed in the term "best friends", but as I draw near to the ending of a huge chapter in my life, I can't help but realised I'll soon be parting ways with few very significant people, who have helped me pull through in life. This post is dedicated to the 3 of you.

Kumara
In 1998, a chinese-indian coalition was formed. I met Kumara in St.Michael 2. He was seated next to me in class. At first, it was kinda weird, as I didnt really mix with friends from other races before. But after awhile, we became really close friends, which words cannot fully express. And the friendship went on to blossom into a beautiful relationship, in which we no longer regard each other as merely friends, but brothers. In Year 5, we remain close but Year 6 brought few different friends into my life, and the chasm between us grew a little. But fate has a funny way of dealing with things. In Form 1, we were again enrolled in the same class (1A8) and thus, further strengthening an already well-developed friendship. From there, our friendship was never broken, even though there were disagreements once in awhile. Kumara, thanks for always being my support. Without you, I would have been beaten by life's many obstacles along the way. You've always been a listener, one whom I can share everything with, and at the same time, have the trust and confidence that my secrets are safe with you. A gentle giant lies underneath your big, hairy, and fierce physical display. You've never let me down and you're one of the few people I can really count on. Thanks for being a brother to me. The scouting years we shared, classroom jokes, out-of-classroom fun, and everything we've done together will always be in my memory. Thank you, friend.

Yohanand
When we first met, I forgot how it was, but I think it was in a CF camp in Form 1. Back then, we weren't close at all. Until we reached Form 4. Being in a class we thought were full of nerds ( eventually we were proved wrong ), we sticked together as a team. And sharing some common interests such as football and music, we eventually developed into a more matured friendship than just classmates. Yo, thanks for everything man. Tho' I don't really share much of my personal stuff with you, but I believe there are different friends in one's life who play different roles. Kumara played the role of a listener, while you made the role of crazy, wacky, fun in the sun. Thanks for all the jokes, laughter, and smiles you've brought in my life. Without you, I would never have survived Form 4, 5, and definitely life in Form 6. You are one very talented person in many aspects and I respect you for that. Our jamming sessions, Sixth Form Night band performances, futsal sessions, jungle-trekking, PJ football sessions, ping pong partnership, Science One outings, and so much more will always be a part of me. Thank you, friend.

Adrian
One of the childhood friends I have, Adrian you are special. We met in Satu Merah, and from there, our friendship was a weird one. We argued, fight, and had many disagreements in primary school. Thank God that He brought us back together in Form 6. I regret the many years that we never keep in touch, because I lost the wonderful opportunity of spending time with you. But nevertheless, Adrian, I realised nothing has changed when we met again in USA4 - except you've grown real frigging tall. You were still that same friend whom I always bully, fight, scold, argue with and everything else that's bad. Many thanks to you for the classroom fun, the songs we shared, the "flowery" languages you taught me, your jokes and nonsense, and most importantly, our DotA sessions together, in Blueserver and in CC. I really enjoyed my time with you, be it playing computer games or just hanging round, or going for lunch. And seriously, I even consider fetching you to and fro as my privelege. Thanks alot my friend. I will miss you if you go to Canada. Together we're invincible.

And there, my friends, I conclude my tribute to the three of you. Dear friends, I do not know whether any of you will be reading this or not but nevertheless, every word here was written with deep conviction that it is nothing but the truth. To the rest of my friends, from here on, our paths separate like the roots of a huge tree, each in pursuit of our own dreams, but always remembering where we came from. It will be a long road out of Eden from here. The journey into the outside world, and the journey to our dreams will be a long, winding, and rough one, away from the comfort and beauty of our own Eden homes. But I believe strongly that each of you are tough men and women, people whom I know would never give up in any circumstances. All the best to you guys, and I will definitely miss your presence. I'll be going to Australia on the 9th. Hope that none of you have disappeared when I return. Adrian, Yo and Kumara, once again, thanks for the memories. In the back of my mind, I know its time to move on, because this is the life-circle of friends. Very soon each of us will have our own new close buddies, but I just hope and pray that the old will not be gone when the new comes. Just remember this - our time, moments and memories will never fade, as long as men can breathe or eyes can see.