The 3 Musketeers

You have probably seen and heard about the adventures of the 3 'Musketeers' for some time and wonder how the 3 'Musketeers' got to know each other. Well, today is THE day when I will pay a little tribute to the other 2 'Musketeers' - Ms Chan and Ah Peng, in my blog. Our relationship has evolved from colleagues to buddies.

When I first started my first job, I had quite a number of difficult tasks to resolve, some were projects while others operational. The resolution of these tasks require collaboration with the Business Group which provided numerous opportunities to interact with their officers. Ms Chan was one of the girls whom I had to work closely with, especially in terms of reconciliation of numbers and reports. Somehow, our friendship developed from the reports and numbers. As we were both candid and rather direct in nature, we were both very comfortable talking to each other. Soon, we were meeting for lunches and even for barbecue (once).

Although Ah Peng and I got to know each other from work as well, I could not recall exactly how we came close friends. Ah Peng and I shared similar interests and thinking on many issues. Then we also started having lunches, going home together and even went out shopping and dining on Fridays and weekends. She joined our Departmental dinner once while I joined she and her friend for gyms and dinners. (By the way, our first team of accountants were rather sporty and friendly and sometimes we would meet out for dinner, pool or badminton.)

When I felt fustrated over work, they would both encourage and help me think of solutions. Once, I was so upset that we had an emergency "meeting" after work at the nearby McDonald as my "complaint" session. We used to meet one another at 6 pm at the lobby to go home together. Whenever we have a bad day, we would complain to each other on our way home. If not, we will share jokes with each other and laugh all the way home - a good way to unwind after a hectic day. The way home is often the highlight of my day. I was forever looking at the clock for 6 pm.

They would also be among the first to chide me for my blurness, stupidity, pessimism or even naivete. When I shared with them I aspire to be "auntie", they would sigh and ask me NOT to work too hard towards my aspiration. They would also be very forthcoming with their criticism of my bad taste with clothes, shoes, bags and even people. Actually, we were equally forthcoming with each other on each other's taste. Whenever we went shopping together, we would always point out to each other "this is so you" or "don't you have a lot of this already?".

This is what real friends are - open to each other, supportive and yet will dish out true advice to you. Their support and true concern (including being very candid) with me are also what I have treasure and will treasure most.