Met my ex-childhood-sweetheart-now-very-good-friend K yesterday, he's in Singapore after having been in Thailand for a missions trip. He's actually working in NZ now, so it's a real treat to see him face-to-face, finally. And yes, he's back here with his Malaysian fiance, J, who's truly the nice, sweet girl he says her to be. They are getting married next year February (thank goodness he's doing the sensible thing of holding the wedding here rather than in NZ, though if he pays for his guests' air tickets there, why not, eh?).

And yes, I can say with all honesty, I am 100% happy for him. I guess it's cos our friendship has come such a long way and matured to a level where we can reminisce together, look back and laugh heartily at all the silly adolescent puppy-love things we used to do. We were never officially together - somehow, when I had a crush on him, he had his sights on someone else; when I finally got over him, then he started to fancy me... It's strange, how these things go. Then again, it wasn't Cupid shooting the arrow, but his pet dog ("puppy love", geddit?), so what can one expect, right?

But I am thankful that our relationship didn't degenerate into those tension-filled ones that so often happen between friends who become more than friends for a while then realise it can't work and find that it's hard to return to being just friends.

I had a guy friend who said this once: it's hard for a guy and girl to be truly CLOSE PLATONIC friends without having experienced romantic feelings for each other, whether spoken or unspoken. But once that threshhold is crossed, it's like a make-or-break situation - you either become real close, platonic friends, or perhaps not even friends at all.

Tricky thing, love is. Then again, I wanna qualify that - love is not a word to be used loosely, as so often is the case.

Have I ever been in love then? Good question. I've been in only one serious relationship before, but that was when I was 18. I used the 4-letter word then. But looking back, I was probably too young to really know what love is.

Even now, I don't profess to have truly grasped it. Yet, it's ok. I'm not worrying.

Perhaps it's like ice-cream to a poor African child - you can describe it with all the world's vocabulary, but it'll never fully measure up to the first wondrous experience of that piece of cold heaven melting in the mouth...

Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps :)

On a related note, I did one of those personality tests that were mentioned in Lifestyle today:

The Sonnet
Deliberate Gentle Love Dreamer (DGLDf)

Romantic, hopeful, and composed. You are the Sonnet. Get it?
Composed?

Sonnets want Love and have high ideals about it. They're conscientious people, caring & careful. You yourself have deep convictions, and you devote a lot of thought to romance and what it should be. This will frighten away most potential mates, but that's okay, because you're very choosy with your affections anyway. You'd absolutely refuse to date someone dumber than you, for instance. (hmmm...)

Lovers who share your idealized perspective, or who are at least willing to totally throw themselves into a relationship, will be very, very happy with you. And you with them. You're already selfless and compassionate, and with the right partner, there's no doubt you can be sensual, even adventurously so.

You probably have lots of female friends, and they have a special soft spot for you. Babies do, too, at the tippy-top of their baby skulls.

Right...

K, better get my head out of the clouds and into my luggage bag to pack for tomorrow's conference in Malaysia...