Caught up with Judd and Greg on Friday night at Vega. We were gonna go for a couple of quiet drinks, but the Back Bar at Vega which opens up to the Whanganui River is open after-hours to friends of Geoff, the owner, and I somehow ended up there because Greg knew Philippa, who was the head chef there. Kiwis are really very friendly people when intoxicated, and I met plenty of new friends. I was supposed to go there again today with Greg and Tim, to watch rugby and knock back some beers, but I got sidetracked by the idiot box and ended up spending the evening with Bridget Jones and Ryan Philippe in Anti Trust.
Greg is one of the funniest person I know. If I gave you a blow-by-blow account of our random conversations over the last 8 months that I’ve known him, you’d be likely to die laughing, too. Somehow I always manage to pull a Rod (short for his brother’s name, Roderick) out of my ass to deflect his sarcasm and till today I wonder how come I still surprise him since I do my fair share of corny-joke recycling. It’s his brain against my mind. I totally adore this guy. Greg is my bitch!
Judd is one of the coolest people I know here. I met him in my first semester here, when I was a low-key unknown person checking my pigeon hole and he was the student representative playing pool with equally cool people and said hi to me. We managed a good dose of random hellos in the hallways before gelling during Design Camp where we went to his Marae and Judd introduced me to the Maori culture. He’s a famous NZ carver and he was nice enough to take my parents around his Marae, show me his workshop and let me stay over in his daughter’s room during Design Camp. He even cut an Absolut bottle for me so I could use it as a huge tumbler! He’s such a lovely character, when I told him I’ll miss Wanganui when I leave, he candidly replied, “Wanganui will miss you, girl!”
I’ve met so many amazing friends over here that I will miss a lot, notably Greg and his posse (Tom, Shane, Nathan, Andy, Sophie, Daniel..) Johnson (Greg’s ex-flatmate who loves giving me shit about being a girl-chink and vice versa about him being the token black guy) Judd, the team of fantastic tutors at School of Design especially Jo, Rick and Hazel for constantly challenging me and supporting my efforts.. Anne, Judy, Patricia and Petrina for being kickass admins, Brendan and Bruce for being the best tech-support you could ask for, Jane the wonderful nurse, my talented coursemates, seniors and juniors who never think twice about helping each other out.
Tom, especially, for helping me out with my exhibition so much and accepted nothing but a bottle of Coruba for all his efforts. He left for London when I was last back in KL and I wish him all the best because he’s just such a good guy. I really couldn’t have done my exhibition without his help.
Andy, although I don’t know him very well, for providing me with enough yummy alcohol mixes to last me for two years instead of two nights and Ian, for smiles and late night conversations and accepting me for the lesbian I really am ;)
Jess, who remains the most amazing girl I’ve met in Wanganui.
Vaughan, my trainer, who was such a brilliant friend and motivator and who offered me lots of advice and the use of his Impreza whenever I needed it. Who made sure I didn’t cheat on reps and pushed me further than I thought I could go, who converted the anti-gym Steph to the 6-gym-days-a-week Steph. He even took time out to show me what Wanganui has to offer, how to make a kickass sandwich and sometimes buys me lunch when he knows I’ll be at the gym. The day I had to leave last year, he bought us lunch and drove us out to the Botanical Gardens and sat out in the sun eating although I only had 20 minutes to spare. Who drove us to Fielding for mad drinks with his mad bartender friends and almost killed us fish-tailing on the way back and I had to take over the wheel.. err ;)
David, whose innocent and simple approach to life always inspired me. For turning up on my balcony in the middle of the night and scaring the shit out of me a few times.. spending the night walking with me around Wellington when I lost my passport even though I ignored him most of the time because I was so upset, for sleepless nights, for taking care of me when I couldn’t, for sharing my dreams, for his enthusiasm and making my cat love him more than me.
My Malaysian friends - Gmee, my best friend here who is the most genuine person you will ever meet. For being so generous and helping me out when I lost my bag and passport in Wellington by giving me his EFTPOS card to use for everything I needed - people like that don’t come by very often! We used to talk over cigarettes late into the night and walk to the labs together in the middle of the night. Thanks for making me laugh and for being the resident chick-magnet and never once laughed at my ridiculous over-the-top madcap ideas. I’d do a lot for this guy.
Wan and Sal, my first two friends here. We met when our international officer Anne took us to get bank accounts and became flatmates for a term. Zafian, who has such a big heart and always willing to help out and cooks fantastic spaghetti sauce. Cheryl who always has a smile for everyone, Dave and Chew for being great guys and willing to help me move to my new place when we weren’t all that close, Aida for satisfying all my Malaysian food cravings with her fantastic cooking, Dona the super-sweet shopaholic all-rounder, Zaiton, the Hanims, Zubaidah and all the rest of the Malaysian students here. Kanji, for his patience, late night convos and the occasional cigarette ;)
Mr. Bunny, who was special to me once and made me smile for the longest while.
Haddie and Amir, my two housemates who are the two sweetest guys I know here. Living with them has been such a pleasure and so much fun! Even the people I’ve met briefly have been very nice and a majority have provided me with countless hours of laughter and the pleasure of being in their company and mad fun just because. I think this post is long overdue. I’m sure I’ve missed out a bunch of people but know that they’re in my thoughts. Thanks for letting me in, for all the memories. I am not always the most reliable of friends but I have been there when it counted. I love you guys! I will definitely miss this place (and I sure as hell hope this place misses me, LOL)
