Bellyboings

Hi friends :-)

In my phone's memopad, I basically have this one note where I'd give myself reminders to blog about certain events or topics that I want to write about and I've had "Fabulous Baker Boy" and "Swan's Farewell Dinner" left hanging there for a long time now. Somehow, I never got the urge or motivation to write about either of them though. Perhaps it's because these "outings" were uneventful and uninteresting (well, in hindsight, they weren't at all - just that it'd probably would not be very entertaining to read), perhaps it's because I just merely wanted to post the photos taken from the trips rather than write about them, perhaps it's because it's been way too long since it happened (Fabulous Baker Boy in the June holidays and Swan's farewell dinner a month ago). But then I realized exactly why I didn't want to write about it. 

These topics which I typed into my phone "Fabulous Baker Boy" and "Swan's Farewell Dinner" sounded far too technical. They were focused on what we did or the place we visited, rather than the people. Thus, I've decided to merge these two events into one - and name this post 'Bellyboings' - this one's for you guys. And I'm writing this not because I have an obligation to tick off these two topics on my phone but rather, because I miss you guys so, so, so much and I wanted to let you guys know how much y'all still mean to me. Unfortunately, Priya couldn't make it for either outing so here's a sad face :-( 

They were one of the best things that happened to me in upper secondary (other than House and Waddle), and honestly, I cannot imagine going through Year Three and Four without them, they are a group of the most inspiring and passionate people, in the entire school I believe. I personally feel extremely honoured when I hang around with them. 

Bellyboings derived our "name" by accident by me but Bellyboing is essentially a character from a Japanese cartoon called Deko Boko Friends which (coincidentally - I didn't know this when I gave us this name) promotes acceptance of people of different personalities and appearances, which is pretty fitting considering most of us (actually - them) are the fluffy kind who go around hugging and encouraging others and doing all those lovely acts of kindness. They have inspired me to be a better person time and time again, though I still am rarely comfortable to show physical forms of affection.

In addition, this Bellyboing character is supposedly the fat kid of the show, and is constantly thinking of food, which is exactly who we are. I remember, back in RG, we'd sit at one of those round tables and the entire surface will be covered with food especially on "Fried Food Fridays" where we all would eat many portions during recess without fear of being judged because we were all the same. Nowadays, we rarely get to do that anymore in school - I wish I could spend all my breaks with you guys. 

You guys brought me out of my shell, to see Singapore in a very different perspective. You guys taught me how to nurture and improve myself, you guys allowed me to learn new things and gave me room to appreciate the aesthetics. And you guys showed me how to give earnestly without hoping for anything in return. I wouldn't have gone to the Singapore Writers' Festival, I wouldn't have gone for Picnic: 1345, I wouldn't have gotten a feel of Pilates, I wouldn't have gone for as many art exhibitions as I did, I wouldn't have visited that many museums. You guys even showed me how to be alone and that it was totally alright - my philosophy is that some people who are alone feel lonely because they are insecure, but I always knew that if I wanted company, at least one of you would be there for me and so that made me okay to spend time outside with myself and in fact, it was an experience I fell in love with. 

And here, we move on to Swan's farewell dinner. Yes, while Swan is already far, far, away from us and I've finally come to terms with that fact, contented with only seeing her fabulous food posts on Instagram recently and always being the first one to like them (not sure if that's a good thing), I sometimes wish she never had to leave. We haven't had full attendance for a long time now, and even her farewell dinner had to be split into two parts to accommodate everyone's schedules and that makes me kind of upset. From now on, I'd be using less words and letting the photos speak for themselves. 

Beautiful - let's play spot the difference with this Shermaine and the one from Fabulous Baker Boy - yes I told you my friends are all inspirations :') 

I miss having real conversations with you Wang, we rarely get that nowadays :-( 

Told ya we like to eat! :-) 

Typical Swan (when she's with Juju) and typical Juju 

From here, Shermaine and Wang You had to leave and that left me with Swan to go find the next two people - Sarah and Phionna! :-) We traveled from Holland Village to Serangoon for more food (of course). 

Hungry girls 

Don't worry - I didn't eat again - just posing with Phion's portion! 

One of the Boings' favourite pastimes would probably be laughing - just look at us. We are these bunch of crazy girls who happened to find one another and actually share the same sense of weird humour. While I still laugh a lot in school nowadays, I've grown to realize that the people around me don't laugh/ laugh only because I am laughing and my laugh is funny (apparently). With you guys, we all know what the joke is all about and we all laugh at the same time and it's an amazing feeling which I miss, so so so much. 

:-) 

Of course, more food (and before one of us actually bought a cone, the rest of us just kept asking for samples) 

And the Boings' favourite food - the shared love of fried chicken. 

With the Boings, there's also no need for any pretense. All of us show our true selves to each other and I don't think there's any other group of people whom I can be as comfortable with. If you're tired, just go ahead and sleep. If you're sad, we'll be able to tell from each other's faces and the encouragement will pour in. I've never had a circle of friends as supportive as they are and I honestly don't want to lose them for the world. 

Thank you Bellyboings, you guys are lovely and wonderful people. 

I love you all to the moon and back. 

All the best for promos - afterwards, we can finally catch up proper instead of just impromptu and very short sessions in the canteen if we happen to run into each other.