X'mas Reunion With Sandy

I met Londoner Sandy Cahill three Christmases ago by sheer coincidence! We shared a table-for-two at Little Penang Cafe in KLCC because the place was rather full. I was working on a crossword puzzle while waiting for my order and Sandy sat across the table. My order for curry laksa arrived first and before tucking into the dish, I asked her to excuse me for not waiting for her order to arrive as I was rather hungry. From that moment, we struck a conversation and we have been friends three years now.

It turned out that Sandy is a Penangite who migrated to England more than twenty years ago and she came to Kuala Lumpur alone for her X'mas vacation. We got on so well at that first meeting that we decided to continue our chat over drinks at a hotel next door.

It was that time of the year when I really wanted to be with someone - you know, with all the festivities from X'mas to the New Year, I didn't want to be alone; and neither did Sandy! Since I had nothing to do on X'mas eve, we planned to paint the town red - just the two of us! But before that, we had to hit the shops because we had nothing to wear - you know the usual girlie excuse to shop?

However, it rained on Christmas eve so we had to forget about painting the town red. Fortunately, the band playing at the hotel lounge was quite good so we had a lovely time listening to music with other X'mas revellers. Everyone was in a festive mood and we had a great time! I spent the night with Sandy and we stayed up till the wee morning hours chatting about all kinds of things, and also to work on my unfinished crossword puzzle! For the rest of Sandy's stay, I was tour guide and it felt like we were old friends.

So, it was a pleasant surprise when Sandy contacted me earlier this year with the news that she plans to visit during X'mas again. This time, I could not spend X'mas eve with her as planned as I am recovering from surgery but we did meet for tea at the hotel where she is staying.

Audi and Mahani accompanied me and as I had expected, they got on very well with Sandy. By the way, Audi has been driving me around (including trips to the physiotherapist) since I am not able to drive and I can never be grateful enough for her help.

We had earlier planned a family picnic this weekend and Sandy will be joining us.....more about that later!