My lunch kakis

I didn't mention anything about my good friends during the company farewell speech for fear of losing control of my emotions. Tomorrow is my last day and this post is dedicated to them.

One year ago this time, there would be 7 of us lunching together. We had to wait for a while at the food court in order to get seven seats at one table. It was something like 'ya-ya sisterhood' where we shared rants regarding MILS/hubs/bfs, funny anecdotes or lame jokes. Sometimes we could laugh until we teared. Or in the mornings, we could just walk into the lab and starting ranting off what happened the night before or on the way to work.

Alas, that is no more. From seven, it will be down to one soon....within a year.

I 'stole' the following pictures from their FB pages.

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Natalie - but to us she is Yanting. Knew her 7-8 years ago when she joined PLR as a fresh poly grad. I was hesistant about opening up too much about my life to a colleague, but after daily interactions with her, I began to come out of my shell and shared more about my personal life so much so that she was one of my 4 jiemeis and she was there for me during the darkest moments at PLR. I must say her life has the most drama amongst us. I will never forget the one night she sms-ed me while I was patting Eunice to bed. After reading the sms, my jaw dropped for a few seconds.......
YT left PLR in Mar 2011. We've been keeping in touch via WhatsApp. Not the same as before when we were colleagues and saw each other Mon-Fri, but we still updated each other about major events. I wish she will find her dream job.

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Zhen Xuan with little Rui Xin - One of my regrets in PLR was I subjected ZX to difficult and very stressful training when she joined PLR, making her jittery all the time and break down a couple a times at work. I didn't protect her enough too. I still keep the email she sent about volunteering to quit if we didn't find her suitable for the job.
She is also the last one standing in PLR now. I am happy that she had been promoted again (3 times in 5 years!!) to a much senior position and is doing well now. I am privileged too, to be able to witness her wedding, pregnancy and watch her little one blossom.

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Huishan - I was wary of her in the beginning as Koby (her immediate boss and my 'nemesis' at work) liked her and singled her out among many candidates. Soon, the ice was broken. She would share how she could lift her legs behind her neck and stuff like that, which made us all laugh uncontrollably. She was also frank and would just say what came to her mind. She could also be the level-headed one amongst us who could dish out advice when anyone of us came to a roadblock or crossroad.
HS is leaving PLR in Aug 2011 and I wish her many many thousands POs in her new job. I witnessed your wedding and waiting to see your little bundle in time to come.

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Shirly - Fresh out of uni when she came on board. Since then, I had seen how she evolved from a 'greenhorn' to a lady who took pride in dressing up. Only two of us in the same team, I appreciate her for covering me whenever I had to take urgent childcare or sick leave. She is smart and organised and could offer different perspectives to issues.
She left PLR in Apr 2011 to do her Masters in Tokyo.

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Vanessa - the pretty babe. Despite her exterior facade, Van is one who loves God and seeks to do His will. Happy for her that her other half has come to know the Lord and now they are planning a future together.
Van left PLR in Jul 2011.

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Seong Yeng - Kept to herself most of the time, chose to leave to be a better wife, daughter and daughter-in-law.

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You girls made me feel like I was your age! All the best to wherever you are and remember this circle is one where you don't have to put on a mask and you can be yourself. Looking forward to a planned short trip together next year and let's try to meet up regularly and during future CNYs!