the girls hit Town

Hazel. Nix. Cristy. Andrea. I've known Hazel since we were kids...our families are close friends since then, so we basically watched each other grow up. I've known Andrea from piano school since we were kids, while Cristy and I met in highschool. All of us lived in the same village, just a few streets apart from each other. But it wasn't until highschool when the 4 us truly bonded. We all went to St. Scho and we were carpoolmates and busmates. Hazel was a batch higher than us, while Cristy, Andrea and I were classmates. And that was the start of a friendship which transcended time and distance.

College brought us to different paths as we went to different universities. Hazel was in UST, Cristy in UA&P while Andrea and I were in DLSU (yet we were in different courses so we didn't really get to hang out together). We barely saw each other anymore especially when we started working. Cristy eventually migrated to the US, Andrea worked there for several years as well, while I was flying in and out for work. We still managed to keep in touch (thanks to email and chat!) so even if we are in different parts of the world with different timezones, we're updated with each others' lives.

Andrea, Cristy and I reunited a few years back when all of us were in the US and we regularly see each other since then (mostly with me going to the US for work or vacation). But Hazel never traveled so it has been about 8(?) years since all 4 of us were together. I got back from my onshore assignment in 2009, Cristy came home for a vacation during the holidays of that year (but Andrea wasn't around then), then just mid last year, Andrea came home (this time, Cristy was back in the US already). Talk about timing...it's so hard to get us all together!

But that just changed. Cristy arrived the other day and she'll be here for 2 weeks. Finally, all 4 of us are in Manila at the same time! A rare occassion indeed. Who knows when this can happen again so we didn't let this chance pass. We definitely had to meet up. We had dinner at Crustasia...

Then caught up with each other and talked about anything and everything at Starbucks 'til the wee hours of the morning. We called it a 'night' at 2am already!

It was amazing that after all these years and a couple of life milestones later (Hazel is already married, Cristy is engaged, Andrea will soon be moving to and getting married in Indonesia, I'm in a long term/long distance relationship for almost 4 years now), we're still the same girls as we were more than a decade ago. And it's comforting to know that even if we go our separate ways again, the friendship will always be there and we would have something priceless to come home to every time... :)