Had lunch with Ting today at her office building (HBC @ 401 Bay St). It was “Tasty Thursdays” at Nathan Phillips Square, but we decided to give the crowds a miss today for a cosy lunch at Great Cooks On Eight which is on the 8th floor of the HBC building. It’s a pretty cool spot cos it’s both a cooking school and a bistro/restaurant.
We dined on tilapia and salmon, mixed green salads and sipped orchid-oolong tea (which was really good!). We ate on leaf-shaped plates and had tea from leaf-shaped tea-cups on leaf-shaped saucers. (Today was one of those days I wished I had remembered to bring my camera!)
After the pretty light lunch, we moseyed across the floor to the City View Café for tiramisu, peach cheesecake and more tea. The desserts were ok, but the café was pretty! Ting and I were at our natural clumsy selves, toppling tea-pots (empty ones but ooh what a clatter it made) and spilling tea. :P We received a lengthy but incomprehensible ‘sermon’ from a well-meaning staff on how to correctly take teapots without toppling them. It was funny :P It’s at times like this that I understand why Zibin calls Ting and I the “Xiao-Xiao å§å¦¹”.
*****
I sat across the table from Ting, and I knew I was talking to the same girl I’ve lived with for 2 years. But there was something different. It wasn’t just the clothes, or the new glasses. It must have been there for a while, but the new setting made it more obvious. In her ever-mischievious, twinkling eyes, I saw more maturity, more wisdom, and more love.
As I was walking back home after lunch, I had a flashback to 2002 when I first met her. The friendly, witty, tom-boyish, irreverant (to YD) and ‘blur’ little girl whom I couldn’t help wanting to dote on like a little sis. In the years hence, she’s become a strong and compassionate friend whose occasional and delightful flashes of girlish naiveté belie an impressive emotional maturity and groundedness.
She’s quite a girl, that Wanting. And she’s quite the friend. :)
Journey of the Heart 