"It's Good to Talk" and "Connecting people"

Yesterday was a rather surprising day. I talked to three of my good friends. Not just friends you would go out with and have a drink but people I can depend and rely on; people who would not judge me. It is suprising in the fact that most of my friends are now working and have progressed in life, while I am still stuck in a rut .

I had lunch with Vanessa, who at times can be a bit of an airhead and blunt. Will she change that? No. Would I still consider her a friend? Absolutely. Now I accept that she's not an airhead and she is honest. That is who she is and I wouldn't change that in the world. Not everybody has to think and talk like me.

It was great talking to her, catching up and doing what we do best - bitching about the state of Hong Kong. I think our idea of Hong Kong is one of the things we have in common. We think differently compared to 90% of the population. We don't accept the status quo and at times are willing to challenge it. It was just nice to talk to somebody who thinks on the same wavelength and doesn't accept "the Matrix phenomenon".

Later in the day, whilst waiting for my group peers to obtain the necessary equipment for practising our surgical skills (or lack of them), I got a call that I would never expect to get. I got a call from Herbert. For those who don't know Herbert, he's a great guy. Stylish, versatile and a bit eccentric. I lived with Herbert for two years but we share more than that. We both went to boarding school in England. We both had to repeat our first year of medical school. We both suffer from psychiatric disease - depression for me, bipolar disorder for him. We both had to put up with the eccentricities of our third flatmate - Poemen (more of him later).

Lately he had become slightly sociophobic. I tried contacting him over the past year with every means necessary - mobile, email, ICQ, text messaging. I was about to go on his new website and try contacting him that way. The last resort was using a carrier pigeon. Finally I got a call from him from out of the blue. It's just a relief to know that he is OK. He's doing OK. The only bad news was that he had to drop out of university, on the recommendation of his psychiatrist (who happens to be my psychiatrist). Nonetheless he is happier about it and that is what matters.

To complete our holy trinity, I got a call from Poemen. He's a bit eccentric, to put it mildly, but he's a great friend and he's mellowed out recently. To prove the point, he has a girlfriend which I thought would never happen. The real reason he called was to invite me out to have a drink and watch the Champions' League final. I decided not to for a lot of reasons:

1. Kickoff was 2:45 in the morning and even though the next day was a public holiday I was too tired.
2. It involves two teams that I don't care about. Just because Liverpool is a British team doesn't mean I have to support them. I don't support Spurs when they're in Europe.
3. I knew that Liverpool was going to lose. Milan had more drive and wanted revenge for two years earlier. I actually should have placed a bet, since I knew it would be 2-1 and Inzaghi would score.

We did catch up on the phone, just talking about how our lives were. He's about to take a good training position, away from real pressure and capable of having a normal life.

Days like yesterday just prove that you don't need a lot of friends. You just need good friends. Remember - quality not quantity.