When You Think of Ofelia

She’s one person who doesn’t know how not to laugh. She seems to be not taking things seriously. Everything she says is goofy. That’s how she is. She just loves to be funny.

Her name is Ofelia. I met her almost 30 years ago. She’s the O in FLOXCI. As I’ve mentioned before in my previous blog, I got mesmerized by her eyes. She seems to be wearing contact lens. I found it very cool then.

As a birthday tribute to her, let’s get to know a little bit of who she is with some anecdotes of her.

· When it comes to chicken dish, she only prefers fried chicken and it has to be cooked very, very well. I remember we were eating fried chicken at a famous fast food restaurant when she realized it was not well-cooked. I ended up telling the crew to cook it again and this time it should be well-done.

· While attending their ring hop ceremony many years ago, we were served cake for dessert. While I was gobbling mine, she kept on talking, her eyes wandering around the ballroom. When she turned to the table to eat her cake, the waiter already cleared it away. She was so taken aback and the only thing she could say was, “I haven’t even finished it yet” with a sulky face. It took her a while to move on from that incident during the rest of the evening.

· She falls asleep so easily. One minute, you are still talking to her but the moment her head hits the pillow, she's already in dreamland in just a few seconds leaving you doing a monologue.

· While at the Universal Studios Singapore, I warned her that The Mummy ride is quite an extreme one. I was not sure if she heard me well because she insisted on taking that ride. So, after a 3-minute screaming and the feeling of near-death experience, she told me, "Why didn’t you tell me that it’s a scary ride? I almost lost my voice. I couldn’t shout.” I answered back, "I told you it’s an extreme ride. You didn’t listen." She replied, "I really thought it’s just one of those scary booths where a bunch of fake ghosts are touching you while we pass them by.”

· We have been best friends for almost 30 years. Even when we don’t communicate and see each other often, we will always be assured that the friendship remains forever.

· She’s one of my most favorite persons because she always makes me laugh. I always make her laugh, too.

· Wherever we go and whatever we do, we can’t stop laughing and that’s true. She’s one of my laughing buddies. She’s my joke-cracker.

· She doesn't beat around the bush. She's very straightforward. Take it and move on or take it and sulk.

· She has gone through a lot in life but she still comes out tough.

· And the one thing that makes me truly admire her the most is that she doesn’t feel good if she can't laugh in one day.

I can’t thank her enough for being that great friend she is to me. I can’t even enumerate all the things that she has done for me because I can’t count them anymore. All I know is that she will always hold a special place in my heart and we will always be best friends for life.

So, when you think of Ofelia, you don’t cry. You laugh.