Meet BFF Two AKA Gossip Girl.
This is my favourite photo of BFF Two. It captures her personality perfectly. Mostly smiling, enjoying simple moments and not afraid of being silly.
It is BFF Two’s birthday on the 20th of July, so this is my (unbeknownst) tribute to her.
BFF is one of Bestie Boy’s friends. I did not like her when I met her the first two times at Nameless Bar, the expat watering hole in the (Chinese) city I lived in. I thought she was what I call a typical “Chinese” girl. One who is unduly friendly with foreigners for the sake of our foreignness more than for who we are as individuals.
The second time we met at Nameless Bar, I softened my stance towards her a little because I noticed she had snubbed Tomcat*. And Bestie Boy had reiterated that she was smart. So I agreed to meet her when she invited me to dinner a few months later.
*Tomcat is what I called my Other Foreign National, short time …whew ex-flattie in China, to his face. He was a good looking, charming lad in his late 20s with an insatiable appetite for women. I lived with him for 6 weeks and when I was offered my own flat as part of my promotion, I bolted. But alas, I was only 3 buildings down from the long arm of the law(less). Well, he was Tomcat and I was Bobcat. When hiss and spit didn’t work, my claws came out. Freak!
It took me nearly 6 months to believe that BFF Two was really a friendly person. I think it was because my first impression of her wasn’t favourable. I quickly discovered that BFF Two was smart, quick and efficient with any help I needed. Even when I didn’t need it.
For a long time, I refused to let her help me with simple stuff like enquiring about routes and fares for my trips. (It’s hard to find English speaking Chinese people in the service industry.) Once I allowed her to help and found out how good she was, I turned lazy and began making the most elementary requests.
“BFF Two, could you please pick up some dried medlar berries for me from the supermarket near you?”
“BFF Two, could you please check if they have dried Sharon fruit (persimmons) in the open market?”
“BFF Two, could you book our appointment at the spa, please?”
And then I’d grumble that she had robbed me of my independence. Ha ha!
I call BFF Two the Gossip Girl because many a times, our conversation would start with me excitedly saying, “BFF Two, I want to gossip!”
When I first told my family and friends about this nickname for BFF Two, they were all baulked. “But you don’t gossip, Kate?” Well, no … But YES!
I love to gossip. I gossip a lot. Rip the poor person’s rep to shreds. B#tch about them like I live in a glass house. And you know what? It feels good!
There’s just one little clause when I embark on this mission impugnable. The person I blab to must NOT know the target of my vicious words. Since BFF Two and I didn’t work together and didn’t have the same circle of friends, she became my ideal gossip partner.
This is something I’m particular about with my friends and co-workers. At every place I’ve worked at, I have found at least two other allies who belonged to the boring lot in the office. We never discussed our colleagues’ personal lives with the others at work or even amongst ourselves.
So if I gossiped, why did I call her Gossip Girl? Let’s just say BFF Two was a quick learner.
BFF Two and I have a favourite hobby in common. We like boy watching. Let me tell you a little story about our ‘hobby’.
One summer, BFF Two and I visited Xinjiang, the northwestern most province in China.
Heaven is a place on earth!
This is Tianchi Lake in Xinjiang. Tianchi = Heavenly Lake.
When planning our trip to Xinjiang, one of the many things I briefed BFF Two about myself was my penchant for ogling at guys.
“Not the pretty boys; nothing in the head”, I sneered. “You can have those, BFF Two”, I added generously. We even devised a code for delicious sightings.
The first episode was on the very first day of our trip. (I work fast, don’t I?)
We were puttering around in our dorm having just landed Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. Our 2 American dorm mates came in for a bit.
As usual, I forced a perfunctory smile, said “Hi” and ignored them.
As usual, BFF Two smiled sweetly and began chatting with them.
They left shortly to grab dinner or whatever. No sooner they left the room, I swerved to BFF Two and blurted, “I like the guy in the green tee.”
BFF Two, ignorant at that point of the meaninglessness of such words, got excited and said, “They’ve gone out for a short while. You can talk to him when he comes back soon.”
(BFF Two’s favourite colour is lavender.)
That’s when BFF Two learned the most vital part of my manhunts.
“Are you mad? Why would I want to talk to him?”
“You said you like him!”
“I don’t even know him, BFF Two. And I don’t want to know him.”
“But, but, you, you..”
*rolled my eyes*
Thereafter, BFF Two never made that mistake again. So watch and drool only we did from that time on.
Guys, I really feel sorry for you lot. We, women, are a vexing species fo sho.
BFF Two visited my family a year and a half ago. She spent Christmas 2010 and New Year’s 2011 with us. 🙂
These are a few pictures of some of her happy times here.
Just arrived
BFF Two joined my family everywhere we went. This was her first visit to my country and I was very happy that she got to experience many new (and strange!) things.
At a relative’s silver wedding celebration.
Me BFF Two Big Sis
At a family friend’s wedding reception.
Like me, BFF Two loves dancing! After some initial shyness, she was relaxed enough to dance away. She loved the conga lines, The Birdie Dance and The Hokey Pokey.
BFF Two will be back next year to spend Christmas 2013 with us. Yaay!
Until then, the countdown has begun for Kate Spade Girl’s arrival for Christmas this year. 🙂
This image is from http://rishikajain.com/
Thank you, The Book of Terrible, Cheerful Monk, and mj monaghan for commenting on my last post.
Thank you, The Book of Terrible, for liking my last post.
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P.S.: Cheerful Monk adds a footnote to every post acknowledging those who comment on her previous post. She also links the commenters’ names back to their own blogs.
I like both these practices of acknowledging the time and effort made to comment, and the free advertising! So I’m doing what I do well – being a copycat!
For You, Daddy! 