Closing of a chapter

Wen and Celia are officially Houstonians no more. They left at dawn today for Singapore to celebrate CNY before heading to Shanghai to start a new chapter of their lives after the festive season.

We started off with 13 Singaporeans with the 3 couples forming a gang and the other 7 singles forming another. Even though we made several attempts to “jio” the singles to join us for dinner, we were never really successful. So the 3 couples pretty much stick together. With one couple less, our lives here will definitely not be the same as before. No more crap from Wen, no more STi and purple Camry to bring us around, no more table for 6, no more trips together in the US, no more just pure hanging out together and enjoying one another’s company. We are so used to sticking together that I’m already starting to miss them.

We’ve always talked about how things in Houston somehow will go wrong no matter what. We coined it WCGWWGW (‘what can go wrong will go wrong”). Never did we expect that the WCGWWGW luck were to stay with Wen and Celia right until the very last moment they were to leave Houston for good. Here’s what happened to them yesterday:

- Celia mysteriously caught a stomach virus early in the morning. Good thing she miraculously recovered last night; if not, she would be so uncomfortable during her 30-hour flight.

- Wen and Celia informed the staff at the leasing office that they would be moving out of the apartment back in early January. The staff told them that they did not have to hand in an early termination request letter until they are about to move out. This differed from what was written in the contract which stated that a formal letter has to be sent in a month before they leave. Assuming that the staff knows best, they left it as that.

However, when Wen and Celia sent in the termination form yesterday, they were told to pay two months rental penalty instead of just one month for failing to inform the office a month in advance. Wen had a big argument with the staff. The assistant manager got involved. As at the time they left for Singapore, the issue has not been resolved.

- We had a final farewell with Wen and Celia at their home last night. (hmm...actually, we were there to help ourselves to whatever furniture and food they don’t want.) We left at about 130am. Then at 330am, Tim and YR woke up to help them move their luggage to the SUV (and also to get the futon mattress which they have kindly given to us). Wen had deliberately rented a SUV so that they don’t have to bother us to send them to the airport in the middle of the night.

At 5am, we received a call. It’s from Celia. They had a Punctured Tire!

This is the most powerful of all WCGWWGWs - right before they were about to catch the flight out of here. One last WCGWWGW to make sure they remember Houston for life!

Luckily YR came to their rescue. Somehow, they managed to squeeze the seven pieces of luggage into his car and got to the airport just in time for their flight. Of course, they had to leave the rental car behind.

Wen and Celia, I’m sure you are done with WCGWWGW Houston. Best of luck with your Shanghai stint! U all will definitely be missed!! Must remember to spare us a futon when we go visiting! And come back with a Shanghai Tan!

ps: The singles gang is now left with just one guy. The rest has either gone back to Singapore, to China or NY to work. We are now left with just 5 Singaporeans in Houston. I bet the number will drop to zero before the year is out.

pps: Celia and Wen, just so u know, I made lotus root peanut soup today with the ingredients u gave me. I also stir fried the green beans with ur leftover bacon. And I've already used the wok and wok cover for steaming my egg as well as the extra pot to boil water. The futon matress is really comfy. I'm sure the kitchen towels and detergent will come in useful soon. But I will need to wash the laundry basket and shower curtain before using them. Gosh, that's really a long list of stuff that u all gave us....