If only I knew

Chapter One

"So - have you decided where to go this time?" 

I was at our favourite cafe DALKOM with my two best friends - Esme and Jasmine. We have been friends for the longest time since we were thirteen and now we are nearly in our mid thirties with our own careers and families - maybe just Esme who was the only one married among us three and a third kid on the way. I always felt she has a unique name - Esme, and back in those days I used to tease her with Ask Me. But then again she had been the smartest, coming from a family of lawyers and judges and now a lawyer herself and married one too, continuing her family's legacy. We actually lost contact with Esme after A Levels when she went to UK to study. Then she returned after obtaining her license and we met up again ten years ago. Jasmine on the other hand had not done well for her A Levels and had to take a detour to polytechnic to study nursing and now she's a well respected senior nurse who cleans old people's poop and wrap up dead bodies, as she proudly declare the gory every time we meet up. As for me, I'm the typical student, went on to University, got a degree and ended up at a boring desk job, except that this boring job happens to pay well which is a consolation. 

"Are you sure you can drink so sweet?" I asked Esme. She had ordered a sweet potato latte, iced. My favourite drink at Dalkom except I was not feeling for it today. 

"This is already my third round, I'm sure I'm fine," she answered. She was referring to her third round of pregnancy. She had gotten married just short of five or six years back and already this is her third pregnancy. She and her husband are truly answering to the call of the government to boost the birth rate of the nation. She says she's doing us a favour, one for me and one for Jasmine, to meet the quota of one per family. 

"Still I think you should watch your sugar..." Jasmine pointed out. But it's no point trying to reason with a lawyer especially a stubborn one, not even from a nurse on health matters. "Gestational diabetes is not a joke -"

"Okay - okay - yes doctor," Esme smiled fondly at our dear friend. We know Jasmine likes to nag, like a mother hen, maybe that is because of her job but more likely because of her character. She has been like that since day one we knew her. Back in school when she used to be the class monitor, she would henpecked on us regarding our homework and whatnot.

"I'm not a doctor," Jasmine corrected her like always. It was meant like a tease, a joke but she always takes it seriously. "I'm a total level lower and less paid but more work." And thanks to her enlightenment, we have been made aware that doctors are not as glamorously as we made them out to be, mainly it's the nurses doing the work.

Esme and I chuckled.

Compared to my two friends, I should be considered the 'most free' out of us three, with my regular office work hours and no family commitments, not even a relationship, that is why I can do a solo trip every year.

I started doing solo trips after I turned thirty. When I hit thirty and having worked for a few years, I decided I should do something different for my next stage of life. Since I'm single, and I like being on my own, (of course I like being with my friends too but it is so hard even to meet up with our schedules lest to say go on a trip together!) so I decided to challenge myself and travel by myself. For the first year, I had opted for somewhere familiar and generally safe - Taiwan. Then I went to Osaka and Kyoto, and last year I went to Perth to visit an old friend as well whom very kindly hosted me.

I have been thinking the destination of my this year trip since the start of the year. Jasmine had suggested going China, like Beijing or Shanghai. She has always a thing for China and she's an avid chinese dramas fan. But I was not and I have absolutely no interest in China, though we are supposed to be since our history ties back to China, blah blah. Sorry, just not interested. Esme has of course recommended UK - London, Scotland, you'll love it, she kept telling me but UK is expensive and it doesn't fit my criteria as a 'short trip'. I will definitely make it to UK one day but just not yet.