Family from faraway

Even if it happened more than 15 years ago, it remains fresh in my mind as if it happened yesterday.

It was a work trip in HKG and, as usual, Park Lane Hotel was the company's hotel of choice. I'm happy with that, though, because Park Lane was where Ikea was located, and it made it easier for me to shop for pasalubong during my free time.

While in Ikea, I bumped into a familiar face - Tanya. She was my college classmate and was my co-business manager for our college yearbook. It was my first time to see her in a decade, and it turned out that she was living in HKG. After college, she worked for Cathay Pacific and was based in HKG ever since.

We spent a few minutes catching up, and told her about the work I'm doing in HKG. Then, she told me that this might be just the start of my working in HKG more often, and that I might eventually work there permanently. It was a random comment, really.

Lo and behold, a year after, I received an offer to work for the same agency in HKG. 

After moving and settling in HKG, Tanya became more than a friend, but my family in HKG. She'd be the person I'd ask if there were things I didn't know. She would invite me to her parties so that my circle of friends would widen.

It was during one of those parties that I found out that she worked with a cousin of mine. She also worked with my sisters' friend from Bicol. 

We're both Bicolanos, by the way.

When Tanya became a Mom, she asked me to be her son's Godfather, which I happily accepted.

Even when I left HKG in 2008, we still kept in touch. Whenever my travels - personal or work - would take me there, we'd meet up and catch up.

The last time we got together was sometime in 2015. It was a random trip and we met up at Tung Chung.

A few weeks ago, she visited MNL and I didn't miss the chance to meet up and catch up with Tanya.

Aside from catching up and updating each other about our current lives, one of the nicest parts of this visit was this:

I finally got to see my godson Diego after so, so, SO many years. The little boy I'd play with is now a young man who's almost as tall as me!

While catching up, it felt like we just saw each other last week, even if it's been 7 years. But that's how it is when you meet up with good friends.

Especially if they're friends who are like family.