Playing dangerously for a friendship

It was hard finding someone who liked to travel like I did. My own girlfriends were either too busy or simply have no interest of heading anywhere further than the east, while the boyfriend of course had to rush home early all the time and can't go any further than his own turfs.

Sure, it's great to travel alone around the country, but sometimes I do get lonely. Sometimes I'd want to be with someone while I'm walking along an unfamiliar place, so I can share the joy, you know??? And, someone who also knows the way around the roads so when I'm out of ideas, they can lead the way, you know???

I did come across someone like that. It was unexpected, he was the type who would reply your tweets with random things, and from the few conversations I had with him on Twitter, I found out he was almost a master of Singapore roads, even more so than me. He liked to travel and explore around the country too.

So who is he? He's actually 'Aamir's secondary school classmate, whose name I did not know until he told me: Zul. This guy followed me when 'Aamir and I were having that argument which led to our last breakup. 'Aamir told me he was tweeting "Woah, couple fight. Let me get my popcorn", at that same moment, and that was how I'd called him "the Popcorn dude" whenever i talked about him with 'Aamir.

I told 'Aamir about how Zul liked to travel as well, and that I wanted to make friends with him. I asked him if we could go out with him someday to go walk around the purple line or something, but of course 'Aamir said no. He said Zul is a flirt and that I must stay away from him.

I thought it was really unfair; if he didn't like me going out with another guy alone, why not come along then? Of course not, because no matter what he'd still be dead against going exploring with me, whether or not with me alone or with me and another guy. How unfair is that?

So one day this Zul was tweeting about a dream he had, and I thought it was interesting. I DM-ed him to tell me more about it, because I'd wanted to blog about it. I was just being a journalist, interviewing someone, you know? I guess our friendship formed from there.

Of course, I kept it from 'Aamir. He would've killed me if he had known, and even if I'd wanted to be honest with him, he still wouldn't accept it. I don't think you could blame me though; there he was refusing to go for simple walks with me, and here came a new friend who gladly would.

There was that one time when 'Aamir hurt me and cheated my feelings so bad, that I went for a walk from Tiong Bahru to Farrer Road 'alone'. Except I wasn't alone; this Zul brought me. He led the way because I wasn't so familiar yet, and we talked about all the little things in our lives along the roads, in the drizzle, and over a cup of hot tea.

And this other time when I skipped my afternoon class to go skating with him, because there was a 5-hour break in between that and the morning lesson, and I wasn't bothered to wait that long.

I'd gone to Punggol straight after morning class where I snacked on Hello Pandas while waiting for Zul to arrive on his longboard, which was bigger than I'd thought. He passed me my parcel, a trade from Carousell which I'd used his address to receive it from, and we went off to Punggol park for a little walk.

He had to teach me how to ride since I'm shit at skating, but I could say I was slowly getting the hang of it. The last time I rode one, I hadn't known how to change direction but with the help of the Popcorn dude, I was a genius!!!

Still, when I was on the board [since there was only one between us] he had to hold me by my backpack and pull me along slowly. It felt like the time my dad taught me how to cycle, when he'd pull me along like that, even with the training wheels.

And then I got lazy to skate on my own; this was the fun part. I sat at the front of the board while Zul stood at the back and just drove us through the park. We were going fast through puddles and rough grounds, almost like a rollercoaster!!! Yes, that moment is unforgettable.

Also, I got to know so much about this friend, and he's the opposite of what 'Aamir said he was. He's nice, he's cool, and he isn't a flirt because he's been in love with the same girl for years. The only reason why he looks at girls all the time and ask for numbers and shit is because he wants to move on.

I had so much fun that day and I so badly wanted to tell 'Aamir all about it but he wasn't supposed to know. I couldn't blog about it as well, but well, since I'd come clean with him two days ago, here you go. The year is ending, and by tomorrow I'd be able to add Zul to my list of People Who Made Me Smile in 2013, because he simply deserves recognition for being the reason to the few of my smiles in the year. :-)

P.s. Hands which shaped my 2012.