It's been a long time- very long time- since I last hung out with family members my age.
The last time I met someone my age on the paternal side was more than three years ago when we had a short, celebratory lunch at the 'hood's shopping mall.
Life somehow happened and it was only this year that we managed to meet again.
Not by ourselves this time, but with another also near our age, and whom I had not met for more than ten years.
It began with an invitation to dinner at her parents' home.
Somehow in the midst of the hotpot dinner, the ice cream bowls and the tea cups, a very lively discussion ensued, resulting in (some of) us- namely me- reaching out for the luxury panettone in the center of the dining table.
It also resulted in a second chillout date which some of us had together.
I was glad for it.
Not because it was sorely needed.
But because she was just a little girl of seven when I last met her, and I didn't want the first meet (after all these years) to be one where personal opinions and thoughts got trampled upon or went unheard.
Between Tiong Bahru, Dempsey or Tyrwhitt, we settled for Tiong Bahru.
At a corner cafe of this hipster housing estate, we settled for drinks.
Someone ordered a cappuccino (or was it a latte?)
Someone ordered an iced tea.
And someone ordered a flat white.
Food wise, we were trying to decide between fries and/or waffles that we could share.
In the end, we went for the waffle with strawberry cheesecake ice cream and cookies and cream ice cream.
So I was surprised to find out that coffee and desserts really can, and do, make a difference to chillout conversation too.
We talked about random stuff.
She talked about her years abroad.
It was a genuinely fun conversation.
Especially since I felt like I was getting to know her all over again.
It wasn't much, just a little bit more.
But it was enough.
I don't know when our next chillout date will be, but hey, this made for a great start, and hopefully there'll be more ice cream dates with each other the next time a season rolls around again.