Willo's uncle lives in one of the historic black and white houses in Singapore. These houses were built in the British colonial days (19th century up until WWII) for expatriate families and are situated amongst a lush nature landscape. They are the most expensive homes to live in and so sought after that you have to bid in order to be able to rent one. When we arrived at the house, there was no sense of feeling like we were still in the city. I immediately heard the chattering of friends that had already arrived, and as I walked up the long driveway I heard two of my friends yelling that they were on the back patio. I walked over to the back gate and the patio opened up to two huge outdoor seating areas, a pool, and a table set up for us to eventually eat at. I was greeted by Michael and Adrian and they quickly told me that the others were taking a tour of the house. We walked inside and there were large grandiose rooms that flowed and opened in to one another. We ended up in the kitchen where Michael poured me a glass of wine. I looked out the big window adjacent to the fridge and saw three women grilling in the distance that I did not recognize. I wasn't sure who they were and Adrian said they were the help preparing the braai. I could hear the rest of my friends making their way to the main floor we all said our hellos and introduced anyone that was new to the group. It's true what they say: when you hang out with people often enough, you start to dress alike. Val, Anna, and I all were in a very similar outfit. We had to take a photo!
Everyone headed out to the back patio and refreshed our drinks and started to catch up. I was leaving for Hong Kong in 4 days and this was going to be the last time that I was going to see a lot of my friends for awhile. Drinks led to more drinks and eventually the table was set for us to eat! The food was amazing and we ate well.
The match was about to start and half the group went inside to watch while the other half stayed outside and continued to chat.
When the match was over (South Africa won in case anyone was wondering!) we all congregated outside. The boys quickly jumped in the pool and Mia and Kathleen were soon to follow.
There was a big tree to the left of the pool and one of the branches overhung perfectly to have a rope tied to it. It was a perfect way to have fun in theory.
It took Owen only one swing to somehow unwind the rope from the branch! I tried my best to use my toned arms (haha) to swing the rope back over the branch but it just wasn't happening. Owen got the rope over the top, now the question was how to secure it to the branch. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I hoisted myself on to the base of the branch and started climbing up the tree. I was doing just fine and not aware of the height until Adrian yelled, "Mish, don't look down!" I, of course, naturally looked down and froze. I couldn't move forward and couldn't move backwards.
The boys realized I looked like a deer in headlights and got out of the pool to figure out how to help me down. Owen noticed that I was legitimately scared and climbed half way up and led me partly down.
He then jumped down and told me to keep my body very stiff and grabbed me by my legs and lifted me down. The intense workouts he has been doing 6 days a week came to benefit me! Aside from a brief scare and a scrapped leg, I was just fine. In celebration of my return to solid ground, we opened another bottle of wine and poured myself a very heavy glass. I sat down on the couch next to Carrie and enjoyed a long sip.
I got up to grab my camera out of my handbag and saw Willo walking up to me. He very disarmingly said, "Amisha, I'm going to throw you in the pool." It took a second for me to register what he had said and before I knew it I felt his arm around my waist and we were falling into the pool!
There was nothing left for me to do but gasp for air and laugh at what had just happened. My friends were waiting to see if I was upset, and once they realized I wasn't they felt free to laugh along with me. I climbed out of the pool and had a moment of panic. My iPhone was in my back pocket! I frantically ran to the edge of the pool and started scanning the pool for my phone. It was nowhere to be found. Carrie called my phone and, low and behold we located it in between the couch cushion that I was sitting on before I got up to grab my camera. I was so grateful that it had fallen out of my back pocket before I was flung in to the water! Willo set his sights on Anna next and she exclaimed, "No! I'll jump in myself!" Willo started to run towards her and she had no hope of escaping. She realized this and tossed herself in! That was two down fully clothed in the pool. Willo was on a roll! The rest of the night carried on with swimming, drinking, snacking, and laughing.
Before we knew it, it was 4am and slowly we started to wind down. One by one we all said our good-byes and called it a night. All in all, it was a perfect Singapore night with good friends, rugby, braai, and drinks.
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