25 kgs ago

Without any difficulty I can be transported back to 25 years ago when I was also, probably, 25 kgs lighter.  I was way too thin then and some people even thought I had cancer!  It's crazy looking back to those days but really it's no different from today when people still have crazy thoughts.  

Today, 25 years ago, I started work at the Embassy of Peru, which accounts for nearly 20 years of my life.  It's been more than five years since I left but my google calendar reminded me.  I hold many good and great memories of my time there.  It was a steep learning curve when I started work but I embraced all the lessons.

From an inner room with only a window to the corridor, I was given this beautiful office space.  How many hours I must have clocked from sitting there for so many years. 

I miss this office set up for when I need to do stuff.  Everything within easy reach!  And the beautiful hand-crafted Peruvian tapestry which was my favourite among the many that we displayed in the Embassy. 

On days when there wasn't a single cloud in the sky like this and the sun's heat could be felt even through the tinted-glass, reminding us that even things we cannot see, can affect us.

To days when clouds formed but never stayed permanently as part of the sky, very much like how life is; ever-changing but always interesting

And when the rains poured so heavily at mid-day, it was impossible to see beyond this Hotel next to us and I have stood watching the trees being tossed around with great admiration for their determination to stay rooted.

Then it passes, the clouds pull back and everything comes back into focus and we can see clearly again that even when things seem to have been lost, they were still there but just hidden.

Suddenly the sun will shine through again and reminds us that no matter how many storms we go through, it's not going to be dark always.  Light will overcome darkness if we are patient enough.

I never tire of  seeing the fountain and the sounds made when it lands back into the pool of water.  I remember the shade from these stately trees!  I'm glad that Wisma Selangor Dredging had this mini oasis to balance the concrete jungle.  Tranquility when least expected.

View from the conference room where we often had our lunch.  A place where many secrets were shared, tears were shed but also where there was so much laughter.  The rolling-on-the-floor type of laughter that I cherish until today.  It's also the place where we gathered for a lunch pizza party when Obama won the elections.

 This is the corridor where my colleague, Ivy,  taught me how to linedance to achy breaky heart one Friday afternoon when the office had closed for the day.

 I'm truly glad that I took some pictures before finally leaving the place that helped to mould and shape me into the person that I am today.  

That's a glimpse of me with my favourite ambassador, H. E. Alejandro Gordillo.  We still stay in touch via emails and whatsapp

A quarter of a century has passed and still I have such a vivid memory of my first day.  With my eyes closed, I can see myself wearing a light-yellow two-piece outfit for that new chapter on 24 June 1992.