redang; part I

hannah 

susanna

ruben jumping off a boat 

hannah has been my friend ever since i was 4 years old. the two of us could have passed as sisters. our fathers are malaysian-chinese and our mothers are dutch. as little girls, we liked to tell people that we were cousins, sisters, or even twins. we have many cherished memories together, like the time we were watching winnie the pooh and kanga sprayed some mysterious spray in her mouth and we decided to follow her example by spraying her mothers perfume in our mouth. we soon understood that kanga had a special kind of mouth spray that her mother didnt have. we used to spend hours at the pool pretending we were mermaids and making perfume out of flowers. we used to make up songs and sing in our castle of a playground where so many of our adventures took place. in her very living room we traveled to places that were foreign to us, but with our  imagination, they were real and somewhat familiar. several times, the two of our families have gone on holiday to an island called redang. ten years after the first time we went together, hannah's family invited my brother and i to go with them once more. the island is as beautiful as ever. the white sand has held our childhood memories of the island very well. and the crystal clear blue water still feels as fresh in its own salty way as it did when my skin covered my childish body. it felt good to be back in a place where i once had so many adventures. i am no longer the small, pig-tailed girl that i used to be. i have changed so much, but nevertheless, i still hold those memories of innocent fun.