I met Ching on my first day at PwC Singapore in August 2014. He had a strong American accent and confidently asked if he could join my welcome lunch. Ching was then assigned onto my first major project in Singapore - he was one of the associates in my work stream. This was a stressful project, we were all learning how to do this type of work, under high time pressure. I was responsible for reviewing the work of the associates and had quickly built up a reputation of being firm and somewhat demanding.

Ching had a lot of questions. I remember reviewing one of his reports, and sending back over 100 comments (including bold red “no one has time to read long sentences. Please cut this sentence into 3 separate sentences, use full stops”). Ching promptly booked several follow up meetings to discuss the changes. In these meetings, Ching and I debated each comment until he agreed, or until I said we will do it this way because I said so. Needless to say that where I couldn’t convince Ching, he did what he thought was best, and I guess it turned out okay.

Based on this solid foundation, Ching and I became friends. He invited me to numerous parties, knowing that I would always bring a group of girls. In Singapore, Ching was quite cool, with 300 close friends that were routinely invited to his Taco Tuesdays or house parties. He was fun, he was charming, I liked his stories and I could freely be myself around him - wherever we were. I liked how he treated all people with sincerity and curiosity. In the bubble of building a life in Singapore, we stayed good friends for two years - never thinking too much of crossing that line. Many of our Singaporean witnesses will beg to differ - but this is the truth!

During 2017, things started changing. We started speaking a lot more, and subconsciously became a daily routine in each other’s lives. This was a blurred period because we were friends but then something more was happening, but also not happening. Ching came back from a family holiday in Spain and asked to meet up for dinner. Grabbing dinner together was something ordinary and common for us, until he said that I should dress up, and the location is a surprise. And 31st July, on the beach in East Coast Park, facing the ocean, Ching had prepared a picnic of Spanish snacks - cheese, cold cuts, dips and plenty of wine. It’s a date!

Since then, we have travelled to many places, hiked Nepal, did Bangkok Singapore long distance, moved in together, moved to China together and adopted a street cat. We have witnessed so much in each other’s lives, and I continue to learn from Ching, and about Ching everyday. I look forward to coming home to the small family that we are building. I look forward to the big commitment we are about to make. I look forward to our adventures as we grow old together.