The Long Goodbye Party

You can’t avoid a goodbye party in KL so a series of goodbye parties started with different groups of friends, a lunch with the ladies who had French Husbands, organized by Hilary at the Hilton, a Ladies Night Out and a goodbye buffet for four of us who were leaving the Cooking group. A last lunch with Ikuko, my calligraphy teacher, a night out drinking at the English bar down the road with Victoria, an afternoon gouter at Odile’s house to celebrate her third baby and reunite the mercredi group for the last time and a last sweet coffee with Liz and Mahin at our first condo...and as time ran out I decided we should throw a last party too.

We had an all-day Saturday event in the end, since someone was always busy. I invited everyone in my address book since I couldn’t bear to choose one person over another, even Marc’s tennis teacher, who came along rather bemused to be included. The morning started with a Garage Sale, where we got rid of nearly all our excess clothes, baby stuff and rubbish.

In the afternoon I did an English-style afternoon tea with scones and sandwiches. The kids played in the pool and their parents chatted about holiday plans. Close friends Christophe and Mazdida, Sasi and Bruno, Corinne and Alastair, Victoria and Jerome, Mahin, Liz and their families came along with many others we knew. Everyone came, even if they just popped in for an hour or so.

Nina’s classmates presented her with a picture, suitcase and warm clothes for her new life out of the tropical sun. We were presented with many gifts; the turquoise ceramics I loved, a red Chinese tea-set, a Japanese scroll, a Malaysian cookbook from the cooking group, a guidebook for Chicago, a stunning book on tropical style and the condo ladies (who I though never really liked me!) got together and bought a beautiful set of brushes for my beloved Japanese calligraphy. Victoria made me a unique photo montage picture. I was very touched.

Later on another group of friends came for the evening buffet. My closest friends Odile and Hilary were there, along with Jacques’ good friend, John and my French friends Miriam, Sophie and Christine. We cut two huge cakes, one an American flag, one a Malaysian flag (remarkably similar, both red and blue stripes, but one had yellow stars, the other white). Marc’s friend, Adam, stayed the whole weekend as did Nina’s friend, Laure, and I was grateful for their enduring friendship when they knew we were leaving.