why do you laugh when i say the word "love"?

had dinner with a friend who never fails to crack me up. last night, it was near to fatal - you see, croutons made up a large portion of my salad.

he: you have no sense of romance at all.
me: *indignant* i do too! it's just, well, somewhere under all those layers.
he: hmph, what are you trying to say?
me: well, i used to be romantic, but i became ... er ... realistic.
he: what nonsense! so you are saying that you lost your romance? no one loses romance.
me: *grunt* i can be romantic if i want to be, okaaaaaay? (get the sense i am losing here?)
he: i'm romantic, period.
silence.
he: romantic in singapore, romantic in usa, i was even romantic in egypt.

at this point of time, half a crouton and breaded chicken chose to block my airways as i tried not to laugh simultaneously. i understood "romantic, period", but to classify romance by geographical boundaries?

only he would say something like this.

and then i thought about what he said, can we really lose romance? do we allow ourselves to get stuck in routines and forget to continually ignite the spark(s) in our relationships. did i really say relationships?

anyway, anyway, i immediately started thinking about how we used to line the room with candles and regret how we didnt take enough care the next day with melting wax. or how i used to write dozens of letters then blush furiously when i find them in his drawer. or how i used to buy little gifts for him, cos of the way his face lit up at a wrapped gift box.

and yes, i write one letter per year now. and i have stopped buying him gifts cos i felt my gestures were unappreciated. but i know now, that i must have been wrong.

who would not love receiving a present? who would not love receiving a letter, that someone took trouble to write you one?

our romantic gestures are now restricted to soft touches on arms/shoulders/elbows/chins, you get the idea. and the occasional smile-of-knowing, you know, the secret smile between a couple. oh, and dont forget about the morning hugs before work and the evening-oh-you've-come-home-hugs.

so baby, just so you know, i've been writing letters to a phantom you - for you to bring back to doha when you're here in february. and all those small little things i used to buy for you?

yes, you'll get those too.

and yes, we're going to have some breakfasts-in-bed. although OC me will go nuts removing every single crumb from the covers.

after all, we only have a month together, before what seems like an eternity to our wedding, when finally, we can be together again, on new soil.

took a shot of this wedding notice at a hotel when i was in hong kong. up to this day, i'm not sure who is male/female. cant imagine a girl even THINKING of calling herself ... alien.