last friday, my friend janne and i went for a hike.

i suppose the best word to describe janne is "gorgeous". she's danish, so imagine the round blue eyes, and yellowish-blondey hair (a bit of a wave), but she's also v. athletic, so has the kick-butt body of one who respects their bod.

she's also a great mum and friend. people are drawn to her, including me. i used to see her once a week, when she first moved to hong kong and brought her son victor to soccer. we would talk for a bit when i wasn't chasing the triplets around and i always thought, "i really like her".

sebastian and victor are in the same class and i have gotten to know janne better, as sebastian really likes victor. there have been playdates and thankfully, they have gone well.

knowing that she is into hiking, we went for a hike the other day. she promised she would take it easy on me, as it was the day after boot camp and my bootie was sore already. we had a great time and saw amazing things, ants carrying eggs, banana spiders, banyan trees, little planting sites halfway up the hill. but by far, the most remarkable thing we encountered happened toward the end of our walk.

at the end of the reservoir, just where the incline begins, we stopped in amazement. there infront of us was the largest lizard we had ever seen. he was like a mini dinosaur and at the risk of alienating my gecko friends (at least two which now live in my bedroom), extremely cute. we don't have a picture, but we googled him, and here he (it was the male) is:

This picture shows a beige version of the calotes versicolor, but the one we saw was bright green with a red neck and lower face. he was doing some sort of yoga position, head up worshipping the sun. janne and i watched him and smiled at him and his oblivious ways, but soon enough, he spotted us and slunk off. oh he was gorgeous.

and big! 17 inches!

we did some research and learned his other name is the bloodsucker lizard, even though he doesnt suck blood, but it all has to do with his red neck.

being surrounded by beauty is such a blessing. friends are part of that beauty.

as busy as life is right now, as challenging as some of the days are, i am deeply happy woman right now, especially when i remember to have faith.