\n<\/p>\n
But they weren’t immediately inseparable. \u201cWhen we were younger, we were both very busy and didn\u2019t really spend much time together,\u201d Tan said. \u201cIt was only in the past 10 years or so that we gradually became closer.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing that helped? Mahjong. Tay said Tan’s home became a private space where their group of friends could relax away from their very public careers. \u201cYou can really see a person’s character through playing mahjong,\u201d Tay said, adding that Tan was gracious and easy-going, regardless of whether she won or lost.<\/p>\n
Tan jokingly protested that her friend was revealing too much. \u201cDon’t spill so many secrets!\u201d she said. \u201cTalking about mahjong might seem like we’re encouraging people to gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n
The friendship extended to their families as well. Tay described Tan as thoughtful and respectful towards elders, recalling how she would visit Tay’s mother and bring her food. Tan is also close to Tay’s children and has travelled overseas with the family. \u201cThrough these small gestures, I felt her sincerity,\u201d Tay said.<\/p>\n
After striking out at Tan’s home, Tay headed for another place loaded with shared history: the former broadcast centre at Caldecott Hill. It was where Tay submitted her Star Search application and where she first met Tan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shared so many memories at this place. It was like our second home,\u201d Tay said. \u201cI think both she and I spent almost half of our lives here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tay recalled the 1980s and 1990s as the \u201cgolden age\u201d for local television dramas, when watching them was part of everyday life for many Singaporeans. \u201cEveryone loved watching our TV dramas,\u201d she said. \u201cEven when people ran into you on the streets, they’d ask what was going to happen at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Similarly, Tan reflected that the local veteran actors had become \u201clike family to Singaporeans\u201d, with viewers progressing from calling actors by their characters’ names to recognising them by their real names. But Tan wasn’t at Caldecott.<\/p>\n
Tay next headed to HarbourFront Centre, formerly the World Trade Centre, where the 1988 Star Search finals had been held. Tan herself had forgotten about that particular piece of their history.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really don\u2019t remember. I\u2019m so sorry, my sister,\u201d she said while watching Tay’s search. \u201cYou are right, I forgot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tay then tried the hot yoga studio at Millenia Walk, where the pair exercise and spend time talking after class. \u201cWhen it came to yoga, it was usually just the two of us,\u201d Tay said. \u201cAfter yoga, we\u2019d often sit there and chat. But I think those moments brought us closer. That\u2019s when our friendship really deepened.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
But they weren’t immediately inseparable. \u201cWhen we were younger, we were both very busy and didn\u2019t really spend much time together,\u201d Tan said. \u201cIt was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--3K7qrBye--\/c_crop,h_1125,w_1999,x_1,y_3\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/mediacorp\/cna\/image\/2026\/08\/19\/zoe-tay-and-aileen-2.jpg?itok=0Cw_b_0N","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25364,7245,6331,17702,1396,23724,2748,5054,11427],"class_list":["post-77748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-40year","tag-aileen","tag-friendship","tag-memorable","tag-places","tag-revisits","tag-tan","tag-tay","tag-zoe","wpcat-2-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}