8 May 2008 - Lunch with Leong and YP

It was a hot, hot day. They brought me to a quite ulu restaurant at the old Paradiz Centre (I don't know what it is called now). The restaurant serves fusion food (French, Japanese and Western) with really good service. You get a 4 or 5-course meal (I forget) for about $19.80 ++. It is a good deal, because it is a very filling meal and each course is in the appropriate amount of serving. The waiter who served us was also very enthusiastic.



The set meal comes with a choice of beverage, including 5 kinds of specially-flavoured tea, which comes in cute, personal mini-teapots. I had the grass jelly peppermint tea. It was refreshing and nice. Leong's rose apple one tasted like those gummy sweets I love to eat during Chinese New Year. YP's passion fruit thingy was soury sweet, which was nice because you really would appreciate something sour when you feel really full from all the courses and sweet dessert.



I chose Creme Brulee for dessert. It is delicious...if only I weren't already so full by then.

After dessert, my two jolly friends signalled to the waiter to serve up a green tea ice cream with a candle. Awww....



I just want to say, in case you don't know already, I love hanging out with you two, even though we don't meet up all that often ;) . I'm really glad we managed to keep in contact throughout all these years.

---

Here is a really old photo that I have been too lazy to post up until now. This is the ondeh-ondeh (with chocolate filling) that me and my brothers made for my mother's birthday on April 20. Everett had just learnt it at Home Econs so we thought we'd just try making some for our mother. We secretly went out to buy the ingredients the night before, and a lot of things didn't go according to plan but in the end we still managed to do it, even managed to get my usually unresponsive other brother Kenneth to join in. Of course, he has a natural flair for cooking so he did most of it. Even my dad had a part to play by updating us on Mum's whereabouts and taking her out to "distract" her while we did our stuff. It was tiring but really fun. And Mum was really really touched. =D Very sweet right!

Stop saying it looks disgusting. It tastes great, I'll have you know.

---

The brown bear on top of my old white bear is a new addition to my plushie family. Jia Ying, Flora, Becky, Mei Hui and Jesslin gave it to me for my 21st. I have not thought of a good name for him yet. But anyhow, it is nice to see that they are getting along like a house on fire =) . I found them in this affectionate position when I woke up one morning.

Oh yeah, talking about birthday presents, my maternal cousins pooled together their resources and bought me a really nice Timbuk2 bag. I will take a picture of it and show all of you when the lighting in my room gets better. Also, my paternal cousin Ro bought me a $100 Borders voucher *rubs hands together* teehee. I must also honourably mention the numerous ang baos that I received from my dear relatives (don't eye my wallet, I gave 'em all to my parents). I am so loved. ^_^

6 May 2008: Poly Friends

Venue: City Hall

6.30 pm: Becks smses to tell me that she has to replace someone for this press conference for a really big story (she is interning at a newspaper), so she might not be able to come. I pondered for a minute whether it could be a lie, and then decided that it wouldn't be like her to be so lame. Haha. So I replied encouraging her to work hard for it as it could be her big break. I was a bit disappointed.

6.40 pm: Jiaying arrives, and a minute later, Jesslin and Mei Hui. We walk towards the meeting place, Waraku, a Japanese restaurant in Marina Square. Flora was waiting for us there.

We order, and eat. All the others ordered some set meal thing which were freaking huge portions and quite impossible to finish. I just stuck with a boring old Katsu Don (which was really delicious) and a Touban steak (black pepper steak that tastes absolutely divine) side dish.

7.15 pm: Becky arrives, and Mei Hui seemed to be more surprised than me. I wasn't really surprised, more of relieved that it did turn out to be a lie after all. Haha.

We all attempted to face the impossible task of finishing our meals.

After we were about done trying to stuff ourselves, presents were distributed, followed by the cake. They got me a teddy bear with the cutest denim overralls (please suggest names for it), the pair of brown Converses that I had requested for, and a mini candy machine filled with sweet notes written by them, ready to be dispensed at will to cheer me up when I'm down. The cake was an Oreo cheesecake.

After cutting and eating the cake, we peeled ourselves away from the comfy seats and dragged our rotund bodies to McCafe for more chit-chat about everything under the sun.

Happiness is that simple.

Until it was time for the old folks people who are actively contributing to the economy to go home.

I love my poly friends.

---

I went home, got myself changed and washed up, and sat down in front of my laptop to wait for all the birthday messages.

11.35 pm: Bee started smsing me about how her computer cannot start, thus foiling her plan to wish me happy birthday on the stroke of midnight. I offered creative solutions for her desktop to unhang itself. More and more frustrated messages followed.

11.55 pm: Phone call. It was Bee. She asked me to open the door. I never suspected until that moment.

There they were, Bee and Kim Choo, standing outside my door, cake in hand. Grin grin grin.

A birthday song was sung for the second time that day.

7 May 2008

Venue: Home

12 a.m.: Phone call. The Tous and Seamus. Happy Birthday to me. I requested that they try to harmonise next time. Heehee.

Bee, Kim Choo and I attempted to stuff the almost-whole cake (Kim Choo was hungry, so she ate some) into any available container in my house. I now had that almost-whole chocolate cake plus the 2 remaining slices from my poly gang's cake in the fridge. Cake mania.

Cathy wished me Happy Birthday on MSN on behalf of all 3 of them. Love from a 4-hour flight away.

We somehow managed to squeeze ourselves into my room for bed, and chatted till late into the night. I found it impossible to fall asleep for some reason. Excitement? Happiness?

6.45 am: I decided to give up trying to fall asleep (though I do believe I had drifted off briefly a few times) and get up.

I realised that there is nothing much to do at 6.45 am in the morning, besides watching lame morning tv.

So I attempted to play Phoenix Wright 3 on my DS. I was at the most difficult part of the most difficult (last) case, and I couldn't for the life of me convince my sleep-deprived brain to get me unstuck.

7.30 am: Fell asleep on my mother's bed.

10.00 am: Woke up feeling new and fresh.

10.15 am: Went online to find a birthday message from Chloe, sent 15 minutes ago. I replied, and realised that she was still online.

10.30 am: She finds her webcam and wishes me happy birthday in "person". I introduce my new gifts thus far to her. My mum is astonished by the webcam and waves to Chloe.

Technology brings me joy in so many ways.

11.00 am: The two sleepyheads wake up. I bid farewell to my long-distance lover and have breakfast with ze sleepyheads.

11.25 am: Cheryl calls in sick to cancel on me. I didn't really believe it, because I knew she would celebrate with me unless she was so sick that she could not move. Hahaha. Sorry, pal =p . Bonus marks for the really realistic sick voice though ;p.

11.30 am: Me and the sleepyheads decide to go for K Lunch at Toa Payoh.

2.50 pm: I part ways with Bee and Kim Choo to meet the Tous at City Hall.

We had lunch at Xin Wang and then walk around Marina Square.

It's not what you do, but who you do it with. Tralala.

We had some drinks at Gloria Jean's, and then took a cab down to Serangoon Gardens' Chomp Chomp food centre to meet Seamus. Who was wearing an uncle's standard uniform: t-shirt and shorts hahaha.

My lovely girlfriends then decided to carry out their impromptu acting - XY and Bell fought with each other to the point that they "decided" to leave one after another. It was really quite well thought out, given that it was so impromptu. And they already started to build up the climax from during the cab ride. And I was really taken in until I accidentally caught a few glimpses of them "NG-ing" heeheehee.

So I was lured back to my home, all the while frantically thinking and hoping that it was just an act like what I suspected. I was planning to bolt to my room and cry the last few hours of my birthday away if it wasn't. I reached for the door.

Darkness, but for 21 candles beaming happily in the dark. Oh thank goodness, my heart sang.

The lights came on. 9 grinning faces - Bee, the Tous, Seamus, Cheryl, Everett and my parents (Kim Choo came a bit later) - stared back at me. Expecting a look of total surprise and perhaps a hint of tears.

I grinned.

And, in my moment of relief, stupidly revealed that I had suspected this. I'm sorry that I disappointed you all like that =( . Hate myself sometimes.

We then started on the feast that my mum had cooked. It was big enough to feed an army of ravenous soldiers . Apparently this had all been planned a month ago. Sweetness plus.

And then it was gift-unwrapping time.

A Mario Galaxy DS skin.

A Puma watch. A huge, long black-and-white photo montage poster. A handmade huge card with pictures of me and J, and notes from the 4 of them.

A ladies' handbag containing:

• Notebook full of memories and heartfelt words
• Set of writing instruments
• Cactus, to chase away bad karma (I have named it Mimbulus Mimbletonia)
• Doraemon eraser
• Doraemon pencils
• Doraemon pens
• Doraemon highlighters
• Doraemon can
• Baby Tasmanian Devil handphone pouch
• Woodstock handphone keychain
• Doraemon handphone keychain
• Photo frame
• Hand-drawn anagram
• Hand-drawn birthday card
• Friendship lifetime membership card
• S.H.E poster
• Jay poster
• Jumper thingy which makes me look insanely feminine
• Heart necklace, accessory for above
• Bracelet, accessory for my ticket to successful dates with hot guys

Of course, I was made to wear the jumper and then parade around in front of every member of my family. Of course, upon donning it, I was transformed into a vision of hotness.

---

The greatest gift of all was the knowledge and reassurance that I have the best family and friends in the universe which make me feel like the most loved person in the universe. And that I am and hopefully will always be surrounded by love. This knowledge makes me feel like I have not lived the past 21 years in vain.

Thank you, all of you, from the bottom of my heart. I was beyond tears. I am beyond tears. Or so I thought.

Funnily, what finally did it for me was when I saw the card on my mum's table that they had written for my parents, thanking them for their help in the whole surprise party and also wishing my mum a happy mothers' day. It was the sweetest of all sweet visions, for some reason. Gah, I always just need something to trigger it off.

I love all of you. Stay by my side forever, will ya?

Labels: birthdays

Today, I went to the airport to send my trio of friends, exchange students from Hong Kong, off.

It was the first time I went to the airport with a heavy heart instead of excitement and anticipation.

It was the first time the sight of me triggered tears in someone's eyes.

It was the first time I realised that the Departure Hall could be such a sad place, the site of enormous outpours of emotion.

We'd only known each other for a couple of months, was in the same class for 2 modules, did 1 project with 2 of them...but still, it was painful. Much more painful than what I'd expected when the seeds of friendship were first sown.

These three girls are something special. They single-handedly changed my not-so-positive impression of HK from my disappointing trip there last December - one of a country of sullen people who do not even bother to apologise when they knock into you - with their friendliness and overflowing 熱情.

They reminded me of how it's like to make new friends, something that I've admittedly forgotten in the midst of my complaints and unhappiness with university life. The hand of fate reaches far, for it was only by a convoluted series of events that I came to be in the same class, and later project group, as them. I was surprised at how well we could get along, even with the little language barrier. I cannot speak nor understand a word of their first language, Cantonese, and our English intonations and speech rates are vastly different from theirs, resulting in a slight communication breakdown in the beginning, but thank god for Chinese. I don't know a whole lot about them, nor they about me, because we don't share a first language (getting to know someone tends to be a bit more unnatural and cumbersome when you're not using your first language), but still they were able to make me laugh, warm my heart and give me renewed hope about making new friends in university. This hope would be a greedy one, though, because everyone I have here in Singapore (who, I hope, are here to stay) are already godsends. I really can't ask for the Friendship department in my life to get any better than this.

And so, I arrived at the Terminal 1 Departure Hall at 1.15 pm, greeted with fierce hugs and instant tears. I nearly cracked right then and there, and broke my promise not to cry. Not a great start.

Some frantic eye-drying followed, and then photo-taking ensued. After they'd got their luggage checked in, we headed to Ajisen for lunch. Besides me, there were two other Singaporean dudes and 1 Taiwanese girl sending them off. At the dinner table, everyone was all laughter and jokes. Then, I passed them the short farewell letters I'd written, with strict instructions for them to only open them once they got on the plane (Reason: They were all designed, to the best of my linguistic abilities, to invoke neverending tears).

And then it was time for them to enter the customs. God, I was seriously worried that they were going to miss their flight. Talk about long goodbyes. This time, it took a near superhuman effort not to start tearing up. Try seeing unrestrained crying on almost everyone's faces around you. Even the Taiwanese girl, who had been nothing but jovial throughout and even said "我們走快樂路綫＂, cracked.

Tight hugs were exchanged, promises to keep in contact forever were made, assurances that we would surely go to HK to visit them very soon were repeated. More crying ensued. More comforting words ("There, there, we can still talk on MSN everyday!") were repeated. And then, with a final "保重", they dried their eyes, picked up their (extremely heavy) bags and began to walk towards the customs gate.

And turned back two steps later, with pained expressions and fresh waves of tears. I tell you, my tear-stopping skills had never been tested to such an extent until that moment. And then, without realising it, I used the age-old Mediacorp TV script line - "Don't look back." For the first time, I felt the true meaning of that line, and why it is so popular.

And that was it. They were finally on their way. We waved until they vanished from view.

God, I never want to do that again! Listen good, all of you! Don't you ever dare to set foot outside Singapore for more than a few months and leave me here...I can only imagine how many million times more difficult that would be. I learnt today exactly how hard it is to be the one who stays.

This semester has been challenging, to say the least, but it's also been a happier one than the last (for moments outside class). And most importantly, I have gained so much more than new knowledge - new friends. And a new anticipation for the next time I step into a foreign land to find familiar faces.

Until then, see you soon, my friends. Real soon *crosses fingers*.