A Quiet but Good one

The quarter century egg is speaking here.

About a month back, I decided to try a social experiment on Facebook - I hid my birth date on my profile (just for the heck of it!). I didn't know I could do this until I discovered that a good friend had done this too. I wasn't sure whether I'd remembered her birthday correctly in December and turned to Facebook to lok for a birthday notification, but there wasn't any and I was 80% certain that I had the right date. When I searched for her profile, I realised why there wasn't a birthday notification - there wasn't any birthday listed on it! And so, here I am today reporting on the outcome of this social experiment.

It was pretty surprising that certain people whom I'm not too close with, remembered my birthday (and perhaps the FB friend update feed did do its part too). Previously, I've always wondered whether the tonnes of FB birthday greetings you'd get were all empty wishes just because your name was listed in the birthday notification column (as I'm also guilty of issuing these frivolous birthday wishes from time to time). At times I feel that FB has made friendship so virtual and physically disconnected. Your friends on FB are not necessarily your friends in person, eventhough you've met them face-to-face before.

However, I've found that most of my dearest friends used other means (besides FB) to connect with me. SMS, e-mails, Skype and two trickily calling me out for dinner! hahaha... And although it wasn't a "one big noisy party" thing, I'm very touched that I was able to spend quality time with intimate groups of friends and family these past few days.

It all started on Saturday, when YC arranged a dinner meetup with BC, Jac and BY. We ended up at Delicious, One Utama and for some reason (perhaps too much chocolate), it turned into a "LL" night! hahaha... Everyone was talking and acting crazy! And at the end of the night, they surprised me with a chic necklace/earring set and YC got me a book which I've been hesitating to buy (because I was waiting for someone to lend it to me! haha).

Then on Monday night, my best coursemate buddy from university days dated me out. We had a pancake dinner at Paddington House of Pancakes. I never knew they had such great food (athough a bit pricey for their serving portion). Later, we had iced chocolate at Chocolate Lounge (my treat.. hehe) and talked and talked until it was almost 11pm. It's amazing how we can easily talk past 12am whenever I meet up with her, and the fact that she just got married and that hasn't changed her is even more amazing! She's really one of the most 'high-achiever-but-down-to-earth' persons I've come to know.

And then today. Mom gave me something that I really do not deserve. I think I will return it to her when the time is right. As for the moment, I need it in order to get "something" done. Time will reveal what this "something" is.

A delightful miracle happened today. Last week, I'd discovered my parents had a bulk of Citibank points which had accumulated without them even realising. Siezing the opportunity, I volunteered to check out what we could redeem with the points we had. It was a choice between a Nokia smartphone and a Nikon camera (well, actually it was what I felt most appealing in the catalogue... hehe). Anyway, somehow or another, I got my way and we decided on the camera! (No, I did not twist their arms and demand that we take the camera). So here comes the miracle part... After placing the redemption order through phone-banking  at almost 11pm (and which the Citibank girl provided really friendly service - good example of what the service industry should be like, unlike our friends in Streamyx and SenQ), we were told that delivery will take place after 14 days - which would have been middle of next week. However, before I could even break for lunch today, dad called and said the camera was here! Just in time (J.I.T haha) and dad said it can be considered as my birthday present! :)

Later on, Ah Yee texted me that Uncle wanted to "belanja" me tonight. I was really touched, almost bawled right there in the middle of the office! However, I had already made plans to watch Sherlock Holmes with a friend (this year I'm maximising my privileges - for the first time I claimed my free GSC movie pass!). In the end I decided to go out for supper with them. I felt like I was collecting presents today! First it was my colleague - she left something on my desk. Then Ah Yee and Uncle brought a Perlini's paper bag and a shoe box into the car when they hopped in. The necklace and heels were really nice! Just in time for my friend's wedding dinner this Saturday! haha

Gosh, I feel a bit guilty for not spending time with my parents today. At the moment, I can't recall ever not having a birthday family dinner together. But today was great! And I praise God for it!