"Nyaa, you got older!!"
"What's the big deal? Age is just a number"
"How's it going to be special? Celebrating?"
"It's just another day what. Work lo. So much data to analyse"
"24-full years. And you have not done anything tondemonai (extraordinary). Very pathetic lehh"
At some level, I think my internal dialogue is amusingly disturbing.
Actually my 24th anniversary on Earth was not that sordid. True, it was just another day. I mean, heck, I always think it's just another day. I spent it working till late at night. However, there are little happy things spread over the several days surrounding the day that marks it my 24th. They are like a handful of fragrant cinnamon dust or a cloud of saffron sprinkled over a plain vanilla (why vanilla??! hmm) sponge cake.
Cinnamon dust #1~ Messages~~!
E-cards, emails, Msn messages, Sms-es, phone calls and other sorts of e-messages reached me when I was still 23 years and 363 days old. Even though I am of the opinion that virtual messages are terribly impersonal and detached, I am still touched by the fact that there are acquaintances who still remembers me as a friend, and their thoughts alone meant more to me than the fancy animated teddy bears break-dancing on the e-cards. Thank you, all of you, who so kindly spent 5 mins of your life to wire me those generous words serving as a reminder of my old age and my ties with you.
Cinnamon dust #2~ Cakes~~!
I have an issue with cakes and candles this year.
In the darkness of data analysis misery, my lab mates lit a candle on a slice of tiramisu and sang me a birthday song. After (another) long day on front of the computer, I had thought to take a break from the numbers and scuttled over to the food corner in the office to dig for some of the very sweet lemon-Manuka-honey candies we purchased several days ago. So engross was I digging that I was oblivious to my colleagues' antics until they switched off all the office lights and presented me with a candlelit-cake whilst breaking into the tunes of Happy Birthday.
So I happily blew the candle after the song ended. You see, that was the mistake. I didn't take note what cake that was.... until the cocoa powder came flying all over, then did I notice it was tiramisu. But it's okay, we laughed it off and jokingly said never to buy tiramisu again for birthday.
What are the odds it will happen again?
Sis bought me a cake when Mum and Dad came down for the weekend to celebrate with me. To my delight(ful horror), ja jaaaang!! TIRAMISU!!! Shikamo, whole cake desu yo!! It was a lovely cake emanating the alcoholic fragrance of Kahlua generously blanketed with exquisitely fine cocoa powder. When the campfire of candles indicating my age were all fired up on the cake, I dreaded the blowing part. But it's a birthday and you have to make a wish then blow the candles, right? There's no escaping the ungraceful end, so I urged Mum, Dad and sis to blow with me. Because, according to the law of physics, if the air velocity comes from all directions at the same angle, the motion of the fine particles layering the cake surface will balance out, hence the cocoa powder won't fly all over (again)... right?
Wrong. We had a cocoa-coated tablecloth at the end of the episode. But you see, that was not the most embarassing thing. The very moment we blew the candles, the snuffed out candles emitted pretty swirls of smoke and.... "BRRIIINNGGGG!!!!!"
The fire alarm went off.
I didn't know to laugh or cry when every other diner turned to the direction of our table and stared at me and my cocoa-scattered tiramisu and the smoke-emitting candles. Suffice to say, I was terribly embarrassed... although having my family to celebrate my birthday with a cake was the best thing I could ever ask for.
The fire alarm rang for like ONE full minute before it was turned off, much to my relief. However, my embarrassment didn't stop there. Less than a minute later, a lady spoke over the PA system: "We've detected a fire signal from within the building. Do not panic. We are now investigating the source of fire and will update all guests as soon as possible."
Again, everyone turned to our table to stare at me and my still smoke-emitting cake.
If not for my gratefulness for my family's companionship... I would have liked to hide myself from those accusing stares. I mean, give me a break! Are the firemen going to come up to evacuate the building armed with a ultra-powerful water hose to find me there sitting with my little smoking tiramisu??? What stupid smoke detector did the restaurant install???Some 5-10 minutes passed before the PA system lady came back on to announce that it had been a false alarm (duhh...) and everyone can go back to their normal lives.
While Dad assured me that there's no way the smoke detector could have been that sensitive (and stupid) to pick up smoke from birthday candles and the whole fire-scare could have been due to some real fire in the kitchen, I find it difficult to swallow the coincidence. I mean, at the exact timing we blew off the candles, some apprentice chef slipped some 10oz olive oil into the firey wok resulting in a campfire which he haphazardly poured two cupfuls of water into, generating volcanic smoke right under the kitchen smoke detector. Guzen?? Nante nai yo...
But it's definitely one birthday I will never forget.
Then my 3rd cake was presented by my friends during our outing last weekend. AM had graciously chosen a mango cake (much to my relief wasn't a cocoa-coated tiramisu again) topped with yummy mango slices. Before they lit the candles in the air-conditioned cafe, I scanned the room warily to check whether (God forbid) any smoke detectors were snooping within the to-be-smoking radius. It was a pretty uneventful 'candle' episode and everyone was happy with a slice of mango cake. Wanting to give everyone (and myself) a slice of the juicy mango flesh, I distorted the jellified surface after which the remaining cake looked nothing like the aesthetically pleasant one presented to me several minutes ago. When I suggested to share the rest of the cake with the kind staff who served us, AM looked at me and politely suggested that I remove the 'ugly' sites I have generated. Ahaha... oops :P
What a cake-y year!!
Cinnamon dust #3~ Companionship~~!
"Love makes the world go round"
That's what philosophers claim. And I suppose they render a lot of truth.
The best gift had been my parents' coming down for the weekend. I had been missing home alot, and it had been such great joy to be able to see them and spent time with them again. I had rushed to the airport to receive them and upon seeing them out at the arrival gate, uncharacteristically, I transformed into the 5-year-old I once was and ran to hug Mum and Dad right in the middle of the international airport. Can't really put into words how happy I was to see them. We had alot to talk throughout the whole weekend and simply enjoy fundamental stuff together, such as lunch-ing on Japanese food, strolling in shopping centres, browsing books and trawling their favorite Daiso! If I had the money, I would love to fly them in more often for relaxing meals together and just doing stuff together. Guess that would have to wait, but I am forever thankful for my family's infinite love and companionship!
The bunny mooncake I bought for Mum, Dad, and Sis! Soft dough filled with deliciously sweet white bean paste and tangy yuzu in the inside... simply an exquisite taste!
I am blessed with not only company from my family, but also from my friends. As age add on to a greater number, I find myself sinking in a world and society where people are incredibly superficial with their feelings towards you. It makes you wonder whether they take you seriously, sincerely, and faithfully. I've come to learn that some 80% don't, but the precious 20% does. And I treasure this 20%. I have high school mates who never forget my birthday, who every year without fail, will send me a note or a card or a message noting they remembered me, no matter which corner of the Earth they are residing now. I have the privilege of the enjoyable company of friends, who had so generously treated me to a movie or a slice of tiramisu or a meal-cum-crazy-boardgame-session or a meaningful phonecall, all of which telling me that they think of me (hope I did not over-interpret their intentions though :P).
To all of you, my 20%, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Cinnamon dust #4~ Cosmic wonders~~!
Have you ever felt like the sky is smiling to you, wishing you a happy birthday? Well, I did.
On my birthday, the weather was gorgeously blue, the sun was beautifully sunny, and the clouds were merrily puffy. The peacefuly green and sturdy trees were puffing oxygen and the gentle wind was especially teasing. Being quite a weather person, a deep sense of serenity and happiness overflowed when I breathed in my little lovely nature-world. It felt like a wonderful (birth)day.
Some several days ago, my colleagues and I were walking back to office from the canteen when we caught sight of a rare and beautiful cosmic display. Deep yellow sunlight was bathing the sky in dusk, but the angle of sunshine was such that it collided with a particular flat-looking cloud, causing the whole flat cloud becoming a prism, emanating the 7 shades of the visible spectrum. It was our first time looking at a rainbow-colored cloud, and it was so pretty and lovely that we just stood at the open-air corridor gazing intently at the twilight for a long time. Such cosmic wonders never fail to stir amazement in me, because such miraculous display often seem like divinity to me.
Cinnamon dust #5~ Boardgames~~!
On CS's recommendation, me and my friends threw our reservations and turned into the screaming, cardgame-crazy kids we used to be. We went to The Mind Cafe for an outing, and this is a quiet nook along the Sg River... until crazy people like us turned up. Sofas and coffee tables were comfortably arranged to give a homey feel and people gather here to play boardgames, card games and the like as a method of catching up with friends. The food here was not fantastic but the things you can do here are pretty wild. There is a wide range of boardgames for all tastes, from brainless Snap-type card games to the brain-power requiring English chess games.
We opted for brainless stuff like charades and card games, and one violent game in particular, was alot of fun and umm... violent. We basically chaotically traded cards to obtain a set of the same color before screaming and grabbing the limited number of bones located at the center of the coffee table. The loser, of course, is the one who did not get a bone. Sounds incredibly brainless, strategy-less, and out-of-the-mind, but surprisingly fun. It does feel good to scream like a kid once it a while haha.
So, it is quite evident my 24th anniversary isn't very sordid, ain't it?
～みはる～
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