my 26th birthday weekend

I recently turned 26. To be exact, I turned 26 on 0235hrs of April 27th. For some, 26 might seem pretty old - time to think about family responsibilities, settling down and all those other things strictly reserved for adults. But for me, 26 is a mere number. I still feel 21. My youth shall not be compromised just because I've officially passed the mid-twenties mark and am approaching lat twenties. Don't tell me otherwise or you will no longer be my friend. Hrmph!

It's not that I am in denial. I just think that it's silly to expect someone to have a total overhaul of personality and mindset just because he/she has become a year older, and getting closer to real adulthood where total life responsibilities are imminent baggage and liabilities he/she has to bear. Growing up is a gradual process, the speed of which varies from one person to the next. But enough, I'm not about to start a whole argument on growing up/maturity process.

I've been lucky that my birthday was remembered and celebrated by quite a few. I've managed to spend time with colleagues/family/close friends...and of course the new boy I'm seeing. And have had one too many cakes. Bleah, I must have put on an extra pound or two. Anyway, here goes a summary of my hectic but superbly fun birthday weekend.

Thursday, April 26 2007
Mom and Pop wished me happy birthday with a birthday ang pow, owing to their inability to stick around on my actual birthday.

Friday, April 27 2007 @ 0000hrs
My boy called to wish me happy birthday - which comes as a real surprise as I know he has retired to bed early thanks to a bad bad cough. Pleasant surprise no doubt. Two minutes after I put down the phone, my best friend Dali called to wish me a joyous birthday (yes dali, you came in second this year). Fell asleep shortly after and only discovered in the AM that a couple of people including my sisters have also wished me happy birthday in the early AM while I was in dreamland. Oh boy, I am loved.

0845hrs
My colleague Juliana pulled me aside to give me my birthday present from her and a couple other people in the office. They remembered my actual birthday instead of my lame passport one! I had a lunch treat from her that noon, and at 1500hrs, the rest of the team celebrated my birthday with a massive cheese cake drenched in chocolate sauce. 5000 calories I swear. Michael bought the cake - now that explains it. Hrmph! They are out to make me fat.

1900hrs
Sisters took me out to Jack's Place for dinner. Dali joined in a while later and we had a feast. A crazy crazy feast. Oysters, mango prawn cocktail, baked lobsters etc etc. See pictures below.







Dinner was followed by a KTV session at KBOX. This time we were joined by my boy, and geg's boy. Lots of fun. By the time we were done it was close to 3am, and we went home, hung out and talked all the way till close to 5am before we called it a night.

Saturday, April 28 2007
Okay, technically my birthday was over by this day but himself and myself continued our semi celebration by going out and spending time together, engaging in our favourite past times - eat and drive around. Spent some hours at Timbre - this nice outdoor bistro/pub with live music. The music's so so. Ironically, we waited a whole of 2 hours for the live band to come on, but left after 30 minutes of their playing. Yes, they weren't great. So what to do with the rest of the time? A rocker needs to sing. Correction, two wannabe rockers need to sing. So off to Partyworld we went and spent the next three hours belting out rock ballads and cheesy love songs. Very dramatic you know.







The rocker wannabes went home with sore throats that night.

Sunday, April 29 2007
My girls promised to take me out on this day, and guess what was in the plan - KTV. Again. Now before you get the impression that I am a narcissistic fool who's blardy in love with my own voice, I must clarify. This was the only KTV session that was actually planned. The two before this were merely impromptu decisions. Just shows how limited our resources for seeking fun are in Singapore eh.

Yisi+Kathy+Joy = explosive energy and immense fun, coupled with several doses of "shiok sendiri" tendencies. Fooling around with cheesy boyband love ballads and retro songs from the nineties and late eighties, mingled with the occasional hookien songs and chinese rock for variety - we had a blast. I must say this night was unbelievable. Another highlight of the night, the birthday cake that was supposed to be a surprise, but which was conveniently ruined by a less than clever waiter who popped into our room at the most random of times, asking in a loud voice audible to all, "when shall i bring in your cake?!" *gestures wildly with hands* Red-faced, Yisi pushed him out, telling him that she would signal when it's time. But by then it was too late and I was already armed with the info. But hey, a cake is a cake okay, surprise or otherwise. And it was SO YUMMY! Mmm...yes another imminent pound added to my weight gain this weekend.





The night ended perfectly as we conveniently exceeded our allocated singing time by a whole 50 minutes (no extra charge!) and swaggered all the way to the taxi stand, still laughing at our ability to belt out PRAY (by TAKE THAT) word for word, including all the background vocals and the ooohs and the ahhhs. What closet boyband fans we are! Next in our list would be MYSTERIOUS GIRL by Peter Andre and ALL MY LIFE by KC and JOJO. This after we have conquered MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY by The Moffats (remember them?!), DYING INSIDE TO HOLD YOU by Timmy Thomas (the one hit wonder), and AMAZED by Lonestar. Oh yes, don't forget Wang Jie, Zhang Xin Zhe, Jay Chou and all the other similar princes of ballads. I'm talking memorising their songs word for word okay. Yes yes, I know we had way too much time in our hands during that era.

It's 0024hours of April 30 2007. My birthday weekend has come to a closure. What a week! What to look forward next are all that I will experience as a 26-year old. I hope there's no more of those ID-checking sessions when clubbing I will have to go through. But at the same time, I guess I should start worrying about fine lines, slower metabolism and all those other physical changes that tend to plague "women my age". Geez, this ain't good.

Ah well, happy birthday Joy Joy. Congratulations for being alive for 26 years and enjoying every moment of your existence.

my cavemen trouble

Trials and errors have made me realise that I am indeed one who has what I would call "the cavemen trouble". Simply put, I am attracted to cavemen-type men. A few characteristics of such cavemen include; possessing a sense of authority/power, self-assured/confident/slightly cocky, tough, apparently unemotional ie. do not cry, candid, unapologetic, and of course manly, very very manly. Such manliness has nothing to do with physique (although an excellent physique is undoubtedly a huge bonus). It's more of an attitude that he carries; the self-assurance, the insatiable confidence, the seriousness he has in his eyes, the single-mindedness he has when he's after a prey...

A friend told me last night, that only a man as such could make me stop and turn my head. Boy she does know me well. I want my guy to be able to take control when he needs to, make certain decisions when he's required to. I don't want a guy who's overly easy-going...I would completely step all over him! Bad I know, but that's a fact.

The problem with my tendency to gravitate towards the cavemen type is the tricky business of differentiating between a dateable caveman and an un-dateable MCP in caveman clothing. The latter is definitely a nono, unless you enjoy being knocked on the head with a big club, dragged into the cave, and then...(use your imagination). I must say I'm still in the process of learning to differentiate between the two. But as my philosophy goes - just go with the flow. I've never set out to look for love; always just letting nature take its course and adopting a que sera sera attitude.

But like I said, I already know myself well enough. I know what I want and what I need. Hence while waiting for love to strike, the vision is clear - only cavemen need apply.