My 32nd Birthday

I was seriously depressed before today arrived. It's not so much about getting older, but more about feeling that I seemed to have accomplished nothing much in the span of the twelve months from my previous birthday.

Despite having gotten my degree certificate earlier this year, I ended up facing quite a number of setbacks this year:
1) Sofia and Wanting both chose to "downgrade" their friendship with me to becoming only a friendly acquaintance
2) None of my job applications came through for me (they didn't even want a meeting with me!)
3) Even though I got contacted by a few chub chasers who expressed interest in me, their interest faded even before we got to meet up for the first time, and two of them even stood me up!
4) I got issued with a written warning letter at work, which is really risky for me, cos one more mistake, and I could lose my job!
5) Finances have been really tight for me this year so far
6) Despite my lucky charms, I've no luck so far previously at 4D, TOTO or the Singapore Sweep.
7) And because of my tight budget, I couldn't afford any good presents for my relatives, family and friends, so I wasn't expecting them to do anything for me in return for my birthday.
8) When I went to my Grandma's place this year, they almost didn't even remember my birthday! Thankfully my 2nd Aunt treated me to Chiew Kee's dark soy sauce braised chicken noodles for lunch and she and my Grandma gave me an ang pow each for good luck. And that was it. Sigh...I didn't even get a birthday present or red packet from my youngest Aunt and my cousins whom I previously bought quite extravagent presents for in the previous years. It was all quite disappointing.

So as you can see, I was kinda dreading this year's birthday and just wanted to get it over and done with as low profile as I could get.

Therefore, when I woke up this morning, I didn't expect anything fancy from anyone, not even my own family. So I was REALLY pleasantly surprised when I got like a whole series of well wishes sent by sms from my friends! And then in the evening, before I went to work, my parents and brothers brought me out to dinner at Pu Dong Kitchen at Balmoral Plaza to treat me to my fav dish of Shanghainese stir-fried eel paste!

凉拌海蜇

京酱肉丝

馒头

花卷

锅贴

清炒鳝湖

红烧豆腐

浦东炒饭

老妈红烧肉

And my middle bro Rodney bought me one of my fav cakes - Chocolate Cherry Cake from "Awfully Chocolate"! Then, when I arrived at work, I was even more surprised to find that my colleagues had gotten together and bought me a birthday card with a pair of Golden Village Gold Class tickets, and $30 HMV vouchers! You should've seen me when I opened the envelope! I was grinning from ear to ear and couldn't help kissing the envelope out of joy!
And last but not least, my Gung Ho Angel Caron gave me the thrill of my life when she told me she's treating me to this musical "Duck and Dive" on this coming Thursday!!!

http://www.itheatre.org/DuckandDive.htm

WOOHOO!!! I've not been to a musical for months to cut down on my budget and now one of my best and dearest gal pals is ACTUALLY treating me to one!!! You can just imagine the joy and excitement I was filled with when she first told me the news! Caron, you ROCK, babe!