23rd Birthday!

It has been such a long time since I have had any spare time to blog! Work has been very hectic, and saying hectic almost seems like a serious understatement. Overnights after overnights really took its toll. Since today is my birthday, I decided to put all things aside, slowly enjoy my day, and at least see-saw it back a bit on the sanity edge.

As it is a Sunday today, I kind of celebrated my 23^rd birthday and 1^st year re-birth day at church as well. Well just a year ago, I have gotten baptized (thus explaining my re-birth day =D). Though no one explicitly celebrated for me at church, I know that my Lord is happy for me and I could feel him celebrating it for me. =)

When I got home, my mom popped the question, “High tea?” I was like thinking, “Oh yeah sure!” Got myself washed up and together with my parents and brother, we started heading our way there. It was a terrible traffic jam along the way (not to mention the parking lot ordeal), we finally reached Fortuna Hotel (near Bugis).

I was so hungry by the time we got there, I gobbled as much food as I possibly could within that one and a half hours. Here’s the list of things that I ate if I did not remember wrongly:

• 2 Bowls of Laksa
• 2 Bowls of Pork Porridge
• 2 Mini Soon Kway
• 2 Mini Ou Kway
• 2 Crystal Dumplings
• 1 Bowl of Fruits Cocktail
• 1 Mini Chocolate Brownie
• 1 Spring roll
• 1 Glutinous Rice
• 1 Pork Bun
• 1 Slice of Crispy Crust Pie
• 5 Scoops of Chocolate Ice Cream

By the end of the wolfing session, I was so full I could hardly move! It has been really long since I last allowed myself to indulge in food, and it’s quite disturbing actually, that I can feel my tummy again. Of course, I’m not the only one. My mom, dad and bro were satiated too. Gluttony seems to run in our blood all of a sudden. =D

It was near evening by then, and was time to head to Esplanade Theatre. My God-mom, Kamee, has been kind to give my bro and I a treat to watch a performance by The Philharmonic Winds, which was conducted by John Boyd, with special appearance by trumpet player, Dai ZhongHui. She has always told me that watching live orchestra performance is very different from hearing it from a compact disc or computer speakers. I believe that’s the reason why she wants to bring us to this performance.

Though it was not the first time I attended a musical, I must say that today’s event felt very different. It was the first time I entered into Esplanade’s main theatre concert hall, and it looked grand in full splendor. I got seated in one of the best seats that I could possibly wish for, thanks to Kamee and Uncle Dan for booking it way beforehand.

John Boyd is a fantastic conductor. I can see from the way he moves his stick that it was flowing with passion. Dai Zhonghui is a genius with his trumpet. His solo performance of Alexander Arutunian still resonates in my head. The orchestra couldn’t have performed any better. Putting all that together, in the best seats we could have, I believed we all enjoyed it. It was a great performance, and it was rare too, that even my bro enjoyed it (he always enjoyed rock and rap songs).

We headed to Häagen-Dazs right after the musical, and ordered something that I’ve always seen people eat yet never had the chance to taste.

CHOCOLATE FONDUE (Another sin!).

The presentation itself was tantalizing my inner senses. A warm pot of rich, dark Belgian chocolate sets itself in the middle, surrounded by four different flavours of ice-cream balls, chocolate chip cookies, love letters, bread cubes, green apples, bananas and strawberries. Using the fork, I picked up a macadamia ice-cream ball and dipped in the dark chocolate pot, and brought it to my mouth…

WOW! An atomic explosion of taste and richness flowed from my mouth to the rest of my body when the ice-cream entered my mouth. What happened later was as natural as water flows from the river into the ocean. Different assortments and combinations of food dipped in chocolate and almond chips went down that chute of mine and I just could not control!

Though I am at home now, writing this blog, the day's happenings are still generating endorphins in my brain. I really want to thank my family members, Ma, Pa, Kamee, and Bro, and also Uncle Dan, for making me feel special and pampered today.

Extended thanks go to Shu Ling, Yen Lin and Sharon for their birthday wishes via SMSes, and my colleagues Arul and Bijesh for their birthday wishes via gTalk drops.