The Best Birthday Celebration Ever!

My birthday wish has been answered. I have just attended one of the quirkiest birthday parties ever. And one that I will remember for a very very long time.

First, the main guests were late. For 90 freaking minutes. Scott was complaining and grumbling about the bad habits of "advertising people" (as we often kept him waiting during lunch). Just then, we saw Harshad entered the room with some white scribblings on his forehead. Those looks like markings you put on yourself at the football matches. My first thought was "he was late because he was drinking at some pub, watching some world cup matches". Just when I was about to fire my "rapid missiles" at him, the rest of the guests walked in. All of them – Hong Fei, Selina, Tracy and Danielle had wordings on their foreheads. It read "Sorry we were late. It is all Tracy’s fault."
 
 

It was a hilarious sight. Candid
and totally unexpected! All of us burst into laughter instantaneously.
Their shameless and comical act certainly drew a lot of unwanted
attention from their other diners. Their creativity (and superb thick
skins) saved their ass tonight. Throughout the entire dinner, they worn
the wordings on their foreheads.

Dinner ended shortly and it was cake-cutting
time. Yeah… the moment is here! I was looking forward for that
one "precious" birthday gift that I have been eying since March. Could
it be the iPAD? Or my favourite Canon lens?

Yeah.. it was an iPad alright – a paper
version. However, I did get a REAL PAD! Yes, P-A-D (the kind that
women use every month!). Josephine "sacrificed" one of hers for my
birthday card / pad. Very very creative and intimate indeed…Not
amused, I began to feel really nervous about their tricks… What’s
next, I wondered.

Then, Felicia passed me a rather thick envelop.
Like the Russian Doll, one envelop revealed another envelop inside. I
started pulling out all the envelops, still no sight of a concrete
birthday gift. (At least last year, they gave me a receipt of the PS3 in
an envelop.)

The final envelop was the "shocker" of the
night. Instead of seeing my birthday present, inside the envelop
was a note labeled "SUPER RACE". I paused and looked at all my guests.
Many questions flashed across my mind – "Is this a trick?". Super Race?
What the hell was going on? Er…has someone made a mistake here?

Felicia
and Tracy then asked me to strip open the envelop and read out the clue
inside. My gosh! This is a REAL GAME! Felicia, Sherry and Danielle have
been planning this secretly for the last few weeks! Felicia and Sherry
then started explaining the game and distributing the "Super Race"
T-shirts
and bandannas to all the people at my birthday party. This is the "SUPER
RACE" we played back in Singapore back in 2003! And now, the race starts tomorrow at 9am at
Central Hong Kong!

This
was indeed a very unusual birthday party. Well, I did wished for
something different but I wasn’t prepared that it turned out this way. I
was in the midst of the gift-opening and suddenly, I ended up with a
clue in my hand. Yes, this is one very special and unforgettable
birthday. One that doesn’t come with the usual candle blowing and
dreadful birthday song ritual. And a gift that doesn’t come wrapped in a
box.

This is the best birthday
gift ever! A gift of pure joy and togetherness. A gift that is
only possible because their love and friendship. And that is something
you can’t buy it with money – Love and Friendship. I love them so much!

Thank
you CrystalBelle
for the late night baking my "very tasting" WAH-BIANG birthday cake.
Thanks Selina
for "dressing" the late-comers with such nasty but "I-Love-It" prank!
Every word counts! And lastly, a BIG thank you to Danielle & BF,
Sherry
and Felicia
for bringing back my favourite RACE! I am deeply touched by all your
effort and love to organise this challenging race for
everyone here. I have done it back in 2002 and 2003. It was not easy. I

am sure my Wahbiang Clan read this with envy. Let’s start the RACE!