I never expect my 32nd birthday to be that grand and exciting. On the eve of 15th June, I was playing Ghost Recon II on my newly bought Xbox 360. Felicia came to me and asked if I am expecting a big birthday party. I smiled at her, shaking my head. I didn’t really feel the excitement or have any hint that people remember my birthday. In fact, I am happy to have a good gathering with just Felicia, Echo, Francis and my little boy.
At the stroke of midnight 12am, Felicia walked into the living room and wished me "Happy Birthday". She gave me a nice bear hug and went back to her room to work on her freelance work. Within the next 20 seconds, Joanne sent me an SMS greeting. Tracy’s SMS came in about 5 seconds right after. 12:01am – 3 wishes at the 1st minute. (Mmm..my girls are really great!).
I played Ghost Recon II until 12:30am and went online to check email.
Diane popped me a MSN greeting. She has passed Felicia my birthday gift 1 day before they flew to Shanghai. I was surprise by her gift…mm…still wondering how she know my birthday. I decided to open her gift later today.
8:30am, Morning.
When I woke up this morning, Elkan greeted me "morning" as usual. However, he added 2 more words (I believe he just learnt it today) – "Happie Birthday, Daddy!" Haaa… I just smiled at him in amaze!
Gareth buzzed me a couple of times but I missed his call. He then followed with a SMS plus MSN and a phonecall to wish me Happy Birthday. "Bro, there is never a better way to greet you. You got to hear it in real voice!" Gareth said. Haaa… I agreed.
I suppose to turn up at office after 1pm. However, after some hiccups at the local government office, I went back to the office earlier than expected. When I walked pass the reception counter, my receptionist passed me a parcel. "France" it says. I thought it was something from my client in Europe.
I walked to my table and saw 3 gifts lying on the table. Instantly, I smiled and looked around. Then, I heard my super-AE, Rebecca, screaming her top! "Oh no! I haven’t wrap his present! Hey Joe, I thought you are back only at 1pm?" she exclaimed. Haaa… first time I caught her so unorganised!
Lying on the table were 3 gifts – they are from Alicia, Clare and Rebecca. And those presents were beautifully wrapped! Mmm…So my lovely team mates remember my birthday! That is quite a surprise… they were so sneaky, I never suspect they remember. I intended to invite them for karaoke tonight. I MSN Alicia and get her to help me organise a lunch or dinner with the team. Lunch seems to be a more popular choice amongst them.
I opened the parcel from "France". It contained a very beautiful wooden box. It says "chocolate" on the outside. There is a golden plate on the box with my name engraved on it. I wondered who sent me this? Then, I found a card inside. It was from Joanne. So sweet of her! She went through the effort to select and custom-made the chocolate set for me.
12pm, Lunch.
I brought my team to Huai Hai Lu’s Crystal Jade. There were 12 of us (including Felicia and Elkan). Guess how many dishes we ordered? 25 dishes! There were so much dishes that we need to pack for home. Still, it was a very fun lunch. I always like to lunch with my teams of beautiful account ladies and slim gentlemen. Elkan was "good boy" today… he went around giving everyone a "tickle" handshake.
The team bought me a nice cake and we were so full at the end of lunch. Everyone in Shanghai is calling me neckless now! And silly Lisa, Rebecca and Heidi are giving me nickname – PengPeng, Jiji – sounds like a dick! Or worst, a fat old panda. So that kinda influenced my birthday wish for this year – I wish I be 10kg lesser by end of 2007. Man, what a waste of wish!
Lunch took 2 hours. When I came back from lunch, I got a shock of my life! I saw a big bouquet of pink roses plus a teddy bear and another CAKE! Thinking it was a prank from the company, I looked around for suspecting face. I found a note within the roses … and it was signed off by Tracy and Meijie! I couldn’t believe it! I felt so pampered and happy. But why roses and teddy bear? I later MSN Tracy, she said "the flowers are for Felicia, the teddy bear is for Elkan and the cake is for tonight’s programme with Echo and Francis." So funny.
I started opening up all the gifts in office. What surprise me wasn’t the gifts but the content of them. I am such a blessed man. All my colleagues know me and bought me things that reflect my desire. Alicia bought me a PSP Game. Clare got me a SWISS Army Knife. Lisa, Daisy and Heidi bought me a designer’s display set. Rebecca bought me an authentic "Journey to the West" comic novel. These are things that I like. They are perfect!
Over the next 2 hours. I have Scott, Kalinda, Cousin Leon, my neighbour Hong Ai, my insurance broker Angela, Auntie Amy, Cousin Yei, beautiful colleague Elle and Regina, client Christin and Sandy sending their wishes to me.
7pm, Dinner.
There were so many things to carry. Alicia helped me and carried these gifts back to my house. I remembered about Diane and Tracy’s gifts. I went into my room and opened up their gifts.
Tracy gave me a book on finance planning and 2 bottles of super-expensive health supplements. She knows I am feeling tired and getting haggard lately. She insisted that I eat and live healthy. Yes, mdm, I will do accordingly to your bidding.
Coincidently, Diane’s gift is also a book – A Lonely Planet travel book with LucyD’s writings and signature sticker! Man, I love it!
10pm, Karaoke.
Echo and Francis fetched me to the Karaoke "CashBox". Elkan was extremely naughty. He didn’t really understand why adults sing and he thinks it is fun yelling into the microphone. He kept snatching microphones from us.
At about 11:50pm, I saw Echo "behaving strangely" outside the karaoke room. I told Francis and Felicia that Echo is bringing a cake in. The door opened and Echo stood there, smiling, empty-handed. Before I can react, Juliana walked in with the birthday cake and man, I WAS WAHHHH….Ohhhhhhhh my gosh! She is supposed to be in BEIJING! WHAT THE F*** SHE IS DOING HERE! I stared at Francis and Echo and Felicia ~ Guess I was the sucker this time again! They laughed at me. How can I not suspect this at all!?
Juliana wished me "happy birthday" at 11:59pm and I gave her such a BIG HUG. (Man, what was I thinking? Me hugging Juli..eeeee…heee)
Just when I was feeling so high about meeting Juliana, Echo brought out 2 gifts and threw them on my lap! I can’t believe it! She and Francis are such true friends. Echo brought me the "gift that I wanted for so so so long" – a mini remote helicopter. And Francis got me exotic refills for my fuji instant camera!
Felicia gave me the one and only self-made gift today. It was a mini wallet-size photo card of my little baby Elkan. Specially designed and layout, it melted my heart.
3am, Back at Home.
Can’t wait to download the photos and stories and share with everyone! My friends have given me so much love – more than I truly deserved. It was them who made 15th June a JOE’s DAY. It was them who engraved warmth and love in my heart all these while.
I love you all.
12 years away from home - Singapore. Writing my stories here for my lovely mum & dad, friends and most importantly, for my wife & son back home. A self-confessed gadget freak, a spontaneous prankster on the outside and a warm loving heart inside. Enjoying a happy life with loving families, friends plus a dream job. Realising mum’s motto – “Exceed Yourself Every Day”. Always believing that “Simplicity is Beauty”.
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