One of the things I did for the wifey’s birthday was to go ice skating. I knew she used to ice skate a lot and when we were dating, she’d used to tease me by asking me to go with her. However, I used to shun the ice because it was out of my comfort zone.
But it was a good day. And marriage does change a guy.
I guess I wore too much grey on that day
I even messed up lacing up the shoes when we were putting them on. Though I followed the instructions on a board, wifey said I done it wrong. T_T Inline skates would’ve been so much easier!
Hitting the ice
Walking with the ice skates reminded me of my inline skating days. So I grasped that pretty quickly. Then came the biggest challenge, hitting the ice.
My first move on the ice was trying to maintain balance because it was slippery. It was like trying to inline on marble floor. Whenever I tried walking, I could feel my feet slipping either front or back. Thus, I became wall hugger. But not for long.
Once I understood that I had to bend my knees to place balance in my center, I was more steady. Then I applied the motion of inline skating and I was moving forward. Though I still need to learn how to stop because the T-stop on ice seems a lot different than inline.
Forget about crawling
Let’s just make a dash for it and…whoops!
Minor ouchie
It’s like tradition. You gotta fall on the ice if it’s your first time.
I was trying to run on the ice, like how you can do it with inline skating. But I guess I lost my center along the way and slid a little to the front.
Good thing I guess is that this made the experience more memorable. And I have much lessons to learn from the ice.
My birthday this year had been nothing but eventful and memorable. The digit of 30 aside, I’m very pleased to know that my life is filled with true friendships and relationships. I can’t thank them enough for being there for me.
My 1st ever surprise party
Seriously, I’ve never had a surprise party in my life. Not when I turned 21, not when I returned from Melbourne. Best part about the surprise was that it was thrown together by people whom I didn’t expect – my business associates.
A day before my birthday, all of them including my wife schemed to surprise me at Artisan Coffee. I only thought that we were going there for drinks since the weather didn’t allow us to go for our jogging routine. Then even when I arrived, I never thought that the orange balloons were for a party for me.
I was really stumped on how to react when everyone jumped out to surprise me. All I could throw back was a face of blur-ness. Lol. I guess that’s me.
Then, my other mutual friends started to walk in and join in the party. It was this moment I thought, I really felt blessed to have them in my life. T_T
On my birthday
I had decided to take a day to treat myself. No work. Just filled with what I wished to do.
So I started the morning with a full body massage. And then, it was off to Las Vacas for a juicy Wagyu steak for lunch. I’ve only seen the meat through the glass but never ordered it because it’s a premium meal. So I guess today was that right moment to indulge in it. And it was so awesome!
Wah-gi-yuu
The next thing I wanted to do was catch a movie. I was looking forward to maybe watching Beautiful Creatures or Parker, but cinemas only had them at midnight. In the end, I just settled for Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. It was pretty interesting and makeup was really done well. Why I noticed the makeup was that for the dark witches, they had cracked faces and it looked really well done.
When night came, me and Ariel headed to my friend’s restaurant; Top Shelf, for a dinner I organized with friends of mine. It was a great way for me to wrap up my eventful day, accompanied by my friends, filling the air with laughter and smiles.
Throwing in the towel by throwing up
Why did I go for it, I don’t know. I know I could’ve just left, but I went.
I joined one of my friends at Tom, Dick and Harry’s for 1 drink after dinner. Ariel headed back first so I went there with my 2 other friends.
Again, I know I could’ve picked a safer drink. But I guess I wanted to be adventurous that night. Or, just be plain stupid. So I got a friend to choose my drink. And to no surprise, I was to drink the legendary Graveyard. Plus, because it was my birthday, they had me drink with a bong!
Never again I tell you.. NEVER!
I managed to finish the drink and hold up for awhile. But the ride home killed me. I threw up the moment I got to my house gate and threw up some more when I was inside.
Instead of the toilet bowl, I chose the kitchen sink as my best friend. Guess it was because I instinctively knew I needed water to wash it away. Ariel comforted me and asked if I needed help heading to bed. However, I waved away the option and stuck where I was. She brought over a chair for me to sit down by the sink. Thanks dear.
Zzzzz..
I fell asleep by the sink, but then woke up when my sister-in-law came home. Not noticing me as I sat up, she got a fright when she saw me sitting there. I must have had a very drunk look for her to tell that I was throwing up and I was asleep there.
I forced myself to leave the sink and head to bed. There wasn’t anything else on my mind except to crawl into bed. That was about 4-5am.
All in all, it was a great 30th celebration and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Thank you to all my family, friends and associates for making it a truly memorable life experience. 😀
Not so long ago, friends of mine bought me the Recesky twin lens reflex camera kit of my birthday. And not so many days ago, I finally assembled it and to my surprise, it was orange! Woot!
Orange orange..er..very orange?
For those who didn’t know, orange is one of my favourite colours. Beats me why orange, it just stuck. And yes, that’s the camera front completed. Also, I’d like to add turning those 2 knobs where the lens is located is tough. After prolong turns, my fingers felt like I carried heavy durians bare handed.
This is a classic camera where the viewfinder is at the top. Though the focus is more manual by turning those front knobs, I’ve so far measured the focal distance to be approximately 30cm. Though reading online, some say the distance is capable of 60cm?! 0.0
No hawt chic nearby so Danboard had to do
When I first completed the camera, me and Ariel thought whether this camera could really be used because the translucent plastic protecting the mirror inside made everything really blurry – until we noticed it had to do with the focus knobs on the front.
Looking through the viewfinder
I’ve turned the front knobs as much as my fingers could tolerate, ending up with a fixed 30cm focusing distance now. All that’s left is to buy me some film and experiment with this camera. 🙂
Here are more angles of the Recesky twin lens reflex camera kit:
I’m not sure when it started but my previous birthdays has been to restaurants with good food. The recent years it’s been either Lobsterman with the family or Japanese buffet places with my friends. Last year if I recall, I made the not-so-great decision of having it in Tenji. This year, I wanted to try something different from medium rare steaks and melt-in-your-mouth salmon sushi.
My friends helped make reservations at the talked about Simply Mel’s located in Bangsar South.
Chillaxing with a rose drink and cincau
We were lucky enough to walk-in and meet with the owner; Melba, who was dressed ready to head into the kitchen. Then seeing a cake box being passed to her staff, she asked who’s birthday was it and humbly congratulated me on my birthday – thanks Melba. 🙂 But shy-la. Lol.
We decided to order some dishes to share, in addition to some ala carte for those with bigger stomachs. I had quite a lot of rice in the afternoon so I stole some of Ariel’s belacan fried raice and it tasted awesome! 😀
Simply Mel's fish and chipsOmelette, Signature Melaka laksa and Belacan fried rice
One of my friends had their signature laksa. I didn’t try it but it looked really thick and yummies. The fried rice can be prepared in 4 styles if I recall. Ariel ordered the Belacan style while Hawk ordered the Chinese style. All I can say is the Belacan was yums! 😛
Devil's curry and Mixed vegatables
Some of us felt the Devil’s curry was spicy but hey, this is Malaysia. I’d say the Devil’s curry spiciness was well-balanced thanks to the tangy after taste of it. Besides, I found the stingray to be even spicier as you eat more of it – and you would. LOL!
Stingray and Chicken pongteh
The singray was soft and well seasoned that went very well with my Belacan fried rice – yes, I love my Belacan fried rice. 😛 As for the chicken pongteh, I didn’t get to try it as there wasn’t much chicken pieces shared. Though I believe it would’ve been awesome since the last friend who arrived even specifically asked us to keep the sauce for him! Alas, he told us too late. LOL!
Sago with gula melaka and Last Polka
For dessert, I opted for the Sago and Bubur cha cha to taste the must-have classics of what I call; nyonya cuisine. Sadly, bubur cha cha had run out so it’s a given excuse for me to visit Mel again. LOL!
And yes, we also tried some Last Polka. It was my first time having it and must say it’s texture is of another degree. Like Hawk was describing, you don’t get that icy rough taste in your mouth. The Nutella had the taste of Nutella but me being a 10-bread-slice-Nutella-monster, felt the Nutella spread still tasted much better. 😛 On the other hand, Hawk had the taste of the deep dark chocolate in grained in his mouth already. LOL!
And for my birthday present, my friends got me a Recesky build-it-yourself Twin Reflex Camera. Yes, I’ve got to assemble it in order to use it. Plus, it runs on 35mm film – ISO200 recommended! 0.0
Chi chak chi chak
Thanks peeps. Already very curious what kinda photos would turn out from this piece of art. 😉
Another year, another number about to be changed in my age. Unlike Benjamin Button, my number doesn’t decrease though come to think of it I’ve never thought if I’d want to age younger than older. Hmm… *spacing out*
Anyway, so I bought a deck of playing cards. I question my decision whether I bought it out of social influence or I really wanted it. But I guess no point pondering over what’s been done. So, here’s the RM36 (it was 20% off) spent on my 1st deck of Bicycle playing cards.
Ze box
From what I’ve read, this brand of playing cards are normally used in poker games or by magicians. Obviously the ones used in the world poker series doesn’t look so fierce and loud. 😛
Designerfied
The Bicycle playing card company produces a large variation of playing cards alone. If you look in their official online store, you’ll find designs inspired by Steampunk and others. The company also has projects where some purchased decks are part of a social responsibility project. I was tempted to get the Eco deck but it wasn’t practical because the diamonds and hearts were green. *slaps forehead*
One of the other reasons people purchase Bicycle playing cards is because of their design. So far in most of the decks by Bicycle I’ve seen around, designs are normally kept to the Jokers and Aces. In my deck, uniquely designed cards were the Ace of Spades, 2 Jokers and 2 extra cards.
Not your too ordinary playing cards
The feel of the cards is smooth and canvas-like. It’s kind of like plastic cards but not as slippery as the RM5 ones I purchased once. Overall, they make for nice displays while using them.
The other deck of cards I aim to purchase are the Bee playing cards.
Simple yet memorable
They look like your standard cards found in casinos. So I’ll pull out these cards for use when there’s some big moolah to be exchanged on the table. LOL! 🙂
P.S.: My birthday is tomorrow. Happy birthday to me!
