A week after my rainy Tuesday...

...and I am still beaming :D It's been a really good week :) I'm waiting till the end of the first week of September to go out and party though (and pamper myself hehe, though some of my friends have already done quite a swell job :D). But some of the highlights of last week are definitely worth mentioning :)

I happily indulged in my 4 Cs (refer earlier post if you don't know what I'm talking about) to celebrate the occasion -not that this was any different from other days- but the theme of the day itself seemed to be cheese, courtesy of MTM and Natasha, who both got me cheesecake :D Caramel and Oreo...yummy! *dreamy sigh*. I did a little social experiment too, and I'm quite amused with the results *evil grin*

Dinner that day was mexican at Cafe Iguana with Nips and bro... Watching bro experiment with the chilli was a laugh :D anyway a blueberry margarita and burrito later, I was stuffed and needed help getting up from the table... Only to be 'walked' to Timbre and serenaded by Reverie (with renditions of Happy B'day and Over you :D *blushes*). And when I got home after all that eating, 5 mins to midnight, Natasha came running out, zipped around the kitchen, and brought out the cutest cake ever! Haha so for the 3rd time that day, I blew out candles and made a wish :D

It was pretty cool to get calls and msgs from all over the world, all the way from California to Canberra and in between, and parents and bro calling me at midnight and my little ceremony with the vanilla candle all made it better :) Nips made me cry (again- 3rd year in a row :p) with a little presentation 10 mins before midnight :p

And then on Sunday, it all happened again :D My buddies came down in the torrential rain to the Swensons at Holland Village and I was yanked out from being horizontal to being surprised again :D I was really really touched... And I love all you guys for making it so special :) The funky card goes up on the wall of fame too :) I am gonna have to buy more furniture to hold all the gifts ;)

So people surprised me, wished me, and made me feel a lot younger than I really am (I blew out candles 4 times! :D), and to all of you, a big THANK YOU :D Nips and bro deserve a LOT of credit, and I am still getting over bro's gift, which I love, as psychotic as it may be (you'll have to visit my room to see it- again on the wall of fame). All in all, it's been a great b'day and a heck of a b'day week :D It reminded me just how awesome my family and friends are, and how much they care... And its the best feeling in the world to feel so loved :)

Thoughts for my rainy Tuesday...

This is pretty old and I'm sure we've all seen it at some point, but today I went back and watched it again, and realised that the inspiration never fades...

A glimpse of life at MTM... in pictures



Ok so this is a short picture perfect glimpse of the camera lovin' peeps at MTM... :) More shall follow once I get Bad to upload them :P

Weirdness and annoyance...

I have lately been a passive observer of change. Mainly in other people, but also in myself, on a narcissistic note ;) And as I said in a post not too long ago, people will change. But that doesn't make it any easier to deal with, specially when these are people close to you and more than just acquaintances (or random people on Facebook :P). I've been getting annoyed a lot more than I used to, maybe because I've become less tolerant and 'nice', but also because a lot of people I know and hang out with are becoming so darn insensitive. And sure, you can't make everyone happy all the time, but there's a line you cross when you just stop caring completely. Sad to say, I'm losing my respect for these people, and I'm losing it fast... It could just be the fallacy of thinking, 'oh maybe it's just this once..' because you want to believe the best about someone, but that expectation just slaps you harder in the face when you realise, 'what the hell was I thinking, giving this person another chance??'

So when I look back at the last, say, 5 yrs, and actually count the number of people I still consider 'friends', the number has almost halved from back then, and its continuing to decline. Not because we don't keep in touch the way we used to, but because things have changed so much that I don't want to keep in touch anymore, even for sentimental reasons. From a self-obsessive point of view though, it could be me contributing to the change too, and yeah I admit, I no longer have the patience and forgiveness factor I once did, but that's also due to the way people have been acting and treating me, so for me its been a more 'learn-to-stand-on-your-own-two-feet rather than let people drag you down with them' kind of change... I've not become a mean old hard and cold person though, because I'm still happy, love my life and the special people in it, and still have a very close circle of friends that I would give anything for without a moment's hesitation, because they're worth it...

Disclaimer: This is not a rant against any particular individual(s), so I shall not be answering questions on who I'm talking about or what happened, etc. These are general thoughts and opinions, just like the rest of my posts (well minus some of the visual effects :P)

From the Oscars...

Some pretty cool choreography ;)


ps. Thanks dad!

Indulgence :D






Coffee










Cinnamon (buns)











Chocolate










Cheeeeeese







The 4 Cs to my heart ;) [as far as food goes anyway :P]

America does have talent... ;)

Nams sent me this eons ago... About time i put it up :)



ps. Don't you love the end? :D

And here's the winner performing :)

Realizations...

I made up my mind at work today (during one of those intermediate stretches of mental freedom) that I would try really hard to not blog when I'm depressed... Mainly because that's what I've been seeing lately on blogs and it makes me sad to see so many people sad and angry... I wouldn't want that version of me (quite the human being, I can get very sad/angry too) to join the masses out there, not because I'm trying to be 'better' or different from the rest, but simply because I don't like the idea of emitting sadness, specially on personal issues... Maybe that's me just being silly and sensitive, but reading friends' blogs that are all dark and angst-ridden really scares me sometimes, and maybe people like seeing that kind of thing or don't get as affected as I do, but I still wouldn't want my own version of posts like to be open for public viewing. At the same time though, I know blogs can be a really good vent, and I used to be one of those people who vented through blog-like channels, but when I went back and looked at the stuff I'd written (after a couple of months) I felt really :| at what I must've been thinking and feeling when I wrote all that, b'cos in general, I'm not a sad person (I try not to be anyway :P), and there it was, displayed like some scary inner preview into an angry mind.

Another thing I've been thinking about is the way things have been changing, evolving perhaps. I was comparing the three most recent stages of my life (school -university- working life) and the only real thing that's been constant throughout is family and a few very close friends... Of course you make and break friendships all along the way, hopefully more of the former :P but as time goes on the relationships change too... I guess when you see people less there's also less of a bond (in a very general sense, because there are always exceptions to the rule), and less things to talk about, though logic would probably try to tell you otherwise... people's expectations change too, and that's sometimes the reason for the evolution... Back in school, we all swore we'd be friends forever, and I know without doubt that that will be true for some of those friendships, but not all... In university, you meet a completely different set of people, more global, different perspectives and upbringings, and rather than growing 'up' with them, you grow as a person, in other ways.. And those friendships are no less important, particularly as you step out into the crazy wide world out there... But at the same time, I think you also need to let go of the fact that you can't and won't always be 25, sleep in and skip class, have all the energy to party all semester and study a week before the exam, and do things the way you used to... Working life makes you aware of that, specially when your colleagues are older than you and at a different stage of life, one that you know you'll be getting to soon, but not just yet, so you pick up on their little tips of wisdom and experience, and find yourself thinking "10 yrs from now, I'll be going through that.."

Things change, people move on and we all get older... But that doesn't mean you can't have fun along the way and enjoy the ride ;)

On a merrier note, August is here! :D