First of all, a big happy birthday to Patrick! Shaz was terribly nice to plan a surprise birthday for Patrick at The Italliannies, The Gardens Midvalley in the evening, and he extended the invitation to me as well (thanks!). I arrived a lot earlier – around 1.30pm, to meet up with my university mates (namely Tee, Kay and Ell1). Seeing that Food Junction was literally overflowing with the Saturday crowd (to make things worse, it’s the first weekend of the local mid-year break), so we settled for Sushi Zanmai restaurant at The Gardens. It was a lot less crowded, although Kay did say that he had to check with his ‘financial advisor’ before heading in for a meal.
Ell hails from the state of Kelantan, which is on the other side of the Malaysian peninsula. I was a little surprised that he came until he explained that he’s currently living with his uncle near town, and he has an awesome part time job which mainly requires him to remove carbon-copy papers from a stack of documents and watching anime online at the same time.What dream job!
Tee is also living near town, with his uncle too! He’s currently working in this American cuisine restaurant opposite the Kelana Jaya town lake. He works the evening shift and it’s kind of painful to hear from him that because of raunchy, unruly customers who refuse to leave even it’s past closing times, he reaches home around 2am. Outrageous, but he’s still looking upbeat and all, no big eye bags so I think he’s coping fine :)
Kay brandishes two mobile phones – one of which is an iPhone and I was totally gawking over it secretly (no longer a secret now though). Seeing him multitasking between the two phones is really hilarious!
We talked and talked and talked for hours in Sushi Zanmai, drinking rounds and rounds of bottomless green tea as our mouth run dry after every couple minutes of non-stop talking. Kay ordered this huge bowl of Japanese fried chicken and cold soba combo, which he found a little hard to stuff it down at one go so we ended up hogging the table for at least two hours – not to forget, another friend of theirs, Cee2, dropped by for lunch.
The gargantuan plate of chicken teriyaki that came along with the cold soba Kay ordered
Kay also ordered some sushi to go along with his cold soba, and if you eat it without wasabi it’s not fun:
Wasabi and soy sauce. Oh, and that's the hand of Kay.
We had so much green tea – I had around 5 or 6 glasses – that all of us were hunting for toilets after settling the bill. All thanks to the Saturday crowd, the long queues snaking amongst the stagnant crowd littered with craning necks reading for movie times scared us away. The gawking 45-minute waiting time at the 20+ lanes bowling center didn’t help to make us feel a little better. Finally, we went to the arcade, where a curious crowd gathers around the para para paradise dancing machine watching this group of cosplay girls waving to the beat. Kay chuckled out a laugh as we watched on.
After exchanging some tokens, they tried their luck with some sniping game, where they’re supposed to take out some criminal in a hotel or in a ferris wheel from the ground. Instead of taking others out, the bad guys kept taking them out… and they generously fed the game machine with more tokens. I realized my stupid mistaken when I non-hesitantly bought 5 tokens and had no idea how to spend them – and all of them went to the Bishi Bashi Champ, where you hit the red, green and blue buttons like a mad man on a drunken rage. It was a good workout for the arms though – I bet if you spend enough time playing it, you wouldn’t have to head to the gym to actually have calluses growing all over your palms.
After Cee and Tee left, Kay, Ell and I hunted down possible venues where they’ll be organizing the university freshmen guide/handbook to our juniors (I’m still in a daze that I’m actually turning year 2 next year). We approached the staff from Starbucks in Borders bookstore and MPH bookstore, and they unanimously gave us the same response – “email their marketing department”, and for us who are budget-conscious, the word marketing means expenditure and some degree of capital outlay. Big nono. In the end, we went to meet the floor manager of a rather high class but glaringly vacant food court in The Gardens – they didn’t mutter a word on the pricing part and Kay decided to give it a shot when he emails them his application. Good luck, dude.
Patrick’s surprise 21
Patrick’s birthday party. Kay, Ell and I actually arrived around 10 minutes late because we coincidentally bumped into a second Ell (in case you haven’t realized it now, all the pseudonyms are the approximate pronunciation of alphabets, which logically represents their actual names). We went to New Zealand Natural for their huge 30% discount (it was the 30th of the month), where the second Ell brought his two other friends over. Kay, Ell and I shared this $17.50 (plus minus a couple of cents) regular tub, containing around 6~7 scoops each for cookies & cream and frozen mango fruit yoghurt. The yoghurt was melting way too fast and was ruining the cookies & cream – whoops, my bad! It was my idea to get the mango thing. When I told them about this interesting beverage my college drinks stall aunty supposedly invented (blended, crushed oreo + water), we all stared at each other and then peered into the tub of melting cookies & cream. LOL!
We rushed over to The Italliannies, WernChiet, his other half and a few other invited guests were already there. I met GuoZhang over there – he looked so different from his previous trip to Singapore and I totally didn’t recognize him at all – not to mention embarrassing myself, hah. We made a quick dash for the toilet and when we returned, Patrick was already there! Damn, we missed his entry – the look on his face would have been priceless. We sat on a same table with a guy (I only remember that he’s a 1988 baby), his girlfriend Sophia, another guy and Jon. I remembered Sophia because we were sitting opposite to each other and were talking away about her mass communication course in HELP college and my life in Singapore – and Jon because Shaz told me the other day that the designer behind his green, electric blog skin was nobody else but Jon.
I think I’m the youngest. I was born in 1989. I was a quite shy at first, and I guess it was written all over my face going something like “Hi my name is Terry and I’m too shy to bring any conversation further.” Blah, I’m bad at gatherings, especially when meeting new people. Thank God Kay and Ell attended, whos at beside me which really did an awesome job in calming my nerves.
The dinner went pretty well – the smart 1988 baby suggested that we share several dishes and a pizza to split the cost since their single servings are too large for our individual stomachs to handle. That was an excellent idea because the supposedly for-one-only spaghetti bolognaise ended up being shared between five guys. Woah.
Patrick, the birthday guy!
Then the moment came – the über-friendly crew of waiters brought the cake in, complete with candles and started to sing the birthday song. Patrick stood on the chair and after making his wishes, tried to blow the candles and then it came to me that those were trick candles that Shaz bought! They had those tiny little sparks in there so they’ll reignite the candles that were blown out – brilliant. Pat had a great time slathering his salivary gland secretions all over the cake, which I did take a bite later, I’m so proud of myself, hah.
Patrick doing the great blow jo... I mean, blowing work.
The waiters and waitresses are very nice and helped to distribute the tainted birthday cake (with you-know-what), and many of Pat’s ex-schoolmates started to leave messages on his poster (yea, Shaz got a couple of them printer and hung them around the venue). I heard that they’re having their finals real soon, so whoever you are, good luck! The rest started to leave soon after, leaving me and around 8 to 10 other people remaining at the venue. That’s also when I finally get to introduce myself to Chris – I’ve heard so much about him online but have never met him in person before. He’s a totally down-to-earth guy, dressed pretty casually and completely at ease, but he’s so soft cookie to deal with, that’s for sure. I did a little pack up for them until my parents arrived and had to run, so a big thanks to the remaining people who helped Shaz to move all the stuff back to his car.
Happy belated Fonty Friday
Sorry for the late Fonty Friday feature again! Anyway, a reader of mine sent me an email yesterday asking how to install a font. It’s actually quite easy – for those running Windows XP, you will have to unzip the file and get the font files out. Copy them into a folder named ‘Fonts’ in your Control Panel. You might want to switch to Classic View first to make searching for the elusive ‘Fonts’ folder easier. For Windows Vista, it’s a breeze – right click on the font file and an ‘Install’ option will appear in the menu. After installation, you can delete the unzipped font files from their initial directories. To uninstall a font, simply search for the font in the ‘Fonts’ folder and remove the file.
Back to the Fonty Friday feature, we are having a sans-serif font called Aller, designed by Dalton Maag. It has this excellent blend of sharp edges and smooth corners, making each character very reader-friendly. The vertical alignment of numbers reminds me of Georgia – quirky but not confusing. I always love the difference in the baselines of different digits in Georgia – the same goes for Aller.
Oh, and I stumbled upon this funny image on Digg the other day – I shot the serif.
I shot the serif.
I’m wishing Patrick a happy birthday too. :)
You totally captured the moment in that first picture of him! And I wouldn’t have eaten the cake if I were you. ;)
I really like that font– especially the x’s and l’s. Thanks for sharing!
Check out Grace’s latest blog post » 111 Places for Awesome Free and Premium Templates
Glad to see you around, Grace! Looks like you have a new layout and logo for your blog, great work over there. Now, I can’t wait for the weekly dose of Monday Linking from you, heh.
I took a small bit of the cake, and avoided the crust where Patrick’s generously slathered his saliva all over it, teehee.
I’m going to start the Monday Linking a little later. :)
I just opened up your twitter page– I like it a lot! It matches your site and it feels so teddy! I think I’m going to start using twitter more… my last entry was from last year. And to give another example of how inactive I am, I have more followers than people I’m following. (A few people managed to find me on Twitter) Plus I don’t have my twitter link anywhere. But I’ll add you when I decide to utilize my Twitter account.
Check out Grace’s latest blog post » 111 Places for Awesome Free and Premium Templates
Thanks for the compliments! I recently changed the background – it was a little detached, design wise, from my layout in the past. Wooden backgrounds is so 2008, and I can’t imagine letting it stay until mid-2009. Since I was already working on the current theme at that time, I just did the Twitter background thing along the way.
Sure, do add me when you’re ready for Twitter. I’ll follow back as well!
Happy (belated) birthday to Patrick too! Wow, it sounds like a great party. The trick candles are wow XD
Come to think of it, I’ve never had a proper birthday cake since I was 14 :P All I blow now is match-sticks, substitutes for candles. What we do at home is bake a chiffon cake, put a match, light it, sing, wish and then blow!
I read your reply to my previous comment. Aww, thanks a lot :D But honestly, getting hosting is easy for me :P It’s just that I’m lazy to blog and such, that’s why I don’t bother spending on something that I am not so passionate about, because I’m that much of a miser *failed evil laugh goes here*
Check out Aki’s latest blog post » Donghae
Patrick will be delighted to hear that! The party was a smash, everyone was really have fun! The trick candles are a brilliant idea – and to make things worse, they penalize the birthday boy for each failed attempt to blow out all the candles, they’ll move the cake further. LOL!
My parents never threw a birthday bash for me, and I’m used to those private, tiny, little but warm celebrations my family used to have over at my aunt’s house. It became an annual ritual – we buy the cake, head over to aunt’s house and celebrate. My aunt and uncle love company, not to mention lots of people in their home celebrating a birthday, so they didn’t mind at all (to top it up, they get to eat birthday cakes twice a year – my brother’s and mine).
I see. Well, if you need hosting in the future when you regain the drive and motivation, you can always contact me in the future. The offer is open :)
oh my. i was probably at all the places you mentioned on the same day. i think we might have stumbled into each other! well you should holla me whenever you go to midvalley, im always there, sadly.
Check out sue’s latest blog post » fishballs without a dslr
Ah, after reading your blog now I get it. You were in the same place on that day as well! I was there since 1pm until late night, haha!
Next time when I’m going there, I’ll drop you a note or something, heh.
Oh man, you ate the cake? *shakes head*
Honestly.. if there was cake in front of me, I’d probably eat it too, haha.
Great capture of your friend & his cake though! Those trick candles are so much fun (yet aggravating at times!) I’ve had a few of those on my birthday cakes as well, hehe.
I wish I could hang out with a large group of people like that. I have such bad social anxiety. If there is any one in the group that I don’t know — I feel so awkward! I’m glad you managed to have a good time though. :D And you got to meet new people! Always fun (scary for me though) — I’ve met quite a few new people working at the books store and I really think it’s been helping my social anxiety, so yay!
Oh, and btw.. the picture of the Japanese fried chicken looks sooo delicious. I have not had breakfast yet so I can’t help but salivating over the keyboard! hah, seriously. It looks so yummy.
I have dropped by & scanned this entry a few times (have not had enough time to actually comment until now) and every time I see the “I shot the serif” photo, I giggle. So cute!
Well, I hope you’re having a good summer. Sounds like you are!
Check out Latrina’s latest blog post » First two days of training.
Yea, I did. Anyway, it didn’t taste *that* bad – at least I avoided the crust where all his saliva landed on, heh. Same here – I wouldn’t want to miss any chance to sample a cake, or anything that comes out of a bakery. I’m a big fan of baked stuff (baked rice aside, for some reason I’m afraid of those uber cheesy ones).
Trick candles are evil! I wouldn’t want any of those on my cake, teehee. I think Patrick almost blew his lungs out trying to extinguish the candle flames. Ouch! I wouldn’t want to end up with a lung trauma on my birthday.
Trina, you’re not alone. I’m all jittery and nervous too! I guess it was all written on my face that night… and even as I speak to those nice enough to introduce themselves to me, I found myself blabbering too much and too fast. I wish I could snap out of this bad habit of mine – not only does it make first impression tasting like charred pizza, I makes me feel bad that people will actually have to ensure those who’re socially awkward like me :P I felt better that night, thanks to my two friends who were sitting beside me. And the people on my table were super nice and talkative, it’s kind of easy to strike up a conversation so things became less embarrassing later in the night. Its nice that your new job at BAM is helping you to manage your social anxiety – way to go, Trina!
Now I know the proper name of the Japanese fried chicken – it’s called chicken karaage. I enjoy eating it with mayonnaise, but for that day I decided that the soup that came with the noodles will do (it helps to soften the skin, which makes biting easier for me who have braces ‘installed’).
May you have a great summer too, Trina! And don’t take the commenting thing too seriously – it’s okay if you’re too busy to leave a comment :) no worries!
Yum! I’m a fan of baked goods as well. Did I mention that BAM has a cafe? It’s called Joe Muggs and they offer the yummiest bakes goods and delicious coffees and espressos. I get a discount there as well! teehee, I had me a Mocha Frappe the other day when I worked that nine hour shift. Soo yummy.
Ahh, social interaction has always been so hard for me! Even with family sometimes. It’s awful. But I have noticed how much easier it is to be social and friendly than it used to be. Having a job really has helped me. It has put me out there! As where I probably wouldn’t have on my own.
I’m glad that you finally got comfortable that night. Having close friends around always makes it easier, I’m sure! I think I’ll always be shy at heart. But I am definitely getting a wee better at being around people, lol. I guess it just takes getting used to. I have found myself actually wanting to go public places to hang out with people! That’s a scary thought, haha. As I would never have wanted that. I can tell I’m changing.. and I am so happy about that. hehe
Oh noo. The picture on wiki of the karaage does not look that tasty at all, haha. But you have to keep in mind.. I grew up vegetarian so most meats (even the ones I eat!) don’t look that tasty sometimes, hehe. Although chicken with mayonnaise sounds soo yummy!!
Here’s to a great weekend ahead!
Check out Latrina’s latest blog post » A boost in self confidence.
I ate the cake anyway,spit or otherwise. My reasoning is that I ate a whole lot nastier stuff than spit and so it didn’t make all that much of a difference to me anyways!
Check out Gzhang’s latest blog post » Patrick’s Surprise 21st
Terry! Very nice review of the night. =)
Btw, the 1988 baby on your table is Xian Jin. Hahaha
Anyway, hope the holidays are going well for you. I’ll see you when I do =)
you have a really awesome site here! i could sure use a pointer or two… add me on msn? :D
Check out Christock’s latest blog post » Mist Club Exclusive Grand Launch vs Zouk’s 5th Anniversary Blast!
@Gzhang: The cake didn’t taste *that* bad afterall, right? Hah. And yea, we’ve probably ate a waiter’s or a chef’s spit in our meals in our life. Given that I have nasty parents who thinks that consumer/customer rights is everything, I’m not surprised if the dissed waiters peed in our tea…
@Jacqueline: Thanks Jac! OMG, that’s Xian Jin? No wonder his name sounded so familiar – he’s the PinkFrog dude! I didn’t realize it was him until you told me in your comment *bangs head against wall* damn, his blog was one of the first few blogs that I frequented when I first started off blogging! It’s a little sad that he’s not blogging for the moment being – I’m kind of waiting for him to make a comeback. May you have an awesome summer too!
@Christock: Thank you so much, Chris! I sent you my MSN address in a private tweet because I’m not sure if the email address you’ve provided is your Windows Live ID :P
Hey terry! Thank you so much for attending the party and gosh, those photos of yours are lovely. :)
You’re an amazing photographer and designer Terry. ;)
Check out pat’s latest blog post » Relocated