Walking on Sunshine
Beautiful Sunday, amazing day right after Elmo’s… I mean, Shaz’s surprise birthday party. Butterflies in my stomach, mind overflowing with optimism and joy. So I’m plugging this song – Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. Aly & AJ covered the song a few years back too, for the film Herbie: Fully Loaded. Here’s the original version by Katrina and the Waves:
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Two very good friends of mine, Trina and Chris, just got married. Be sure to leave a comment congratulating the new couple over at Trina’s blog, okay? :)
Turning a hospital ward into a hotel suite
Elmo got a nasty bacteria infecting his calf around a month ago, and it wasn’t fully treated so he had to be hospitalized again. But that didn’t stop him from playing the runaway patient again, escaping the hospital and having a great afternoon high tea session at alexis. On the way to Elmo’s (aka Shaz, @shazfx) ward at Gleneagles, Patrick (@patrickkwk) picked me up to get his birthday bunting1 printed. Went to look for Chris (@spinzer) at Wisma Genting, who was in the most unfortunate position of getting stuck in a meeting. He directed us through text to a nifty print shop. Patrick was making mad dashes in the carparks because he didn’t want to miss the 15-minute grace period that exempts us from paying the first hour of parking fees.
Arrived at Gleneagles and at Elmo’s room, only to be told by Elmo himself that he downgraded from a better ward just because he needed wifi access, with a straight face. We couldn’t help but chuckle. We took some photos with Elmo in his ward (he turned it into more like a hotel room, complete with snacks) before leaving for alexis.
Shaz (aka Elmo) and Wern Chiet
Shaz (aka Elmo) and Patrick, playing the... you-know-it.
So we headed for alexis at Jalan Ampang, within walking distance of the hospital. I am surprised that nobody looks particularly amused with a person walking around with a tube stuck on the back of his hand. Mmhmm.
Spot the runaway patient.
We ordered two slices of tiramisu cake infused with cognac (which explains why Elmo was a little tipsy later, perhaps?). It’s goddamn divine, worth every single penny we splurged on it.
Tiramisu + Cognac = Divinity
And the guys are not done with the food yet. So we went over to O’Brien’s (Patrick subtlely warned me of their overpriced beverages) for some sandwich. Yummy.
O'Brien's sandwiches. Delicious.
Had dinner with Patrick at Williams somewhere near Kelana Jaya. The serving of their spaghetti bolognaise is to huge, Patrick said the inevitable, “You couldn’t finish that, right?” Spot on.
Happy Birthday, Elmo!
Patrick got a little worried that his hospitalization will mean that he won’t be able to go for the surprise birthday bash, but with reassurances from the kept-in-the-dark Elmo who said that he could attend Patrick’s “farewell party”, the big rocks on our chests were taken off.
I didn’t have much good photos for the party though – they’re either painfully blurred, or out of focus. I should really start saving up for an external flash unit. Perhaps Chris, Patrick, Kylie or Shaz himself will post better photos, heheh.
Arrived at Tony Roma’s in Cineleisure around 6pm. I peered into the restaurant to see that the waiters have arranged the tables at a comfy corner for a seating of 10, but nobody. I checked the reservation list with a helpful waitress, and saw Chris’ surname on it. It was written as ‘cock’ and then scribbled over, with ‘Tock’ written the side. HAHA.
The other guests started to arrive – Chris with the bunting and his friend Kylie, alongside with Mikel (@splashmilk) – finally, after 4 years of knowing each other online, Mikel and I have finally met in person. Then came Jon (@jonming) with his “Free Wifeless Spot available” tee. We waited for an hour and a half before the birthday boy shows up with Patrick, his face filled with amusement and surprise. He took his own sweet time to shower in the gym, and even returned to his car to fix his hair, oblivious that we’re throwing a party for him (but yea, he shouldn’t know about it!).
Happy birthday! Surprise :D
The Birthday Boy!
The party was punctuated with bouts of fit-inducing laughs, and the invention of a couple of inside jokes that nobody’s going to understand except us. Of carrots. Of tomatoes. Of cheeries. (I betcha don’t get it). The toddler on the raised chair, seated next to our table kept turning into our direction, supposedly tuning into one of our many 18SX jokes. We laughed so hard and so much that our jaws started around 2 hours into the dinner, lol.
When the party ended, the birthday boy drove Jon, Patrick and me home. I swear when I get my car next year (actually, I should phrase it this way: “when my brother gets his car next year and I get to share it with him”), I will not make anyone drive me around. I feel very terrible for needing to ask my friends to drive me around this summer break.
Happy birthday, Shaz! May you have an awesome year ahead!
i can see that his eyes in red in the few last photos. hoho.
The party looks like a lot of fun :D If such a party was done for me, I’d be touched. I’m nor surprised if he cried :P
Happy birthday to Shaz, and congrats to Trina :D
Hey! I got my twitter page set up. You’re one of the first people to know, by the way. ;) So what’s yours?
I’m liking the cake– double fudge cheesecake is still better though. ;)
@xun: Sharp, Xun! You’re spot on. It was a touching moment, my eyes felt a little sour too when he started giving his babbled speech (because he surprised till he was speechless, heh).
@Chien: It was a bang, I really enjoyed the party. Met new people to be called friends too. I simply adore small gatherings like this – it helps me to meet new people and yet not too big to make me horribly nervous.
@Grace: Oh wow, that’s a lovely Twitter background you have! Just followed you on Twitter, heh. The first person I knew on Twitter no longer tweets though :( Ah, my favourite confectionery is brownie!
Heyyyy Terry!
Thank you so much for the B’day post and the Hospital pics n all!!! Heheh really appreciate it and thanks for visiting me and thanks for the bunting design!
And no worries about the ride back k!
Chien – Thanksss!!! I wanted to cry but but… aiyo shy la!
Xun – My eyes weere red?? Hmmm…
No problem. Your real birthday is tomorrow, so don’t get too excited first :D hahaha! Glad to know that you’ve finally been discharged from the hospital, although the bill was a bomb! Thank goodness your company is gonna cover for it, man.
wow! nice photos there, couzie. i had the tiramisu the last time (and first time) i was @ alexis. but i didnt know bout the cognac part… haha! ;o
Thanks Allie! How are you doing? That day when I related my terribly experience in working, my mom told me your story. Mans, sorry to hear about that, but I hope you’re coping well with work now :) take care!
Oh yea, their tiramisu cake is divine :) which alexis did you go to?
Wow, what a party! That was so very kind of y’all to throw such a wonderful birthday party for you friend. I know I would have cried if someone done something so special like that for me, haha.
What fun pictures, too! I am especially glad that your friend was able to enjoy himself and have a good time in spite of being in the hospital.
And the food! YUM. Everything looks soo delicious, especially the tiramisu! Wow.
Oh, and thanks for the mention of Chris and I getting married, hehe. It’s been 10 days so far! Woohoo.
It seems like he had a really beautiful and funny birthday party, and the birthday cake looks fantastic, made me really really hungry.