24

I don't know when it started but I had started to dislike my birthday. I started thinking of it as a reminder that I'm getting older and a countdown to a timely death should I not encounter any untimely ones. I didn't like the idea and that made me start to dislike my own birthday but me being me, I can't think the same way for other people. I celebrate the joy of other people's birthdays because to me that's something a sign of other people's maturity and their wellbeing. I don't think that makes any sense. Heck, I'm not completely sure why birthdays are joyous and I'm too lazy to Google that to learn the psychology behind it now.

Anyway, Ryan Ryan and I share the same birth date so it while I was happy for him, it kinda made me happy for myself as well. I suddenly dropped the negative ideas I had about my own birthday and I looked forward to the dinner plans I made with Ryan Ryan, Rachael, Debbie and Leonard.

But boy did I have quite a surprising birthday. On the day itself, I went to work like usual and I didn't expect anyone but maybe the managers to know (because Steven is often on Facebook after work). I accidentally left my phone in the car and my mom drove off to work with it so I was disconnected from the social network and I was completely oblivious to whatever was happening which was good because that way I wasn't distracted from my work and the stuff I wanted to accomplish that day. It was the start of the month so I had to change the promotional items on display in the store. While I was doing that, one of the staff members suddenly called out to me. He came over and wanted to show me a magic trick so I thought why not. At first I thought he wanted to practice his toy demonstration but I noticed that the deck he was using is is own poker cards. So he told me to pick a card from the deck and I had to guess if it was a red or black card. I said black and I thought to myself, the card in my hand was definitely gonna be black. He turned the deck around to show me that it was really an ordinary poker card deck and asked me to turn the card I picked around. Writen crudely on the card was, "Happy Birthday Max!". I was stunned, I was so shocked my brain farted and the first two things that came into my mind was, "This card isn't black." first, then "How did he know it's my birthday?" I came back to my sense and I thanked him for the wish before asking him how he knew. He said Steven had announced it in the Whatsapp group and everyone is wishing me a happy birthday. His magic trick really caught me off guard and it really made my day, all thanks to me forgetting to bring my phone to work.

In the evening, Leonard, Rachael and Debbie came to meet up with me. I had to go out to the central park to get my phone from my mom after work. After that I hopped into Leonard's car and we headed for dinner at Eat Mor (previously named Momo Paradise). Ryan Ryan's class ended early so he was at the restaurant early and there wasn't a lot of customers so he got get us a table. We got ourselves seated and Debbie took our birthday presents for Ryan Ryan and me. Ryan Ryan's present was shared between Rachael and Debbie as for mine was just Debbie's. Ryan Ryan then revealed that he and Rachael has also shared to get me present. This embarrassed me because I didn't think of getting Ryan Ryan a gift but luckily I have backups for such situations. I have some unopened toys I got that I had planned for such events. We chatted idly as we ate our steamboat buffet. After we were done, Ryan Ryan and I opened our presents. I was joyous because Debbie got me the Lego Star Wars General Grievous Buildable Figure. She actually remembered the small silly stuff I tell her work, that made me feel blessed. Ryan Ryan got a Donald Duck figurine USB drive. When we were done, Rachael and Debbie went home whereas Ryan Ryan, Leonard and I went to Chatime because we talked about the freebies some places give on your birthday month. Ryan Ryan went to register for a Chatime BCard and I was gonna redeem my free drink but to my dismay, I had lost my Chatime BCard. I searched my wallet but to no avail, I had really lost my card. I tried to recall the last time I used it in hopes that I can go there and find it. After a while Ryan Ryan and Leonard went home.

The next day, I quickly put my plan into action. Ryan Ryan was gonna drop by to pass me the birthday present he and Rachael got for me. I went to Daiso and bought a rectangular frying pan (that you use to make rectangular fried eggs, usually for sushi) and I wrapped the Star Wars Metal Earth model I picked for him. Then I added in a Lego Batman Batwing polybag that I got and wrapped them together in the frying pan. Then I put the frying pan in a bigger box and put in old Lego ang paos from 2015 to act as weights and then wrapped the whole box up. Ryan Ryan came later in the evening with a big surprise. He said he had arrived at the shop so I took his present with me and I walked out to the entrance and to my shock he was carrying a big husky plush toy. I was left speechless and my brain farted a couple of times. I really didn't expect to get a plush toy. Ryan Ryan mentioned how Rachael and him tried to find the shark plush I had said I wanted from Ikea but they were sold out, so they got the husky instead. Three friends who remembered the small silly things I say and they got them for me. I felt really blessed and happy. I passed Ryan Ryan his birthday present and then we parted because he had a dinner to attend. I decided to name the husky 'Max' because that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw it.

While last year's birthday was quite healthy, this year's I can say was materialistic? Hahaha. I found it seldom that I get birthday presents for my birthday, it was usually meals and hang outs. I do occasionally get present from one or two people, like the M&Ms dispenser I got from Mae or a box full of Pokemon cards from Marcus long time ago.

This year I didn't really celebrate my birthday with my high school friends like usual. This time we went to myBurger Lab in Seapark and I got the free burger for January babies promotion. I had a Heartattack, a juicy beef burger with three slices of cheese, tomato, mushrooms and caramelised onions with a side of mash potatoes. After the early dinner we went to Marcus' house to play a bit of Naruto and then Saboteur.

I didn't exactly celebrate my birthday with my college buds as well. I went to Wilson's house to shoot a video and that was pretty much it. After I went home, Wilson messaged me saying that they forgot to give me the birthday present that they got for me so I'll have to get it from them the next time we're meeting up.

I had dinner with my family at Morganfield's in e@Curve. Unfortunately the service was pretty poor. The staff were friendly and patient but my mom made a fuss and a scene because we were waiting for our meal for over an hour and a half. It was not them to blame because I had a Groupon and many other people were ordering the same thing, going there to eat at peak hours had our orders held back. But still, an hour and a half was just too long. The management however still treated us to a bowl of soup and dessert (because of my mom) so that's fine. At the table the only person who was upset was my mom, my dad who usually get hangry didn't make a fuss (probably because he was being entertained by the Mr Bean episodes that were being played) and my sister was busy on her phone. So it was a so-so okay but kinda disappointing birthday dinner I had with my family.

Thanks to my friends this year, I suppose I can say that I have new views on my own birthday. I don't dislike it as much as before now. So here's to a good year ahead until next. Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday!

New Year Clouds

So it's obviously the new year, and almost everybody on the planet would be making new year resolutions and looking forward to new stuff and bla bla bla. I'm not like that. This year didn't feel any different for me, it's just another day with more uncertainties ahead.

Anyway, it's still the new year so I obviously made some plans to celebrate. Out of the small list of things I planned to do on new year's eve to welcome the new year, I decided on seeing the first sunrise of the year. Unfortunately we can't see a good sunrise from the beach on the west coast and we're not very keen on traveling to the east coast to see it so Marcus, Yati and I decided to climb Broga Hill to hopefully see the sunrise, knowing that it's almost impossible to see it because of the clouds and mist. We invited Kuui to join us and we planned out how the itinerary.

After work, I met up with Marcus and Yati and we went to buy some snacks. I had to cut my hair before that so it took some time as there was a queue at the hair stylist. After that we made a last minute decision and Marcus went back home to grab his PS2 and then we headed to my house in my car. I took the guys to have dinner at the koptiam that my family always go to to introduce them to the delicious tom yam there. After dinner we headed back to my house and we played games into the night. We were so into the game that we didn't notice it was already the new year until we heard the fireworks. In the previous years my family and I could always get a good view of the fireworks display at Setia City Mall from my house but this time, we couldn't see a thing because the bamboo tree outside my house has grown so tall that it blocks the view, so we didn't get to see any fireworks this year.

We continued to play games for around an hour and then Yati and I went to sleep. Marcus decided to stay up. At 3am, we woke up and got ready to head out. We got into my car and we headed down to pick Kuui up. After we got him from his house, we went straight to Broga Hill. I made a couple wrong turns along the way because KL roads are shit but we got to the hill just fine. We thought maybe we were the only ones who had the idea of climbing the hill but we thought wrong. There were a lot of people at the hill. Luckily we were still early so we didn't have to queue for long to get into the makeshift parking lot and a spot to park my car. It had started to rain as we were going in but we decided that we should just go for it because we were already there and that going back out would make the trip a waste. So we walked up to the hill following a small crowd. Not wanting to snail walk up with the crowd, we took paths that are not occupied as there are some new instalments along the journey up to the hill to support and aid people to go up the hill safely. The condition of the hill has worsened since the last time I went there, the steps have become smooth and slippery and signs of landslides reveal a lot of lose boulders and some paths has become steeper making it dangerous. The short rain had stopped already and that made things a little better. When we got to the first peak, it was crowded with people sitting around waiting for the sunrise. Our goal was to reached the highest peak so we pushed on. Up and and up we went. Some people had tents set up indicating that they may have been there for a while. We manage to get to the top where it was the most crowded because of the small space and the crowd. The worst part of the climb was that there were idiots at every peak smoking their cigarettes. Such fools! People are there to enjoy the fresh air and these imbeciles are there polluting it. They were not just creating air pollution, they were also disturbing the environment by throwing their cigarette butts on the ground. Such retarded dimwits. We found a spot to sit down facing the direction of the sunrise and we waited and took in the wind (and suffocated at the smell of cigarette smoke), hopefully getting the chance to see the sunrise as seen in photos online. Unfortunately for us, the sky only lit up, indicating that the sun had rose but we couldn't see it peak from behind the hills in the distance because of the heavy clouds from the result of the earlier rain and the mists. It wasn't that bad though because we got to get the exercise. However, the blissful peace didn't last long. Nature started calling and it called fast. The tom yam from last night is doing it's job. We then proceeded to make our way down the hill as quick as possible. My stomach grumbled and bubbled as I clenched my butt cheeks like my life depends on it. I barely made it as we made our way to the public toilet but holding it in the whole journey down sure seemed like a miracle to me, I don't think I've ever held my shit in for so long before, not when it has to come out in a sea of red waterfall (and burning pain thanks to the tom yam). A wave of relief surged over me as I emptied my bowels into the surprisingly clean toilet bowl, unfortunately the flush was broken so I couldn't wash my submarines down into the drain (or sewer, whatever).

After I was done with my ordeal, we went back to my car, changed our sweat drenched shirts and cleaned our shoes as much as possible and we headed out for breakfast. On the climb up the hill, Marcus and I overheard some climbers in front of us talking about a good place that serves pork noodles in Cheras, so we decided to go for that. When we reached the store, it wasn't opened yet. So I winded down the windows and turned off the engine and went to sleep, it was a tiring hike and I didn't get enough sleep last night after all. After about an hour and a half, we all woke up and we went to grab our breakfast. The restaurant is called OUG Seafood Pork Noodle. I ordered their seafood and pork noodles and it was better than I expected. The broth (or soup) was bursting with flavour and the noodles were cooked nicely. The amount of seafood and meat however was not enough however, still quality over quantity I guess. If I ever pass by again, I would go there to have another bowl of their noodles.

After our meal, Marcus took over the wheel because I had reached my limit and I fell into a slumber in the backseat of my car. Marcus woke me up when we reached his house. He had already dropped Kuui and Yati off at their homes to rest up before our next agenda. I slept some more in Marcus' room as he did his own stuff. After an hour or two, we headed back out. Marcus took his car and went to pick Kuui up and I went to pick Yati. We convoyed our way back to my house. We set up the PS2 and we played into the evening. After feeding my dogs, we went to Z Bistro near my house because I wanted the guys to try the satay there. Unfortunately they were out of lamb, so we had to settle for chicken and beef only. After our fill, we went back to my house and we continued to play games. The initial plan was that my friends will go home after dinner but while played games, Marcus fell asleep and he looked so tired so we didn't want to wake him up. I let Kuui and Yati watch 5cm per Second on the TV and because of the terrible subtitles on the copy I downloaded, Kuui was confused and Yati couldn't contain his laughter (Yati has watched the movie before). After that we skimmed through Redline and then we went to sleep at 3am.

The next morning, we continued to play games. Marcus said they will go back at 10am so we didn't go out for breakfast but with playing games, they didn't go back as they said they will. My parents returned from their trip to Penang and was surprised to see the guys still here. My mom made some desserts for us and we continued to play games until 2pm, then we went to have lunch with my parents at the kopitiam. After lunch, we continued to play games until 4pm when the guys decided it was time to leave. I guess it was kinda my fault that they decided to leave so soon because I fell asleep at the couch.

So that was how we spent our new year. Played games, climbed a hill, played more games until we're dead tired. What a way to start 2016.