Friday, January 06, 2006
Forever 21Yes, indeed, my mother was right. Birthdays become almost insignificant and unimportant after the proverbial 21. It's just any old day, and you barely remember that it's that special day that used to hold such importance all those years ago, when mothers were forced to throw birthday parties whose sole purpose was to have everyone decked out in ridiculously colourful cone-shaped hats and eating mini sausages with cucumber, stuck together with a toothpick. Even better, when these same poor mothers had to stay up till 1am, sitting among heaps of gold chocolate coins, lollipops, and mini mentos(es?), wrapping them in tiny packets of cellophane tied with ribbon, ready to be handed out to 40 other kids in class. My 22nd was a nice relaxed occasion, with me being too engrossed in Beauty & The Beast to remember my birthday until Angie said "Happy Birthday Karen!" at the stroke of midnight. Which then ensued in a temporary distraction from our cartoon marathon, when the rest of the girlies wished & hugged me. Very very nice indeed. :) It was rather a (for the lack of a better word) queer moment, I guess. There I was, busy with a Disney cartoon, half reminiscing about the wonderful musical adaptation I saw in NYC, and half thinking about my childhood & my growing up years when Disney cartoons were my everything, and then suddenly brought back into the present with the reminder of the fact that I'm 22 years old. Queer, but nice. It's interesting that I have changed so much, while Belle & Aladdin & Ariel are still exactly the same as I saw them 15 years ago. This morning (afternoon?!), I woke up, cooked myself a not-too-bad pasta lunch, and settled down to watch The Land Before Time with Owen. Pretty nice, having the whole house to myself and being with my thoughts, dogs and cartoon. Only a couple of hours though, cos then it was time to get ready for the birthday dinner with my family. Always a nice, pleasant affair, with all of us eating way too much, not wanting to take any pictures cos I was the only one dressed up nicely, getting angpaos & the customary soft toy from Aunty Mary, and me breathing a huge-ass sigh of relief that no cake was in sight, so I wouldn't have to hear the restaurant's demented version of the Happy Birthday song in both English and Chinese. The last minute plans to hang out with my darling Vina & Sheldon at the pub near my house topped off my day nicely. Not too OTT, but just a comfortable (dare I say) bitch-fest, and some wincing at the bad karaoke going on in the not-so-back-background. It was pretty damn loud. And now I'm back home way later than I initially planned, freshly showered and hopefully well-packed for my trip to Genting with the aunties, granny, mum & dad tomorrow (today?!) morning. Good night, and thanks everyone, for the birthday SMSes, phone calls, hugs, angpaos, presents, and the love that goes around 24/7.
lying among the petals 7:42 PM
