Slam Dunk 2012: A Birthday Special

It's definitely been awhile. So what am I up to? What's with the silent treatment? Nothing much actually except I bought myself some Photobooks. Again. And am busy at work. Again. 

The funny thing is sometimes I get all worked up and motivated over the entire process. Picking photos, arranging them, putting words into them, etc. And then suddenly in the middle of it all, I just feel what a self-indulgence this is. I mean it's actually nothing more than syok sendiri. Yes, they're going to be awesome memory books and all, so what? 

It's funny how you can get from one emotion to another so quick.

Like how this suppose-post about my birthday spontaneously ended up 

being a post about my conflicting self. O_O

Alright. Back to the topic, shall we?

This year I decided to tune it up. Literally. Like let's just not eat to celebrate. Let's eat... and sing to celebrate! Oh dear, me singing? When Cik Datang found out about it she cynically asked if it rained. Cis! But yeah, it was different and because of that, we have a different set of photo memories to cherish this year.

But the best shot of the night has to be this!

Papa singing/trying to be Aerosmith. 

Yup, my papa is awesome. *hearts*

Well, karaoke happened few days before my actual birthday 

just so we can celebrate with little sis while she's home. 

On the actual birthday itself, well, I have to go to work. Boo.

But I received this at work. Yay!

A gift from Cik Datang. Eco(nomical)-friendly wrapped in a printed recycled paper 

with ribbon drawn on top. As expected from an Art Director.

Well, inside this gift bag was...

... a little bag! 

And inside this little bag...

... was a big bag!

Talk about a bag of surprises. :)

As a "Ohayo-Arigatou-Hai" Japanese-influenced lady that I am 

(though recently I've been splashed by the Korean wave), 

my other fellow colleagues generously treated me out to...

Duh. A Japanese lunch.

Where strangely has *ahem* an interesting selection of magazines.

Anyhow, I enjoyed my big bowl of Muscle Noodle, I mean Mussel Ramen.

And managed to shoot a Samsung Galaxy S2 ad at the same time.  

Group shot! Thank you guys!

As if muscle-filled lunch was not yummy enough...

...in came a precious box of sweeeeet memories!

A gift from dearest Cubbie who is one of the few who know about my longstanding love for Slam Dunk. She was worried that it was a bit old school but to me, that just show we go way back. (Though still not long enough if you ask me) Let's go for another 10, 20, 30 years and beyond, eh Cubbie? *hearts*

To end this special day with a special cake.

It's really special in that papa even made an effort to order it the day before. Haha. Sure it's no secret recipe but I am still very much touched by the effort especially since we usually buy a cake off the shelve every year. I told papa that I don't need an expensive dinner treat or anything but just a good cake. I love cakes! Like LOVE. And this Blueberry Cake (though very unexpected in choice... haha) was very very deliciousssss! Thank you papa, and mummy, too of course. Which reminds me, where's my sister in all these? Cis cis!

My nine precious cupcakes was kept in the fridge until the weekend when I finally had the time to give them the attention they deserve. Took a good amount of photos of each of them to store in my great memory bank. :)

And for that, here's the last shot for this year's oh-my-gawd-i'm-getting-older occasion.

Happy Birthday to me!

The Creative aka Weird Birthday Gift

This gift deserves a post of its own simply because it still leave me feeling puzzled and amused everytime I look at it.

And because it somehow manages to put a smile on my face everytime I look at it, it now sits strangely out of place on my 'new work desk'.

Umm... thanks Mr IdunTalkMuch!

When was the last time you reward yourself?

Whether it's splurging on a fancy handbag, buying that dress you have always wanted or... well, to be fair to the guys, getting the latest camera, iPhone or whatever gadgets out there. The list is endless and not necessarily confined to... well, shopping. *shrugs* You can go travel! Okay, that involves lots of money too. You can sit back and relax at home. That's a reward itself, depending on how you look at it.

Or sometimes you can get yourself a birthday gift. :D

And it doesn't have to be expensive. It can be but doesn't have to be.

RM24.90

That's all it takes and you get to upgrade this

dish-drying-tray-turned-computer-table to...

THIS!

And amazingly turned dish-drying-tray-turned-computer-table to a CD rack holder.
Am I amazing or am I amazing?

Almost No.1

Stepped into the office on Thursday morning and not long after received my 'first' birthday present for the year.

So, why 'first' with the quotation marks?

Well, I kinda received my first birthday present way back during Chinese New Year because the gifter had thoughtfully bought me something to keep me warm during my trip to London in March. The thoughtful gifter was none other than dearest godmom! *hearts*
Thanks kai-ma!

So unfortunately the above present was deemed 'second' place without a fair fight.

But.

BUT!

That's not the point of this story.
The crucial point to this entire post is WHO came in second place?

*drumroll*

Mr Skimmer Dude!

Oh golly, the sky must be falling. Hahaha. The gift got everyone ranting "How come he give you present one?" because Mr Skimmer Dude is not your usual present-gifter. In fact, he claims that we are just his 'colleagues' and not 'friends'. Yaya. *rolls eyes* Dude is so in denial. So anyway... "How come ah?"

Well, I guess I should say it's tradition. :P

Though honestly, seeing his gift then and now, I came to another conclusion as to why I receive gifts from him.

Obviously he thinks I'm a kid.

Rubik's Cube two years ago and a Slinky this year. What's more, *points to the lower right hand corner of the box* apparently I'm growing younger and younger. Ages 3 & up!

Here's the Rubik's Cube.

From 7, I'm now down to 3.
Will I be receiving a pacifier next? O_O

Hmm... Oh well.

A gift is a gift however small.

Thanks Mr Skimmer Dude!

Meaningful Bites of Life

Last year in September... *I know, I know. Late post is very late but I assure you it's still very much relevant.* So yeah. Last year in September I made an awesome order for an awesome friend. I, from the far away land of Penang, ordered cupcakes from all the way down in KL to be sent to my dearest friend, Cubbie.

And not any ordinary cupcakes. No siree.

Meaningful personalised cupcakes.

This was what I gave to the passionate bakers of passion bite.

Each cupcake design symbolises something special between Vin & Cub, two bestest friends. Our crazy love for all things Japan, her infatuation for Holmes, her talent in art and well, even the Arglye pattern means something to us. *grins*

And this was what was delivered!

SO CUTE RIGHT?

I wish something like this was sent to me, too. *hint hint* *wink wink* HAHAHA. But let's not forget I get yummy and adorable gifts delivered to me too. So I'm good. I'm good. :D

The packaging is simple and nice, too. *click picture to enlarge* And that last photo further proves Cub's love for Holmes. LOL.

So how is this 8-month late post relevant to today's entry?

Well...

I MADE MY SECOND ORDER LAST WEEK...

...and, and, and...
it will be delivered to another special someone of mine tomorrow!

I hope they turned out just as great. Yes yes, let's anticipate together. I promise I won't take another 8 months to let you know about tomorrow. :P Oh and if you must know, Cub said they tasted good too. My only complain? I don't get to actually see the real thing not to mention actually eat them lovelies. *pouts*

7.30am is Made of Awesome Possum!

Rolling out of bed at 7.30am on a weekday and more so, on a work day is kinda like the best thing ever.

Even though my internal alarm clock did went off at the usual 6.30am. Dang body had been programmed as such *boo* but imagine I get to snooze and slack for a whole hour before actually getting out of bed. Which in my opinion is such a morning luxury. *sigh*

I actually walk down the stairs and into the bathroom with my eyes open. Hahaha. Imagine that! Wait wait. Let's not forget I even get to switch on my computer replied to a blog comment before heading out the door. Awesome!

To whom I owe this honour to?

Papa! ya.

AHAHAHAHA.

Happy Birthday Papa!
We're going to gave a great day today and at least this year you don't have to send me a sms while I'm at work, saying "Read your blog and thank you!" 'cause I'm right here today. Weee!

Here's an early greeting to the rest,

"Happy Deepavali & Have a Great Weekend Ahead!"

The Late Birthday Post

Statement:
My younger sister attended BM High during her high school years.

Question:
How is that relevant to this post?

Well, there are only a few things I know about her high school. (1) We call it a military school because of its rule-abiding-ways, (2) It's Sekolah Tinggi Bukit Mertajam with Tinggi and Bukit being the keywords as you kinda really need to climb up a hill to get to school every morning, and (3) the school's motto goes something along the lines of "Accomplish or never begin!".

Item (3) being the answer to the Question.

You see, my posts might be fashionably late but at least I make the point
to finish them. *grins*

Can you believe I'm actually making procastinating sound like a good thing?
LOL. Even I can't believe myself.

Anyway, continuing from where I left off here. It's time to give credit to the lady who till this day, has never ever miss a single birthday of mine. The sassy lady I call 'kai-ma'. Wait wait! But this year the package came so much more special with 'kai-pa' and godbrother, each throwing a gift into the happiness bag, with a complimentary card from little sis as well.

Lookie at all the stuff in the package. Lipstick from godbrother, lipstick purse from godma, two seperate birthday cards. Okay you can't see the cards but they're there. :P



And a book on Baba Poetry from godpa, a book which was written by Uncle Johnny. The book came with an attached CD with all the traditional poems and sayings in audio. The entire family had a good laugh listening to it as it was full of quirky and interesting sayings that not only rhymes but have some clever advices in there as well.



Next up! Gifts from my colleagues. A box of Excel Tea?

Most Certainly Not!



The gift was nicely stuffed into the box.



It turned out to be a bag!
The Gifter? Cik Anai, Thank You!!



This one came totally as a surprise. One, I didn't expect to receive a gift from her and two, I didn't expect the gift to be what it is.

"For your trip to London next year!" she said.
Awww... Thank You Mrs Boss of Torch!

OMG! I missed out some photos. Two more gifts!
Shiatz! I guess this is not the last birthday post YET! :P

And The Birthday Post Continues!

First and foremost, a shout-out to my bestie, Cubbie.
"Happy Birthday!!"

I wish you all the prettiest paperboard mailers, all the coolest black tees, all the freshest, yummiest salmon sushi in the world to you! You're a good goooood friend whom I know will always go the extra mile for me and I for you. Maybe it's because our birthdays are so close to each other, that's why we are so different yet so similar in so many ways. You know me so well...

Well enough that even the gift box you picked reflects that. I see the "Arglye" code right there. I see it! *winks*

And the presents you picked reflects how up-to-date you are on everything that's happening in my life... *smiles*

... and things that are going to happen in my life. *grins*


And I still can't believe you bought me clothes! Clothes! I mean, neither one of us are the typical girly girl. Yet, here you were buying me pretty clothes.



Really pretty clothes.
Though I think I need to loose some pounds before I'm going out in that. LOL. But it's really really pretty and it makes me feel *cough cough* sexy. Hahahaha. I still can't believe you bought me a dress. *grins*

Thank yoooooouuuuu!

I know words like these are usually heard between lovers but I don't care. It applies to lifetime friends as well. I wanna be there when you fall in love. I wanna be there when you achieve great things in life and more importantly I want us to grow old together. Because for selfish reasons, I want you to be there too when I fall in love, when I achieve great things in life and when I'm old. I want to wish you happy birthday till you're 70, 80, 90, 100, infinity.

Omg. So cheeeeesy yet so true.

Okay, I'm going to go laugh myself silly now... with all good intentions of course. Hahahahahahahhahaha....

The Birthday Quote of the Day

"An awesome gift is not judged by how much money
you spent on it but how you can gift the best gift
with the least amount of money.
It doesn't have to cost a lot, well, just maybe your heart. :P"

- Hiyashibeeps, 11 September 2010

And The Birthday Post Begins!

Awesome friends give you awesome birthday presents. Not because they buy you expensive gifts. Naturally, that's pretty awesome too. It'll make you go all "Aww... you shouldn't have." yet you know you'll all giddy on the inside. XD And then there's also gifts money can't buy. Those that simply just makes you go, "Awwwwww."

Gifts like this! *hearts*

Cutest Yummies arrived via post on Tuesday.
Sorry about the wrapping. I got totally excited and ripped the entire thing off before remembering taking pictures. Heh.


This was seriously the last thing that I was expecting to be in the box. I mean who sends a jar of homemade cookies via post? Cheah-san, that's who!



They look trapped inside there. LOL.
I look at their cute little faces and they're like screaming,
"Free Me! Free Me!"

Oh my gosh! So cute. How to eat lah?

Cheah-san later texted me saying she hoped it's not too early to send a gift. Hahaha... no dear. No one beats Cubbie at being no.1 when it comes to early gifting. That gal gave me my present back in July! JULY! Which reminds me I should blog about the awesome gifts she gave. Yes. GiftS! That gal got me some really unexpected gifts. You gals are so good at surprises man! Oh and dearest godmom gave me my present last month too, so Cheah-san, you are so totally not early. Hahaha. But you're a very awesome baker though and I love them to bits!

More birthday posts ahead. Be warned. Hehe.

The Great Appreciation Post. THANK YOU!

So I kind of proved that I got dorkie friends in my last two posts here and here. I think I owe some big Thank Yous to those who are less dorkie and got me "real gifts" instead. *grins*


To dearest Cubbie:
Thank You for a present that came way back in July. Talk about an obssession on being the first. You won hands down! For that, you're the first to be 'appreciated' here.

A gift delivered all the way from Taiwan to Kuala Lumpur. Then, personally delivered from Kuala Lumpur to Penang. *hearts*
I confessed! I used it a few random times way before my birthday but it officially made its debut as 'The New Bag' during Birthday Week. And yes Cubbie, it's been getting good reviews from fellow colleagues. Thumbs up!

To my dearest colleagues:
Thank You for my simple yet outrageously eye-catching Crocs.

It's RED. It's PLAID!
It's not entirely the 'safest' gift to get someone.
But I love it. Because I chose it. HAHAHA.
I Have No Shame.

To my dearest family:
Thank You for that silly tiny cake that you got simply because you thought my birthday dinner request would cost a fortune. Turned out I picked a noisy little cafe to have our dinner. Now you owe me a bigger and better cake. *grins*

To my dearest papa:
I know you read my post, and you being the one I inherited my characteristics from should know better that I'm not pissed about it at all. You got to admit, it was funny. :P


To my dearest godmom:
Thank You for the heartwarming phone call at night that you never miss each year.

To everyone else:
Thank You for spamming my facebook and filling up my sms inbox.

I Appreciate You All.

I'm such a simple person...

...that it's pretty easy to make me happy.

Like I said earlier, it doesn't take lots of money nor effort to put a smile on my face.

Present from Mr Skimmer Dude.

I specifically requested no more Ribena Pastilles from Seven-Eleven this year and lookie at what I got. An actual present and it's wrapped! Wow. So who cares if it's wrapped in some random paper he probably dugged from the office. For a guy who wraps Christmas present with newspaper, I'm honoured that he even wrapped the gift and written a note. LOL.

Everyone in my room crowded round as I opened the gift.

Cik Datang: It's probably s'thing he found laying around downstairs.

Everyone else: Hahahaha... yeah.

Mr Skimmer Dude: See. I'm very thoughtful wan. It's something for you to do while you're on the bus everyday.

Everyone: Ooo...

That got everyone curious...

TAA-DAA!

It's a Rubik's Cube! And honestly, I LIKE!

Me: Hahaha.. I actually like it very much. But Seven-Eleven?
*points to the half torn price tag*

Mr Skimmer Dude: What to do? I panicked lah!

Me: Woot? *laughs*

And Yay! I'm old enough to play it. *silly me*

*******

So being 25 might not be happiest thing but turning 25 was sure a whole lot of fun.
Does that even make sense?
*grins*

Video Presento From Mr Clean Hands

And he said: "Okay, Jovin. This is your birthday present."

It just goes to show that it doesn't take lots (money nor effort)
to put a smile on someone's face.
Maybe turning 25 is not that bad after all. Maybe.

Goodbye August. Hello September.

I'm glad it's over. August was just not my month to say the least. It was just "cloudy" and I'm not talking about the weather here, though it pretty much fit to describe that as well.

What a bumpy ride it was to get from July to September. August was just filled with potholes, bumps and annoying red traffic lights one after the other. You get the idea. I was just not at my tip-top self and it was just frustrating. It's like the downtime of the year. I do hope it'll start picking up now that we're a week into September which also means I'm about to officially get older. Again! It's starting to get scary.

21 was liberating. 22 was the end of one good thing and the beginning of another. 23 was a number I kinda like for no apparent reason *grins* and 24 was definitely "My Year" for more reasons that one. Then came *cough* 25 in which all I could think of is getting old. Ugh.

I think it's time to reflect and plan... for an awesome 26. Who's with me?

Another Birthday Wish!

Dearest Godbrother,

Happy Birthday! A complimentary blog promo comes with this birthday greeting. *ahem* If you are a gamer like him, adores WoW like him, overly-educated like him *blinks* is there such a thing as overly-educated? Maturely childish like him...

Then visit Where Substance Meets Style

*cough cough* What a name and I call my blog Hiyashi's Beeping Hub. So shallow. Cis cis. Totally got pawned. BUT. It's not about me today and ya, I'm late like usual. Less than two hours more to go before your big day ends, sooo... once again, Eppi Eppi Birthday!

Lots of Love and Best Wishes from,
Hiyashi

Edited at 10.35pm: And Yup, I stole those candles from this cake. *snickers*