it's my birthday and i'll cry if i want to...

but i won't coz there's definitely no reason for that ;)

i expected a quiet, low-key birthday where not much attention would be drawn in my direction, but it has turned out to be otherwise. the birthday (that is 12 midnight) started off with very very pleasant surprises from d - a collection of photos skillfully photoshop'd or gimp'd of times gone past in a book (aside to d: what the contents hold we'll keep just between you and i k? ;), and... well, i won't mention what is is... instead i'll provide a link. need i say more? (aside to d: thankew very very much for both 'surprises'!)

so i went to bed quite a happy chappy :D
and woke up still quite a happy chappy :D

breakfast was on dad at university cafe on lygon st. had sunny-side eggs++. i can't recall when the last time i had that. i've always associated that sort of eggs with holidays and hotel breakfasts. so you can say i was taken back on a holiday again... hehe.

got to church early and managed to mingle and talk to a few ppl. no one suspected it was my birthday. that is, until my sister blurted it out. after that, ppl just kept shaking my hand and wishing me happy birthday. so much for keeping a low profile eh? ;) church service was again a prodding experience. passage was from 2 Corinthians 5:9 - 6:2. i wish i could share with y'all the recording and ppt slides (so you will be prodded too). but indeed it caused me to think lots about missions, where its motivation comes from, my responsibility and how i would be more involved. hmm... still chewing on that.

then lunch was held at chilli padi. initially, i rallied a handful of friends to join me (like 5 or so). but it ended up being a lunch with 24 ppl :| am not a big fan of largish crowds. some more, adeline and yi wei were there too. so somehow, someone managed to go buy a cake to surprise the 3 of us. so we all sang the hb song, blew out candles and all that. so much for keeping a low-profile eh?

it was then a rush to the soccer field, as lunch ended late. twas a cold windy day. but after a few minutes of chasing the ball up and down the field, it became quite nice to play. that is, until mr. rain clouds came and ended our social game prematurely :( but all was not lost, coz that opened the opportunity for coffee! so we all adjourned to university cafe (again). only coz it was close-by and lygon st food store was closed. all 10 of us rushed there in our zoom-mobiles (otherwise known as cars) and ordered our respective drinks. but since all of them knew of my birthday (due to the general announcement by my sis earlier at church), they got me a celebratory birthday lemon tart slice - with 3 strawberry candles. so much for a low-key birthday huh? anyways, i wanted to show my appreciation to my friends for their gesture and friendship for the times i knew them. i decided that i would pay for drinks. so i tried to sneak the bill past them and do the "gotta go to toilet" trick. but i was quickly found out and access to the registers was blocked off and the bill snatched from my grasp. bah. ended up they all paying :(

lunch and coffee was so not supposed to be of the "birthday" nature. oh wells, i suppose when ppl know, everywhere you go becomes like that. so yups, thankfully dinner was low-key. as i wanted it to be. we went to danny's in footscray and happily ordered the usual favourites :) phew... what a day.

hmm, mum's birthday is today too (yes we share the same birthday) but she's overseas you see. i wonder how her day has been...