A Birthday to Remember

19th December 2005. Sean’s 25th birthday. Great day… Great happenings…

I was supposed to go an Orchard KTV to celebrate Sean’s birthday in the afternoon, but due to some of his friends not being able to make it in the afternoon (it is afterall still a working day), Sean & I decided to watch VCD at my house & swim, before going for the KTV with his friends from 6 – 10pm.

Sean picked this thriller VCD titled ‘Phone Booth’, which he wanted to watch last time coz he heard that it’s nice, yet didn’t get to watch it in the end. So he chose to show & watched with much astonishment at how “bizarre” (yup, that’s his actual descriptive word) things could get from just a mere phone call. But glad he enjoyed the show.

Before going down for a short swim & relax in the pool, I showed Sean my pet hamster. I fed Elfie a piece of ikan bilis & Sean was amused that it likes ikan bilis! I carried Elfie in my hands & asked Sean if he would like to touch its fur. I think he likes the soft smooth fur. Then I offered Sean an ikan bilis to feed Elfie, but Sean was so afraid that it would bite & dropped the small tiny piece of ikan bilis twice! *Laugh*… After demonstrating how to feed it, Sean finally succeeded in getting Elfie to bite on the ikan bilis & start chewing away! Yeah!

The experience at the pool was a memorable one for me. Firstly, I realized that Sean could swim like a fish… a few strokes & he reached the middle & soon the end of the pool! I exclaimed, “Eh! Are you a fish or what?” Shocking!

Then I found out that Sean was previously from his school swimming team! I was utterly bewildered coz I didn’t expect him to be so good! Swimming back to the starting point together, I suddenly stopped & said to him, “Wah… I never knew you were so talented! Can swim, can bowl, can run & can sing! I just realized that I can only run!” And in my mind, I was thinking – even running was a time of my past. I’m no longer a runner. Stamina dropped like crazy already. And for that moment, I felt like I’m just so lack of talent! Not good at so many things…

Oh yah, I remembered asking Sean to teach me how to bowl & play badminton, before we entered the pool. As usual, I inched myself slowly, bit by bit into the cold pool water. Sean, on the other hand, jumped & splashed his entire body straight in! I was stunned… for a moment, I thought he had lost his mind or something… it was awfully cold water! What a friend… he surprises me at times!

Before we decided to head off to the other side of the pool, with the water massage areas & hot water pools, Sean challenged me to a one lap race & gave me 5 seconds head-start. I exclaimed, “Huh? 5 seconds? That doesn’t amount to anything at all!” But nonetheless, I started off first… before I saw Sean catch-up on me, after about 8 seconds later. See? I told you that these 5 seconds was no point! Yeah, & he touched the other side about 5 seconds ahead of me. I would have thought that he should have reached much earlier, but maybe he decided that I wasn’t much of a challenge anyway, so slowed down. Ok ok… swimming isn’t my thing…

Upon reaching the other side of the pool, I showed Sean the spots where we can enjoy some pressured water massage. He enjoyed it & I was glad. Somehow I just feel happy when I make people happy. I think this world really needs A LOT more fun & laughter to walk through each person’s journey in life. And I’m just very glad that Sean & I share so much nonsensical laughter together… It’s like two-fold blessings to me… to have two nonsensical close friends in my life – Sean & Rebecca. Sometimes, laughing with them just makes me temporarily forget the troubles of this world… Really thank God for them…

Then the scary thing happened – I felt my swimming trunk pocket & couldn’t find my house door key! My mind screamed, “Oh no! OH NO!!! Not again!” So very quietly, I swam away from the spot where Sean was having his water massage & began searching round the big swimming pool floor, a few times over, back & forth. I didn’t want to alert Sean coz I didn’t want to spoil his enjoyable & relaxing time at the pool & waste it on searching with me for my lost house key.

So I looked & searched underwater (it’s quite a big pool), I was praying to God in my mind, “Please God… please help me find it… if not, I can’t go for the KTV with Sean! Coz I can’t get into my house to bathe & change! Was it a bad idea not to bring down my stuff to bathe at the clubhouse? Then if this happened, I would still be able to go for the birthday celebration… Why are You letting this happen now… today? Please lah, God… please… I really don’t wish to walk back to where he is & tell him that I have lost my house key, during my pathetic 30m swim challenge with him. He would be so upset! And so will I be… Please, God…”

I lost count of how long I searched the pool floor. A small part of my mind wondered if the other residents at the pool were wondering what on earth am I doing… but I couldn’t care less now… coz I just wanted to find that key, so that the birthday program will go on as planned. As I searched & searched… my morale dropped & dropped. Occasionally, I felt around my swimming trunk to feel if I had really dropped the house key. And it is true… I couldn’t find any key inside my swimming trunk. I was so sad… the saddest moment of the day for me.

Finally, I decided to give up & walked back to tell Sean, looking all discouraged & upset. He saw that look on my face & asked me what happened. I just shook my head & searched the floor of the pool near the water massage spot & the spot where I went earlier to press the buttons to turn on the water blasts. No key.

After my last bit of morale was left me, I went over to Sean & told him the bad news. I couldn’t read the expression on his face… or maybe it’s because my mind has switched off due to all the upset feelings inside. Then I gave one last feel around my swimming trunks & suddenly, I felt the hard metal key! I was momentarily stunned… how could it be? I checked & checked just now! I felt around all over my swimming trunks earlier at the big pool! How come it suddenly appeared? Was it something that God wanted to hint to me about? For example, that sometimes when we have exhausted our own human efforts, that God will make a way out, even though everything seems impossible? That if it is really His will, things will still go as planned? Perhaps…

Nonetheless, I REALLY REALLY thank God for helping me find my house key. If not, it would be my 3rd time losing it at my own home swimming pool… Sigh… someone should redesign a more useful swimming trunk to contain house keys, coz it is dangerous to just leave it lying at our bags.

The water foot reflexology spot was not working, so we chatted & relaxed at the lying down warm water pool. Sean enjoyed the short time of lying down water pressure massage… & I felt happy that he’s happy.

After our bath, we decided to take a cab to Orchard coz it was getting a bit late. So we shared the cost of the taxi fare & reached at 5:45pm, enough time to grab a bite from Old Chang Kee. I bought a delicious stick of sotong balls & a curry puff. Oh boy, I was really hungry! Only had 3 slices of bread for brunch…

We reached the place called Party World KTV, near Orchard Heeren. Sean was asking me, if his friends would be sharing the cost of the KTV booking with him, but I said I don’t know coz, in my opinion, it depends on the culture or practice of the group & whether any of them bring along presents for Sean.

The place was quite posh & I kind of liked it… definitely better than K-Box. But it’s very expensive! I was stunned to see that a normal glass of bubble tea cost $8.50, when it only costs $1.50 - $2 elsewhere! And can you imagine, beer costing up to $188? Shocking!

Sean & I started singing first… to be more specific, Sean himself started singing first. I was amazed at his God-given singing voice & it initially made me feel afraid to sing, coz I knew that I didn’t really have a singing voice. I could counsel, I could scold, I could shout & I could imitate sounds & voices from movie characters (especially funny ones)… but to me, wow… singing is an entirely & totally different ‘ball game’. I know nuts about singing & couldn’t really sing.

Just to recap a bit from the past – I did consider taking up a short course in public speaking, singing, etc. But as usual, it’s all a money issue… something which I don’t have, even at day-to-day ‘bread & butter’ level. Yeah, I mean it… I’m actually eating bread on most mornings & afternoons, every week, for weeks & weeks on end. It’s a sucky feeling to notice that I have lost quite a bit of muscle mass already, coz of the lack of carbohydrates, protein & regular exercise. =(

Then soon after I chose one of the silliest song… & it is titled ‘Calcutta’… this formally dressed girl walked into the room. At first, I was stunned… she looked young… & had looks that were rather similar & reminded me about my ex-girlfriend Diana. Yeah, & the thought about Diana, made me look at this girl for a little while longer… Yeah… Diana has this cheerful & cute kind of look too.

After Sean introduced her to me, all my thoughts suddenly screeched to a halt, because I had to start singing this absolutely ridiculous song ‘Calcutta’ that go, “Ka Ku Ta… I’m driving my little taxi in…. Ka Ku Ta… Taxi taxi taxi in… Ka Ku Ta…” Oh man! I’m a singing CLOWN! I’m totally embarrassing myself in front of Sean & this Diana-look-alike, whose name was Jessilyn! Argh! What am I doing? While singing, I was scolding myself, “Matthew! Why did you have to choose this crazy nonsensical song?! And why in the world are you singing it now? Don’t you know that you are embarrassing yourself?!”

Finally, I was glad when that song ended… for it was a strikingly pathetic way of beginning my first song… & with a Diana-look-alike, sitting nearby. I didn’t even dare to imagine what sorts of thought was going through Jessilyn’s mind when she asked me, “You sing this kind of song?” Oh man! I could just faint right then & there! What have I done?! What an impression!

Whoever’s reading this, you must forgive me… coz when half my brain is semi-registering this very cute & nicely dressed girl who looked like my ex-girlfriend… & the other half screaming in embarrassment while singing an utterly ridiculous song, what’s more in front of Sean & her… at those moments, my brain absolutely can’t think right… really. Afterall, normally most people wouldn’t want to embarrass themselves when they come face to face with their ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend… even if it’s just a look alike. Urgh! Me & my brain! *Shaken look*

Jessilyn is Sean’s friend whom he got to know at his recently completed salsa dance class at Gitterbucks. What a fancy to get to take turns to dance with many girls! What an experience! Having that thought lingering in my mind made me feel a tinge of identifying why men would feel so happy being surrounded by girls around him. It’s like such a kingly experience to feel this way! Just like it used to be only a privilege for kings to have many concubines. I wouldn’t be surprised if common village men envied their king who have so many women accompanying him. I don’t know… just typing out my thoughts…

Anyway, Jessilyn has quite a sweet voice. It isn’t as loud as most of the other girls (volume doesn’t mean anything, especially if it’s just noise), but I kind of like it that way… soft, sweet & nice. She’s from SIM RMIT 26th intake, graduated one semester before me. And she really reminds of Diana… before later I realized that she also resembles very much like Freida from my ex-church CG! Oh dear! What an impression! *Faint*…

Another of Sean’s friend walked in… her name is Andrea. She didn’t look really the same as the last time I saw her, but it doesn’t really matter. Maybe I might have compared her to the wrong tanned girl, who is also a friend of Sean.

Andrea’s voice is quite okay too… though my impression of her is that she’s quite a loner… sitting by herself & singing KTV songs by herself. And the strongest impression made is this – she selects & sings her songs, several at one go! Aiyoh…

Soon, another two girls arrived – Sher Lin & Lydia. One of them is also from SIM, but graduated from the UOL (University of London) program. I think it’s Lydia, if I’m not wrong. These three girls are very nice… bought Sean a small birthday cake & present! I wonder if it was not very nice to ask them to contribute to the cost of the KTV booking, coz they already gave so much… but anyway, its over.

Subsequently, the guys came in. Xian Yong, Corey, Jai Sen & Evan were Sean's secondary school friends, & Chiam is Sean's JC friend. Xian Yong has a good strong voice & sings like Andy Lau. In fact, almost everyone there sings rather well, especially Xian Yong, Sher Lin & Sean. Corey sounded very much like Zhou Jie Lun. Corey was the last guy who arrived, quite late… & he only sung one song, I think.

It was an enjoyable time of chatting, singing, eating birthday cake, Andrea leaving halfway coz she’s not feeling well from a fever & a careless Matthew who accidentally knocked down a glass filled with drink, which smashed to bits on the floor. Thankfully, no one was hurt & we didn’t need to pay for that shattered glass. That was my second embarrassing moment of the night.

During the 4 hours there, I took a photograph of each person who sang a song & a video clip of Sean singing a duet with Shirlene. Both of them sing well together! I’m just so impressed!

In between a few of my English KTV songs, I chose this Mandarin song sung by Aaron Kwok, titled “Zhen Qi”. I thought I sounded awful coz it’s a power-packed song, but I’m singing with a rather weak & no-power voice… but Sean said that it wasn’t too bad. I don’t know… still not sure if singing is for me… but I enjoyed the fellowship with Sean’s friends. I was surprised that I felt comfortable & relaxed among them! Maybe I’m really slowly turning a bit more extrovert over the years.

All of us left the place after 10pm, when the KTV screen inside our room flashed “This song that is playing is the last song”. Leaving the place, I thought the fun for the night was over… but no, it hasn’t! 7 of us decided to have supper at the nearby NYDC.

Initially, there weren’t any seats available, for some reason which I forgot to ask. But Lydia suddenly saw her younger brother working there & got him to get the 7 of us seats! So we sat there, chatted, ordered & ate food (unfortunately they didn’t have anymore baked rice), drank water, took video clips, made speeches, asked weird questions & laughed very much to our hearts content!

Over our dinner-cum-supper, I got to interact & know more about the girls. I find that Sher Lin has a very nice personality, just like Tracy from my ex-church CG. She’s very sociable, friendly, makes funny comments & teased Sean about his salsa & mumbo dancing talents.

We guys must have gone quite overboard coz Jessilyn commented twice that “They are all ‘high’ already…” But all of us really had a great time & even planned a tentative arrangement to go to a disco together on Christmas Day night.

One thing I must add – I’m very impressed by what a gentleman Sean is. He asked each of the three girls to message him when they get home safely! Wow! This has never crossed my mind before in my 25 years alive! What a gentleman! You see ah, that’s why I say that Sean is really a very sensitive, caring, loving & tender guy. Whichever girl that doesn’t want to be with him, is their loss!

Even though I’m not a girl, but as Sean’s best friend, I must say that it is indeed a privilege… & honor… to have such a friend like him in my life. I don’t know how many thank-you(s) I must say to God…

Oh yes, I personally made this PowerPoint presentation for Sean for his 25th birthday. It portrays a short description of our history of friendship together, some encouragement, as well as some ‘just-for-laughs’ photos & comments. I really hope he likes it… especially since I spent like two full nights & one afternoon, creating this from scratch. And I have never done such a ‘project’ before… my first time… Hope it works out fine…

Anyway, Chiam drove Sean & I back home in his car. Chiam has just recently started work as a Personal Assistant at an Oil & Gas company. When I first heard him say, “Oil & gas”… my first thought was an obese man who has lots of ‘oil’ in his body & gives out a lot of gas from his ass! Hahahaha… =)

I’m just so glad that it is Sean’s BEST birthday celebration ever in his life. And I’m also glad to be able to mix rather well with his friends… Although it is inevitable to have thoughts whether how often we would all meet up, but I still hope that we could at least catch-up like once a year or something… even if it is just another Sean’s birthday…

Everyone went home feeling tired. But I remember telling Sean, saying “If you feel tired, just remember that it’s not because you are bored, but because you are feeling tired from a happy time together with your friends. And it is indeed a thing to be thankful for, to have not just 8… but 10 friends taking time off after a tired day of work to celebrate your birthday with you.” =)