3 Cakes, 21 Presents And 3 Dinners Later...

I shall die a very happy and satisfied 21-year old if my life were to be taken away from me. I was extremely lucky to usher in --I was 21 three weeks ago, but what the heck-- the big 2-1. Normally, people would want to hold chalets or barbecues or big party bashes. But not me.

And because I am unorthodox and refused to plan a soiree in honor of my coming-of-age, so to speak, I got my two celebrations. A little too risque?? Maybe. But the plan pulled off and I enjoyed myself immensely.

The outcome was two intimate gatherings between two great groups that I am fortunate enough to be a part of. Things could not have gone better. And both celebrations did not require me to lift a finger. Well, with the exception of having to pop in every now and again on the two planners and I must say, I take my hat off to the both of them.

Both very different in nature, the celebrations had just one goal in mind: Birthday girl MUST have fun. And had fun I did. Too much fun, in fact. All we did was eat and play games. On both nights.

But hey, you don't hear me complaining do you??

On the rare occassion of course, a little eyejuice did spill out and threaten to cause a flood but I kept it together. Hello, I HATE revealing that vulnerable side. A little bit is okay, but not so much. It's unhealthy for me.

Anywayz, just before the birthday bash I had with GB at Cafe Le Caire, I had my last media course at Mediacorp. Finally, we got to do radio. And you people know how I absolutely adore radio. So again, we got to be behind the panel and although it wasn't much of a panel since we only operated on microphones, it was pretty damn close.

Our recording studio wasn't in one of those real radio stations that were home to Class 95 or 987FM. Nope, we had the I-Studio usually reserved for guests, guest bands or the like. Situated right opposite NewsRadio 93.8's massive compound, I think our studio held the cool factor just because the exterior glass panel was shaped like an eye.

They've got three rows of tables and chairs against the window, which was pretty cool because we could see people coming in and out of the radio building AND at the same time pretend that we're uber cool, important people when we were just pesky students.

And when I look at the radio presenters doing their thang at NewsRadio -- Mathilda from Singapore Idol 2 was presenting-- I thought to myself, ahh so that's how living in a fishbowl feels like. Of course, we weren't jakuns or suakus to be openly staring at her. Belinda Sunshine --yeah, that's her name apparently-- was busy pointing to us how the station worked. Yeah, and to her my name is Sara. So Sara I was for two days.

From the moment I gave the okay for Belinda to call me Sara, the crazy asses never let me hear the end of it. Now, Rosz calls me Sara the Artist Formerly Known As Lenny. He's just being anal.

NewsRadio's studio is a little like the CNA headquarters, really. But instead of a studio with cameras and Timothy Ngo at the helm, it was just Mathilda giving traffice report.

We took a trip to International Radio Singapore where Belinda works. Pity though. We didn't bump into anyone special because nobody works during weekends. I would have loved to see Shan Wee again. Or maybe not.

Anywayz, I rushed down to Bugis after class to meet GB, which turned out to be only Nas and Bunny. I gave them hell because they were unsure of the directions of how to go to my supposed surprise place. They even did the old trick of going to the bathroom to stall for time.

I called them incompatible. I balked and nearly turned around to head home because they were giving pithy excuses that they were the only ones who were going to be celebrating with me.

It was actually for the best anywayz. Because we had dinner at Cafe Le Caire Al-Majlis and it was one of the best experiences of my life, I tell you. It wasn't just the food. It was the ambience, the setup, the celebration and most importantly the company.

I think the person who deserves the most credit for this whole shindig is Jan. From the gathering of presents to getting everyone together to her anal-ness in believing that booking and reserving is a MUST MUST MSUT. Hearing the stories of how my gifts were obtained, she told me it was fun treasure hunting but at the same time frustrating. I apologize for all the trouble it took for GB to plan this and even though only six came, hey, it's better than having no one. That would be like, so depressing.

So Jan made a box containing numbers of my presents as well as tasks I had to complete if I came across a slip of paper that didn't contain a number. Innovative. I loved it. From revealing little bits about myself to doing crazy tongue twisters --man, I love a challenge-- it was like I was being tested how far I was willing to share about myself.

Don't get me wrong, I was a tad reluctant but I figured my friends had a right to know that there was more than a sunny disposition they knew so well. I had to answer questions like if my hubby was an animal and the only way I could morph him back was to do the horizontal tango with him, which animal would least freak me out?? Gross, but it had me thinking.

And of course there WERE sexually charged questions like what turns me on in a guy. I should've said the way he smells. I am such a sucker for great-smelling guys. It's like they smell so good you could just eat them up whole. But another thing about guys that turn me on is their ability to spar with me with no qualms whatsoever. It's like, I am aggressive but I absolutely hate it if the guy just throws in the towel to let me win so as to make me shut up. Like, come on. Fight for me here. Be the aggressor.

So of course I had a reaction for every present, even the Justin Timberlake unofficial autobiography --dammit, apparently Rosz has the book too but his is the first edition-- that I'd picked out with Jan ages ago while scouting for Ayu's present. I had totally forgotten about it so it was like as if I was never there to choose it.

But to tell you the truth the best present I had wasn't the most expensive nor was it the one hardest to find. It was the simplest present of all and yet it meant so much. It was a sticker picture of GB that was meant to be stuck onto my EZ Link. It was the present I loved the most. No doubt, we were missing one member but it was still a gesture that brought me to tears. I still can't fathom how the heck that made me cry. It shouldn't have. But it did. I wouldn't trade that for any other present. Not even for another piece of Orlando, *NSYNC or Transformers merchandise.

The sticker is still in its unpeeled state. So sayang to peel back the paper and stick it somewhere.

After all my presents were unwrapped, of course I had to make a speech. I hadn't planned on one but it came right from the top of my head. It came from the heart and it was no ordinary thank-you-for-being-here-and-thanks-for-the-presents speech. Yeah, and I cried again. Seriously people, it's like you take great joy to see my eyejuice flowing freely.

Just in case you thought different, I am capable of showing at least some form of emotion. I am not entirely emotionally handicapped. I don't only always snarl at people or make people cry or as some put it, "bitch behind people's back".

Just to clarify, hey man if you don't give me something to bitch about of course there's nothing I can bitch about. It's all up to you, actually, to give me a reason to bitch.

Anywayz.

I didn't get saboh-ed that day but I DID get saboh-ed when I went out with the Krazy Krew on Sunday after our recording session at Mediacorp Radio. It was da bomb. The guys claimed that I was like a resident DJ or something because of the number of cameos I made as guests on their stations.

I was a restaurant manager named Janet on Casper's which at one point in time, I was mistakenly called Jason and when the tape was being played back, the ruffling of papers could be heard. I was an ex-bartop dancer turned band member for Rosz's show and Lawra made me an English tourist for hers. Rosz was my husband. Fidah was a no-show although she came later on for my birthday celebrations.

Lawra's not-so-obvious-turned-obvious blooper was when she said, "Name two bitches in Bali." The thing was, we hadn't even noticed until she repeated the line and said, "Name two beeeeeaches in Bali." Rosz and I had to cover our mouths to keep from laughing into the ultra-sensitive mics.

We went for dinner at Fisherman's Wharf for traditional Fish & Chips --I had Salmon-- and headed to Mind Cafe at Boat Quay where we spent the remainder of the night playing Taboo and Mad Gab.

During Taboo, I teamed up with Fidah and Rosz a.k.a Feedz and Rose. We lost to C-Man, Nickeh and Flawra (Casper, Nick and Lawra). Just by a couple of points. But we blamed it on each other sportingly. Then we switched to Mad Gab, which is kinda like Taboo only that instead of guessing a single word we had to guess the whole phrase by reading the jumbled words out loud.

We re-shuffled and I paired up with Casper and Nick. Since I was seated beside Rosz everytime it was my team's turn to work it, he'd grab my knee, shake it vigorously and shout, "Mad Grab!!" instead of Mad Gab. Crazy old coot.

My team won during Mad Gab, which prompted Rosz and Fidah to quip that they felt stupid and another round of blaming continued. All in good fun, of course.

The night ended with them presenting me with a Chocolate Cheesecake from Secret Recipe. Lawra admitted that she went to an outlet in JB just for this. Honestly if I knew that this much trouble would go into getting me a CAKE, I would've changed my choice of cake, man.

The guys made me remove the candles with my teeth and although I had pleaded for them not to saboh me, I knew my joy would be shortlived. I couldn't escape the saboh king Rosz, who tried to smear my cheek with cream cheese but because I moved it spread to my left curl.

MY LEFT CURL!!!!

Nobody has EVER touched my curls. EVER. Everyone knows better than to touch my curls much less SMEAR CREAM ALL OVER IT!! I nearly cried because after that, it lay against my cheek like limp spinach and even after my attempts to wet it with water Fidah claimed that she nearly didn't want to go home with me because I reeked of cheese.

Don't worry. Rosz has got it coming when his birthday rolls around.

Anywayz. Thanks to everyone who made these celebrations happen. Thanks to you, I enjoyed myself tremendously. Like, really tremendously. It really IS better to have small intimate group by group gatherings than an outright party. Let the year roll by.

I'm 21, yo!! Word.

Laterz...
Lenny