For the full list of nominees, click HERE.
And the winners for this year's Birthday Suit Awards are:
The Wettest Birthday Celebration - Naseef
Why: I think most of us had never been to Wild Wild Wet so it was quite the GB experience as we drifted along the Shiok River trying our damnedest to hold on to each other's buoys, hands or whatever else we could grab. Sure, it looked easy when it was just mild currents. Then came the strong waves that were insync with the Tsunami Pool. As usual, Chippy chose to be unorthodox and drift away first, leaving the rest of us behind.
Our presents to this kinda-old birthday boy was a set of speakers --one of which he named Lenny, the bass one to be exact (I don't know if he meant it or not but thanks, Kandang!!)-- because his current ones were already fit for the Karang Guni Man's taking.
According to Jan, it was tough for her & Kity to lug the speakers all the way from Khatib because they had to time their arrival perfectly as well as set them up so they could be used at once and prevent Naseef from going through all that trouble of connecting everything together.
It was pretty cool taking the group ride although we had to be split into two. It wasn't a ride from hell, of course but you know how we like to spice things up by pretending to scream bloody murder as though we were plunging to our deathly demises. Then of course there was the automated camera that would flash in our faces as we zipped past it towards the end of the ride. So obviously the agenda changed and we retook the rides continuosly not to get an adrenaline lift but to pose for pictures.
The unfortunate thing was that only one group managed to take home their picture because of two circumstances. One was that my group's picture was not very flattering and when we took our very last ride, I happened to be sitting at a spot that was not beneficial to our group so we actually zoomed by the camera faster than it could flash us.
So the end result that appeared on the screen was an empty blue-and-yellow striped slide with no trace that a 4-person raft had just whizzed past. Our efforts to pose as instructed by Amir had proved to be fruitless.
But we're not bitter!! Because we had loads of pictures from Jan's cam throughout the outing. Mine worked halfway and then died because I took a risk that involved water and it didn't pay off very well although we got great shots on the Shiok River.
Food: Lemongrass Thai Restaurant
Rating: 8 Birthday Cakes
The Most Expensive Birthday Dinner - Janice
Why: Where we paid for ours AND hers...it nearly killed us, but because it's Jan, we're not bitter!! And neither was she, obviously.
You don't know how tough it was to plan a birthday for a planner. Firstly was deciding on what presents to give and the TYPE of presents to give. Knowing her well, I was determined to be specific in the details so our girl could receive the best. As planners, we both had known how difficult it was to get everyone to come together for a present-hunting session and this time it was no different.
Besides the fact that I was all alone for this one, of course. I had help with collecting the funds and there were ideas coming in from different sides -- some of which were brilliant ideas while others...not so much.
The hardest thing about planning Jan's birthday was the fact that I had no outlet to vent my frustrations to. Similarly, Jan encountered the same problem while planning for my birthday. As a person, I'm specific. As a planner, I was anal. I don't like being anal, but someone obviously had to pick up the slack.
Another fact that made planning Jan's birthday challenging was where we were going to have it PLUS the fact that we had to do something before dinner. I made so many changes about the dinner venue at the last minute that I'm surprised none of the members came to shout at me. Even if they did, I would probably have yelled back at them with no qualms.
So the confirmed dinner was at Han River which I can safely say is much, much, MUCH better than that silly Seoul Garden. The twist was that the birthday girl had no idea of where she was going. The instructions given was for her to meet someone at East Point Shopping Mall.
And then we made her run in high heels. Okay, not exactly RUN but I made her go up, down and everywhere else. The funnest part was letting the rest freestyle their choice of tasks a.k.a "sabohs'. Yeah, that was pretty wicked.
And then we made her wear a purple peacock mask for five minutes while eating. I grabbed that one at last minute from Adlonso.
I so regret not eating more of the seafood. Next time, maybe. We ate all the shellfish but I have no idea why we didn't touch the crabs.
It was that very night that we all became Bubble Faeries, guys included.
Ohh, yeah. Then, I broke Amir's camera lens.
It was a joy, that was. Being Bubble Faeries, I mean. Not breaking Amir's lens.
Food: Han River Table Barbecue
Rating: 7 1/2 Birthday Cakes
The Birthday That Needed Most Help - Halif
Why: It was the kick-start of many birthdays to come. I think Chippy's party was the most hyped-up because it was the first birthday of the year PLUS the fact that it was Chippy and everyone knew Chippy.
I don't know how or WHY Jan and I got pulled along as minion helpers for a birthday that wasn't ours and managed to lose sleep over it. I remembered dragging home the stuff we bought for Chippy's barbecue because my place was the nearest to Changi Beach and then staying up late to marinade then chicken wings and skewering them using Satay sticks while my mother watched amusedly as I slaved. She took pity on me afterwards though, and pitched in to help.
Chippy's birthday menu consisted of homecooked food made by his mother and mine as well as Jan's mashed potatoes and assorted barbecue goodies. Our jobs on that day were to overlook the food while he overlooked the guests. He didn't say it but it was a duh-uh thing.
It was such a chore to be barbecueing and at the same time battling the gusty winds that would thwart us everytime we lit a matchstick.
If I could give Chippy two awards, I would. But that would mean being unfair. His was also the only birthday that had mini sparkles. Jan and I found them while shopping with Chippy and without even asking him, decided to dump a few packs of sparkles into the already overflowing basket.
Chippy cried on his birthday when he received his spanking-new guitar. I thought that was quite a sight. It was the first time I saw a young guy shed tears.
Food: Fried Mee Siam, Fried Rice, The Usual Barbecue Victims
Rating: 7 Birthday Cakes
The Birthday That Nearly Wasn't - Suchitra-who
Why: *takes a deep cleansing breath*
Oyy. She single-handedly managed to ruin her own birthday surprise. I take my hat off to her. A marvelous job well done.
What did we do, again??
Right. We had dinner at Lucky Plaza then we waited for two hours for Her Majesty's arrival. And then I had to leave for another late dinner at Swensen's -- that one wasn't a good dinner, either. And everyone else went home after Her Majesty's spa was done because the mood was murdered by the birthday girl herself.
The reason for Her Highness's lateness?? She overslept.
I think the best part of her birthday was dinner at the Nasi Ayam Penyet shop in Lucky Plaza because she wasn't there and we all felt like it was a normal GB outing. The food was good too. Some of us had the chicken while the rest toggled between the beef and the catfish. I had Nasi Udang Penyet instead of the normal chicken and in place of a portion of the poultry, I got three giant-sized prawns. Like hello, I am a lover of prawns. I think the dinner deserves more credit than the birthday itself.
You know, we also have an online photo album that contained the pictures of the night and the label reads: GB's Ayam Penyet Dinner @ Lucky Plaza.
I don't think till this day she knew just how much she pissed pretty much everyone and not only were people pissed with her, people were also pissed amongst themselves and that kinda sparked a little cold war tension for a while.
Food: Ria Nasi Ayam Penyet Restaurant
Rate: 3 Birthday Cakes
The Birthday With The Most Manual Labor - Amir
Why: This one was the kind of birthday where you wished you could grumble about because you're doing so much crap at the crack of dawn but you just can't bring yourself to do so because you're having so much fun.
I don't know why all the guys thought this was the best birthday ever. Even the ones who weren't there. Although I have to admit a lot of heart was put into this gig. We really nailed this one down, literally. There are videos of us slaving away in his room. We had to get Amir out of his house for a few hours as the rest waited for the IKEA van to arrive and unload his things. Like a lot of birthdays that we celebrated, timing was everything.
Is it me or is it just a fact that guys don't take care of their rooms?? Like hello, dust bunnies. I refused to remove my socks, with good reason of course. I think Chippy was the one who mopped his floor after everything was done. Trophy husband, that one.
Anywayz, in my opinion, this birthday had the worst anti-climax ever. Because after dinner, the guys went jamming. *exhales a deep breath*
Oh, yeah. Then there was this chick whose name I can't recall. Ani?? Anisa?? Ashiqa?? Whatever it was. So she bought this pack of Daim chocolates which just so happened to be mine & Amir's favorite.
I would've liked her slightly more if she actually bothered to share instead of pretending that those were only meant for her and him. But I didn't want to look like I was so hard up for chocolates and did what Chippy was doing: Playing catch the Daim chocolate with Amir.
Disgoosting.
It totally killed whatever birthday mood that was present. But I think the fun stopped right after we finished grooming his room. Pffft.
Food: Canadian Pizza @ Amir's
Rate: 6 Birthday Cakes
The Most Glamorous Birthday - Daphne
Why: Because she looked G-L-A-M-O-R-OUS, yeah. I decided to call up a contact of mine and arrange for Bunny to have a makeover because, well, we wanted to see how she looked like made over. Technically, I have never seen Bunny in a dress or in anything remotely resembling stuff that was made for girls.
We chose the outfit for her while we made the appointment and scouted for makeup as part of the present. True, she wasn't turning 21 but we figured since everyone else was, might as well go all out and celebrate them like as though they were.
She wasn't IN the spotlight, she WAS the spotlight. There were cameras flashing everywhere. And I'm sure she had a bloody good time having all that gunk on her face. Plus, she had an excuse to wear the dress we bought for her again!!
Of course we had her makeup toned down a little after everything was over because we didn't want to have to chase away hordes of admirers asking for her autograph and have them interrupt our dinner.
Loved them prawns.
Food: Lau Pa Sat Ripoffs
Rating: 7 Birthday Cakes
The Birthday With The Most Presents - ME!!
Why: Because nobody else received 21 presents from just ONE group of friends. And because I took one whole month to plan everything out and post it on my blog, thinking obviously no one would pay any attention to it whatsoever. But hey, whaddya know. I am loved.
And then of course, SOME people just had to carbon copy my idea and list down THEIR 21 wishes. Gawd, I hate imitators. It's like they've got either pig poop for brains or they've got the originality of a snail. For God's sakes, why?? Grow up, okay??
Well, excuse me if there was anybody else who had the same idea I did and celebrated their birthday earlier than me. Did you have orange balloons tied to your "throne" and was treated like a princess for the night?? Yeah, yeah. Sure.
Anyhooz.
It must've been hell for the gang to go on a scavenger hunt for my presents. I know they had to enlist the assistance of eBay for a few of the things I asked for. They didn't follow everything to a T of course, which was even better than I had ever listed for. That was the best part.
Yeah, I'm a problematic indulgent spoilt child.
Nas and Bunny had a hell of a time trying to coax me to go wherever they asked me to and I took great delight in telling them that their plan to divert me from the real party sucked although they tried their very best.
Dinner was belly-filly. Not too expensive like the one we just had for Christmas (that was a total money-gulper) and although both restaurants served Middle Eastern dishes, this one was way better. Plus, we weren't surrounded by stuffy waiters who were just waiting to squash us like bugs and cramp our style.
Then came the opening presents ceremony!! Each gift was individually hand-wrapped by Jan herself and as much as I loved preserving wrappers, I loved getting what was underneath them as well.
I even forgot that there were one or two presents that I had personally picked out for myself. Like the Justin Timberlake unofficial autobiography. Most of the gifts were books because that was I loved the most.
The games that came accompanying the presents were a pleasant personal touch invented by Jan. For every scrap of paper I picked, it would either contain a task I had to complete or a number that represented a birthday gift.
And out of all the presents like I mentioned before in one entry, the one that got to me most was a stickeable picture of GB. I love it. Kinda like a polaroid but slightly more enlarged. Up till today, I have no intention of removing the backing from the sticker. It's too precious.
Don't get me wrong, all the other gifts were amazing. Beyond words. But this small rectangular scrap of glossy paper meant more than everything else combined. This reminded me that these were the people who were worth more than 21 presents. Here was a bunch who tolerated my every whim and would continue to do so despite everything.
Food: Cafe Le Caire @ Al-Majlis
Rating: 7 Birthday Cakes
Why: He decided to be a prick the last minute and Jan had to come up with a backup ASAP. I was invited but I couldn't go. I was in Melbourne having fun but there was no doubt the rest had fun as well.
The real spoiler was having heard all the disappointment and complains lodged by people. Tell me about it. I'm hearing complains all the way in Melbourne. It must've been some serious shit.
The gist of it was to let Kity run around in Sungei Buloh but because he was so against the plan they changed it to Orchard Road. It was like two ends of the spectruem; from Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve to Orchard Road Shopping Reserve.
Owells. Whatever that worked in favor of the birthday boy.
Food: Fig & Olive Restaurant
Rate: 5 Birthday Cakes
The Biggest Birthday Cake - Ayu
Why: Looking back, did anyone else get a cake besides her?? I don't remember who had the biggest one, Art-who or Ayu. And truth to be told, I forgot how it tasted like. All I remembered from the day itself was how damn good the lamb was and Chippy was on the go for more than one piece of chocolate cake.
Yeah, it was a quiet kind of birthday. We had our own agenda and we ran off to the playground for our own version of fun.
But I'll tell ya one thing. Homecooked food is ALWAYS the best. And Ayu's was no exception. Loved the potato salad, the nachos and salsa, the little chicken wings...ooh, what a great barbecue. Because Chippy's birthday barbecue didn't have any lamb, I was feeling a little deprived. And it didn't help that the lamb was like candy to my soul.
Food: The Usual Barbecue Victims Plus L A M B
Rate: 6 1/2 Birthday Cakes
The Birthday With The Least Fuss: Nasreen
Why: So clean-cut, hassle-free. It was the only birthday celebration that didn't come with headaches. It couldn't. Because it was Ramadan and there wasn't much time for us to do much. Besides, we're saving it for this year when this baby turns 21!!
I felt that the celebrationw as almost intimate because it was dinner and a game of Taboo between a group of friends. Food as usual was nearly not enough. Come to think of it, food is never enough with GB around. It's just the way it is.
Food: NaNa Thai Restaurant
Rating: 6 Birthday Cakes
The Unexpected Birthday Invitation: Art-who
Why: Because we didn't expect to get invited, that's why. It didn't help that we were the only group of friends he invited besides Mazlan and his girlfriend. What, suddenly Art-who has a lack of friends??
Art-who is such a schmuck. He never attended any of our birthdays --with the exception of Bunny's-- and here he was, all high and mighty asking US to come to HIS??
We went of course, reminding ourselves that it was because of the food and nothing more. Then of course, we won prizes: chocolates for the guys and shortbread for us girls who helped them guys saboh themselves and be sari-clad dragqueens for the night.
How could Art-who possibly know about my love for shortbread!! It was almost impossible to stay mad at him for long. Almost. All the briyani in the world couldn't make up for his absence.
Food: Briiiiiiyaaanehhhh!! And the works...
Rate: 4 1/2 Birthday Cakes
Laterz...
Lenny
1 comment:
*falls off chair laughing*
now now, Art came for Chippy's and Amir's birthday. ;)
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