that's happy birthday in latvian. for me. anywho. this is all old news but i didn't have time to upload my shitload of photos. and they're all up now. so yeah.

the babysitters took me out for my birthday. whee! vicky christina barcelona, my ass lah.


argh! coco exotic! my favourite cake ever lah.


the two october babies. and our joint birthday celebrations.






it was pretty stressful when everyone's trying to cut the cake. i think. i didn't help. :X


i LOVE how mima always makes her own wrapping paper! <3


fyi: my present is awesome! with a capital A. i swear. i've never been so thrilled. i think i screamed when i saw it. again. I LOVELOVELOVE it guys! you guys rock lah. GAH!


however, i can't disclose it. just in case, some rabid tennis/ernests fans might rip the idea that my friends came up with. so yeah. i intend to wear it for the AO's in jan. till then.


my 'birthday card' was pretty kickass too. a tennis ball! wtf right?! i dig it so much.


mima's turn to open her presents. we all thought the che guevera matchsticks box looked way cool. i would totally get it for myself.


us chilling at cathay. i know i don't say this alot.. but i love having brothers work at starbucks! THE PERKS! iced black coffee + sugar syrup = heavenly.


sham's masterpiece. it's hilarious shit.


a peek at my present.


i'm obsessed with it. and i love the babysitters like i love cotton candy!

i was punk'd at work just now. and there i was feeling utterly miserable. cause this year was supposed to suck. i'm sick. no, make it, dying instead. cause it truly felt like it.

how it went down:

my editor aka boss told me i'll have my evaluation around 4pm. WTF?! i was scared shitless lah. kept hoping i'll be fine. cause i'm planning to keep my job. when i reached the pantry, i was greeted by about 20 odd people, singing happy birthday. i was shocked! seriously. it was fab!

i gotta thank everyone for chipping in. for making it a memorable advanced birthday celebration. long story short, we have tons of october babies. i was dead sure they'll skip my birthday and celebrate the others. the popular ones, i supposed. man, i was wrong. and GAH! so many people turned up. feels blessed.


they bought me a book with cat photos. the card was filled with LOL-worthy messages. and i got an ang bao! SCORE!


the photos! excuse the pale face. i'm still sick.






my editorial team. <3




the girls i hangout with during lunch. crazy bunch.


a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who made it happen!

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talking about october babies, we celebrated su's birthday last week. t'was funfunfun! she was very sporting. did the whole stand up on the chair speech. for the record, it's not a HWZ custom for birthday folks to stand up on their chair while saying their speech. i didn't do it. cause i'm a retard. i did mine between sniffles. besides, i'm SHY!




there was some dude in our photo. HAH!



i LOVE october!

look what i stumbled into whilst doing research for work.


i swear i was doing actual work prior to this.  

after seeing chuck on every blardy page, i was too distracted! GAH! CHUCK!!!

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i'm supposed to come up with a birthday list. so, here it is.

i really can't wait for il divo's latest album, the promise.

this year's celebrations, albeit last minute preparations and much crankiness was oh-so-awesome! i can't quite describe it. with the number of glitches it should have sucked. but the littlest thing shouldn't affect such a merry affair. especially one that brings the family together.

we usually talk about forgiveness when it comes to hari raya. personally, i like how it feels to be cared. not in an old folks sorta way. it's refreshing to hear someone scream your name when you're at the door (i.e. my aunties). or fuss about how bimbotic you sound talking about your new hairdo. folks who actually know what my job is without asking. people who know i taste sambal goreng at every house just because it's my favourite dish ever. loved ones who laugh at your jokes. even if it's not as funny as you think. well, it happens.

this year we didn't get to take our customary marsinah's family portrait. it's a yearly thing where aunts, uncle and cousins from my mum's side would doll up to take tons of photos with my uncle's hugeass DSLR camera. he's possibly one of the best photographers i know. and he's a great role model. someone i look up too.

i did managed to get the random snapshots. not.

food glorious FOOD! think devil's curry and black pepper chicken. yum!


pros going at it.



here's me and my two aunts. i LOVE them lah! thank you so much for everything. especially for passing me the travelling bug. haha.. i owe you guys big time.



mum with her mummy. precious.


i seriously don't know why my granny was laughing deliriously.


i really, really, really hope i'd grow old like her.


she's the only one who gave me a green packet. whee! i'm not complaining. i definitely think giving is better than receiving. i've never felt more intrinsically rewarded than passing the green packets to the few who were lucky enough to get them. i got to be honest. i need alot of training. i ran out of green packets in the first few hours. gah!

to more house visiting!