The one by Library Gang

And once again, i was fooled by an ingenius bunch of friends. HA! But how i wish that there wouldn't be an end to all this merry making and joyful shrieks. Oh... Birthday surprises are so heartwarming! :-)

I tried to go into details about my first birthday surprise hatched by my Library Gang of ACJC '02, but the whole excitement and mad elation of the occasion was lost in the uninspiring story telling and limited vocabulary i have. *mutter* But because i will not allow my memory to betray the efforts of my friends, i shall attempt to blog about what happened.

And yah, never underestimate Miss L, the brains behind the plan. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. *thumps chest*

Birthday Surprise No. 1 : Library Gang. 13th of December

Unknown to the blissfully ignorant me, the day started off innocently enough with my Gem coming over to my place, i quote: "To spend some time with you" before going off to church for his Christmas musical rehearsal. At this point, everything was just happening as per normal, and I didn't suspect a single thing, not a whiff.

Nothing much happens from then till the time for the plot to unravel. We watched "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" once through for the first time and we laughed over the ridiculous british comedy group. More time was then spent on doing various things like tinkling on the piano and making dinner for the parentals.

To cut out unneccesary details, i shall just say that my mom had conveniently asked Gem to stay for dinner, which became a very handy activity, as you shall later find out. While i was off in my room getting spruced up to supposedly "Meet L and the rest of Library Gang at City Hall at 8pm" (oh, what a trick it was!), Gem told my folks THE REAL PLAN.

When i came out from the shower, i found the folks and the Gem still talking over dinner and i was thinking: HELLO?! I am going to be LATE for my meeting with the girls and Gem was going to be SUPER late for rehearsal. I tapped his shoulder and pointed to the clock to indicate that we had to leave.

BUT NO... The 3 of them kept talking and eating (sorry, we made you overeat!) and so, i figured: Oh, never mind. I'll just call L to tell her i was going to be late.

Which i did, and was told not to worry, to take my time, that she (L) was still buying something and that another friend, let's call her FSH, was still at home, in the throne room, making cakes. So i was told not to worry about being late.

I noticed that Gem was getting a lot of smses and i was wondering why. Little did i know that HE WAS IN IT TOO. RARH!!! Apparently, he was suppose to delay me, to keep me at home, so that the girls could execute their plan. And so, the poor boy had to eat, and eat, and eat. *buah hahahaa* Oops, sorry. :-(

When i finally stepped out from the house, after my folks bid us "goodbye" and "enjoy yourself" (the actors!), my attention was brought upon this little green and yellow note stuck onto the stairwell wall.

It read: "Happy Birthday! Hello gal! Surprise? We are no longer meeting at City Hall. You are now part of an exciting treasure hunt. Follow the path of the candle light to Level 1 in search of your first clue. *wink*"

The NAUGHTY GIRLS! WAHAHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first thought was that the note wasn't for me, that it was for someone else's party, but nope, it was the first of the clues to bring me around a small area of the condo estate.

Ok, so the excitement was building and i was thinking: Ohhh! WHOOPEE! SO FUN! WAH! I cannot believe the girls are doing this!

So Gem and i went down the stairwell, of course not without bringing the note along. We met with a row of prettily lit up candles about halfway down. Took a photo of that.

I got to my first clue, that was pasted on the wall on Level 1, which read: "Joline G: Wah! So obedient ah? haha... Really follow the instru(...) By the way, any idea who am i?"

Upon calling the mysterious clue leaver, i was given my next hint to find the next note. And so in the same fashion, i was led on to find two other notes, each time being given a hint of its location from the person i was to guess (who it was) and call. (Level 1-->Bench-->Hair Salon-->Back to my OWN HOME.)

Ha, i only 1 out of 3 right. Hey, it wasn't easy because the same person wrote ALL the notes, so it was impossible to guess from handwriting alone.

Back to my own home? That was a strange answer to arrive at after being given the last hint to my final destination.

Gem was with me all the while, brisk walking from place to place, and KNOWING all along that this treasure hunt was going to take place. And he was playing right along like he was none the wiser. I tell you, i cannot trust him anymore man! His combination of poker face and seriously CONVINCING-NO-CHUCKLING-OH-WHAT-IS-GOING-ON act was FLAWLESS. Hur hur.

Some more, i asked him: "AYE!!! You're LATE FOR CHURCH LEH! CAN YOU GO OFF NOOOWWW?!?!?!?"

And he can still tell me: "No, it's ok... I already told them that i'll be late."
And i am usually used to this line of his because of other instances, so i didn't really suspect anything. Wa liew! You should've seen his facial expression can? DESERVE OSCAR ALREADY OK? His usual concerned, calm and in control disposition. There is NO WAY, that you could've guessed that he was behind anything.

He still claims that he didn't know anything besides the fact that there was going to be a hunt, but i shall sustain that he was in it. Period. *ROAR!*

And so as i clacked down (wearing slightly elevated footwear, which luckily didn't give me blisters when i went around on my hunt) the stairs to me home, i saw no note. I thought: "Strange. But i DID hear Jed barking (while i was downstairs) as though someone he doesn't know stepped into the house. Maybe... There's something/someone in the house."

So out came the house key. I didn't really know what to expect, except that: Ok, there's certainly something prepared but what?

I unlocked the door and i stepped in...

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And i saw a life size wax model of KEANU REEVES!!!!!!!

Right. Ok, not really.

Actually when i stepped in, i didn't see anything. The house looked exactly like the way it was. And there was no one.

But that only fed my curiousity. I ventured past the hall and lo and behold as i looked down towards the kitchen, what did i see?

A flash of white shirt making a beeline for our storeroom so he could hide! AH HAH! It WAS J, XH's (our gang leader) boyfriend! And then my mom who was talking to J ran up to stairs to distract me with some nonsense about "HOW COME YOU ARE AT HOME?!" And i was like, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!"

Not long after, i turned to face the doorway of my room and was confronted with the 3 glowing faces of my Library Gang members, and in one of the girl's hands, held my birthday cake.
*Awwwww.......................*

And so the cat was finally out of the bag. And in the moments that came, i asked the girls what on EARTH happened, with lots of laughter and shrieks, and also found out that Gem was in it. Plus, he got to formally meet my girls for the first time. :-) Yay! It was unfortunate that he had to rush off to church, for real. But my dad was really sweet and gave him a lift there. :-)

After the cake cutting and phototaking, we adjourned to this Turkish restaurant at the Rail Mall. Hohoho, the food is authentic Turkish cuisine (the owner who was also the cook for that day, is from Turkey) and it was a slightly exotic experience on the chinese suaku's (*ahem*) tastebuds.

Over dinner, my girls, J, and i had good food, good fun and i felt really blessed. Did you know... That they had make Gem keep me at home initially, so that they could buy time to decorate the restaurant with balloons?

How can one not feel incredibly blessed with friends who would go through all the effort and trouble of liasing with people they hardly know to create a treasure hunt, and then coming into my home to prepare the surprise and even decorating a restaurant beforehand, just for me? Of course, i had the presents too, which i WILL put up on the blog soon.

My birthday was memorable BECAUSE of all of them, and if it wasn't for the girls and the significant other(s), i'd have let the day go on by without much fanfare.

There is no way that i can jot down all that i wish to say to thank them because my words do no justice to their caring gestures borne of our deep friendship.

But what i can do, is to treasure them in this lifetime. Treasure them and to always be there for them, to provide a shoulder to wet with tears, an open heart to show love and care, and a willing listening ear to hear them out, in all the seasons of their lives.

God willing, i hope to grow old together with them, like we've always said we would.