26th birthday

I started off the night of my birthday by receiving two presents which were unexpected and beyond expectation.

The unexpected present came in the form of an ixus 75!!! I got my first camera when I was a dumb little 9 year old duped into buying someone else's canon slr. My mother paid for it back then. After years of tinkering around with it, I never became a great photographer because it just cost too much time, films and money (aside from the fact that I don't have a good eye). I did however learn some facts about photography and a little bit of the technical aspects of a camera. I still have that same camera up to this day but it's quite useless now since repairing it costs more than buying a 2nd hand model. This new ixus would probably stick with me for a loooong time. Despite all the complexities and flexibilities you can get with an slr, a point and shoot camera will produce better pictures in my hands than a sophisticated one. Not to mention the obvious fact that it's so much easier to carry around.

The beyond expectation gift came in the form of a scrap book compiled by no one else but thy beloved. Inside were pictures of friends and their greetings for my birthday. Beloved also wrote in the scrap book as well. But there was something in the book that ruined it, pictures of my face. This is the first time I ever received a gift like this and it really means a lot to me and it will continue to do so in the future. I'm very thankful for all those who sent their messages but the greatest thanks goes to wang ming mei. Without her, none of this would've been possible.

After receiving my gifts, I got treated to a wonderful dinner at l'opera. Among all the Western dish, Italian is my favorite. I only started liking Italian food when I got older and credit goes to my Kath. Because of Kath, I learned how to cook noodles without sauce. I still have to learn how to make my own sauce. However, I started learning more about the ingredients in a tomato sauce. It's also because of her that I was able to sample the ingredients of a dish individually before mixing and cooking them together. I was able to slowly (vvveerrryy sloooowwwly) learn where the flavors come from. There's no better way I can learn about food than from Kath's way. With her by my side, I'm sure the time will come when I can EASILY cook my own favorite food and hopefully hers as well.

In L'opera, Kath had a spaghetti that was deliciously spicy and I had an awesome foie gras that was sandwiched by a medium cooked steak! We also had onion soup and carpaccio for appetizer as well as bread with a dip made of olive oil mixed with tomato and basil leaves. The dip was so simple, yummy and healthy. What a combination!

We ended the night by watching Knocked Up in GB3. The movie was very good. It was better than what we thought it'd be. It wasn't as shallow and it was funnier than we expected.

Overall, this was a very wonderful night and a wonderful celebration. Thank you Kath for tonight. You made a big impact on me.