Birthday Thoughts

today is my birthday. i knew it wouldn't feel like my birthday because i am in london, away from home and family and friends. so i didn't want to think too much about it, since it wasn't going to be the same anyway. still, i was pleasantly surprised to receive the calls, SMSes and emails i got wishing me a happy birthday; they made me a little happier to know that in some small way people are 'celebrating' my birthday. :)

since it was my birthday, i tried to go out and do something special today. i was intending to watch Carmen with a friend so i trotted down to the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in the afternoon to get tickets. unfortunately the tickets (which only went on sale today itself) were sold out and in the end my friend couldn't make it after all. so i treated myself to mee pok at China China and bought myself a pair of gloves. like i said - it's just not the same.

in my contemplative birthday mood, i surfed the net about birthdays and growing old, and came across a few interesting thoughts:

a. 'Age doesn't matter unless you are a cheese'
I thought this made a lot of sense. in fact if you are a wine you even get better with age, unless you have hit the point of no return, in which case you might have become vinegar and nobody will buy you save to cook pig trotters for confinement women.

b. 'Wrinkles are just signs of where the smiles have been'
I liked this one, because it means the more wrinkles you have, the happier you have been in life. i like that idea. but i'm not so sure about looking like a nepalese goatherd. whatever it is, this quote will not go down well with believers of SKII, pitera and other 'miracle' anti-aging creams.

c. 'One does not grow old, one merely unfolds'
I liked this one very much too. i like the idea that people are always who they are and their core never quite changes. the only effect of time and experience is to unfold them. this makes people like taiwanese drama serials - it unfolds but it never quite changes. watch me unfold....watch me unfold...

so now i am 28 years old. this means i can no longer pass off as 'mid 20s' and i am officially in my 'late 20s'. this also means that i graduated from secondary school 12 years ago and from JC 10 years ago. it also means that i joined chambers 5 years ago. it certainly doesn't feel that long...i guess that means i've been having a good time after all.

here is a picture of me in 'default' state in front of my computer.



happy birthday to me. :)