Why Am I The Luckiest Man Alive

11th April 2007 is definitely the most exhilirating, exciting, unexpected and surprising day I have ever lived in my whole life. This is my story:



I started the day by waking up and retrieving my handphone which was being recharged, and found several SMS flooding my inbox, all wishing me a very happy birthday at 12.02 am when I was apparently asleep. Then I went to college and prepared for the fifth and final quiz for the Introduction to Biopsychology course.

Mae: Happy birthday Min Huei!
Me: Study for Biopsych quiz now...
I AM SUCH A PARTY POOPER!!!

However, I did quite well for the quiz (14/15), so I'm quite happy with myself. During the rest breaks during the class, my friends sang a happy birthday song for me TWICE, turning my face as red as a tomato. Then, Sam gave me a gift:

The World we see is round, but what if, And I mean if, It is as flat as this Gift? Happy Birthday Pal!
from, UNCLE SAM.

OOO, a birthday present. Thank you Sam! Sam happened to give me one of his favourite books, so that means a lot to me. And I happened to be in the season where I can't seem to find any books (around me) to read, so the book came at the right timing. NOT ONLY THAT, I was bombarded by another gift not long after:

Kistna Scented Eau de Toillete from The Body Shop.

This gift was from the rest of the gang. Guess what? I actually wanted to get this for quite some time but I never got down to the One Utama branch of The Body Shop. And since I didn't tell anyone about it, I was surprised that I got what I wished for. Thank you guys (and gals)! Even Sharon went through the trouble to write a simple happy birthday message for me, full with her trademark drawings.

After class, Sam, Jenna, Mae, Julian, Poh Sim, Josh and I went to the Bar B Q Plaza at One Utama for lunch. Evelyn joined us for lunch and Shealin came slightly later. It was the first time I ate at a barbeque outlet in Malaysia (the other time was at Singapore with my cousin). The food wasn't what I would rate excellent, but was surprisingly satisfying and kept me full till 6 p.m., which was pretty unusual for a person who binges a lot. NOT ONLY THAT, everyone actually footed the bill, although I was already prepared to pay a large portion of it. So I thank all of you for the wonderful lunch!

After lunch, all of us stopped at my number one stop in One Utama: MPH Bookstores! Poh Sim got her third Shopaholic book whereas Mae and Shealin 'syok-ed sendiri' over stationary and art-and-craft tools. As I received a sum of money from my mum as a present, I decided to get myself a proper NKJV bible to replace my current one which only contained the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. I decided to get this:

Nelson's Life and Style Bible, Sandcastle Lagoon.

Finally, a proper bible. After praying for so long for a proper bible, I got what I wished for.

Next, we went to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at GSC. The plot of the movie wasn't the best I have seen, but the graphics was not bad and the whole composition was quite enjoyable. I shall not talk too much about the movie here in case anyone reading this have not seen it yet. After the movie, we went our own ways and I was more than ready to get home to rest after what I would say to be a very surprising day.

After a small detour to deliver something to Sam's aunt, I reached home to find the dining table filled with a tray of crystal glasses and plates of finger foods. As Jenna went to use the toilet, I was left to wonder what the arrangement was for, because I didn't expect my parents to have a party for me, and I didn't expect to have any guests. And I knew that the crystal glasses would only be used if there were guests coming.

Me: What's with all the glasses and food? Who's coming? I didn't know that anyone's coming.
Mum: We're having a birthday party for you.
Me: Is it? But who's coming? No one told me there were people coming!
Insert pause here.
Me: I still don't get it. Who's coming?
Insert pause here.
Me: Who's coming?
Jenna comes back from the toilet.
Me: So, you've finished using the toilet?
Jenna: Yea...
Insert pause here.
Jenna: (Awkwardly) I want to see your room.
Me: (Surprised but nevertheless trying to be a good guest) Oh, these 2 rooms are just store rooms... (Opens the store room...)
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TO FIND AN ENTIRE ROOM FILLED WITH THE FRIENDS WHO WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HOME ALREADY AS WELL AS SOME OF MY CELL GROUP MEMBERS HOLDING A CANDLE-LIT CAKE IN THE DARK!

Wishing for the ability to bless people around me, and see them grow from strength to strength.

OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS.

People with weak hearts like me shouldn't be subjected to so many surprises in one day. Apparently, this was the E12 Cell Group surprise birthday party that I have definitely not expected. Well, I did expect a surprise, but not a surprise of this magnitude! And not a surprise at this moment!

E12 rocks!

They even parked further down the road and hid their shoes from plain sight just to make the surprise more unexpected. And they conspired with my parents to let them in... How naughty... But I love all of you anyway! I was having hot flushes as if I took 2 shots of vodka, it was that bad, or good, depending on how you see it.

And so, I had two birthday cakes for the first time of my life.

Mocha Cake from La Manilla.

The E12 Blueberry Cake.

Then it was present giving time, AGAIN. I got this cool card made by one of my Cell Group members, Jessica who went for National Service, but came back for Easter and secretly worked on this card:

Very abstract-anime design-ish.

All the messages behind the card.

They also gave me this:

...

Wait a minute! Haven't I seen this before?

Deja Vu.

They got me the exact same bible I have just bought! I can hardly believe my eyes. I suddenly thought I prayed too hard. Now I am left to figure out what to do with both bibles. My sister commented that one be used downstairs and another upstairs. LOL. NOT ONLY THAT, I received another card!

The card that Sam apparently forgot to give me earlier.

Okay, too much information. The exaltation I felt left me hanging in the state of euphoria, even until now! I was still flustered and my cheek muscles were already starting to ache.

Everyone eating to their heart's content.

After that, everyone started to dig in to the food and socialize with each other. E12 even prayed for me. Fortunately, I had my chance to bath and rejuvenate. Before that, I had to give an impromptu speech and play the Gu Zheng and the piano. During all those events, I was smiling from ear to ear and was still red in the face. I tell you, my dopamine levels were sky-rocketing. When I look back at the videos, I thought I was quite embarassing, but I guess that's just me being TOO happy. Other than that, Kevin phoned me all the way from Ipoh, and I'm so happy that he actually called!

Ally attempting the Gu Zheng.

The confederate Jenna. She finally saw my room for real.

Sherene, Sher Lynn, Shealin, Poh Sim, Julian, Alison, Jee Mei, Darryl, Wei Wen, Joshua, Hazel, Mae, Li Ching, Genesis, Jenna, Sam and last but not least, a VERY happy me! Sorry if I spelled anyone's name wrongly...

After the surprise party, the night was still young, and most of us retreated to Williams, a famous Mamak located near Lim Kok Wing institute in Taman Mayang, where we enjoyed a fantastic meal of Cheese Naan, Roti Triple H and Ribena Lychee before heading home FOR REAL.

Williams.

I wish to thank everyone who was actually there for me. I wish to thank everyone for their huge and sacrificial contribution of time AND money in the endeavour to surprise me on such an important day, and actually making a noticeable effort in every single event. You have no idea how happy I was (or maybe you can see that from my face). I wish to thank my Cell Group, E12, for being so supportive and going the extra 100 miles for everything. Our birthday surprises are getting so extravagantly amazing I think we're already running out of ammo for ideas. I wish to thank Sherene and Alison for being the spiritual leader I needed. I wish to thank my parents for everything they have done to make me who I am today.

Last, but definitely not the least, I wish to thank God for he have definitely poured out the heavens on me today. And I thank Jesus, for he will always remain, my closest friend.