Three-in-one.. what a bargain!

As I've been busy with that-which-must-not-be-named lately, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to cram 3 posts into one. It's equally as interesting, I assure u, as there are loads and loads of pictures to see, but it's just not as verbose as I'd like it to be.. (Lucky for you, huh? :P)


4th February

I had been prepping myself since the month before to avoid thinking about this 'special' day.. The thing is, it's not just any ol' birthday, this was a so-called important milestone in one's life and I was dreading it (as I do most of my birthdays, which I'm sure you all know since my annual freakout beginning January 4th has almost become a ritual!). But since that-which-must-not-be-named is coming up soon, I figured that I'd use that as an excuse so that I didn't really need to celebrate this day, not least because it reminded me of how old I really was! It worked, and even as the day approached, I wasn't the least bit excited and kept telling myself that it was not a big deal and just another day, which of course it was.. The fact that I was due to be in London for a revision course on my birthday itself also helped, so again, no chance for any major celebrations.

I had a great time in London with good friend PY, and the revision course was really good, don't regret going to that at all! And for the better part of the day, I almost forgot that I had turned __ (apart from the unkindly remarks from my not-so-considerate friends! :P).

Unfortunately, when I arrived back home that night, alone in my room (WS is on nights), that's when it hit me - not only was I older, I was lonelier too. It was really depressing spending my birthday like that, and I was actually quite surprised that no matter what I told myself, deep down inside, my birthdays actually meant a helluva lot to me.

It was at this point that I finally decided that from this point forwards, I am going to embrace my future birthdays with open arms. I am going to celebrate the fact that I am still alive and still have so much more to look forward to. I am going to seize every moment and live my life 'Carpe Diem'-style. Growing old is inevitable, so instead of trying to fight it, I might as well enjoy it! So this is my new birthday's resolution, to be happy about taking one step ahead in my life every year..

Maybe this is what they mean by growing...

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12th February

There are many February babies around, and it saddens me sometimes that I'm not as special as I'd like to be.. (although luckily, I'm the only one who's actually born on the 4th!) Having said that, although sometimes one does want all the attention on one's self, it's quite fun to have a shared birthday party with people and invite loads of good friends. That's exactly what KMD, MNMU and I did this weekend. We thought that since everyone wouldn't want to go out on 3 separate occasions to celebrate our birthdays individually, we'd just gather everyone together and have a big do! It was really fun, and I think it was a break which we all needed.. I definitely had a good time!

Group pic; clockwise fr L: MNMU, JT, me, SR, JW, NK, JL, KMD, SY, M & JL

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We went to Antalya, a Turkish restaurant that I have only recently discovered. The ambience, although quite romantic, was actually very well-suited for a birthday bash, since there were a few more tables around us with a big, noisy crowd. Plus, the service was pretty good, and we definitely were enjoying ourselves as the night went by.. (although I have to say, that since there was 11 of us, it took quite a while for the food to come out, which gave us plenty of time to pose for the camera!)

Small group pic

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Another small group pic

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Housemates!

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Yet another small group pic

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Horsing around.. we really had a lot of time!

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After we finished dinner (which by the way, was scrumpilicious!), fresh fruits were served to us on a lovely platter, followed by turkish delight sweets, which was really good! As we finished our dessert, we thought that we should probably go on and head home, since dinner was over. Boy were we surprised! Suddenly, the waiter brought out a birthday cake with candles and everyone started singing the birthday song! We were really shocked but it was a pleasant surprise, nonetheless! KMD, MNMU and I blew out the candles and cut the cake (again, this was heavenly! It was a chocolate sponge with an oh-so-light cream which made it the perfect combo, especially after a heavy meal!)

Make a wish!

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Birthday buddies, KMD and MNMU

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The best part of it all was, we found out later that this cake was actually compliments from the restaurant! None of us actually planned it, and it was only because the boss approached our table earlier in the evening and enquired as to what the occasion was. We didn't expect a free delicious cake at all!! :) So you can imagine that we were all pretty happy after it all.. good food, excellent service, free dessert - we're definitely coming back next time!!!

Group pic again!

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SR and me - don't we look so good? ;)

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& finally, a very happy buffday girl!

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17th February

It's the eve of Chinese New Year and since we're so far away from home, we can't celebrate it as wonderfully and lavishly as we'd like. So, we decided to have a nice Chinese meal in a nice Chinese restaurant, get dressed up and go out and have a nice time! Unfortunately for us (and of course, for them) the best Chinese restaurant in Nottingham, Mandarin Restaurant in Hockley, was involved in a fire recently and was therefore, closed whilst they sorted things out. This did not bode well for us, as from experience (and from reviews from people we knew), there aren't that many other good restaurants serving Chinese cuisine. We settled for a moderately well-known restaurant in Wollaton Park, named Mr Man's and unfortunately for us, were very disappointed. The service was fairly lousy and the food was far ffar far rom the level we expected; we definitely won't be returning there again nor recommending it to anyone else, I'm afraid.. Nevertheless, we had a good time and it definitely beats staying celebrating CNY on our own. Besides, we always love a good excuse to get dressed up and go out!

Here are some pics of the evening..

Pretty maids all in a row..

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Old friend AC joined us too

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Say cheese!

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Later, having drinks at Frankie & Benny's..

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Smile for the camera!

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Little girl getting away with a treat!

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:)
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In the meantime, would like to take the opportunity here to wish everyone a very Happy New Year; Gong Xi Fa Cai; Xin Nian Kuai Le, Wan Shi Ru Yi! May 2007, the year of the pig, bring everyone joy, prosperity, happiness and lots of love!

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OK, that's all for now.. for now, do wish me good luck in my fruitless, futile efforts at revising and pray for me that I'll pass my exams first time round!

P/S: I also had my radio debut a couple of days ago on BBC Nottingham! I had a 5-minute interview live on air with the radio presenter about how the government's new legislation affects overseas students and doctors. It was quite generic, as the main reason was to raise an awareness to people out there about this problem, but had an awkward question from the presenter which I managed to side-step inconspicuously!! Looks like all those years of rehearsing being interviewed as a Hollywood star paid off!