Of Birthdays & SMG

This post is a little overdue - internet too slow. Used up most of our bandwidth allowance this month watching (whisper it) Super Junior videos and (whisper it) re-watching Winter Sonata. Hah. But I cbs waiting for it to reset this Saturday so here we go!

Last Saturday (the 15th) was dad's birthday. We wanted to make his birthday really special to encourage him as he had and still is having a really really tough year this year. There were countless physically, mentally and emotionally challenging situations that he had to face and us as his family could not do a lot to help alleviate his metaphoric pain. So we wanted to do something extra special to cheer him up; reminding him that we will always be there as a family to support him through all the tough times.

~The Plan~

First off - the present - what does dad want/need? Methinks cologne- gives him that professional-ness. lol. Tie??? No way, he has enough already and it's so generic as well, I want something that he has never had before. So cologne it was. Second, the cake. Cheesecake? No, not again. Getting sick of cheesecake. Why not an ice-cream cake? Homemade- extra special - cos of the effort put into it. Good idea. Goes and buys ice-cream, well, technically its yogurt ice-cream.

~Friday night~
(Ice-cream Yogurt ice-cream shopping)

hum dee dum deee dum. *walks into Safeway, Foresthill; heads straight for dessert section* Hmmm, Bulla's - no...Cornettos - yum - but not what I want...BULLA'S YOGURT ICE-CREAM - SCORE! Now what flavour? Mango. Perfect *continues browsing frozen dessert section* OoooH! Hazelnut gelato! Never tried that before, 99.5% fat free also! Bonus! (lol) Two different flavours enough? Yeah, why not. *hurries to biscuit section* Biscuit base? Uhm. oatmeal biscuits and Oreos *yummy*

Arrives home, attempts to hide ice-cream in fridge. Success. Nighty-night.

~Saturday Morning~

Still haven't bought dad's present yet. Planning to get him cologne. Difficult objective. Do not know what smell dad likes. O: Wished dad a happy birthday during breakfast. I went to the doctors with bro and dad (Mark had to get his big-ol'-ugly-gash-on-his-left-brow-checked). Had a ball making fun of his single eyebrow (the other eyebrow was covered in band-aid) and the fact that he'll get a permanent scar similar to Kovu's scar from Lion King 2 but it doesn't extend till his eye) Next up, to the market for groceries and what-not. Grabbed two 1L carton of soymilk (my favourite) at this cheap supermarket thingo. I also managed to persuade Mark discreetly to come with me to Knox to get dad's present. My 'excuse' to dad to let me off at Knox Shopping mall was that I wanted to go to the library. Which was true.

~Saturday Afternoon~

Went straight to business; actually, I stopped by at Game to get my longed Wii games (Okami and Super Mario Galaxy) and thankfully there was a sale on; but I couldn't find Okami *cry* but the latter was easily located; anyway, managed to purchase SMG for $20 less off it's original price! Score! Was originally $99.99. Then I saw De Blob for $49.99 - original price $79.99. Definite buy. And guess what? Mark paid for it!! Hahahaha, didn't need to spend my money. What? He has like more than $2000+ in his account! But I did have to shout him a Fruit Flo from New Zealand Natural (too overpriced!)

Back to business. Found the right cologne for dad. I was glad I bought Mark with me cos my nose wasn't functioning properly yet and we chose a really subtle Pal Zileri. Had a hard time choosing between the 50mL bottle or the 100mL bottle as I was worried that dad might not like it and I'll just be wasting money buying the 100mL bottle if he never uses it so we opted for the 50mL bottle. Paid the 44 something odd dollars for it and went hunting for a birthday card (I would have preferred to make it myself but I didn't have time to buy card and make it in time for dinner. I could have gone out and bought the card earlier during the week you might ask. Well, problem was, I still had my exams. Also bought a nice, little, snug bag -for the present mind you, not for me, though one would be fine too :D. Walked 20mins home from the mall. I had to sneak the present in. Then I quickly wrapped the gift, made the ice-cream cake, got everyone to write in the card.

~Saturday Evening~

Ate a measly dinner of instant noodles; didn't have time to cook an extravagant meal as mum was working and dad was not allowed to cook anyway since it was his birthday. Besides, time wasn't in our favour that week. I urged them to hurry and eat and clean the tables and dishes before we bring out the cake. I made two separate ones. Of course I did not mix the mango yogurt ice-cream with le hazelnut gelato - they just don't go well together. The hazelnut ice-cream cake was mixed with a packet of Oreos (crushed) with an oatmeal biscuit base; the mango yogurt ice-cream was just that, nothing added atop same oatmeal biscuit base.

The result?

(Dad's getting really old D:)

We sang 'Happy Birthday'. Took some photos. Dad got uncooperative and did not blow out the candles, instead he did the frantic wave of the hand thing...sigh...then we dug into the cake, everyone liked it. I loved it, haha, 'specially the Oreos one (I love Oreos) Then I made everyone go to the living room for sharing and stuff. We had 'fellowship' together saying encouraging stuff to dad and I (whisper it) cried. Dad too shed a few tears. I told him that (I'm paraphrasing cos I can't remember exactly what I said) "We just want you (dad) to know that we know every little thing that you do for us; cooking for us even though you come home from work exhausted and drained; looking after me during my exams, 'massaging' my feet (it's an Chinese thing - like acupuncture but without needles. Apparently your big toe is your head and if you have a head ache or smtg massage it. Haha) when I was sick; praying for me; encouraging me; going to the market every Saturday to buy food for the family; all those that you do for the family even though you have a lot on your plate and we don't thank you enough. So I, we, just wanted to thank you and let you know that we appreciate you and continue to tell you that we are here to journey with you through your hard times etc etc." All that was said through many pauses because I kept wanting to burst into tears...IT'S SO HARD CONVEYING WHAT YOU WANNA SAY WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE CRYING. GAH. But I managed. Yay. Then dad was allowed to open his present. And I immeadiately went and smelt it cos I wanted to triple check that the perfume was the right one. Thank God dad liked it, (I high-fived Mark) it had a really nice, not-too-strong smell that suits him. Thank God we chose correct.

I guess that was it for the day, we finished off with a thanksgiving prayer. Just giving thanks for God's numerous blessings then dad went off to take a shower. As for me, I Super Mario Galaxy-ed all night (finally) LoL. Mark went off again, to his beloved Albatross18 game...Esther le...I think she watched me SMG-ing...Mum went back to reading this Chinese romance novel. hah.

All in all, we had a very meaningful day; I think it was a much needed day after everything we'd gone through this year.

Happy 47th Dad! Love you!!!