My 30th birthday is coming up and I told Shorty that since it’s my 30th, and I only turn 30 once I should do a party of some sort. So she’s been helping me organize a birthday party.
This process made me reflect on how I spent my previous birthdays.
29th birthday
This was last year. Shorty organized a dinner for about 50 of my friends. It was held in Thai Thai at Sunway Pyramid because the owner is a close friend of mine and he was able to provide a function room for us. Not only that by the end of the night he gave us a discount on the bill too.
28th birthday
Two years ago. I was going through sort of a thrill-seeking phase at that point in time. Always wanted to do things that were potentially dangerous but exciting. So what Shorty did was she planned a surprise “Pilot for a day” experience where I would learn some basics of flying then have a pilot fly me up in a propellor plane.
Then right above KL he would let me take the wheel and for the first time experience flying a plane.
All this while Shorty sat in the backseat of the plane with me.
It was truly an experience to remember. After that experience we went off to a “surprise” dinner at Delicious. I say “surprise” because I knew there was going to be a dinner but I didn’t know who she had invited.
27th birthday
This one led to a bit of an argument. You see before this birthday, I had always given Shorty a lot of surprise birthday parties. So this year she wanted to give me a very secretive surprise.
As time got closer I kinda got the hint that it was a surprise trip away. I mean why else would she ask me to book a range of dates to make sure I kept them free. That’s what led to the fight.
You see… I didn’t want to go away on my birthday. I wanted to spend my birthday with my friends… not away somewhere. Shorty though thought it would be a good surprise because she said I was always really stressed with work and some time away would help. I wanted to cancel it or not go but Shorty had already booked everything. So our mismatched expectations caused a fight.
Nevertheless I went for the trip anyway. It was to Krabi and Shorty had booked this really nice resort there called Centara Grand.
It was a beautiful resort and the service was just awesome.
We spent the next few days there doing nothing but eating, lazing around and having lots of massages.
My birthday song was sang to me by only one person that year. Shorty…. at night.. on this patio that was connected to our room.
While we started that trip on a negative note… we ended with a good one. I apologized to Shorty for being upset at her for booking this surprise away even though I had wanted to celebrate with my friends… and I told her what a good time I had.
And you know what the funny thing is….
When I think back about my past 3 birthdays…. I’ve done some nice things. I’ve celebrated with my friends and I’ve even flown a plane. But when I think back on which birthday was the most memorable to me… it was my the surprise trip to Centara Grand. To think that the birthday I thought I would enjoy the least… turned out to be the one I remembered the most.
I don’t know what this year’s birthday is going to be like…. but as long as I have Shorty with me.. I think it’s going to be great.
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space