Tan Siak Hiong 70th Birthday - 7 Sept 2008 @ Evergreen Hotel

I was at my uncle's 70th birthday over weekend in Penang. At first I thought it would be a small gathering of family members. Ended up, we had like 10 tables and about a hundred friends. Some relatives came as far as from Melbourne and Sydney to attend this dinner.

My parents

Family members that attended the dinner

Overall, it was a great dinner and gathering for family members. There were some relatives that I had not met for years. I had a great time that night, catching up with the family members.

To view the photos taken that night, please proceed to the web album.

I am officially 3 Decades old

I am officially 30 years old...

The big THREE ZERO...

3 Decades...

3/10 of a Century...

So what have I achieve in the last 30 years? NOTHING...

I guess I will have to work harder for the next 5 years to make up for what I had NOT done yet :)

I had a few gatherings to mark the BIG birthday. I will blogging more about it shortly...

Genie in a Bottle?

It was my Birthday. Being such a demanding boyfriend, I gave my Darling a list of things that I want, or in her case a list of things that I don't want...

I specifically mentioned to her that, if she would to buy me anything, it had to practical, something that I needed, NOT wanted!! :)

Then I went along and suggested all the expensive presents, that I seriously wanted (please note the word used is NOT needed)

• a new Camera lens (~4k)
• a new LCD TV (~2 to 4k) *not that I need it, I don't watch TV to begin with :)
  
• a new Flash for my camera (~1.5k)

I could see that I was really stressing my Darling out a few days before my big day... hehe... sorry if I did, but honestly, even if you did not get me ANYTHING, I will still be happy.

I have been living a life of, expect NOTHING... In the event I get SOMETHING, I always treat it as a bonus :p

So back to the topic, my Darling is stressed out... I gave her a list of things that I know is expensive and difficult to purchase. Basically, I didn't want her to buy me anything :p, so I gave her an impossible "Wants List".

As she would normally put it, "My Love is Priceless"... which I totally agree... Could I really sell her love for some Monetary value? So, on my Birthday, my Darling, gave me a Priceless item, a "Genie in a Bottle"... At least that is what she claimed it to be... Hehehe, I told her "ehh, its a Genie in a Vase la".... hehehe just kidding Darling...

According to her, there are 3 Wishes (gifts) in there. Each one is tied to the end of some fishing line. And supposedly in each Wish, she has already written what it was suppose to be... which I have STILL not opened yet...

It is so much fun to guess what is in there. Each Wish has a different length, so she knows exactly what is what. So, what is it? She refuses to even give me a hint...

My guesses includes the following...

• A gateway for 2? to Bali... Sinpadan Diving Trip?
• A new 60" HD LCD Screen... again I don't need one, but I reckon it would be way COOL to own one anyway :)
• Slave for a day?
• My Camera lens as requested?

You see, the present itself is better than anything anyone could have Wished for... hehe, no Pun intended.

It is truly a priceless gift. It is fun, it is mysterious, it keeps me guessing what is in there. Of course, she told me that, I could at anytime peep what is in there...

But what is the point, once you have opened it, it won't be a surprise anymore. Once I know what is in there, I know that there is NO chance in the world I am getting my 60" LCD...

Why I find it so special is that, I know there is 3 Wishes in there... It could be something, anything... whether tangible or not... it could be something FUN... so what is it?

Well, it has been sitting in my table for 2 weeks now. I constantly discuss with my Darling, what it possibly be... I always hint to her what I think it could be... Always she gives me the *grin*.

Her answer is always "If you want to know, opened it!!"

I guess, its way MORE fun to NOT opened the Wishes. I have decided to as long as I possibly can, keep it that way.

At least this way, I can still hope for my 60" LCD TV, or my 4k Camera Lens. And yes, I love it when my Darling grins at me... every time I start guessing what could possibly be in there...

Thank you Darling, for the most unique and special present ever!

30th Birthday Dinner at My Elephant

It was suppose to be a Surprise Party. At least that was the plan... But I knew it all along... :p

Throughout the day, I was feeling lazy, and was trying to convince my Darling of changing our dinner plans, but somehow, her excuses keep piling up... hmm... well if there was going to be a Surprise, I better make sure I look "surprised"...

Anyway as we were driving up to the parking lot, I saw Kenneth with his baby girl Miria as well as Julian. OK, the show is over, I don't have to pretend to look surprise anymore... phewwww...

I would like to thank my Darling, for organising for me the Birthday Dinner. I had a really good time. The place we had dinner at was called My Elephant, a Thai restaurant. The ambience was perfect for the occasion. The food was fantastic and not at all expensive. Will blog more about their food in the future posts.


The usual suspects that attended the celebration of turning 3 decades old included all my Melbourne buddies. Friends who I had spent all my university days with. Doing notorious stuff, and an endless list of things only we could laugh about thinking how silly we once were. Thinking it was just yesterday we were still in Melbourne, enjoying our youths, partying away, sleeping in and skipping classes, playing through the night computer games... AHHH those were the days... worry free days...

It seems like just yesterday that I was on my way to Melbourne to study... But 13 years had passed... most of my Melbourne friends (in the pictures) I have known over the last 12 years. And yes, boy did we have a long list of notorious things that we once did...

I would like to Thank everyone who could attend the small gathering. I had a really good time, and really appreciate all those great memories that only my uni friends, my friends, my buddies, could have shared with me. Thanks to Kelvin and Yee Li for their present too.

It was a great 30 years to start with, but I am sure it is only the beginning of the journey.

Surprise!!! Happy Birthday...

It was a Saturday night. We had just finished dinner with my Parents. GF claims that she had some Melbourne friends who are around town and would like meet up...

So I went along, being a good BF, not complaining... no suspecting anything...

We met at the Carot Cafe at Pavilion.

When we first walked in, I was like, hey that looks like Leong... no way, what a coincidence, Kevin is also around. What is the likely hood that my Darling's friends could meet at the same place...

Then again, that was I first assumed, a few seconds later I realised that it was a surprise Birthday gathering for me!!

Kevin and Kenneth has been my longest buddies. We have known each other for almost 20 years now. We grew up in the same street, Puncak Desa, terrorising the neighbourhood :)

If you want to hear notorious stories, 3 of us has MANY to share. Too many funny stories, only what a 15 year old would do at that time. We too share the days that we were playing Ping Pong, Badminton, Roller Blade, Roller Hockey and Basketball. Just thinking back, it wasn't too long ago we could play and run around for hours and not feel tired. Today... just walking up the stairs makes me tired...

With our busy schedules, all of us find it hard to meet up. But seeing my childhood friends really remind me of the good old days. In a blink of an eye, and 30 years have passed, I wonder what would the journey ahead be.


I would like to Thank every who could attend our small gathering. I would especially like to thank Kevin and Kenneth for their present.

No more surprises OK?... My heart can't take any more surprises :p

Kevin & Kenneth's Birthday

It is Saturday night. We decided to meet at No Black Tie, a jazz place where live bands perform. My second here and I am still impress with the quality of the performance and the acoustic of the place. Tonight we are here to celebrate Kevin's Birthday, as well as a belated Birthday for Kenneth.

I bought for Kevin a photography book on Composition. Nothing too technical and should greatly improve his photography skills in the near future. As for Kenneth, I got him the Guy's Guide to Romance by AskMen.com. If you asked me, the book is great, like their articles at their website. It is obvious yet funny, informative yet true!

The usual suspects:

(L to R) Leong, Mun Fong, Ee Lin, Evelyn, Kevin, Kenneth & Eric

It was a very enjoyable evening, as Kevin and Kenneth are my buddies for over 20 years. We used to be neighbours. Growing up with table tennis, badminton, roller-blading, roller hockey, basketball and so many other mischiefs. So many memorable and funny moments that we could probably have a whole blog on it!! We should... (hint hint)

Evelyn & Eileen

Kevin pictured here with his specially designed Manchester United cupcakes.

Kenneth with his belated Birthday cake

One of our funny topics that we had for the evening included all the group or songs that we grew up with, in the 90s... (in no particular order)

• 
  
  
  Vanilla Ice


• 
  
  
  2 Unlimited


• Ace of Base
  
  


• 
  
  
  Tommy Page (hahaha)


• 
  
  
  MC Hammer


• 
  
  
  CC Music Factory


• 
  
  
  etc etc

Who remembered Megahit 3? Anybody still have the tape? I am sure songs from that album will bring back many many memories!

I dedicated the next song to Kevin, to our younger days!!

WRECKX-N-EFFECT - RUMPSHAKER