A lovely surprise!

Was planning to go to Naomi's today for dinner and a catch-up session with the Uni of Glasgow people. It was supposed to be a potluck with us pharmacy-ians in charge of making coleslaw.

Chopped the cabbage and carrots with Lydia in the afternoon and watched Jeannie, Jacinta et al baking Carolyn's birthday cake - some sort of Japanese cheesecake. Thought to myself how nice they are, and then how that won't happen to me, since I made it clear to Lydia that all I wanted for my birthday was cold hard cash. LOL. But still, it would be nice to have lotsa people putting in a lot of effort.

Then I went back to my room to catch up on my One Tree Hill. Yi Lyn and Karen came back and started to bake a cake. And I was like "why are you baking a cake?" Apparently it was for Hui Yen's halloween party that night. Hmm... wouldn't they want to go out and celebrate Halloween instead? And why would they want a cake? I was suspicious, but then again, dismissed the suspicion, since we were supposed to go over to Naomi's that night. And that my birthday was supposed to be on Monday.

Continued to watch my anime and read my fanfiction and heard a lot of ruckus from the kitchen. Was amazed that both Karen and Yi Lyn (and occasionally Lydia too) would spend so long in the kitchen. They were now frying fried rice. Wah, so semangat la they all.

Went to mix up the coleslaw at 6.30pm. Was supposed to leave at 7. Went outside to wait for Shu Yin and Kelvin since we were walking together.

Waited and waited and waited..... and waited. And still Kelvin and Shu Yin did not arrive. Lydia began talking about inconsequential stuff like the stars or the windows in the opposite block or the drunk people wandering around. While I was wondering where is Kelvin and Shu Yin and suggested to wait inside... I was getting cold.

Then suddenly Shu Yin rang... Lydia sounded quite... pissed off. Then she told me why. Apparently Alfred canceled at the last minute. I was suitably ready to call him and was planning his horrific demise. But Lydia told me to go in first. So I went in. She went to the bathroom. Apparently she was quite desperate to use the toilet. She told me to put the coleslaw (what were we supposed to do with such a huge container of coleslaw?) into the fridge. I was wondering if we could join Hui Yen's party since eating coleslaw alone for dinner would be quite a sad affair.

I went into my room and turned on my computer. Well, at least there's one good thing - I get to spend more time with my beloved com. And then remembered about the coleslaw. Ah well.

Took it to the kitchen. Saw Karen's door was opened but she was not in. Hmm.. The kitchen was dark. I switched on the light and went towards the fridge. Passed some sad looking pancakes on the way and was laughing at them when suddenly...

SURPRISE!

Wow! Apparently it was all a ruse and that they planned this right from the start. And I didn't even suspect a thing!

It was a great dinner - with curry fried rice, kampung fried rice, chicken, eggs, fries, coleslaw and chocolate pancakes. Wow! (And the pancakes are deceiving, they may not be aesthetically pleasing but they sure taste nice). I was very touched at all the effort they put in. Indeed, they are really great pals - look at Yi Lyn and Karen, spending their whole afternoon cooking in the kitchen. Jeannie, Jacinta, Shu Yin and Pui Leng, cooking the chicken, Kelvin and Chris for being there and of course Lydia, for being such a good actress. LOL.

And then, as we were hanging out, my phone rang. I went out of the kitchen to answer it but there was no one on the line. Weird. Went to comment on this strange occurence to Lydia (who was still in the living room) and suddenly the lights went out.

The strains of Happy Birthday rang through the living room as the rest emerged with my cake (a lovely homemade cheesecake) with a candle.

Duped twice (I'm so gullible)!

Really, I salute all those who put in so much effort to make this my night. I'm so very touched. You guys are the best!

Thank you, thank you and THANK YOU! :)