Last Friday was my birthday. I'm already quite old (31 years old - I have no problem telling people my age). Anyway, the UKM Wondergirls were so sweet. I walked in the door, rushing as usual because I was cutting it very close to make the Journal Club presentation only to find this beautiful book on my table from Mali.
We had a very interesting and interactive Journal Club session since now they have made it compulsory for all the students to ask the presenter questions before the lecturers do. Everybody also enjoyed my fried 'kuih' (I'm not sure what it's called, it was a square breaded pastry type thing with potato curry filling). Since the department doesn't have a budget for refreshments anymore, I thought since it was my birthday and all I would treat everyone. So I had woken up early to fry those little kuihs. Was so glad that everyone enjoyed it.
We went all the way to Wangsa Walk for lunch and ended up at Secret Recipe. Where I tried their Black pepper lamb pie for the first time (though I have been wanting to try it for a while because my friend Farhana recommended it). We were having anice lunch when suddenly one of the SR employees came to our table and asked "tumpang tanya, cik ke yang bawa kek luar tadi? minta maaf tapi kami tak boleh benarkan kek luar di sini (excuse me, were you the ones who brought an outside cake just now? we're sorry but, outside food is not allowed here). Poor girls, they were planning on surprising me with a birthday cake during lunch (a UKM Wondergirls tradition) and they had not counted on Secret Recipe being so strict. It was a good surprise too since I really did not expect it since I saw no eveidence of a surprise cake plot at all that day. I tried to re-assure them that I did not mind and it was understandable that Secret Recipe being a cake house would not appreciate their customers bringing other cakes there. But I knew the girls were disappointed.
More so since I had to rush for a 3pm meeting straight after lunch. So we only managed to take pictures of the beautiful fruity white chocolate cake in the car. I asked them to give a few slices to the lecturers. I found out later that they ended up giving most of the cake away, saving a single slice to share amongst themselves.
After the meeting, I was greeted with yet another surprise. A beautiful present on my table. All I can say is, I was very touched. I never expect gifts on my birthday but more than the gift itself, I appreciate the thought and the effort.
Thank you to all my friends for their overwhelming outpouring of love, friendship and support.
