Quarter of a Century Old

So I can no longer tick the boxes that say '18-24' but now must move onto '25-30' bracket. How sad! Time seems to be passing quicker each year and every year I ask myself "Where did that year go?"

The week leading up to my birthday was emotional. It was my first birthday away from home and I knew I would really miss celebrating it with my family and friends. But I shouldnt have worried as unexpectedly I had one of the best birthdays ever!

So, my day started off with a gormet breakfast made by Jake: eggs benedict! He made everything from scratch... even the hollandaise sauce! I was very impressed but not so impressed when I found out what ingredients are in the sauce! Hollandaise sauce is made out of egg yolk, a little bit of water and lots and lots of butter! You have to cut up, what seemed like nearly a whole block of butter, into tiny cubes and then add them, one by one, whisking it into the egg yolk, which is in a glass bowl on top of a pot of boiling water. But I still enjoyed it!

Jake scooping the poached eggs onto the muffins with sliced ham.

My very delicious breakfast :)

Breakfast took longer than we expected and I was nearly late for my next birthday event. I had to get ready in less than 15mins which included having a shower, washing my hair, drying my hair, putting on make up, choosing what to wear and packing my things. You'll be proud of me, mum, it took me 20mins! The fastest I've ever gotten ready and also the most stressed! :S

So, a couple of weeks before my birthday, I saw an offer for the London Eye where 10pound tickets were on offer! Usually 7 pounds, I jumped at the opportunity and decided to book myself two tickets (not knowing who I could take with me at the time). The only available time that I could book was on my birthday at 10am. The offer was for celebrating the 10th anniversary of the London Eye. So they offered 10 pound tickets at 10am for all of March. So without hesitation I booked the tickets (as a gift to myself) and emailed my agency to say that I would be taking a day off on my birthday :) Wern-Yi was the only person who I knew that would be free at that time so I invited her along to share the experience :) Wern-Yi also spent the whole day and night with me on my special day! :)

One of my favourite photos: Wern-Yi and I in the London Eye capsule :)

25-year-old-me with the background of London



Below are some of the views we saw:
(Can't get this photo to face the right way)
Just before you finshed the cycle, you were given the opportunity to have your photo taken professionally by a humoungous camera that was fitted just outside the capsule before you got off. If you did want your photo taken, you had to stand on this sign.



WY and I then headed off to Canary Wharf Shopping Centre where we did a bit of shopping and watched a fashion show.

Next, we pampered ourselves by getting our nails done. I asked for a french manicure but was sucked in to getting a design on top of it as well. I wasn't sure what design I wanted so I asked the lady to choose. Bad decision. She gave me a design (as you can see above) that WY described as 'psychedelic'! I've gotten used to it though and its a big hit with the girls at school! :)


Afternoon tea was spent at a little cafe near the nail place: tea with sticky apple cake.

Because it was my birthday, I had planned to curl my hair in the morning before I went out. But due to me being in a rush, I didn't get the chance. So WY was kind enough to curl my hair at her place before we went out for dinner.

Nearly finished...

Ta da! 25 and with curls! :)


Dinner was at a restaurant called Taro, where we met up with Jeremy. Food was good but was extremely disappointed when I enquired about tempura (as I could not see it on the menu) and was told they don't make tempura! How can a japanese restaurant not have tempura?!

Chicken teriyaki bento box (with NO tempura!)

Chicken teriyaki skewers

Sushi roll - avocado and salmon

Dumplings

That was where the night concluded for WY, Jeremy and I. It had been a long but fun day and I was ready for bed :) However, little did I know, my birthday celebrations weren't over. When I got home, I walked into the kitchen to get a drink and found this :

Audrey and Jake had wanted to take me out on my birthday but forgot that they had made prior engagements weeks earlier. So to make up for it, I knew they had planned to cook me breakfast but these cupcakes were a surprise! And it definitely touched me... I stood there in an empty house, in the middle of the kitchen shedding a couple of tears.

It was an awesome birthday mostly thanks to Wern-Yi, Jake and Audrey. They definitely made me feel special and loved... just like what my family and friends would have done if I was back home :)

But the surprises didn't stop there... stay tuned for the next post to find out! :) I'm off to bed!