Angkor Wat (Checked!)

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I turned 26 this year. That's a year after being a quarter-century old. 

That's something huge, I survived for 25 years. 

I didn't get to spend this day with my family. It was a Sunday, and I opted to stay behind in KL.
They didn't celebrate my birthday the following weekend. That's sad. My parents didn't bring it up, thinking that I have looked past, but I have not. (sad!)

I am grateful. 

I didn't get much wishes over the text, or facebook, or even whatsapp this year.
People generally do not remember my birthday, or maybe I never make much effort in saying "Happy Birthday" to them during their turn. It's probably because I don't meet with people so much these days, and I find posting "Happy birthday!" on their facebook walls is just plain sick. I do it sometimes though, to some, because I am afraid that they might think I forgot their birthdays, but I do not.
I make subtle wishes in my brain, and hopefully they will get the message through telepathy or telekinetic or tele-something. 

The point is, my phone was rather quiet this year. 

I should really improve my social life this year. Instead of working 24/7, and scrolling my entire phone book to look for someone to have dinner with, on a weekend. That's sad. Most of the time, I end up eating on my own, because I was too lazy to make small talks. I'd rather spend my nights looking at the computer screen, or studying things related to my gadgets. 

WHAT BLASPHEMY?!

I have no birthday presents this year. That's ought to be something to write about right?

No presents. Not even a card!

(sad!)

I would have liked it, to have something that I could look at, on my 27th birthday and say, "Eh, this is what I got for my twenty-sixth birthday!"

But nope, instead all I have now is a picture of a birthday cake with my name printed on a piece of chocolate slab.
(Yes, this is my only birthday cake this year)

And now, to be more grateful of certain elements of my life. 

We had dinner this year, we - meaning the gang from UTP. The engineers, the technologists. 
This year, there was no surprise. No one suddenly turning up, or anyone who had to fake a stomache and end up in a hotel room, with a group of people who were as surprised as myself when I entered the room. 

Nope, there was no such drama this year. 
It was like an adult's affair - everyone turned up for dinner, nicely dressed; someone turned up with a cake, but to make it more interesting, tried to hide the cake from my vision which I cleverly observed as soon as he brought in the cake and the worst thing was, I had to PRETEND that I didn't see it. 

If it was one thing I have my parents to be thankful for, is the art of PRETENDING TO KNOW NOTHING. 

Dinner is always about reminiscent about what happened back in those days. The days we never attend classes yet signatures of attendance miraculously appeared. You know, that's not too far ago. Only about 4 years back. 

Cake came out as soon as the waiters cleared our tables. Grateful for my friends who turned up for this dinner affair. Super thankful that the person in charged of the cake was smart enough to only lit it with one candle. Now, we don't need all twenty six candles fully lit up on a small cake, do we?

The mandatory wish we have to make, as soon as the happy birthday song is over. 

For many years, I have thrown away many years of wishes. How can you possibly make a wish, with so many eyes looking at you; the intense staring that you can feel at the surface of your skin? I usually just pretend to close my eyes, fake a serious frown (as though I was really giving my wish a serious thought) and then quickly open my eyes, blow the candle and pose for the camera. 

I could've wished for a million things, but most of the time, due to pressure, I did not. 

There are always so much things we can hope to get, but when it comes to myself, I do not know what more could I ask for.

• I have my parents here with me. They are aging with some health issues here and there, but overall, things are still good. We meet very often, and the moments we spend time together, there are of quality time. 
• My brother who is doing well in his studies, who will eventually turned out to be one of the high-income earner, and most importantly, this is what he wanted to do from the start and he is following his dream. That's something to be contented for, right?
• I found someone who's willing to point out my mistakes in life, and gives me chance to rectify them. I found THE ONE who said, "I cannot imagine us staying together now, because we have the rest of our lives to do that" which means she foresees us being together for a very long time. 
• I have a stable career (although I might not like it!!) but it pays well and it's a well established corporation. If I were to stay longer, I could see myself living a rather lavish life in the future. That must be something right?
• I am in a pink of health now. There are no frequent heartburns and that's something good, no?

That's why, I do not know what else to wish for, other than to be contented, grateful, and be thankful.

p/s: Ok lah, I had an awesome day on my birthday. I had breakfast at the Red Bean Bag in Publika, went to the Thean Hou Temple to pray for good luck and did some life predictions (which was a positive one!), had lunch in Desa Park City, and then for dinner, I had a RM150 steak at one of the prime places which serve good steak (Prime @ Le Meridien) and had another *sorta* birthday tiramisu which was heavily infused with alcohol. It was a good day. 

Oh yeah, I also had a friend who had lunch with me in Subang the day before. So, all in all, it was a good celebration. 

308

I wanted to write a long winded entry about my 8-day trip to Cambodia (Siam Reap & Phnom Penh) but as soon as the pictures got uploaded, I didn't feel like writing anymore. Is that a sign of aging, the sudden change of interest?

My first meal in Siam Reap. We wanted to try something really awesome as soon as we have chucked our luggage in the hotel, and we were looking for places to try. We stumbled upon a book for tourists, and Blue Pumpkin was mentioned.

It's like Malaysia's Oldtown Kopitiam; the difference is this was to cater for angmohs. I didn't see any locals eating in the many chain of this shop. There was bound to be a little "THE BLUE PUMPKIN" everywhere in Siam Reap, either in a full shop, or just occupying a small corner in a shopping center. It's a place for youngsters to chill, sit about as you can see from its menu. Indeed, a nice place to hide from the heat, but as for the food and drinks they serve, I have to say otherwise. 

I ordered one of the peculiar items I could find in the menu. For instance, a BACON & BLUE CHEESE SANDWICH. Heck, it's not found anywhere in Malaysia, considering the price of a piece of blue cheese sold here. So being all adventurous, I ordered that. 

And I was deceived by the picture. 

First, it's not the taste of the cheese that I resented. The bread was hard, that I swore it could have hurt my traveling partner if I were to throw it at her. They were also very stingy on the bacon, and onions. 

That changed my traveling mood very quickly.

307

It is saddening to know that you are not part of a person's dreams. 
Road have reached its end. Withered, in mine.