27 and counting

Birthdays are hardly quiet these days. After every other website forced you to give them your birth date, they turn on some form of automated email sending program and spam you with more offers and other congratulatory notes. For those who are annoyed, perhaps a personal greeting from a friend after being reminded by the myriad birthday reminder programs / features (such as those found in Live Messenger) aren’t so bad after all. We are lonely people – these tricks really works.

So let’s see – I’ve received 15 spam mails this week (some sent at the beginning of the week), 3 physical mails (those from insurance agents – you know what, their cards look exactly the same, personalized by a single signature), and lots (perhaps 20 or more) IM greetings from friends, presumably seeing some form of balloon next to my contact avatar. See, I just logged in to Facebook and it says Happy Birthday Jiin!, blissfully unaware of the space in my first name (Jiin Joo). Nvm that. Look – a website I totally forgot about (takingITglobal) somehow spammed me too! Thank you very much robot!

No offense, and actually, I really appreciate it – it makes us all less lonely, feeling that people around the world still rekindle your existence in their memories, otherwise why wish a person Happy Birthday right? You must have had good feelings towards this person, unless it’s a job (such as those that have you as a customer, and trying very hard to keep you as one), one wouldn’t usually make the effort to send you a SMS or email or IM wishing you a happy birthday.

The same happens in office – the monthly birthday celebration established by some boss who probably read about it in some management guidance book in the past quickly became an anticipated out-of-the-routine activity besides work that give everyone that extra 10 minute break, taking some pictures and giving some ladies who love to shop to do it one more round at the shared expense of the entire team. How many times have that swallowed voice of Happy Birthday song been sung in your face? Insufficient dose of cream and egg white made pretty?

* * *

Last weekend a number of us went on a road trip back to KL, to participate in this Discover thingy that I’ve been telling everyone about. Perhaps except for driving, I enjoyed every moment of it. Cheong Soon now in the region going back and forth between SG and MY, and is currently looking to hire a student (if you’re interested in reading Chinese newspaper headlines and doing some summary type work, let me know). Sim is now in AI‘s office. Met lots of young budding intellectuals all waiting for the fall season where they will go to their Princeton la Harvard la Stanford la etc. Met a number of new faces, thus satisfying my curiosity since I’m meeting more new people online these days, like Andrew Aw and some really young CHS Band juniors; but unfortunately couldn’t find time to catchup with many of the old timers with their

Everyone is anticipating something. It’s like a time of anticipation. S’pore is anticipating her Birthday on the Bay, M’sia is anticipating her Golden Jubilee thing, etc. As for me, I’m anticipating a move from Braddell view to the heartlands of Ang Mo Kio, where our household will be paying more rent for less space and convenience thanks to the unchecked booming property market in S’pore; also anticipating a rotation sometime soon (no details on that yet) into some government agency. I’m also anticipating trouble, as the 3rd year deadline for my bond approaches – nothing else has conjured as much irrational fear in me as much as this despicable citizenship clause, in which all my “predecessor” have lost a good part of their windfall fortune to. We shall see.

* * *

So as I anticipate a good dinner @ New York New York tonight with some of my dearest friends, and life as a 27 year old, I also anticipate a turbulent but rewarding time ahead. Yesterday’s birthday celebration with the procurement team gave me a good reminder that if one does nothing with life, nothing will change. The last two years was really too slow a pace for me, from staying put for the longest ever time (almost 2 years) vs every other place I’ve stay in the past 8 years (1 year or less each), to being able to juggle so many outmoded activities that brings in perhaps joy but less growth, something has to happen really quick to make me running on my toes again.

Perhaps, it’s time to get attached? Or I’m still too young to risk it? 😉

Happy Birthday to ME~! (and to the rest of the world who have their birthday on the 25th of July, such as the first test tube baby Louise Brown, and Matt LeBlanc!