Life on a Roller Coaster

Life is like a ride on a roller coaster. Indeed! I left my hand phone at home for one whole day and on the same day I got one of the worst news I ever got in my lifetime, so far... (and without my hand phone, I couldn't share the news with anyone who truly cares). I do not wish to go into details right here, right now, as to do so will be to dig deeper into the wound that has already made its presence felt in my heart. That is, of course, if my heart is still there. The moment the news was broken to me, I felt as though my heart just fell from the third floor and shattered into millions of pieces. Well, whatever said and done, life still goes on.

To balance the scale, I too had my fair share of excitement to which I look forward. It's my parents' 22nd Wedding Anniversary! Well, what has that got to do with you? Good question! Occasions like these are usually perceived to be the affair of both the parties involved: Valentine's Day, Wedding anniversary etc. But I was brought up to think that these are not merely two-persons-affairs. My parents take the effort every year to get us somehow involved in them. Valentine's Day is a celebration of love, not just love in the context of romance, but love in every other context. Wedding anniversaries...... oh well, without them where would I be?

As I may be leaving for the States next year, I really want to make this anniversary a special one for them. So after 'plotting' with my brothers, we decided to arrange a candlelight dinner for the both of them. This sounded pretty easy to me at first, but little did I know that it is far more complicated than it seemed. I had to make some surveys and look for a pretty place, then find a way to make reservations for the dinner, and settle the bill without my parents' knowledge. For someone as immobile as myself, this is indeed hard work!

Finally, with the help of the Internet, I located the Boardwalk Poolside Restaurant at Hilton Kuala Lumpur. It is a very nice place. Perfect ambiance! Perfect place for a romantic date! (oops! I kissed dating goodbye... well, I mean, for married couples.) I then made trips to the hotel to settle arrangements for the night and settle the bill as well. This is the hardest part! Being the forgetful and clumsy person I am, I went and made reservations without realising that I did not have enough cash to pay for the bill! (That's so embarrassing!) Being the *ahem!* intelligent me, I cooked up some lame excuses to rush home and retrieve the cash. This turned out to be better than I supposed it to be.

The second time I went, the freshie who took my reservations was not there. Instead, I was attended to by the assistant manager. Cool! He is the friendliest guy I have ever met and he really tried to work things out for me with my limited budget. Cooler! The really nice chef even gave me (I mean my parents) complimentary cake for the special occasion. Coolest! And the assistant manager promised to personally see to my arrangements and he will personally serve my parents. This is so interesting!

This came as a real surprise to my parents. If it were not for the name card I attached to the invitation I gave to my parents, they would have brushed it off as one of our pranks. My mum couldn't believe it and she thought Dad had a hand in it. Dad was speechless and he just went to bed (probably he still thinks it is a dream). Anyway, I am really excited about it even though it burnt a hole in my pocket. Thank goodness I have two brothers to help share the amount! (Now I see what siblings are for. Finally they come in handy.)

Tomorrow is the big day and I can't wait to see what's gonna happen. Well, at least I now have something interesting to look forward to, so that my attention is diverted from my deep sorrow. Anyway, just a reminder to you guys: Special occasions are not meant for two people only. Special occasions are special because there are people who took the effort to make them truly special. When you put a hand in making it special, the joy that is shared is indescribable.