a birthdate like no other

So many things have happened over the weekend! Wish I have the time to write all, coz they were all equally interesting. Well, of course, the highlight for me was my birthday spent here :) But at the same time I was keeping myself updated with election news back home.

Thank God that malaysiakini.com is free for the week, if not I would have been in the dark about what's happening to our country. The media blackout was everywhere. So much so that alternative media sites went down due to the insanely high traffic during the weekend. Malaysians here directed me to mirror sites, I was up till about 4am when I decided I really had be in bed!

I can imagine how surprised local folks must be, without access to this wonderful site, to find out the heavy losses suffered by the coalition party. If my guess is right, I have only about 1 hour left to indulge in the free articles by malaysiakini. It truly is a godsent for us living overseas. Not only are we not allowed to vote, but the only way we can keep abreast with local news is through sites like these, and from what our families share with us.

But having said that, I am also really more thankful that I had such wonderful friends who made my birthday special here. I was actually a little disappointed that some of my uni friends weren't able to make it. Blame the working lifestyle here! BUT my Malaysian buddies more than made up for it. I didn't make it a big deal actually, but those who came had fun, and so did I.

How could you not have fun, when you're relaxing under the sun at a place like the Canal Cafe, pampering yourself with some hi-tech facial by polite Japanese beauticians at TBC, and indulging in yummy portions of Italian cuisine at Capricciosa and then ending the night with a cuppa at the Starbucks Shinjuku overlooking crowds of shoppers walking below the neon lights. And oh, I almost forgot, a pre-birthday the night before eating Peking duck at the Roppongi Chinese Cafe Eight restaurant.

Indeed, 08.03.08 goes down in history not only for me, but most Malaysians in this generation as one that will be etched in memory. Interesting combination of auspicious numbers. More interesting is the turn of events that had many gaping in surprise, numbed by shock and elated in ecstasy. All I can say is, I wish I was there!