Surprise, Doug, it's your Birthday!

January is a special month for Doug and I, as both our birthdays are in that month.

2 weeks after my birthday it is time for Mr Lee to turn a year older as well. Hehehe. I had made a trip to Muar to spend the weekend before his birthday for a pre-birthday do.

Kim suggested a surprise. After some hard pondering, going through some nonsensical surprises and laughed it off with the help of the surprise expert, we came up with this.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

(Maybe about 100 balloons later..)

Liaised with his sister to get the balloons and she started on them. 

Heck, even I was surprised and an "oh my gosh" came from his dad. This was gonna be FUN.

After Doug came back from badminton and went into his room, (I was hiding in the bathroom), I heard him mumble something like "what the.." then I brought the birthday cake out. 

It was hard not letting the candles die and at the same time I wanted to scream "Surprise!!!" at the top of my lungs. Oh yeah.. and threading through all those balloons.

 Boy was he happy. :) And very caught off guard. Hehe. Couldn't have done it without the help of his sister and mine. Even the parents were in on it. Good job, team! *two thumbs up*

What a way to kick start the weekend. ^__^

We went out for supper after. Dang, if you were in Muar you must try this coffee shop called 888. It's not helpful that I don't know the exact location, but I had really good Mee Suah and sting ray. *licks lips*

The following day we had a little Melaka trip and I finally had the very famous Mille Crepe cake at Nadeje Cafe. Yum! Too bad I was too full to try the other flavours.

At night, we attended a barbecue & pool party at one of Doug's friend's house.

Yeah.. the boys put beer cans in the jacuzzi.

Hello!

I am just totally in love with my new bikini I bought from Cotton On when I was in Singapore the previous weekend. The ruffles were just the right amount of "cute and girly" and doesn't make me feel like a tart (ahem.. swimsuits with skirts). 

Plus it fits me perfectly. XS means XS. XS in New Zealand is like S-M Asian size. Grr. Ok less ranting, more pool party!

This was the most amazing fish I've ever had in my whole life.

Portugese style fish dish, I don't even know how to specify what kind of dish it was, but the sambal was just insanely addictive. The sambal was prepared by one of the boys too. Amazing stuff! Mouthwatering.

 I wish I could have had more. </3

Had our very own DJ, to make sure that there was no silence. :P

The host; who needs no introduction.

And another birthday surprise do!

Again, I brought out the cake. I'm like the cake girl this weekend. Lol. 

Threw in this birthday do for Doug and his bud Conan, both of them January babies. Yay..we age the soonest in the year! :P

His actual birthday was just yesterday. Too bad I wasn't there to celebrate, but the weekend and birthday card that I've forbade him to open until yesterday made up for my absence, I hope. :D

This is what happens when you cram 11 boys in one selfie shot.

Level : PRO (aside from trying to dig each other's eyes out & the fella who's always blurred in the shot)

The rest of the trip was a family dinner with Doug's extended family and trying out some other cafes in Muar.

Bird's Nest, RM9.90 @ Gene Cafe

I had a rather nice weekend with Doug, his family and his friends. I was very well fed too - with delicious food you can't get in KL for the same price. The first thought that comes to my mind when I saw food was "GET INTO MY BELLEH." Hehe. My tummy is happy.

.

.

.

. 

Happy Birthday to my best friend and the person I annoy when I've nothing better to do.

 Everytime we go grocery shopping is like some kind of crazy adventure, laughing about nonsensical things, killing zombies on Friday nights and watching dramas together (one episode without him and he'll make me feel like I've cheated on him). 

From being my Wellingtonian guide, to my buddy and then my boyfriend. <3

xxx,

Ashley Mah

Twenty One continued.

While people go to clubs to get pissed drunk celebrating their 21st, I went to Sid's Pub to get wasteeedddd. Just kidding. What's a birthday when you wake up the next morning not remembering anything anyway?

What I wore tonight.

I had the loveliest dinner at Dining In The Dark with my dance partner earlier in the evening. It was not only a good catch up session, it was also the perfect time to get my hands dirty while having fine dining. Awesome, yes?  The name of the restaurant says it all - and yes, it was total darkness inside. 

Like this.

This was my 2nd time there apart from last year's post Valentine's day. However, the experience never fails to put a grin on my face that no one can see except the people watching the security camera. Heh.

Why I mentioned hands getting dirty was because I ended up using my fingers to feel my food rather than tinkering around with the utensils. Pfft - who needs forks at a place like this. The feeling was awesome. Yep, I'm gross that way. 

The experience was one of a kind. We were entertained by soft piano playing, live by the way, and our servers were very friendly and helpful to us. 15 minutes through my dinner, I was closing my eyes while eating. It was one of the calmest dining experiences I've had, although some people might feel flustered as it was just total darkness. In the dark, I feel an increase of sensitivity in my taste buds and it was as if there was a burst of flavour every time I put food into my mouth. One more thing I liked about this place - we weren't allowed to bring phones with us ; they were locked up in a locker at the bar area before proceeding into our dining area. Peace, at last.

The bar.

I was slightly surprised and amused when the piano started playing "Happy Birthday" and the servers sung to me. Nothing like having your birthday in the dark, aye? Someone hollered at me asking how old am I. "Legal," I hollered back. Haha

After being totally stuffed from dinner, we adjourned to Sid's Pub as Frank was kind enough to invite me for a birthday drink or two.

To my surprise.. almost everyone was there. I was definitely expecting Kim, Doug, Kelly & Frank. But not everyone else who popped out of nowhere and screamed "Surprise!" with a cake, and balloons and everything. I first saw Kelly, Frank, Kim and Mr Lee.

Suddenly, there were Choulyin and Henry, Luke and Andrew jumping out of a booth, Hon Kitt and Nic Tan sitting and smiling at me, Don giving his trademark smirk and then Kim's buddies Brandon and Ashley joining into the surprise. After that, David, Brenda and Charms arrived. My eyes did not know where to focus on at first. So this was what a surprise party felt like. Whoa you guys are awesome as!

I was so touched. Especially when I found out that my sister was the mastermind behind it all. Getting all my friends to ahem.. lie to me that they will be away on my birthday, and here they are. :) It put the hugest smile on my face. I smiled till my cheeks hurt. Best feeling ever. 

The amazing chocolate mousse mint cake specially made by a good friend Elyza.

So many candles to be blown out before cutting the cake!

A group shot of the people who made my night so special. <3 

There he was, grinning away after meeting my friends. Some of them for the first time. :) 

Did the birthday deed with Kelly Siew, chugging an Irish Car Bomb.

I've never liked Guinness Stout, but this would be the first time I thought it tasted like milkshake and licked away my Guinness mustache after that. Haha! 

Many, many thanks to Kelly and Frank who had a hand in this do. Am very lucky to have cool friends like them. :) 

Nic made it after work! Touched, especially when he was "supposed to be in Melaka". Tsk.

The night could not have been better with Don & Daniel. 

My babe Charms made it too! <3 Wouldn't be a party without her.

#meandmrlee

The surprise expert. She really made my 21st so special I was lost for words. I can't thank you enough Kim, despite our bickering at home and being away in NZ, you've made me the happiest I've been for months on my birthday. Especially after the few difficult and crappy weeks I've been having. When I asked how this happened, everyone pointed to Kim. It's not how big the party was or how many people came, it was her thoughtfulness to do this for me that was so touching. 

You are a star. I'll will never forget this. <3 ILY ILY.

Among the toughest things to do was to dance after having a full glass of Guinness and other magical things in it. As a salsera, the traditional birthday dance was in order when my favorite song Spanish Fly (although bachata) started playing, in courtesy of Charms. Just thankful that it isn't a salsa song. I'd spin continuously and never stop. Haha

Kim having heaps of fun.

I've had a wonderful night seeing everyone around the table mingling and having a good time. Part of having a good party is me not having to break the ice between the guests because mine did that all by themselves.

^check Frank out.

I'd totally remember this entire birthday do. So glad I'm celebrating my birthday back home with all the people I love. :)

It's a dream to have a surprise thrown for you on your birthday without even expecting one, or asking for one. This goes to show how thoughtful my sister, boyfriend and friends actually are.

Photos mostly from Kelly Siew's awesome camera.

Finally legal.
Xxx,
Ashley Mah.

Ps. Happy Birthday to my special person. Also a fellow Jan baby, now 22.  <3 Love you babe.

Happy Birthday Baby Josh!

It is finally 2014. A little slow on the update because I've had a rather busy New Year's Eve and New Year's, and fallen sick during my Penang trip after Christmas. Being busy and sick is definitely not an ideal combination, but the show had to carry on, no? :)

We had early start on New Year's Day to help out for little Josh's race car-themed birthday party. He's turning 1 this year!

Usually, babies would say words like "mommy" or "daddy" first. I know mine was "dada". However, Josh's first word was "CAR". He also coincidentally shares the same birthday as Michael Schumacher ; 3rd of Jan. Hence the race car theme! Quite impressed with my cousins for coming up with this creative idea.

Josh's birthday party was held at the Royal Selangor Golf Club.. no thanks to the stupid GPS that took us the wrong way. However we still managed to arrive early to lend a hand to set up the place. 

To start off, I was given this cool "crew pass" so that we can go in and out of the banquet hall while setting up. Was quite excited to see my name on it! Personalized pass! Gonna keep this. :)

The colour theme was red, blue and white. So Kim being the proud godma of Josh, came as a cheerleader. Hahahaha! Also, check out the little race track carpet we had to welcome guests and especially our VVIP for the day, Baby Josh.

Looking handsome in his Ferrari top. #cutenessoverload

There was a mini technical fiasco that happened, which Doug and I attended to immediately. We (mostly him), saved the day and managed to get some Classic Disney songs playing. Man, did that bring back so much childhood memories... The one particular song that stuck to us was the Gaston song by Beauty and the Beast. We both had a good laugh.

Which came to mind that cartoons nowadays are getting dumber and not as nice or intellectual as they used to be back then. 

How cute is this! A Pit Stop sign at the buffet station. 

Time to make a stop to stuff my face.

There were definitely more food than that, but I was still a bit occupied with Josh and the sound system volume, which was pretty inconsistent.

Before I knew it, it was already time to cut the cake! :)

A big #1 cake!

My most favourite picture of the day. :) 

In one more year, he's gonna want to cut his own cake and blow his own candles. Lol

Marie Jiejie & Baby Josh.

Doug & I proudly wearing our crew tags. Hehe

Candid picture of Mom playing with Josh.

Cutting the cake for guests with Doug and Kim.

Our tired faces from having only a few hours of sleep since my NYE performance. Of all times for me to get a red and irritated eye, it had to be today. So... bespectacled Ashley for New Year's. 

Funny how Doug and Mum were looking at this camera while Kim and I were not.... Hmm.

It was a nice party. Family and friends attended the party and dressed according to the colour theme. I was happy to be there to celebrate Josh's 1st, before I go back to New Zealand again. He was pretty well behaved that day, and was quite cheerful until it was his naptime and the poor thing got tired.

Kim was on his back and call. No surprise there, when you have an overly attached godmother like her. :P Just kidding. She just really loves kids.. and food.

Unlike her, I could never get a decent photo with my nephew. He kept wriggling out of my arms until the moment he saw Doug... and he smiled almost immediately. Without any cooing or high pitch voice talking... or taking time to get used to a new face. He grabbed Doug's finger and laughed. Grr. So unfair.

Happy belated birthday Joshjosh! 

Ee Ee Ashley loves you always! <3

xxx,

Ashley Mah.