Birthdays: keinday 2010

Is this amazing or what? Even the post number is 2010! It’s odd how the permalink numbers keep jumping though, makes me wonder why they’re not sequential. Maybe I have a phantom blogger who’s churning out invisible posts somewhere o.O

Regardless, 2009/2010 has been a rather interesting year.

Work: The second half of 2009 was pretty peaceful, and then 2010 basically started off with a bang, hitting me with shit at work non-stop, even now. Really hope the shitstorm dies down soon, gets on my nerves at times. Nonetheless, endless learning and growing has always been one of the cornerstones of this job, and I’m pretty certain that the Kein who began working here in 2008 is nowhere the same as the one who’s sitting here in 2010. I like to think I have grown nerves of steel and can think even in a crisis, and ideas sprout up all the time about marketing and improving work stuff, but staff management skills need work; I seem to be too lax on my server administrators, which cause huge delays and roastings for me. Gotta buck up and start flaming people harder from now on! Thanks to my guys Benny and Bill for being my left and right hands all this time, I would’ve never gotten to this point without them.

Holidays:
I had several great trips squashed within two very busy weeks.

Singapore.

Bali, and?

Bangkok!

And of course, not forgetting the weekend Daylesford getaway.

A much-needed break from the mountain that I call work.

Basketball: Great improvements. Learning how to pass better, run better, drive better, shoot better even. Life is good.

Photography: The purchase of the 50D and the 28mm = great decision. I love the way my pictures turn out. And of course, the shitty pics make me realise I shouldn’t be doing it that way.

Personal: I have tried very hard to hold on to my habit of writing everything down, and it’s mostly worked out. My brain is like a fcuking sieve, but things still get done because I jot them down before it slips away (most of the time). I do my best to think before I speak, and to rein my temper in. To be more social when it’s required, and to forgive and forget whenever I can. I can say that I’m living my life being more honest with myself with every year that passes, and that’s always a good thing isn’t it?

Everything else in life: Of course, I’m very thankful to be (mostly) healthy, and to have parents who allowed me the freedom to roam and live over here in Australia. And to have a brother I can rant and talk about most things. He’s got room for improvement, but at least he listens and tries – which is about as much as you can hope for. And to my partner V of course, who has been with me ever since our first step here, and pretty much gone through everything with me. I know females always say they never get tired of hearing those three magic words, so here’s it once again – I love you! And ooh yeah the queen of the household – Cookie! Despite all her bad habits, I still would never ever trade her for another dog. And who else have I missed out? The friends who have bothered to keep in touch, and those who are busy but remember me in their hearts nonetheless – you guys are great.

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So, the birthday celebration. It was supposed to be a KTV session to celebrate the birthdays for us all July kids but two skipped out..

.. and only Stan and me were left.

We really had a fun time, thanks guys!

This goes out to Bill, Jasmine, Doris, David, Cherie, Ambrose and Sam for attending and prepping the cake and organising the session.

The actual big day was just a day spent sleeping late (took leave because I was simply too tired from working overtime the night before), having lunch with Stan at Pancake Parlour (lunch set for $10? didn’t know they had stuff like this), and dinner at Ramen Ya with Bill, Jasmine and Doris – everyone (’cept Bill and me) was deeply engrossed in the origami instructions provided. Nothing too spectacular, but enjoyable all the same.

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This is a list of all the wishes and gifts I received this year – spam warning! And thanks again to all those who remembered, know that I appreciate it more with every year that passes.

Presents:

• From Zhiming: Lowepro’s Passport Sling™ camera bag
• From Lishi: CK undies (can never have too many of ‘em!) and the Adidas Boston Celtics tee that I wanted
• From Bill/Andy/Jasmine/Cherie/David/Benny: a pair of basketball shorts and top.
• From Stan: my first birthday card (the one from Crown didn’t count), and a mystery present on the way.
• From V: my first birthday Post-It (lifetime first even!), and a mystery present on the way Received package on 27 Jul: She wanted to get me The Rotting Land, but it was sold before she could click on the Buy button on eBay. I received The Order of the Stick: Dungeon Crawlin’ Fools and The Order of the Stick: On the Origin of PCs instead – still goots!
• From SJ jie: mystery present on the way Received package on 27 Jul: DVDs of The Manchurian Candidate and Paycheck, along with a self-designed card with my name on the front! The inside reads: “Hello di, Happy 29th Birthday! This year is the last of your birthday that begin with a 2, so jie took some time to prepare some small pressies for you. Hope you like it. Er… byt he time you receive this package it’ll be belated! 请不要见怪! 不知不觉 next year you’ll be going to the next stage in your life – the big 30 and before you know it, you’ll be a husband and daddy. (I can’t wait to see Kein jr! =)) All the best in your life journey. Jie would like to take this opportunity to thank you! There have been times when I feel really down and you were there to lend a listening ear and 开导我. I really appreciate it and words can’t really justify how I feel. Thank you! =) Hugs, ShiJie 2010″

SMS:
Nick
Hehe Merry Birthday my great friend ^.^ Merry Birthday!

Davina
Hi Kein..it’s me Davina :) HapPY bIRthdAY!! :D Wishing u a good health, success&happiness throughout da year! Keep in touch&take care.Miss u guys all at Netbay!

Lishi (+ msn status!)
Happy birthday! Not working today? Enjoy!

Nanzhen
Happy Birthday Bro! Chilling at home? Have a good one!

Andy
Happy birthday man!!!!!!!!!

Keith
Happy birthday kein, wish u have a great day

Peiru
Happy birthday to you…happy birthday to you…happy birthday to dear Kein.HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!

Adri (on both my mobiles o.O)
Dearest Kein, enjoy your last 20s :) Happy birthday my friend, wishing you a fulfilling year before big 30!!! Adri

Andrew
Bro! Your birthdat bloody silent sia! Happy belated birthday man!!

On MSN:
Sharon says (7:56 AM):
Happy burfday my fren:) n now I gg bak to zz le :) haha enjoy ur wonderful day

Kimberly says (9:55 AM):
Happy birthday! :)

Alvin says (10:16 AM):
Happy Birthday To U

Zhiming says (10:43 AM):
Happy Birthday to u happy birthday to u happy birthday to tupig kein ….. Happy birthdayyyyy tooooo chiusssss

SJ jie says (12:15 PM):
Hey hey! Happy birthday di~! Enjoy ur day! :D

Zaoliang says (12:42 AM):
yo boss happy birthday!

E-mail:
Wang Li:
Hi Kein
Hope you have a very happy birthday!!!
I really wish I could join you for b-ball more often, but doing internship in financial firm is not an easy job.
Cheers,

Lee

Facebook:
There were too many posts, so I replied each one as best as I could, then did them into a single image. Very, very long image coming up. Thanks guys, I hope my copy/paste job didn’t leave anyone out :X

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Tags: 2010, birthday, kein

You might be interested reading in these posts:

• keinday: summing up the day
• Birthdays!
• Birthdays: keinday 2008