Thank you so much lovelies for your beautiful birthday messages yesterday. I feel so honoured to be a part of your thoughts on Independence Day :) The reason you didn’t hear much of me hoo-ha-ing over my news of turning 3 decades old, is because I hate revealing my age. I’ve learnt over the years that people tend to view you differently when you reveal your precious 2 digits. Because when we’re young, our concept of time is so warped we fail to realise that ageing is a linear process, not an exponential one. The younger one is, the more difficult it is to comprehend time.
For example, a 5 year old kid literally thinks that his parents are ‘ancient’ or that that his piano teacher is “80 years old” when in fact she is 25 (and probably looks 16). Even I’ve been guilty of misjudging people because of their age. When I was young, I actually had a phobia of talking to older people, so I only enjoyed hanging out with people my age. It’s like I’m making up for lost time, (just like my newly acquired passion for pink), nowadays I much prefer having conversations with someone twice my age, as they’re more likely to have interesting and intelligent news to share.
Studio941 silk scarf / vintage Christian Dior bag / Habbot Tightrope heels/ Country Road tights / Random dress I bought in Shanghai (similar style here) & Pinkie the Snail ring I bought in Malaysia
I remember when I first started working as a vet, I was the youngest in the clinic, people often mistook me for the work experience kid or the nurse. There was a male vet who was dashingly handsome, until I learnt of his age: 32. “Woah!” Once the word was articulated, and my facial expression plastered, there was no point denying it. To this day, I still can’t solve the mystery of how he saw through me like a panel of glass, perhaps it was the shock horror on my face, revealing my foolish and naïve preconceptions? He exclaimed sarcastically, “Yeah, didn’t you know? Life is over when you hit 30.” I felt so embarrassed, “That was not what I was thinking!”, and looked for the nearest hole to hide in…
Indeed, I’ve been in denial about turning 30. I even refused to have a birthday bash and even forbade hubby from hosting a surprise party (call me vain, but I would hate to turn up to a party not looking my best). So he came up with the perfect solution, “You should have an Egyptian themed party!’ “Why?!” I asked, fully perplexed. “Because you’re in de-nial!” * Insert laughs here*
Now that I’m officially ‘old’ and 30, I am actually surprised at how much more youthful and energetic I’ve become. Guess turning 30 is not the end of the world after all, and maybe, just maybe, it might be the beginning of an amazing new adventure. In these past 5 years, I’ve had so many key experiences that have completely transformed me, mentally, emotionally and physically. I’ve finally overcome many fears: looking in the mirror (more on this in a latter story), running my own business, dealing with difficult people/situations, applying makeup, learning to say ‘no’, winters and motherhood. Perhaps I’ve finally emerged from my 3 decade old cocoon. Who knows? Maybe this year, the butterfly will learn to fly.
So what did I get for my birthday? Will I have an Egyptian-themed party? Like every good cliff-hanging story, I shall reveal more next week :) Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
[spoiler title=”中文版”]
谢谢你们昨日寄来那么多美妙的生日消息。我感到很荣幸得到你的友谊。你没有听到我怎么宣传我昨日的生日，虽然其实它是个‘大生日’，是因为我讨厌透露我的年龄。这么多年的经验让我发现当你揭露了你宝贵的2位数后，人们往往会以不同的方式看待你。人们年轻的时候，时间观念非常失败，因为我们没有认识到衰老是个直线过程，而不是个指数的方式。一个人越年轻就越难理解时间。
例如，一个5岁的孩子，他认为他的父母老的无比，他其实是25岁的钢琴老师在他眼里是“80岁”，因为他根本没有长期时间的概念。当然我小时也经常犯这些错误。我年轻的时候居然与老年人交谈有点恐惧症，因此我只喜欢交同龄人朋友。但如今我更喜欢与我年龄大两倍的人交谈，因为他们更可能有有趣的故事和智慧的经历能与我分享。
我记得当我刚开始工作作为一个兽医时，我是诊所中最小的，人们往往误以为我是工作经验学生，或是位护士。当初有位有潇洒帅气的男兽医，我认为他很酷，但当我听到他的年龄时（32岁）。我不小心惊叹地叫出 “哇！”直到今天，我仍然无法解开这个谜，他到底怎么那么快看穿我的？也许是在我恐怖的脸部表情，揭示了我愚蠢和幼稚的成见？他讽刺地说：“对呀，你不知道吗？三十岁后生命就没什么意义了。”我觉得很不好意思，“这根本不是我的想法！”，我耍赖地回他。。。
事实上，我一直在拒绝我成为30岁的那一天。我不喜欢告诉别人我的年龄，更不想今年过生日。小时候的我每年都有隆重的生日会，但我越大越不像过。但使我惊讶的是，我虽然有大了一岁，我发现我变得更年轻，精力充沛。原来30岁并代表世界的末日，也许，只是也许，它可能是我新i惊人冒险的开始。在这过去的5年中，我获得了如此多的重要的人生经验，它们完全改变了我，精神上，感情上和身体上。我终于克服我许多的恐惧：照镜子，建立自己的事业，处理困难的人/情况，用化妆品，再某些情况下学习拒绝，将来成为母亲。也许我终于从这30年的老茧中诞生，谁知道？也许今年，蝴蝶将学习飞翔。
[/spoiler]
Well since it’s still July 4th here in the US, it’s still your birthday. So Happy Birthday!!! May God Bless you with many more to come! I hope you enjoyed your day (^_^)
I’ll be 30 at the end of this year and it hasn’t hit me yet (even though my mother reminds me ever time I talk to her lol). I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how I feel when that day comes.
indeed, it feels no different at all really- only better :D tehehe happy advanced birthday to you!
Happy Egyptian Birthday!
I would LOVE to see your outfit if you have an Egyptian themed birthday, haha! That pink scarf is awesome on you :)
It’s funny as I get older too I want to downplay my birthdays more and more! I don’t think I’ll have a big fuss over my 30th when it arrives, but who knows.
indeed, I used to have a big bash every year until about 3 years ago. Despite that though, my girlfriends planned a lovely dinner for us :D
Aww that sounds lovely, hope you have a great dinner! :)
we did! I was completely spoiled by hubby :D
I love that Chiam is already practicing his dad jokes! Ha ha!
lol indeed, he’s got quite a few up his sleeves :D
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’蝴蝶将学习飞翔‘ – 蝴蝶将破茧而出
自从你去了南堂，失去了很多联系，但透过网络看到你的变化，你的成长和成熟，着实为你高兴。
或许在他人眼里看到的只是年龄，但在神眼里看到是你的成长，脱去稚嫩，拥有多一份从容，自信和坚韧。也是我看到的你，我为之欣赏。不知道还能用什么方式来支持你？或许可以帮你做中文的文字编辑/修改，发现好些地方语句不太通顺。加油，虽不见面，但我就在指尺间
you’re so sweet Rita, I love your beautiful comments. Thank you for you kind words and wishes. I am dying to see you and catch up! Indeed, my Chinese needs a LOT of improvement :D
‘蝴蝶将学习飞翔’-蝴蝶破茧而出
I just realized that your website doesn’t accept and show Chinese comment. Are you able to see my comment?
really? Ooh something I must raise with my techy :D
love this post CC! Happy bday, you make it easy for my denial for monday!
lol I was totally thinking of you when I wrote this!! But you don’t need to be in denial at all! You look amazing!!!
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