Carmelia! Hi. Haha I was wondering if you know If Nigel has anything planned for his birthday. Cause he's been super helpful with my birthday and been a really great friend to me the past weeks and i feel that I should do something for his bday. Maybe we can plan something for him? Do you know if he has anything planned on his bday?

No, I didn't know.

In the end, Nigel Chin planned a surprise for Nigel, with tight cooperation from Kimberly Chee (Nigel's gorgeous sister) & mum (Nigel's efficient, but can't really throw a surprise party, mum).

I couldn't do much.

1. I couldn't correspond with Kimberly & Nigel's mum. The mum doesn't really like me.

2. I didn't know many of Nigel's close friends.

Plan was, Kim/mum brings Nigel out at night. We go from Nigel Chin's house to Nigel's house, set up the stuff, & when he arrives, surprise him.




One thing I knew for sure was: Nigel Chee is a sharp guy. If you want to surprise him, you had better pull up your sleeves & do it properly.



Everything went well. I was in charge of getting the drinks. I wanted to go to CKS- stuff is cheaper there, & I was sure they'd have more variety of drinks.

But mum only got home after 5. I had to be ready at Nigel Chin's by 6.

Mum drove me to Pick & Pay, where I reloaded, got the drinks, & got the ice, while mum fetched Sophia from school nearby. I had to wait till they arrived to get the heavy drinks before I went into 7/11 for the ice.

When I arrived at Nigel Chin's, they didn't seem as friendly as I'd expected. So mostly I, and Clement Lee, scratched & pampered one of Nigel Chin's little fluffy dogs, on the sofa.

I started to memorize names.

Nigel Chee left the house with the driver. We got into two cars, & went over to Nigel's house. Got dinner set up.

Then waited.

The girls were bezzies, I could see :) The guys, that is, Clement, Nicholas & JR, talked to me more. I like how comfortable they all were with each other.

Finally, we bundled up into Nigel Chee's room. Waited.

I felt a bit important, as I was the one texting him all the time. He told me he was suspicious. He knew his mum had something planned at home. All the time I was lying to him about how I was home, dinner, talking to family about brother's birthday.

I think I did pretty well, but Nigel said he knew I was in with the plan. LIAR.

When he entered the house, his mum started shouting at him about a dead rat in his room.

Nigel, being Nigel, obviously already knew about the surprise. He wanted to go upstairs. His mum pushed him down. Kept telling him to go to his room.

Adui.

He opened the door. Surprise!

Hugs.

I spent the night just chilling. I did talk with them, but very little.

At one point I felt like crying. It's not a strange feeling to me, anymore. It comes when I see Nigel in a setting of friends & family- loved ones. His world.

I probably feel overwhelmed by how- I know this is going to sound cliche & mushy- beautiful the setting was, & also, by the fear of me not being able to fit in.

It's not that I'm not cheerful & noisy & talkative & a good friend & warm.

It's that, I know how close they are with each other, & that kind of closeness took a lot of time. Time I will never be able to have with all of them.

So in a way, forever, whenever we are in that setting, I'd be separated.

They had a 'mini group photo session'. I realized, I wasn't in a 'group'. I was not in the All Saint bunch. I wasn't in the church bunch. Or family bunch. Or best guyfriends bunch. Or whatever bunch. I am Nigel's girlfriend.

Singular.

Food was good, but I did not have any appetite at all.

I enjoyed just sitting back & listening to them chat with each other.

Picture taking sessions! The instagram was cool :D But the two pictures I took home with me have fingerprints on them now. :(

Then I joined Kara, Nicholas & Clement at the dining table, just listening to jokes. Kara is a really good joke-teller.




Recap of the people who were there:

1. Nigel Nathan Chin: He's a cool guy who can make people laugh at his will. I've realized that he's actually not quite... the soft kind of guy I'd expected him to be. Organizer of surprise party.

2. Joshua Ronald: He talks with me comfortably & asked me a few times if I was okay & if I needed anything, stuff like that that showed concern. Nigel Chee's bestfriend since last time bha tu :)

3. Nicholas Lee: The person I was most comfortable with, besides Nigel Chee & Clement Lee. Known him longer than the rest.

4. Clement Lee: A very cool guy. Unlike most people, he seems to be able to hear me when I speak to him, & he responds.

5. Kara Harris: I can sense a very confident but low-down cool aura about her. The kind of girl whom people might not notice at first glance, but when they get to know her, they would really like & respect her. Especially adults.

6. Vanessa: More Chinese looking than the rest of her girlfriends. This was how I managed to distinguish her from the other girls anyway. She talked to me the most, though the rest came in very close.

7. Jia Shuan/Shyuan?: Cute round face, Chinese looking, but looks more... Matured/cool than the others. She doesn't talk much, but when I initiated conversation, she was pretty warm.

8. Beatrice: Slightly slimmer than the rest. She wore pink. I am not sure if I could distinguish her from Brenda when I see them again. Very nice girl :) She is in the instax picture with me & the two Nigels.

9. Brenda: A bit more Chinese looking that Beatrice, I think. My first impression of her when I got to Nigel Chin's house was that she & Vanessa were bestfriends forever. They looked so chummy & warm together!

10. Chong: I heard a story about Nigel Chin calling Chong's house & getting stuck because he didn't remember Chong's full name. So I called him The Chong. He's easy to recognize because he has a pretty Anime boy face.

11. Daniel: JR's younger brother, Form 4. Very quiet. Looks like the stable kind. I contemplated chatting with him, but decided against it because I was a bit too tired to carry a conversation properly. He seems well-liked by his brother's peer, which I find unusually cool.

12. Kimberly Chee: Nigel Chee's gorgeous sister. I like her voice, her figure, her face, her attitude. She's just cool.

13. Chiu Lai Har: Nigel Chee's pretty awesome mum. She can be funny when she wants to, & she mingles with Nigel's friends very well.

14. Yu Chen: I thought Yu Chen was a girl a few days ago when Clement said on Facecake that he was bringing Yu Chen somewhere. He just had a haircut, which made him resemble JR a little. He also had conjunctivitis, but it was pretty minor. Quietly playful guy.

15. Jane: Indian girl :) Not immediately noticeable. Likeable, because of her demure attitude.

16. Hannah: The girl in yellow & rimstone hairband. Chinese looking, cute face, usually seen sticking by Jane.

17. Nigel Chee: Birthday boy. Cool boy. Awesome boy. But since I'm the girlfriend, you wouldn't believe me anyway because you'd think my judgement is biased.

Then there's me. The girlfriend with the long curly hair, wearing a tight purple, long sleeved shirt, & frilly skirt. Well endowed. Shy. Quiet. Friendly.

JR sent me home. They left early because Daniel has school. JR was going to the beach to see the beached porpoise whale.

I gave Nigel the handmade bookmark. It wasn't much, but it wouldn't clutter up his living space. & I think a bookmark is always useful, for someone who reads a lot.

Again, happy birthday, darling. This is the second birthday you had that I'd spent with you. How I wish I could have spent many more before this with you... But no.

I wouldn't want to change anything in the past, because everything in the past has brought me to you.

Happy, happy birthday.