You can have your cake and eat it too!
I may be getting older, however that doesn’t mean I need to act my age!
For all Birthday pictures - click here!
It’s my birthday…somehow I just keep marching on closer to 40 than to 35 - I haven’t figured out the way to slow down time yet - but still looking! To celebrate my momentous day, I normally have some goofy party, surround myself with friends, eat a ton, drink a ton, make out with a random boy (if I’m lucky), and have a slice of strawberry cake (my favorite cake and a birthday staple since I was 7 yrs. old). This year it is a little different - it still involves food and drink - and of course strawberry cake - but this year I’m forgoing the rest! Last year it snowed a record 26 inches on my birthday in NYC, today it’s 90 degrees in Singapore!
I started off the morning by teaching Mylene how to make a layer cake. My absolute favorite birthday cake is the Strawberry cake that my mom used to make me every year. Since my birthday fell so close to Valentine’s day she even had 2 heart-shaped cake pans and she’d make me a pretty, pink, heart-shaped strawberry cake every year for my birthday. My mom stopped making my cakes about 19 years ago - but I always still have to have my strawberry cake fix…I’m addicted. The smell of the cake baking in the oven just evokes memories of birthdays past. Much like the smell of a freshly cut Christmas tree evokes memories and feelings of Christmas. So - first thing was first - we baked a cake! Next, my sister had arranged a great little lunch in Singapore with her friends and my ‘new’ friends in honor of my day. We had a great time being ‘ladies that lunch’ - I’m actually thinking about turning it into a full time profession! Finally, we ended our day out by going to the Asian Civilizations Museum and having a personal tour by Kerry, another friend of my sisters. It was like drinking out of a fire hose…we learned so much information from Kerry about the various religions and cultural distinctions of Asia that it was mind boggling. I honestly decided that I would need about a week there to really get it straight in my head! It was fun to go and learn about many of the places that I have gone and will be going in the next two months. It was a great introduction into this part of the globe. It really made the US seem pretty simple in it’s history and religion.
I had a rowdy night with my nieces for the remainder of my bday - we had dinner, opened presents and had that great strawberry cake (minus the candles!) While we were eating dinner - I asked each one of the girls what they thought they’d be doing when they were 37 years old - what would their life be like. I like to have them give this some thought. When I was a kid/teenager - I never thought past me being 30. I’m not sure what I thought would happen to me at 30…I thought that life endede then I guess. I probably just assumed that I would be married and have kids - I never really dreamed of what I wanted to do or be in my mid-30’s. The girls gave it some thought and came up with some good answers. Lindsey felt that she would be an artist living in NY. Megan thought that she would be a writer living in Florida (I tried to convince her to live in the Florida Keys), and Bethany (the oldest) said that she thought that she would be at Megan’s house visiting her for 3 months…leave it to the teenager to be a smart-ass.
The big news is that I bought myself a birthday present this weekend…a new laptop. A little one, one that will fit into my backpack and will go everywhere with me…along with my camera which seems to be permanently affixed to my neck when I travel. My brother -in-law, Frank, and I went shopping at the electronics mecca (Sim Lim Square) in Singapore. Like most men, Frank isn’t really nuts about the concept of shopping, but if it involves electronics - that’ a different story. It’s like a Barney’s shoe sale for women…intoxicating. I had been doing research online, therefore I went to the computer shops with a plan - I wanted to get a Sony Vaio TX with Windows XP and a small backup hard drive. I came out 3 hours later with a little Acer notebook, with Windows Vista and a new 80 G ipod (that I will be using for backup). If I could only sell one article or photograph…maybe I can write it off on my taxes next year…or at least that was my rational at the moment! Regardless - I love my new toy…it’s shiny, small, and cutting edge…see - the geek in me comes out every once in a while. Maybe I do still have Information Technology in my blood. Now my nieces keep following me around asking me what I’m going to do with my old computer and ipod - I told them to submit a business plan and whoever has the best plan for it - they can have it…should be interesting!
Overall - it was a good birthday! It was missing a few things…my friends for one, but more importantly - it was missing all of the normal anxiety that I feel about turning another year older. For the first time in a long time - I feel extremely well-adjusted…guess that’s what a little sun, lots of flying, and some great adventures will get you…sanity.
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Hey, me again.
Happy birthday.
Since I am also looking for a smaller laptop for traveling I am curiuos as to which Acer model you picked up. There are som Sony Vaio 13 inch models on sale right now but I keep thinking I want something smaller, maybe in the 12 inch range. The problem with the Sonys is they only have a card slot for the memory stick.
Anyway, keep having fun!
Patricia
In cold, snowy Montreal
I bought an Acer TravelMate 3040. - it’s really small and light. It came with two batteries - a small/light one and a longer life/heavier one - it’s nice to have a choice. It has an external drive - but that’s cool as I never use a CD/DVD drive these days anyway - everything is on the internet these days anyway. It has a built in camera…so no need to purchase one of those. I also looked at the Sony TX series (the smallest thing out there) - only 3 lbs - but decided against it as it didn’t have a lot of horsepower. I’ve been struggling a bit with Vista - but at least I won’t have to upgrade later! The Acer has 5 in 1 card reader built in - so you are covered in that department!
Good luck…but remember - lighter is better when traveling!!
Sherry
Hi Sherry,
It was great to meet you in Hong Kong, I have since really enjoyed your take on the place. You didn’t get the exact photo I was thinking of, although you came close- you may have taken the one Marcus mentioned though, on the escalator looking down into the streets. I guess it just highlights what a gifted photographer you are, that you don’t take the same old touristy photos that people like me end up taking!
Last night I just couldn’t sleep thinking about you. I had my own Journey of Enlightenment reading a selection of your bloggs and looking at your photos. I know you don’t want to think about it and are “in denial” but I would like to suggest a new career for you when your travels are over.
There are so many bloggs around these days and so many of them are just a waste of cyberspace. Your’s however needs to be published. Your ideas are original (thank goodness someone finally had the guts to tackle the Asian Toilet Crisis), you made me reminisce about my own childhood (my Mum was really into sponge cakes that she would construct to make the number of the birthday I was having- so 70’s!!!), you give a fantastic insight into your own life, thoughts and feelings (yes, love does stink, doesn’t it!), your photos are magic and your view of the world is unique.
So, I think you should become a travel writer and photographer, that way you can continue to tumble and make a living at the same time, much nicer than sitting in an office 9 to 5 (or 10)- and you can claim all your new toys on tax. It may of course be easier said than done, but I promise I will be first to buy your first book.
So there’s my pitch on you having your cake and eating it too!
Happy and safe travels
Rebekah