Last Friday, i went to work as usual. My ex-subordinate informed my two bosses about my birthday (he knew it because he is on my FB) and so we went out for lunch on that day. We didn't have anything fancy for lunch but just went to the food court at a mall near my office and my boss paid for my order. I still worked in the office until 6pm+ and then the evening ended as usual as well. There was no cake, no candles, no birthday presents... but there were quite a number of birthday greetings from my friends and family on FB, emails and sms. Mom did make a hard-boiled egg for me (without the red colouring) as part of our Chinese tradition.
Frankly, at this stage of my life, not having a significant half or a family of my own, and also without any close friends here, there really isn't a need to make a fuss out of my birthday anymore. In fact, it is the day i get older and getting nearer to the age of 40, with not much of achievements in life. I would be lying if i say i didn't feel melancholy about it at all, especially with the situation i am in now. I did my best not to think too much about it lest i fall into self-pity. That was also why there wasn't any introspective birthday post on that day.
It isn't really easy to blog nowadays too. Besides mom keeps using my laptop to watch dramas, the lack of privacy also makes writing difficult. This is a very small apartment and mom is around all the time. I can't do anything without her noticing and even probing sometimes. To be honest, i have mixed feelings about her being here. On one hand, it is nice to have my closest family member by my side so that I am not really all alone here. At least i have someone to talk to when i return to this apartment, and i have someone to cook and take care of the house chores for me. However, on the other hand, i miss the freedom of being able to do whatever i want, eat whatever i want and go wherever i want, without having mom nagging at me and tagging along. I also miss sleeping on the bed and having the blanket all to myself, and not having to be bothered by snoring or awakened by someone waking up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet. Anyway, there is less than a month to go and i will be really all alone by then.
Alright, about the weekend - well, we went car hunting at a few car dealers on Saturday. I have hoped to get a car as a birthday present for myself, but unfortunately that didn't turn out well. All the cars sold at car dealers were over my budget, mostly over NZD10K in price. I would still stick to my budget for another week, after which i really need to seriously consider increasing the budget by probably NZD2k.
After my failed attempt to get a car in the morning, we spent the afternoon shopping and i got myself three presents that cost me over NZD400. I bought a blender and two pairs of shoes. The blender is for making juices to keep myself healthy (and slim).
As for the shoes, I had been looking for shoes for quite a while already since i need to walk quite a fair bit here and i can't wear the high heels that i've brought here to go with my officer wear. After much shopping, i finally got myself a pair of low heels leather shoes and a pair of leather boots. Those should be quite comfy to walk in, and i'd be wearing one of them tomorrow!
That pretty much concluded my boring birthday weekend, except that it wasn't really as boring for other people in the city.
The past week, especially the weekend, felt as if the entire city was in a carnival and huge costume party. It was the week of Wellington Sevens, the annual rugby sevens tournament that is held here every February. The Kiwis are crazy about rugby, which i guess is pretty much considered their national sports. However, the thing about this event is that the people would dress themselves up in different costumes to go to the game. They would also go drinking before and after (and perhaps even during) the game. I seriously wondered if their enthusiasm and excitement about this event was for the game or the partying.
Nonetheless, it was quite fun to see different characters walking on the streets for the past few days. I would have been out taking photographs of these quirky people if not for my mom being around (as she will not let me go out alone at all except going to work). Of course, if i have done that, i would not do it in the night because it would be really unsafe for a single lady roaming the streets amidst all those people with adrenaline rush after the game and alcohol.
The streets below where i stay were closed off on Saturday from 5pm to Sunday morning. At around 11pm on Saturday night, there were batches of crowd walking back from the stadium and passing through these streets to get to Courtenay Place, the street famous for nightlife here.
It was a very noisy night, as we could hear them talking loudly, shouting, laughing, singing and chanting down the streets, and not to mention the siren from the police cars that were more frequent than any other usual weekends. This morning when we were walking to the church, we saw some people still in costumes and some with those pubs' wrist bands on their hands. Apparently, these people had been out partying whole night (or probably couldn't drive after drinking) and were only going home this morning.
Frankly, if there is anything i notice about Westerners in general, it would be the unhealthy drinking culture. This is something i observed from my previous employments and having to deal with Westerners from USA and Europe. I do no think i can ever immerse in such culture, for boozing is never my thing even though there were times in my younger days when i did drink beer and red wine but in good moderation.
On an unrelated note, saw new Bearista at the Starbucks here but not sure what costume that is and for what occasion.
Labels: Bearista, life, New Zealand
