Birthday Happenings

For my birthday, I decided that I didn't want to have to make any decisions. Be careful what you wish for! It can be a very dangerous thing. Gretchen designed a random envelope game for me to play, and Kendra, Erin, and I set off on an adventure. (I will try to post pictures soon, but they are all on Kendra's camera, so for now, a narrative will have to do.) Card #1: Eat random noodles at a random place. We got on the first bus that came by and hopped on. Our goal was to ride it 3 stops (in honor of my 30th birthday) but that put us at a Mosque. So, we decided for three more, which put us in construction. The third time was a charm though, and we got off and managed to find a bowl of Indonesian noodles. Card #2: Kiss a statue. Now, this shouldn't have been that hard, when you're not looking for statues, they are everywhere, but when you want to kiss one, they all run and hide! We finally got off the bus at a shopping center, and decided that for the time being, a Manichean would work. Card #3: Eat dumplings in Chinatown....problem....By this point I'd been AWAKE less than 3 hours and already eaten twice...this got put on pause. Card #4: Take a picture with 2 strangers. We were still at the mall when this card was picked, so this also should have been an easy task. I walked up to 2 sales clerks in a deserted shoe store and asked if I could take a picture with them. The girl looked at me, and said "Sorry, cannotlah" I said "Cannot?" and she said "Yes" so I said, "So you mean you can?" And she said "Cannot." It was very sad. Eventually, after this first failed attempt, we ended up paying some kids to let us take a picture with them. Card #5: Do a dance in a park (or patch of grass). I wanted to find a deserted park, or at least not a patch of grass in front of a busy mall next to a bus stop, but since I voluntarily gave up my right to make decisions, I was stuck. Erin danced with me though, and we made people smile! After card #5 we put the game on hold and tried to see a movie. It was only noon, and we were ending this game with supper at 7:30. We got on a train and went to the theater we thought was showing the movie. However, when we got there, they were not. We took another train to another theater and got tickets to a 2:45 showing. By this time it was after 1, so we didn't really have time to go and do more cards (public transportation can be such a pain.) So, we had milkshakes and french fries and played Canasta. Card #6: Put your feet in the Singapore River. This was easily accomplished by climbing over a chain barrier, walking down the steps and taking a relaxing break. (Erin promised to bail me out of jail if I got arrested.) Card #7: Write a poem and read it to Sir Raffles (A statue). I was very proud of my poem, and the fact that I was the one who knew how to get to Sir Raffles. Card #8: Eat a McFlurry and get a picture with Ronald McDonald. This should be easy enough. We walked back to the train station, where I was sure I had seen a McDonald's. It turned out to be Burger King. Erin said to follow her, she knew where the McDonald's was, it turned out to be Subway. I was sure I had at least seen Ronald's legs, but it turned out that had been an advertisement for Carl's Junior. Go figure. We put this one on pause, and eventually fulfilled it in Chinatown. Card #9: But something for $1 in Chinatown. This was easy. I got a pair of chopsticks. Card #10: Meet friends on Sentosa at Chili's for supper. We had a great dinner, and my friends very loudly sang Happy Birthday more than once, even getting the ticket sellers for Universal Studios to sing to me! I finally made it home around 11 last night, and was very tired after a very busy and adventurous birthday.