This One is for All My Asian FOB Friends at Home

So for my 23rd birthday, I went all out Taiwanese style: all night karaoke (well, it wasn't exactly all night since I had to work the next day)!

This was the lobby of the karaoke place (doesn't it look like a hotel lobby?).

Apparently this place had like, I think eight to ten floors (probably more)! An entire building of people karaokeing away (and doing many other things that are not exactly appropriate to write about for this entry).

Early Christmas decoration (*Sigh* a reminder that I wouldn't be home for Christmas).


Welcome to the karaoke booth!


We provide a high-tech system for all your singing pleasures,


A flat screen television set with surround sound,


And...pizza?

Well, they didn't exactly provide the food, but no, you are not mistaken. What you are seeing is what they call, a pizza--topped with some kind of meat, green beans, and some other things that were obviously not worth remembering (oh, and if I'm not mistaken, I believe the white stuff on top was mayonnaise). Doesn't sound too pleasant, does it? All I can say, even though it wasn't as bad as it looked (or sounded), I would rather have a cheesy, greasy, and incredibly unhealth slice of Chicago deep-dish pizza, any day!

So just like that, I turned into a vibrant, fresh out of college, 24 year old adult. Wait, 24?

That was my reaction when I saw the candles. Apparently, once you step into Asia, you are to operate by the Chinese calender. So that means, once I had crossed into the borders of Asia, I had been transported into the future and lost a year's worth of life!!! (Ok, that was not funny AT ALL, nor did it make ANY sense! Nevertheless, I will keep what i just typed so that people can finally know what strange thoughts run through my mind sometimes. and i'm sure EVERYONE wants to know about that! Right...)

To be honest, I was taken back a bit by the sight of the 24 though. The idea of being 24 years old at this point in my life sounds...slightly depressing, mainly because nothing has really started in my life yet (at least, that's how I feel). and if I was "really" 24 years old, I would feel like I had wasted my early adult years. I have noticed though that people here have a slightly different perspective on age and all its associations--definitions and ideals of maturity, what is considered as "young," and more. I could go on with this, but again, not the most appropriate entry for this topic.

ANYWAYS, I must say, despite of not being able to be with family and friends, I had a good time that night--and I owe it all to Su-ning Jie Jie. She's been a tremendous blessing to me and I am truly grateful for all that she has done for me. I hope I can be a blessing to her as well.

So that was how I spent my birthday!

Yay for God! and Happy Birthday to Me!