Get your hand away from there!

Today, I turned 25 years old. My mother of course was the first to wish me 'Happy Birthday!' In my mother's email subject line, it read 'Silver', which really denotes the appropriate wedding anniversary gift. She ended the note saying 'Where's the party?'. Chuckling now, the truth of her message couldn't be any clearer than the actual events of my birthday weekend.

At the beginning of the week, Dave said 'We can do anything this weekend, but Saturday night and Monday are mine.' More suspicious than curious, I went with his plan because knowing him, he's planned something good. Ref: last year's birthday. Beginning my birthday weekend on Friday afternoon, Dave invited me to his office where every Friday the GFK office shuts down and everyone goes to the rooftop and has happy hour to celebrate the end of the week. I met all of his co-workers and enjoyed pizza and karaoke back in the city. It felt good to sing again since for the past 2 years, I've spent every weekend at the noraebang (Korean version of karaoke).

On Saturday, we spent the rainy day lounging around until 6:00pm when Dave pushed me to go shower because this was his night. We left promptly at 6:45pm and walked around Darlinghurst until we reached the highly rated Universal Restaurant. We first heard of this restaurant from one of the final shows of Master Chef (Australia's version of Bravo's Top Chef). Dave had made reservations 2 weeks prior because he knew we had been salivating to go here especially since it is rated one of Sydney's best restaurants. We sat outside under a tent canopy with heat lamps. The server introduced us to a progressive menu where the dishes listed at the beginning of the menu were the lightest and progressed to the heaviest dishes at the end. At this restaurant, the server said most people order 3 dishes each  ($30/dish average). We decided to get two each and dessert each to finish. We ordered trevalla, duck, tofu/eggplant and pork belly. Although small, they were heavenly. I had never eaten something so delicate and so full of flavour. To end our meals, we got Universal's two top rated desserts, one being pear with tapioca and marshmallow and the second being chocolate with cashews and mousse. I cannot begin to describe the food and unfortunately their menu is seasonal and hard to find unless you go there. I highly recommend it. After dessert, Dave declared it was time for us to go. He clearly had an agenda. We walked a few blocks to Pocket Bar. I had been here before when my co-worker Ben invited the Taurus team out for after work drinks. It's a cute corner bar in Darlinghurst with decent prices and cozy atmosphere. The furniture is vintage and there are sketches of breasts on the walls. When we walked in, there in the center of the room sat 15 of our friends from both work and our Meetup group. Only 3 weeks ago, Dave and I joined a Sydney Expat American group to make new friends and here they were celebrating a birthday of someone they hardly knew. I was so surprised and shocked that Dave had gotten all these people together only since Monday via Facebook messages. For the rest of the evening, we drank and enjoyed Pocket Bar and then dispersed around Oxford Street for additional drinks.

On Sunday, it poured rain all day. We stayed in and had a lazy day. I did however, manage to cook some pesto angel hair pasta. Since we live in a share house, I felt that we were taking too much of the cupboard space. I tried to look in the other cupboards for extra space, and right then and there, Dave smacked my hand away. 'Get your hand away from there!' I wondered what was in there, but Dave slyly smiled and said 'Nothing's in there.' I knew something was up.

 

Hunter Valley Wine Tours Van & First Creek Wines Barrels

On Monday morning - my actual birthday, Dave woke me up at 6:15am and pushed me to go shower. He had bowls of cereal ready and made me stuff my face knowing I hate to eat right when I wake up. 'It will be worth it.' That night, Australia turned their clocks forward for Daylight's Saving Time, so when we walked outside, there was no sun. He walked me down towards Potts Point to the Holiday Inn. 'Are we going to the Holiday Inn?' At the curb of the Holiday Inn was a Hunter Valley Wine Tasting Tours van. With sleep still in my eye, I smiled and gave him a big hug. Hearing about this vineyard packed region from my co-workers, I had told Dave that I really wanted to go in the near future since it is only 2 hours away. From 10am to 4pm, us in a group of 13 people went to 4 vineyards and wineries, a brewery and a cheese shop. At each place, we sampled 6-8 whites, reds and desserts. A red fan myself, I was so surprised at how much I liked some of the whites and dessert wines. One that stood out was the tawny port. I highly recommend it if you're looking for an after dinner wine that tastes like Christmas.

McGuigan Cellars Wine Tasting

Our Tasting Wine Glasses Full of Tawny Port

 

It's 11am and We're Feeling the Wine

Dave's Surprise Picnic

While the rest of the tour group ate the tour provided lunch, Dave opted out and brought me a surprise lunch of all our favourite things - feta stuffed olives, pepper and garlic stuffed olives, garlic bread, tomato and feta salad, gouda, cheddar, camembert, apricot/almond cheese spread, blueberries, strawberries and my all-time favourite kind of chocolate, hazelnut chocolate from Haigh's (a famous Sydney chocolatier). While everyone else sat inside, we sat outside under a gazebo in the misting rain and enjoyed a delicious and romantic picnic.

 

Hunter Resort and Rosemount Cellars

*Rosemount is the sponsor of Sydney Fashion Week

Enjoying the Hunter Valley Vineyards Even on a Rainy Day

Dave and Me

My Birthday Gifts from Dave

Citizen Watch, The Filipino Cookbook, Cupcake Bakery Red Velvet and Carrot Cake Cupcakes

To end the best birthday day ever, Dave surprised me with my birthday gifts. I couldn't imagine what he would get me. He's a quite thoughtful gift giver. Last year, he color printed my entire blog, binded it and made a collage of my photos on the cover. This year, he surprised me first with The Filipino Cookbook, which I think is for him. Knowing I was desperate for a watch (my $5 Casio from Cambodia isn't cutting it in the PR world), I opened up a gorgeous silver Citizen watch with diamond detailing. The tears started flowing here. And of course you can't have a birthday without a cake. My last present was a box of 4 cupcakes from the Cupcake Bakery in my favourite flavours; red velvet and carrot cake both with cream cheese icing. They were strategically decorated with 'Happy', 'Birthday', 'Shad', 'iyah'. Simply perfect.

All week, I've been joking that my quarter life crisis was coming up. The thought of being 25 is kind of scary. It means you're no longer in your early twenties (the age of wildly inappropriate behaviour) and that you're just that much closer to 30 (where the realities of life - marriage, babies, mortgage - begin to hit hard). Never one to live my life with regrets, I look forward to each new day and year. I'm so happy that I lucky enough to spend my birthdays with the greatest people. Here's a toast to the next 25!